I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Enjoyful

I'M WATCHING, BLUE!!!!!

bluedahlia

Those dragons better stay alive!

bluedahlia

Taking this stiff body to bed.  Hope everyone has a good night.  It's Bill Maher night!

Bren-2007

Sunnyflowers .. these are the good kind of malted milk balls.  They are really big with a huge mound of chocolate covering them!

hugs,

Bren

Enjoyful

They are the best in the world.

Ugh...had to wipe drool off the screen.

alexandria58

Watching Game of Thrones!!!  YAY.  Too long a wait.

suzieq60

GG - I wouldn't take him - he never could ready quickly enough - I like to leave at 6:30am.

Bren-2007

Morning Gal Pals,

Gorgeous day here.  I noticed on my drive down to NC yesterday that all the Red Bud trees are blooming, as well as the Bradford pears.  My regular pair trees are blooming too.  Hoping the Anjou pears grow this year.  The last two years for some reason, we didn't have any pears.  I actually mowed yesterday ... guess it's really springtime now.

Blue .. I used to watch Game of Thrones when it first started.  But we don't have HBO anymore, so I can't keep up with what's going on.  The last I saw the little blonde queen had the dragons and was searching for a kingdom.

Yorkie ... I hope you're feeling much better today after your injection.  Back pain is the worst ever.

Gumby ... Have fun in Hawaii.  Should be beautiful this time of year.  I remember getting these special kind of chocolates in Kona.  They were milk chocolate with a hint of Kona coffee mixed in.  Can't find them over here.  Do you remember what they're called?

Tim is home today ... yay!  So we're going to walmart together.  Saturday at walmart ... soooo much fun!

Can't wait to see my grandsons next Saturday.  Getting excited about the trip.  I've got all their presents and candies ready to go already.  Just need to save a little room in my carry-on for some clothes!

hugs to all,

Bren

Anonymous

Still drooling over malted milk balls, and how they can soften in your mouth, and just b4 one is gone, you need another one...aaaaaahhhhh...

GG - going gluten free make the BIGGEST BESTEST difference for me when I was doing my 5 years of Arimidex.  Learned from a friend who has celiac disease, that her doc had "tested" a gluten free diet on several of his older women patients who had severe osteoarthritis, and they were just tired of taking such STRONG medication to deal with pain.  The "results" were amazing - incredible reduction of inflammation, and much MUCH less pain from normal, aging, osteoarthritis.  That was all I needed to hear - I took ALL the frozen loaves of Trader Joe's Three Seed & Honey ( my favorite bread) out of the freezer and feed it to the birds.  Literally.  Within 2 to 3 weeks I went from needing 10 ibeprofen a day for joint paint, to, dah, dee, dum - NONE.  Nada.  Almost pain free.  Felt like I'd taken about 30 years off my 95 years ( as I felt) and went back to be "normal" age 65.

Still don't use any wheat, pasta, no soy with wheat, and I don't miss it.  If I feel like eating a sandwich, Udi's is the bread I use, I'm too lazy to bake.  TJ's has a great selection of Udi's with good price.

None of this is, of course, scientific, but in my gut I know it will be in a few years.  I feel SO MUCH BETTER, less bloat, more energy, much lower fasting blood sugar levels, and much less appetite.  All good.

pupmom

My cortisone epidural really worked! I'm about 95% pain free. Once in a while I get a little ping of pain, but nothing like before. WOOHOO! Don't know how long it will last, hopefully forever, but I'll take today!

208sandy

Yorkiemom - I had a cortisone shot in my hip a month ago and I agree with you - only the odd ping and I can finally walk upright for the first time in two years - don't know how long it will last for me either but sure makes living a lot easier doesn't it - Yaaaay for us!!!

pupmom

Sandy, absolutely! People who don't suffer from chronic pain have no idea how debilitating and exhausting it is. My DH and I were thinking canes and maybe a wheelchair for airports. Those things might still be in the cards, but I sure hope not. Congrats on your shot lasting a month! May you have many, many more pain free months and years!

Bren-2007

Sure am glad to hear that Yorkie and Sandy are having a good effect from the injections!  I may need one soon for my right neck/shoulder/shoulder blade area.  Pain meds help, but it's not a solution.

Sunnyflowers ... is there gluten in malted milk balls?  Does candy count?  I might be able to do gluten free as long as I can eat some candy.

hugs,

Bren

Anonymous

sandy, yorkie - so good to hear you've both gotten relief from pain.  Yorkie - use the wheelchair in the airports, makes it so much easier - and faster.  Save your strength for that lovely holiday ahead...and remember many people now use "walking sticks" on vacations - they telegraph up, and down - so easy to carry.  Check out the LL Bean website ;-))  I find it so much easier to use a walking stick, than a cane..after a while, a cane hurts my hand.

hope the shot lasts a very long time...

Enjoyful

Pain is exhausting.  My onc recommended acupressure (no -puncture because of neutrophils) but fascist Medicare doesn't cover it.  Thanks, Obama.

BENGHAZI!

suzieq60

Markets were great this morning, luckily I got there in time to get a nice selection of fish. Steve still asleep when I got home, so trying to take him is just not viable.

QuinnCat

E - I'll double your Benghazi and raise you 2 IRS's (and I still have a few more tricks in my bag).  

Pain sucks...so glad you got some relief Yorkie.  E - I hope you can get some relief.  I'm not going to advocate for malt balls, though I just ate a chocolate cupcake, so who am I to say anything.

My alternate Devon Rex Breeder should have had kittens today (really, due yesterday).  Need to get on FB to check out any news.  I'm not sure a third cat is my future, but I'm still tempted and these kittens might be a cool white with brown and orange spots on the face and ringed tales...or pure white.

pupmom

For Athena

IllinoisLady

Oh what a gorgeous picture Kam.

Kam and E, I'll toss in some of those expensive un-authorized and completely un-necessary vacations and how dare the bum take them.

Jackie

IllinoisLady

suzieq60

WARNING RANT

Would it me too much to ask for a parent who might actually ask how your breast exam went the other day??????

Just hung up on my mother - can't stand it any more. Here she is diagnosed with a leaky heart valve - symptoms of which include dizzy spells and fainting spells and she can't see that it is a threat to innocent people and even herself if she drives??? We had a case here last year when a pregnant mother was killed by an elderly female driver.

I have a great book called 'Will I ever be good enough' - it is for the daughters of narcissistic mothers and oh boy my mother fits the bill VERY well.

ananda8

Suzie,

It must be frustrating and hurtful to deal with someone who only thinks of herself and always sees the negative.

My DH's mother was something like yours.  Difficult didn't begin to describe her.  After years and years, he finally decided to just love her and not expect anything like a normal relationship with her.  When he called or visited, he didn't expect anything positive from her and just ignored her negative comments.   

Calm your heart. 

Anonymous

oh, yorkie, what a gorgeous, gorgeous picture, also makes me cry.  I miss her.

E - hope you find an acupressure person ( most acupuncturists also do it) who like the woman I see, uses a "sliding scale" and ALSO barters her work, Ye Olde Where There's A Will, etc.  If it will help - DO IT.  no just about it.  DO IT.  ALSO, many physical therapists who are covered by most insurance who do acupressure....

How DARE they take a vacation, after all, they have such easy, no pressure jobs, no responsibility, no tension, they should just work 24/7.

Bren - I wonder if there IS gluten free candy?  I know I stopped eating my favorite Danish licorice, it is made with wheat - and is estrogenic, 2 strikes but I still miss it.  Sometimes I BINGE & buy Trader Joe's licorice & have it for dinner!

pupmom

Sunny, I know what you mean about Athena. And thanks for the tip about the cane and also using a wheelchair in the airport. I've just got to get over my pride! It's very upsetting because both my mother and my DH's mother didn't need wheelchairs until their 80'2, and his mother had Parkinson's! I'm "just" 65 and here I am.  But it is what it is and even if my pain is relieved I know I cannot navigate airports like I used to. Thank goodness DH still can. But as his disease progresses, hopefully very slowly, we will probably become more or less grounded. He will hate that and might try to find ways around things, like taking a grandson or two along for help. We were talking about all these issues regarding aging and health last night. Sucks.

Suzie, I have a sister like your mother, but with alcoholism and drug abuse on top of the personality disorder. She put the entire family through total hell and I don't speak with her anymore. Not suggesting that with your mom, cause it is a very different type of relationship. But life is short and it's unhealthy to be engaged with toxic people all the time 

IllinoisLady

Yorkie, how wonderful you related the need to put some distance ( maybe lots of it ) between yourself and those who just bring nothing but destruction to you.  I've had to do it with two family members.  I did not do it lightly......each person had more than 30 years.  I though, can still recall the feeling of a huge gigantic very heavy black cloud lifting off of me.  It was so freeing.  Once I did that....I was able in time to forgive the person for their behaviors and wish them well. 

A very difficult thing often to do since everything we are ever taught is to worship our family ties and in many cases these people can seem so 'normal' to outsiders.  I am totally convinced that we are HERE for the betterment of our souls and when I thought about my family members doing some of the things they did, I KNEW that I would not let an acquaintance get away with it, and once I realized that, it was easy to not let them either.  Just as we have to so often advocate for our own health, we also have to be the keeper of our souls and not let someone willfully  apply tarnish under the guise of "family". 

Jackie

crazy4carrots

Family ties are usually the ties that bind -- for better, for worse etc.  A few years ago, I had an internet "feud" with my American nephew.  It was over some awful rightwing nonsense and I honestly felt that if he truly believed in that utter crap, then I wanted nothing to do with him.

Well, yesterday, we both attended the funeral of his uncle/my brother-in-law, and I said prior to seeing him that I was stupid to forget all the other things that tied us together -- his and my deep love for his late mother/my sister, love of his own sisters and dad, plus the fact that he and his wife raised two wonderful kids who are now both serving in the armed forces and doing their parents so proud.

So, we hugged, we talked (about everything else besides politics!) and now we're both relatives and friends once again.  There's something to be said for never discussing politics or religion with those whose thoughts aren't exactly in sync with your own!

Edited to delete my Mac advice, as it doesn't necessarily work every time....

bluedahlia

Everyone in my family are Liberals and when we talk politics it's to discuss how stupid the other side is.  So we're in full agreement.

bluedahlia

Add this fact to the dying oceans (full of plastic, making fish die and the rising temp of the water) we're bound to see some kind of crisis,  Maybe then, and it might be too late, the repugs will come to their senses.

http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/3_times_sustainable

pupmom

But as you say blue, by that time it might be too late. I've become quite the pessimist about our future as a species and what we're doing to all other species plus the environment. Pretty much feel we've doomed ourselves and the earth.

crazy4carrots

Well, the same folks who want to "take their country back"  (to the dark ages, presumably, when all these modern-day problems like climate change etc. hadn't been thought of...oh, and women were totally subservient to men.....and the only people who truly mattered in the world were Christian and straight) just simply don't want to hear about today's and tomorrow's problems when the fixing of them will cost money and disrupt their comfy way of life.  Yorkie, I'm pessimistic too, because there are too darn many people who couldn't care less about a future without them in it.....