Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

IllinoisLady

Happy Birthday Sandra -- hope it is special.

carolehalston

We had a lovely snow day here in south Louisiana last Friday. DH took a couple of pictures and sent them to a friend in MN. We stayed indoors that day and enjoyed the warmth of the furnace and fireplace. Every day since has been bright and sunny and cold. Really beautiful winter weather.

I'm working on being more positive about this last major holiday. We attended the St. Timothy's Christmas music concert on Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful, as always.

Time to go to the gym.

Happy Thursday to all.

bonnets

We had about 2 inches of snow last night. A bunch of school delays and closings, due to the roads and the hills! We neverr had a snow day , back in the old days, but then living in Chicago , we walked to school! It was 20 here when I got up, made it to 21 now! Stay warm and have a good day. Hope to get a little more decorating done, then just the tree to go. The presents I had to UPS all got there yesterday. The list of to-dos is getting shorter!

IllinoisLady

Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.
That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand.
- Emily Kimbrough

Anneb1149

Mornin all,

Just wanted to let you know Sandra is on Facebook and things had been going very well. Her last post said that Mike was back in the hospital, but it didn’t seem too serious. I missed the original post, but it seemed like something that normally could be dealt with at home, but because of his general condition,he was admitted for a few days.

Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Cement slab is level, just need to wait till my son can get here with some friends to put the shed back on it, the hole in the patio ceiling was fixed yesterday and is being covered right now. All that is left is the inspection of the new windows and doors, and a good power cleaning of the back patio and garage.

Along with the heavy sleeping! I am getting really tired. My brother and I went shopping yesterday - nothing major, but a lot of walking, and I was beyond exhausted. I even nixed an early dinner out and opted to come home and eat leftovers. I had blood work done within the last 2 months, but will go back to Dr if I don’t perk up soon. I added glucosamine and condroitanbecause I am sore all the time. Might be a reaction between that and all the other things I take. I am going to stop that for a few days and see if that helps.

Anne

ChiSandy

Good to hear Sandra is fine and Mike's condition isn't serious--after any bout of immuno-compromise, better safe than sorry; wise to have him under hospital supervision till the problem is solved.

Anne, light at the end of the construction tunnel, eh? Listen to your body--eat when hungry, rest when tired. Glucosamine/chondroitin usually takes 6 weeks for the improvement (if any) kicks in.

I've said it before: at a certain point in life, we realize we can't fix one thing without breaking another, nor repair that one in turn without starting a frustrating cycle of side effects. We need to prioritize what is most important to "fix" and how much "breakage" we're willing to tolerate.

Bonnets, I grew up in Brooklyn--we did get snow days (not every year) despite being only a few blocks from school, mainly because teachers & staff probably lived further away. My sister's third grade teacher lived across the street from us and was my mom's BFF, but before then she had taken leave to raise her family. When she walked into the classroom to replace the teacher who had gone on maternity leave, my sis cried out, "Hi, Aunt Bess!" (She was taken aside gently and told to call her Mrs. Copeland until they were off school property, lest she develop a reputation as "teacher's pet").

MinusTwo

Anne - thanks so much for the news of Sandra. I don't do Facebook, so please tell her I said hi. Glad your construction issues are coming to a conclusion. Take care of your self.

Wren44

I was in 4th grade when we had a blizzard in Okla. Very unusual and probably only one snow plow in town at the airport. That year our school was on the Air Force base and everyone rode the bus. No school for a week! We made igloos and forts and packed snow down in hills for sleds. As a kid it was heaven. For the parents probably a minor nightmare. No shopping for a week for groceries, etc. It drifted over the front of our house. Dad and Uncle went out a back window and shoveled their way to the front door. My uncle was 6'4" and I remember the snow was way above his head in the tunnel.

IllinoisLady

Wow !!! Wren, that does sound like heaven for kids and sort of a nightmare for parents. Don't think we have had too much of anything like that here. I've often said we are in a little pocket of some kind here so the really unusual or harsh in some way misses us. I can't imagine having more than 14 or 15 ins. at one time. We have had that a couple of times but nothing to fit your description.

As a kid we walked to school so never had days off for weather. I only recall ( in high school we did have to ride a bus to another town ) one time when the busses couldn't get through and I was not in high school then. A friend's brother had never missed a day of school and so as to hold onto his record --- he walked to school ( it was flooding that was happening at the time ) which was likely about two miles or a bit more --- only to find no one was at the school. We do get odd occurrences, but a real rarity. We have had more than one flood though. I 'd like to skip all that from now on.

Wren44

We're close to the water in Seattle and in some sort of warm pocket, I think. My friend 6 blocks away gets snow and I don't. Conversely, if we have snow everyone has snow, usually in much larger amounts. Snow shuts the town down. We have some 17% grade hills downtown that are slippery in the rain. DH learned to drive in Alaska, so he's good in the snow, but there's a lot of other people out there who aren't.

IllinoisLady

There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout: This
is me damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel
the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package.
Take me. . . or leave me. Accept me--or walk away! Do not try
to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your
idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold.
If I need to change, I alone will make that decision. When you are
strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad--you will be
amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.

Stacey Charter

IllinoisLady

How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway. . . . And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!

Anne Frank

ChiSandy

Having a heat wave here--46 & sunny. Bizarre that I can still go outside and pick herbs (Italian parsley, thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary and chives). Our magnolia has gotten very confused and is budding. (Inevitably, there'll be a hard freeze & the buds will drop before they can flower). We have two little homegrown 'maters left on the sill--they have held up better than the firs storebought ones of the season.

Christmas show went well last night. Was in good voice. Small crowd (there usually is at that venue for anyone not famous in the folk world), but highly appreciative. The drive up to Madison & back was a breeze, as the endless tollway construction project was over, except in the short non-toll portion in Chicago itself. I kept wondering aloud, "What road are you and what have you done with the Addams Tollway?" The ugly sweater was a huge hit: LED wreaths that twinkled whenever I moved. (Thank goodness there were no epileptics in the audience).

IllinoisLady

Magic is a sudden opening of the mind to the wonder of existence. It is
a sense that there is much more to life than we usually recognize; that
we do not have to be confined by the limited views that our family, our
society, or our own habitual thoughts impose on us; that life contains
many dimensions, depths, textures, and meanings extending
far beyond our familiar beliefs and concepts.

John Welwood

IllinoisLady

It is trying to rain this morning and succeeding just a bit. It has been very tolerable lately -- too much wind, but plenty of sun which was able to warm up fairly well for this time of yr. Not sure what this little ( or could be more ) rain will do, but since it is Dec. I'm betting the weather will be fairly cold again. Sigh !!! Just can't know so much anymore. Illinois was ( we found upon returning here to where I was born and raised 20 yrs. ago ) never even close to as predictable as southern Calif. where I lived for 25 yrs. and Dh for abut 33. Still, it was much better than now.

I'm going to be okay with working inside though. Always something needing attention here so it is just fine. I always dislike some of the negative weather for my feral cats. In yrs. past we were able to keep a couple of 'dry' little houses for them, but then the property owners/leases chose to end that. I'm hoping because there are some houses backed up to the area on the other side of a fence --- that there made be overhangs or some other opportunity for the kits to get out of the worst weather. We have been at a 'truce' point for some time so I don't ask anyone on the other side to do anything. I feel fortunate to be left alone to do as much as I can because the original land/property owners were very amiable to having us on the property -- then one of the managerial leases wanted us gone, but was not able to get that accomplished -- so I try not to ruffle anyone -- the store leasers or the adjoining property owners.

Despite sending out cards and accepting an invitation to share X-mas dinner with my former employers, it is so hard to think of the holiday being so close. As usual, since my cancer dx -- now some time back ( 2007 ) I tend to see every day as a holiday so they all seem far away until they just jump right out at me almost. Yeah for gift cards -- since I'm a last minute type.

Hope you are all going to have a great Sunday.

pingpong1953

Sounds like Cleveland - the western suburbs would get a few inches and the eastern suburbs would be buried. It's basically the same Lake Erie snow belt that dumps so much snow on Buffalo. I lived in the western burbs!

ChiSandy

Yup--the infamous "lake effect." Along the lake in Chicago, it's usually a bit warmer in winter (except when we're deep into Chiberia) and considerably cooler (sometimes decidedly chilly & foggy as late as June) in summer. When the rest of the city--only about 3 miles w. of us--can be dry in winter, we can get snow-slammed. It's utterly unpredictable: the weather reports predict precise amounts of snow for most of the area, but just vague "lake effect" for us, with no way to forecast amounts, which can be nothing or several inches depending on the neighborhood. I've had to spend many a time shoveling 6" of "partly cloudy" off my walk or digging my car out of it. But it's nothing like what they get in NW IN or SW MI. One year we were playing a concert in S. Bend, IN, about 2-1/2 hr. east of us. Clear skies & pavement as we started out, but by the time we got to the church where we were to perform, we had to dig our way out of a foot & a half (we arrived before the janitorial staff and had to find the shovels and salt ourselves). We played to us, the staff and the minister.

43 & cloudy here right now. They took the showers out of tonight's forecast.

IllinoisLady

I wake each morning with the thrill of expectation and
the joy of being alive. And I'm thankful for this day.

Angela L. Wozniak

IllinoisLady

Drizzles out today -- heavier than yesterday's....and I say 'sigh'. It will warm us up to the low 50's so maybe I should just keep quiet and enjoy. Dh home today so not sure what I'll get done, but yesterday I thought today a good day to totally empty my closet. Time for a good clean out. I've not done that for some time and I hope I can truly improve things in there.

Have to try and get an appt. today with the lady who does my hair. She was out for a lumpectomy ( after having adjuvant chemo therapy first ) for a couple of months. I waited on her to get back. In the meantime I've let my hair just grow out and am going to try a perm now with much longer hair. If we have a cold winter ( they have said it will be the last three yrs. ) it would be nice to have longer hair. I hope I don't GURANTEE a cold winter with a possible prep for it. Oh yikes....

Hoping too that all we get is drizzles today. More rain coming Wednesday. Starting to wonder if rain this time of yr. is our new winter time. Use to we would get about a month of snow all together -- while we would also get a month of really COLD weather. They didn't always match up well, but they almost always happened. Last few yrs. -- not much. So, it is okay. I still need my hair done.

Will go over for a bit on Wednesday and visit with my cousin's dog. They have an appt. and no reason to put Muff in the kennel for something so brief. So, I'll go over and play with him for a bit. Sounds like it will mainly be inside if we have rain.

Hope you are all going to have a good day.

IllinoisLady

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
--Benjamin Franklin

IllinoisLady

Good day today. Looks like we will mainly be gray ( ugg ) today and maybe more rain tomorrow. It really ( mini-warmth pattern ) really doesn't seem we are this close to X-mas. We will go to my bill's house X-mas Eve. He usually hosts a barbecue. I will fix some dishes to take. Dh and I are not real fond of the barbecue so I generally make home-made ham salad and other go along's. Recipe for the barbecue is said to be my deceased mil's, but both Dh and I think it tastes nothing like what we remember. Then again, it is said your tastes 'can' change every 7 yrs., so maybe that is why we no longer care much for it.

I go to Aldi's for many things and it is where I get the crackers that we use when eating ham or egg salad. They are quite similar to Townhouse -- but taste better to me than Townhouse and don't cost near as much as Aldi's brand. That is Savoritz Buttery Crackers. Also, a couple of the places I go ( won't name names here ) where I've purchased crackers, they always seem to be all broken up --- like they are handled very roughly in shipping. This is why I originally tried the Aldi brand crackers. That and either a sweet salad or a dessert and we will be great.

Hope everyone is going to have a good day. Hope your work is VERY near completion Anne, and that weather elsewhere is going to be okay.

ChiSandy

50 and sunny here today. Dinner will be munchies from the studio snack table at the WDCB Holiday Hoot tonight (and leftover steak at home at midnight). I usually bring baklava (from an Arab bakery in Dearborn, MI) that the psychiatric group at Christ Hosp. sends us every year as a thank-you gift for Bob referring them patients, but I guess he didn't send them enough patients this year. Was going to cut up a Collin St. fruitcake we had hermetically sealed down in the basement fridge, on the ground that "fruitcakes are forever." Collin St. is consistently top-rated; this one was 10 yrs. old. Well, another myth shot to hell--almost bent my knife cutting into it; and it smelled like rancid flaxseed oil (you know, that oil-based paint smell). Blecch! Into the garbage it went. At least the tin it came in is nice. We also got some fancy cookies from the podiatrist to whom Bob refers, so maybe I'll put a few into it to bring with. The DJ bakes brownies made with Guinness in the batter. Since the station is on a college campus (College of DuPage), that's the closest thing to alcohol allowed in. Knock wood, this year will go more smoothly than years past--no snow this time, no agonizing backache like last year, and hopefully my partner Stephen won't get lost en route to the studio like last year (when we had to send out a search party while I did a solo tune to start the set).

IllinoisLady

When we recognize that nothing has to go right for us to be happy, that people do not have to behave for us to love them, our walk home can be surprisingly simple. We have enormous power not to manipulate the world, but to be happy and know peace. -Hugh Prather

IllinoisLady

Sunny out for the moment. There are though some dark cloud patches. I do expect that we might see that rain today. Hoping if so, that it comes after I've done my kitties. After that I will go to my cousin's and play with her/their dog for a bit and let him out to 'go '. Then back here to continue with my close. Most everything is out and it sure looks way bigger again. It is a small walk-in --- but I only had a small patch to stand in -- far too many things in there. So, it will be nice to finish it up.

My car is dirty again, but I'm going to wait a day or two and hopefully get past what rain we may get.

Still making trips to the Goodwill store. Haven't found any major finds since the three ( still in original wrapping ) sets of expensive hotel sheets that I am totally taken with now. They were originally ( from whatever store they came from to get to Goodwill ) $70.00 -- and as to the tickets had been marked down twice and still didn't go. I paid $16.00 for each set -- well under the price of just one set. That only happens on occasion -- like the Coach purse I found at Salvation Army for $2.50. I feel like no one knew that it could go for more. Still, it was mainly being in the right place at the right time more than anything as I don't go that often generally. I have gone more to the much closer new Goodwill store because it is much closer and I am out every day.

Hope that nice sun holds for a while. It will not cool off real soon - though the rain will make it seem unpleasant. Later the cold will come back. I need a couple of days to finish up some outdoor things -- if I can get to it. Likely the last chance.

ChiSandy

Sunny but 15 degrees colder today. Yesterday's Holiday Hoot at the radio station was fun!

Anneb1149

Hi everyone,

I should have known better than to think the repairs would be done by Christmas. The new hurricane windows and doors have to be removed and a new set made and installed in about three weeks. The shed is where it belongs, but is not anchored yet, so we can’t use it. Our roofer also does pressure cleaning. We need the back patio, front patio, driveway and garage to be done, plus the hole in the ceiling on the back patio needs more work. Other than the doors and windows, it is all pretty minor. The roofer came by yesterday to tell me he would get everything done by the end of today, because he is leaving to take his Mom to Alabama for the holidays. I told him I would be fine if he could just pressure clean the back patio and let everything else wait till after the holidays. He was really grateful. But he hasn’t gotten here yet, and it is almost 3:30. He has called twice to let me know he will be here.

Otherwise, I am not ready for Christmas at all, and absolutely not ready for it to be only 4 days away. Lots of people are getting gift cards this year. My brother is driving to NC tomorrow to spend Christmas with his kids. I am not feeling great, and that affects the amount of work I can get done. Last week, I cooked dinner every night, this week I haven had the energy to make even one. My youngest daughter says I have to push myself to do more,but I don’t think she realizes how painful my back gets with the little I do manage to do. Today, we went to GameStop, Target and Kohl’s. My back is really sore. This is almost as hard to accept as the BC Dx was. was. I am so used to being busy and/or available that needing to “pamper” my back is really krimping my lifestyle.

On top of the house repairs and my back, Christmas is very hard for me because the family does not get together any more. My daughter that lives 2 hrs away will be here for a couple of hours early afternoon, and my son “may” stop by on the way to his in-laws, even though they celebrate on Christmas Eve. Christmas dinner will just be the daughter who lives with me and me. Her son will not even be here- he will be with his Dad’s side of the family. I can’t get used to these quiet Christmas Days, because we always had loud, crazy days with all 5 kids and whatever grandchildren here. We would start out at my oldest daughter’s house, where she would make a big breakfast, then everyone would go home and then come to our house early afternoon to eat dinner somewhere between 4-5pm. I would be fine with just the church part now. It used to be mandatory for everyone to go to church together. This year, even church will only be Tracy and me.

Oh how I miss the old days, and i am not usually a Debbie Downer.

Anne

bonnets

Hi Anne, sorry the repairs are going so slow. I empathize with you on Christmas, any more I'd just as soon go away. My son is in Vegas area, we went there for Thanksgiving and my birthday. Daughter cant figure out why we no longer make the trip to Maryland. With DH sleep apnea, he is too likely to fall asleep and I don't do traffic, especially all the trucks on the road as we go thru Harrisburg. She says "well you cud fly down, but that means going to NYC to get a flight. We used to visit our grandparents, Back in the Old Days! And of course I think of my Amy , as she passed away on Dec 9, was 14 years, but still makes Christmas sad, as she was always the one to remember us .Her kids are mostly in Texas, with one in the Army in Washington State. DH's daughter and family will come over Sunday afternoon and we go to their place on Christmas, Mostly her hubby's family then. Supposed to rain on the weekend, with snow showers on Christmas. The grand kids are all growing up, not as much fun as when the kids were small! Oh well, can't change things. Will spend tomorrow wrapping presents. Might put my village up, got the rest done.Hope everyone has got the list checked off and have a Blessed Christmas.

carolehalston

Still working on positive Christmas vibes! Plans for family Christmas dinner have changed thanks to massive amounts of rain. Now the family will gather at my house instead of my sister's house. Her yard is too wet for the transport van carrying my mother to drive to across the grass to the ramp. So I'm in cleanup mode.

Tomorrow my brother from OK and his wife will arrive and will be staying with us. I have their bedroom cleared and cleaned and will clean the bathroom today. They will be easy houseguests but houseguests nonetheless.

Last night was a Christmas get-together at our club with dh's golf group. Tonight is another golf party with my golf group at the home of one of the women. She had an awkward accident and broke her ankle on Monday but she's going ahead with the party anyway. I am bringing (taking?) an appetizer that I need to put together this morning. It will be a crab dip.

Yesterday was fairly major grocery shopping.

I have decided to do a lot of cooking on Sunday so there will be less mess in the kitchen on Christmas morning.

I realize that my mental state is not healthy. I keep reassuring myself: this all will be over soon. It's ironic/funny that Anne is lamenting a quiet Christmas and I think her plans sound nice!

On the optimistic side, we all have that BIG Christmas present from our President, a giant tax cut. I know, sarcasm is the lowest form of humor!

Happy Thursday to all.

IllinoisLady

"Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone's life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance."

-- Roy T. Bennett

IllinoisLady

Hope the quote ( which I chose before coming here ) helps at least a little Carole. OTOH, many of us are finding it hard to find peace and contentment right not with the Washington crowd. That is the only reference I will make here on that score. I think ( praying heavily ) that the new yr. will help us all move along in positive directions. I've always believed that negative instances are the REAL ones that help us grow, but I do admit that sometimes I'm mystified as to just how I turn these things into a vehicle for growth. So, you have company.

Sun is out today which inspires me. The rain I was sure would come yesterday never made it. Can't be too unhappy there, but I did not wash my car on the strength of rain coming -- so now I have a shabby looking car. No matter what happens I will have to go through the car wash so I can move around during X-mas Eve and X-mas Day ( though I can't imagine who'd really care around here ) feeling as though I can present myself properly. Sometimes we/I can be a bit odd about what we think is or should define us, huh !!!

Hope all are having some sun.