Illinois ladies facing bc

zap

Blackjack's mother must have been a wonderful mother.....just look at her daughter....so generous and so good and so loving. Thank you Blackjack's mother for being such a wonderful mother!  Rest in Peace!

mdg

BJ- I am so very sorry for your loss.....hugs!  I am praying for you and your family at this difficult time.

IllinoisLady

A greater poverty than that caused by lack of money is the poverty of unawareness.  Men and women go about the world unaware of the beauty, the goodness, and the glories in it.  Their souls are poor.  It is better to have a poor pocketbook than to suffer from a poor soul. Jerry Fleishman

zap

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Good Morning:

Blackjack's mother is in the Tribunes's Obituaries shouldl you wish to get infromation or sign the guest book.  This place is just fine too.  Her mom's name is Barbara Neff.  Just a FYI.

Zap/Susan

spunkyboobster

Thanks Susan.

laurie2025

Ah yes another freezing spring in Northern Illinois.  Brrrrr!! 

I wanted to thank those of you for sending me messages, I really appreciate it, more than you know.

Blackjack, we have not met yet, but I am very sorry to hear of your loss.  Prayers and hugs to you and your family.

doxie

Blackjack,

My thoughts are with you and your family.

IllinoisLady

"Words have special powers. The power to create smiles or frowns. The
power
to generate laughs or tears. The power to lift up or put down. The
power to
motivate or de-motivate. The power to teach good or evil. The
power to
express love or hate. The power to give or take. The power to
heal or harm.
Choose your words carefully."

-- A.D. Williams

ritajean

Jackie,  You've chosen a wonderful quote for the day.  How true!

The sun is actually out here.  It's hard to believe that they are still predicting snow for the weekend.

spunkyboobster

Jackie-I'm going to be in Mt. Vernon next Thursday.  I don't know my schedule yet, but if you're available perhaps we can get together for coffee or something.

I know it's cold out, but what a splendidly bright and sunny day.  Sure does a lot for the disposition!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

IllinoisLady

Wow....that would be fantastic.  I work on Thursday from 11 a.m to 4 p.m......I'm about 20 mins. from Mt. Vernon.  Don't know what route you are taking to get to Mt. Vernon.  If your coming down the interstate ( 64 ) you'll be driving right past me and there is a restaurant called Biggies right off the interstate.....to the right.  I could meet you there.  What fun !!!

Peace and love,

Jackie

camillegal

BJ I am so sorry about u loosing u'r mom--it's so difficult--Condolences for u and u'r family.

IllinoisLady

Give in to goodness now and then.  I don't mean masochistic self-sacrifice.
I mean the deliberate performance of an act that has ethical value:
helping someone in need, righting a wrong, forgiving an enemy.
For best results, the act should be one that can't possibly benefit you. . . .
if we give in to goodness once in a while, we gain strength.
If we consistently refuse, we're at cross-purposes with everything,
including our deepest nature.  People not only have the capacity
for ethical behavior, they have a built-in need for it.
If you give in to goodness reasonably often, you won't have
to seek self-renewal.  It will come to you.

anonymous

IllinoisLady

We need to find the "middle way" in our own lives.  It is the art of finding balance.  Reflecting upon our lives, we soon discover what serves us well--nurturing calmness, ease, and simplicity.  We also discover what it is that leads to entanglement, confusion, distress, and anxiety.  Wisdom is being able to discern the difference, then knowing what we need to nurture and what we need to learn to let go.

Christina Feldman

IllinoisLady

Good morning as we sit here and wait to see if the rain we had overnight will be turning into snow.  It is coming from the west.  Wow !!!  This is not the Spring I was hoping for exactly.....knowing the temperamental nature you can have happen.  I have heard others talk about ( have even seen some early Easter lilies ) bulbs peeking up here and there.  Guess if it comes, the only hope is that it won't stay too long or influence too harshly the blooms and buds that are making their way out.

Up late this morning so don't know the full weather report.....no idea what my northern sisters may have to get through.  I hope it is not harsh.    If I  have used the above  quote in the recent past I apologize.  Sometimes when I am reading through they just grab me. 

Hope you all have a good Sunday.  Thinking of you BJ.

Love and peace,

Jackie

C-squared

Ugh to the weather in IL! I'm so glad to have the opportunity to feel the sunshine & warmth here in Burnet, TX (near Austin). One of my nieces ( & God-dtrs) got married here yesterday. It was a glorious day in spirit and weather. Have a great day ladies and keep me posted on the IL forecast.

Timbuktu

don't you enjoy the weather more knowing what is going on here?  lol

The best part of our last trip to Florida was standing in Disneyworld watching a snowstorm in Ill on tv.

Enjoy!

ritajean

c-squared...Enjoy that Texas sunshine.  We have snow in cental Illinois and it looks like there's more on the way.  I don't know how hard your area has been hit.  I imagine you've got snow in the north, too, and probably more than we have.  Maybe you should extend your Texas visit!  :-)

IllinoisLady

It is and has been since maybe 10:30 a.m. snowing here. It started as rain, sleeted a bit, then turned to snow.   We were slated to get 6 inches but I think if it continues with what I'm looking at right now....it could be more.  It is the big fat flakes and somewhat dense.....so it will tend to pile up fairly good. 

I really do like snow, but I had thought we were doing a gentle slide into Spring.  Turns out we will hold off for a bit.  No matter how much we really get of this snow.....these moisture laden fat flake snowfalls usually don't hang around long.   Hope everyone is having a great Sunday though.

Peace and love,

Jackie

Rene23

Hi Ladies!

Just checking in to wave to everyone and give a "welcome" to the new members of the group.  I'm one of the oldsters, I guess, and I don't post regularly anymore, but I'm never far away.  So much good advice is available here, either first-hand experience, or referrals to expert resources.  Perhaps the most important thing available is an empathetic ear, for those certain days when you just need to vent to people who understand. 

I'm 2 mos. away from being 8 years out.  Surgeries, chemo and hormonal therapies will hopefully stay a part of my past.  *knocking on wood* 

I'm at the "2 week rule" stage.  Lots of annoying aches and pains, easy to blow out of proportion, but not to be ignored either.  The latest is a likely case of bursitis in my hips, which I originally thought was sciatica.  Having an MRI this week to do the old "rule out" business, but I'm surprisingly not overly worried.  I keep reminding myself that my body has been through a lot in the past several years, and even if I  hadn't had all that I had, my body is still 8 years older and will never be the same one that I remember pre-BC. 

Life's been busy, primarily with work.  I am so ready to cut back.  My job involves standing in one place for extended periods of time, and I've done this for over 25 years.  This is probably a big part of why my hips are throwing in the towel!  Now that my youngest is about to graduate college, I'm seriously thinking about working 3 days a week.  I'm afraid I'll just sit home and EAT all day though! 

Anyone else post-AI's here?  I've been done just over a year now, and I feel (okay, KNOW) that I've had a hard time with my weight.  I thought I'd lose weight once I finished the AI's.  Maybe it's just age and metabolism... and the lack of exercise.   I was working with a trainer, but have taken a break since the hip thing started.  Ugh!

Reading through some of the recent posts, I think it's great that there are so many options for reconstruction, certainly more than when I was first considering what to do.  If I could do things over again, there are definitely things I would have done differently.  But, there's no point in dwelling on things I can't change now. It is what it is, and I'm grateful to be where I'm at now.   For various reasons, I went through 3 different PS docs, and 7 or 8 recon surgeries, including both of my MX, done 5 years apart.  I still don't have a nipple on the prophy side, and I realized the other day that I rarely think or care about it anymore.  I'm still open to maybe getting the 3D nipple tattoo one day, but I'm not nearly as overwhelmed with making everything on my chest "perfect" as I once was.  I enjoy not wearing bras, except on rare occasion.  My DH and I joke about my "one headlight" and it's fine.  This is NOT where my head was in years past, and it feels very freeing. 

Have a great day, everyone.

dltnhm

c-squared et al,

No snow in Gurnee as of Sunday at 7:45 pm

Actually had a glorious run today ... the temp was 34 but there was hardly any wind for most of the run and it just 'felt' warmer than it did on Friday - when there was actually sunshine - LOL. I only had on a thin underarmor covered by a thin running jersey. No gloves either! Yay!

Mind you I believe that we are supposed to get some snow ... but as of yet it has not decided to show up!

Hope you are having a spledid time down there in TX!

Diana

Timbuktu

No snow in Skokie but my daugther, who is in Champaign, tells me they are havin the worst snow of the season.

camillegal

Hi Rene it sound like u'r doing pretty good well not for the hip. but in general it's so good to hear. maybe when u do semi retire it will be better.

No reall snow here, just a dusting. so far anyway. who knows.

C-squared

Thanks so much IL ladies for keeping me posted on the weather! I'm so sad to be leaving the warm weather in TX but even more solemn to be leaving family after a glorious weekend of celebration, laughter and love. I look forward to returning home to "spring break" and shopping for new flooring but I WILL miss the fun, laughter & love of family! Hope to return to IL with the sunshine & warmth of TX! I'll check in again tomorrow ladies. Here's the mantra.., sunshine & warmth.., sunshine & warmth..,

camillegal

C-No one has checked in yet-But the Chicago ares didn't get anything. All the lower part got a ton of snow but I don't know where it landed exactly, but the reports will come in soon. Safe traveling.

ritajean

Good morning!  We got about 8 inches of that white stuff here.  It's hard to believe that you northern gals are "snow-free."  Usually it's the other way around.  I had an appointment for an oil change and car detailing this morning that I had to cancel.  There's no way that my little car can make it down the lane until it's plowed out. It looks like a day at home for me!  There's always something to do around here.  There's lots of closings due to the weather but many of our schools were not in session today because of their spring break.  There is indeed something wrong with this picture!  That groundhog must be getting old and senile!

lago

I'm going for a power walk.

Note: never depend on a rodent to predict weather. BTW my heel wasn't bothering me yesterday.  Told you it was more accurate than Tom Skilling.

Hi Rene23 

ritajean Snow this time of year melts fast. It won't be around much longer.

IllinoisLady

Laughter is the language of the young at heart and the antidote to what ails us. No drugstore prescription is required; laughter is available to anyone at any time. Laughter's benefits are felt immediately.  With large doses, the benefits show on our face, on our body language, and in the spring in our step.  God gave us this capacity to be tickled way deep down inside.  Giggles are as contagious as a viral disease.  And you know what?  You don't have to be happy to laugh. You become happy because you laugh.

Barbara Johnson

IllinoisLady

Happy homecoming C-squared. 

Rita, we got more than a foot of snow in some places here -- that is not counting the drifts.  It will be with us a couple of days but Wed. will start warming.  Un-believable but the week-end is slated to be in the 60's. 

Hope everyone else stays warm and not snowed in too much.  My car goes good but wonder of wonders, since we bought our land......a snowplow comes down our lane.  We always ( there could come a time ) got out anyway, but nice to have the extra help. 

Peace and love,

Jackie

spunkyboobster

No snow, but cold this morning. I'm headed downtown and my train was 25 minutes late.

Hope the snow some of you got doesn't stick around long.

Jackie-they changed my schedule in Mt. Vernon and I won't have a minute of free time on Thursday. :-( but I'm sure I'll be back and we'll try again. If anything changes I'll let you know.

Have a great week everyone. Stay warm.

C-squated-hope you're bringing some Texas warmth back for us!