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

IllinoisLady

Whether you know it or not, one of the most
important relationships in your life is with your Soul.  Will you be kind
and loving to your Soul, or will you be harsh and difficult?  Many of us
unknowingly damage our Souls with our negative attitudes and actions or by
simple neglect. By making the relationship with your Soul an important part of
your life, however, by honoring it in your daily routine, you give your life
greater meaning and substance. Use your experiences--all of them--as
opportunities to nourish your Soul!



Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross

carolehalston

Puffin, lovely pictures. Looks like you and Lew are both enjoying the time with your young family members.

We left the a/c on last night, only the 2nd time this July in MN. We're planning to drive to St. Cloud today, about 2 hrs., and possibly buy a boat at a marine store there. It's an older boat that has most of what dh wants.

Wishing everyone a good day.

Joan811

Hi from the west coast. This is my last full day in CA.

We spent a few nights in Berkeley, then in Monterey, and four days in Mammoth Lakes. I loved Mammoth and saw so many great places like Mono Lane, Devils Postpile and Hot Creek- all geologic wonders. I collected a lot of volcanic rocks to mail home for my geology lab.

My son drive us back through Yisemite whi h was a special treat. Weather was perfect in the Sierras. But it is too dry.

Mommarch, thinking of you and praying for the best possible outcome.

Anne, sending hugs your way. It is a very tiugh situation with your DD. she knows you are there if and when she has had enough of this craziness. I am glad you can stay connected with the grandkids. That is so important.

Carole, i wish you continued safe and peaceful travels! And Teacher, i am glad you had a good vacation.

Jackie it is so good to have a job you enjoy.

Sending good wishes to all.

octogirl

Joan811, so glad you enjoyed my back yard! :-) Yes, Yosemite is too dry, although in a sense you lucked out if you had perfect weather there....we've had more than normal amounts of rain, hail and even snow in the high country the past few weeks. If you think it looks dry now, you should have seen it a month ago :-(

I love the Mammoth area and Eastern Sierra also.

Puffin, love the family pics. I am seeing my grandkids in two weeks, can't wait!

The weekend was nice, but it is warming up this week. We will be 105 by Wednesday, and sunny. Going to go for a short walk this am before it heats up.

IllinoisLady

Some people never seem to grow old.  Always active in thought, always ready to adopt new ideas, they are never chargeable to fogeyism.  Satisfied, yet ever dissatisfied, settled, yet ever unsettled, they always enjoy the best of what is, and are the first to find the best of what will be.

 William Shakespeare

IllinoisLady

Saying a big hi to all this a.m. Got home last night about 10 p.m.  A little later than I expected.  Had a difficult time this time.  One of the little Yorkies -- actually the old one, but not that old, took sick ( on a Sat. when there was so little help to be had ) and passed away.  Very sad and I truly hated having to call and let the family know.  We get through whatever we have too, but we really don't have to like it.  I will be staying again this coming week-end but feel it should be fine.  The older dog did have 'issues', but it is always a very sad thing when the 'owner' can't be there --- so you can let your friend know personally  -- but we did ok.  Lots of tears -- both ends.  I thought the older Yorkie was a rare jewel and she will be sooo missed.

Otherwise we/I'm fine and looking forward to catching up around here so that I can do almost an instant re-play this week-end.  There were two weddings scheduled and both out of town for my employers -- so a bit of non-stop  work almost -- but you take what comes and work with it.

Joan, wow --- your excursions did sound like they were memorable and enjoyable.  So funny to hear someone say they are sending rocks to themselves but I know -- the only way to get them home.  I just find rock study fascinating anyway. 

Puffin those are pictures that just yell fun and memories the minute you see them.  Grandkids are almost always fun -- made for a grandparents delight I think.

We are hearing thunder, but not sure the rain will come.  The humidity is here though -- ick. 

Anyway, off to the bank now and to feed the feral kitties.  Hope you have all been well ( Mommarch ) and keeping cool -- termite -- sounds like you may be getting some of the yucky humidity too. 

See you all later.

Jackie

Wren44

Joan, One of our dilemmas trying to downsize is what to do with all the rocks. We moved ourselves from Houston to Seattle in a rented truck. Every drawer I looked into had rocks in addition to whatever else is there. I have a beautiful white & rose quartz rock from my first backpacking trip. My family made fun of me because I was complaining how heavy my pack was all the way up - and then picked up a rock to take back. I went to Greece with a group and we picked up so many souvenir rocks that we joked about them being trucked in at night for us to find.

bonnets

Wren and Joan,

At least you don't have to wrap all the rocks when you pack them up! I collect both Depression glass and antique china head dolls. I cringe at the thought of us having to ever make a move and pack our collections. We had to take everything off our walls and shelves when we did the roof this spring . That in itself was a job.

had 3 lovely cool days this weekend, now we are back to summer heat and humidity.Had rain last night, looks like we may get more. Need some now , after a pretty wet spring ,

Been doing better on the gluten free and FODmap diets, but today was one of the not so good days. Went to lunch with a friend and had to head home early. Phoooo! The gluten free was a challenge when we were in Montana.

Anneb1149

Hi everyone

Jackie- so sorry about the little yorkie. We had a similar situation years ago. One set of good friends left their old, blind and deaf dog with another set of good friends for the Christmas holidays. The owner even brought over materials to build a secure area for George. They weren't gone 24 hrs when George got out, fell in the pool and drowned. The friend responsible for George came over to pick my DD to babysit. She was so upset. She knew she had to tell the owners, but it was 2 days before Christmas and didn't want to ruin the holiday. What followed was about a 15 min conversation on what they could say to the owners without technically saying George was gone "he's been no trouble at all", " he hasn't made a sound" , etc. The day after Christmas they told the owners, who weren't at all surprised. They knew it wouldn't be long. I'm not sure who was most upset- Diane for having the dog die on her watch, or the owners that were so upset that Diane and her family had to deal with it.

With all the talk of grandkids, I have to post one of the recent pictures we had taken:

Anne

MomMom

Puffin, Love the pics. Grandchildren are such a blessing!

Mommarch, you are in my thoughts daily. Thinking of you also Sandra & Mike. Healing thoughts being sent to you all.

Paula

MomMom

PS - Just got to the page to see your lovely photo Ann. You are a sweetheart of a mother and grandmother.

Paula

IllinoisLady

Ann, I love your "granda and kids" pic too.  You hit the nail on the head ---- I'm sure my employers feel bad that I had to sit with their sweet little friend while she went to the Bridge.  Sad !!!!  Though it is something that you never do at all well most of the time ( and it still hurts plenty ) I do have, likely since I'm a rescuer, a little more experience.  What saves me is knowing that all distress vanishes and that animals are generally way more accepting of it all --- we are the ones who have trouble in those areas.

Again -- a very beautiful picture.

Jackie

carolehalston

Great picture of you and the grandchildren, Anne. Enjoyed seeing it.

Your employees couldn't have had a better person in charge during their absence, Jackie. Sorry you had to deal with the death of their dog.

Joan, your trip sounds wonderful for a geologist!

Hi to everyone else.

We bought the boat in St. Cloud yesterday and it sits outside by our deck. It's a 1988 boat and motor and has some signs of wear. Hope it works out for us and we get some use and enjoyment out of it. I'll post a picture.

Off to exercise this morning. It rained last night and is supposed to rain more this morning.

IllinoisLady

  If the sight of the blue skies fills you
with joy, if a blade of grass springing
up in the fields has power to move
you, if the simple things of nature
have a message that you understand,
rejoice, for your soul is alive.
 
Eleonora Duse

IllinoisLady

Morning, and how great Carole.  Now you have a boat and can come and go as you please on the water without waiting for an invite.  I know nothing about boats, but think --- if the motor works well enough and there are no holes in it -- then hopefully you will have something to putz in when you like --- or to go "catch" dinner for tonight so all should be well.

Don't you have to give 'her' a name now and break a bottle of Champaign on the bow or something before you take your maiden voyage --- hmmm, I made be thinking of a bigger boat -- but just for fun, maybe I would carry along a little bubbly on the first trip out and drink it -- rather than spill it all over the outside of the boat. 

Hot, hot, hot here today and humid again.  The door to August lately is looking yucky that way.  We will see.  Lots of time it dies down and we are ok.  Time will tell.  I will see you all later when I'm off work.

Blessings,

Jackie  

octogirl

Hi all:

checking in to send greetings from sunny and too hot California. Did a morning walk today, almost a mile, yay, and can definitely feel it warming up. Triple digits today for sure. I plan to spend the rest of the day indoors in the lovely air-conditioning....

Love pics with grandkids, and will love to see the pic of the boat!

Octogirl

MinusTwo

Carole - what will you do with your boat in the winter? I can picture you pulling it home to use on the lakes & in the bayous.

Sandra - thinking of you. Hope you've been able to slow down some & Mike is still doing OK. When is your trip to FL?

sandra4611

Hi everyone. I hadn't been here since July 20th and with THIS group, that means pages and pages of posts to read before you get to the end. It was good to catch up with your lives and learn that for the most part, you are doing ok. Mommarch, hope you continue to have a better than expected time with this chemo.

Things are up and down here. Mike had another bone marrow biopsy last week - first one since the one in December when he first went in the hospital. It takes a long time to get results since it has to go to three different labs so I don't expect to know anything for another week. His routine labs are staying steady. None are great but they aren't taking dips like they were back in January. In spite of the lab results, the important thing is the % of cancer cells in his bone marrow. It will tell us a lot about how his illness is progressing and give us a better idea of when he will have to have the bone marrow stem cell transplant. I'm still hoping to put it off until the end of the year. I'm on several support groups where people report how their loved ones are doing after transplant and it's so discouraging. So many don't make it or have such misery and suffering in the first few months especially. There are some bright spots however, so we'll cling to that.

Allison leaves to go back to Chicago tomorrow. It's been wonderful having her here for 6 months. We've gotten along great and she's become my best friend in many ways. She will move back into her apartment and should have a job back at Northwestern within a few weeks. She's been in touch with the HR department and since she is a former employee, they think they will find a place for her quickly. She goes back with only one of her kitties, which is sad, but in the 10 days since Joshua died, she's made a lot of progress in her grief. She has decided she will get a new kitten so Toby will have somebody to play with while she is gone all day, but isn't ready to do it yet. Assuming Mike is still doing ok, we may go up there for Christmas. We've visited Chicago a number of times but never during the holidays. I especially want to go to their legendary German Christmas Market. Allison has sent photos in past years and it makes us all so homesick for Germany.

Welcome to all the new folks. Kisses and hugs to all the "old" folks.

IllinoisLady

Sandra, such a delightful note.  I'm so glad Allison has decided Toby will get a companion.  I think kittens/cats are much like us --- we can be alone but are so appreciative when we have someone with us to share in our joy and be a warm comfort when we are not having peaceful times.  Good and bad feel different if there is someone to divide them up.

Hoping Mike's tests turn out ok.  The stem cell transplant sounds so strenuous and difficult -- and harsh for a while.  Whenever it needs to happen just know you will have so many, many cheerleaders wishing they could be right there willing things to be ok as soon as possible.

I looked at your graphic and you know your right.  I feel ( at least to a fair degree anyway )  that I'm only mildly " older and different " than I was  a few yrs. out of school.  Full of energy and life and eager for whatever would come next.  Well, you know we are that way --- but I admit a little more restrained about it all.  In fact, I enjoy much of how it goes now.  There is time in between things now --- lighting Mach speed no longer needed.  It would be nice to multi-task like I once could -- but oh well.  I'll just make  lists -- juggling ten things at a time isn't as necessary now. 

Hang in there Sandra --- and big hugs right back at ya !!!

Jackie

carolehalston

Sandra, it's good to have you drop in and give us an update. My dh is from the Chicago area. I have always enjoyed going into the city. It really is a wonderful city that offers so much. I love walking on Michigan Ave. The buildings are so TALL.

I'm tired this afternoon. We had a good workout at the gym, then had a delicious breakfast at Great Northern restaurant, and took care of some errands in town. We now have more reasonably priced insurance on the camper and insurance on the boat.

This afternoon I cleaned the hull of the boat and did some cleaning on the interior, too. DH has been puttering around and checking out this and that on the boat.

I wish someone else were in charge of cooking dinner tonight!

IllinoisLady

To possess a rich life of wholeness that brings happiness into the soul,
is to show loving and caring characteristic traits toward others.

Ellen J. Barrier

IllinoisLady

Good Morning,

Wow !!!  he heat sure has been oppressive these last two days.  Not great beforehand -- but so very sultry and sticky these last two.  Hoping as we move toward the week-end that it settles down again for a bit.  I really dislike it when it is like this.  I have found though --- if I make myself slow down when I'm outside and not do things I really don't have too --- that is tolerable.  I'm never really going to like it though.  We have the big wading pool out and filled for the dogs -- as usual -- they are using it as a BIG water bucket -- but at least it is there for when they are outside. 

I think there are many parts of the U.S. that are getting excessive heat right now, so I am in good company.  Seems like it has made people much quieter here on the thread.  I'm here at my normal time as it is a 'break' time for me to relax ( and I need to do this anyway ) and cool off after the morning chores we have to do right away for all the animals here.

I hope you are all going to have a really, really good day.  I'll be thinking of you.  I've a few things to accomplish.  Dh is going to day to have a hearing test.  Hmmm, finally.  He always speaks about how well he hears, and I certainly don't feel his hearing is as bad as mine --- but he isn't as he once was.  I think he use to equate good hearing to thinking sounds woke him up at night.  I never felt that.  I think you are in a 'wakeful' state already if you hear enough at night for you to think it is waking you up.

Have to admit though --- to me, nighttime is time to sleep and that is what I do.  I rarely have a "wakeful" night -- though I do get up a time or two to use the bathroom.  I get back in bed sometimes wondering if I'll be able to go back to sleep -- because I'm more 'wakeful' then I meant to be --- and the next thing I know its time to get up.  Always been that way -- and it has not mattered what condition my hearing has been in -- good or bad, just the same.  I'm glad he is doing this -- it is good to know.  He also gets a free Wal-Mart gift card -- aha.  Now we know why!!!!

See you all later on if your here.  I'm off to do the feral cats.

Blessings

Jackie 

Anneb1149

Hi all,

Today marks the end of a 5 day stay-cation for Tracy and me. Everyone else in the house left for sleep-away camp early Sat morning, leaving Tracy and me to fend for ourselves. We've heard from Dougie a few times- enough to know he is having a great time and enough to let us know he is having a better time with Uncle Rob than he would be having if we were there. One text was a picture of him climbing a huge tree- so big you really had to look to find the speck that was Dougie- on his way to a zip line. A later text says he didn't "stick to the basic zip" , he turned over and did an upside down Spider-Man, whatever that is. Like I say, if Mom and I were there, really doubt he would have zip-lined at all.

We have really taken advantage of this break. We have not cooked once, but have either ordered in or gone out to eat. We have watched movies, and caught up on what we had on our DVRs, and read, and just were lazy. One day, I never got out of my Pj's. The house stayed pretty clean, and even if it hadn't, the cleaning lady came yesterday, so it is all nice and clean for the homecoming invasion tonight. I did do a lot of laundry over the weekend so thr three campers can have the machines for the next couple of days.

Jamie seems to have taken my decision in stride. Both kids are coming over this afternoon and staying for dinner.

Sandra- both you and Mike are on my church's prayer chain and ex will be praying for good results from the recent tests.

Anne

octogirl

Anneb: thanks for this post: I've been thinking it is time to get a cleaning lady, and your post helped me see why it is a good idea. I can afford it, and even after I am through all the current 'stuff', I'd much rather spend my unscheduled time lazing around than doing housework! I have a growing list of 'things I've thought about while recovering from surgery that I want to do soon' and I am going to add 'Get a housecleaner.' to the list!

It is hot here, but not humid at least. Triple digits. Like you, Jackie, I usually don't have any issues sleeping. Last night was an exception, as I am feeling anxiety about uncertainty with my initial post-surgery apt with MO scheduled for Monday. Planning to nap and stay out of the heat today. Hope everyone has a good day.

Octo.

carolehalston

Good for you, Octogirl, on deciding to get a house cleaner.

Anne, how wonderful that you and Tracy had some days of peace and relaxation.

Hang in there, Jackie. Don't let the hot weather get you down.

It has been very windy here today, 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. I went to town and bought some groceries about mid morning. This afternoon I cooked a pot of chicken and sausage gumbo and brown rice.

Maybe the wind will settle down and dh and I will have a chance to try out the boat tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a good day.

carolehalston

Dh is standing in the boat.

carolehalston

Stern view.

IllinoisLady

Carole -- that is a great looking boat for its age.  Looks like it matches your truck in color too.  I enjoyed the few boat rides I was able to take on our lake here.  It is a drinking water/fishing lake.  Big, but nothing else is allowed.  People are not even  supposed to  swim in it ( partly a liability thing with the city ) but some kids do.  Anyway, you can't go very fast on the lake -- maybe 5 mph or something like that.  But the shore is all woodsy with lake cabins all up and down and  in the big coves.  Water is usually not really choppy so it makes for a really great ride. 

I could almost imagine the last time we went on the lake.  We don't know anyone with a boat now. 

Your deck looks so homey and just right for you camper.  Even in the heat we are having -- I can't imagine not having a deck.

Well off and running.  I'll see you all later.

Jackie

octogirl

Love it Carole!!

AussieSheila

Hi Carol, having been campers until mets dx, I have been wondering how are you going to take the deck and boat with you when you return home? We had a camper trailer (basically a tent on wheels that opened up like a flower to become our home away from home) that was capable of going to the roughest places, which we did as we wanted to prospect for gold when we retired. We loaded that thing up to the gunnels and still couldn't take all we needed, like enough water to last three weeks a long way from civilisation. Have you got some kind of attachments on the roof of your 5th wheeler for the deck and are you allowed to tow two trailers in the US?

Just curious,

Sheila.