So...whats for dinner?

Eric! posts must have crossed. I didn't see you say you sent an email til I read your post..LOL. .but I'm glad you did. 

Auntie I love your baking center. I've been busy with the wedding I haven't done any baking and not much cooking either lately. I've got to start up again. But I've been pretty tired. My knee is giving g me a lot of grief. That and my ankles, arms back and other knee. Oh. And did I mention my wrists? LOL.  Whine whine whine! LOL.  But less than 3 weeks to my new knee so hopefully a different pain to whine about.... LOL

Lacey, I hope you enjoy your dinner out and don't wear yourself out with all the cooking and baking you are doing. 

Tazzy, sorry I forgot to say Hi! So hi.

Bedo that concoction sounded great. How'd it turn out?

Special and minus, yes I understand the lack of willingness to suffer fools. Although I have to admit I turned down March of dimes and still feel guilty.... LOL

Much love to all. If I missed someone it was not intentional. Just I haven't taken my Co Q 10  lately....

Ditto on compliments on that great backsplash, Nance. When we re-did our kitchen, I foolishly decided to continue my kitchen wallpaper thru the backsplash area. Duhhhhh, it's called a backsplash for a reason!  At some point, I need to change it up and your choice looks like a good option!

Moon, hope your joint pain lets up. No worry about whining here......;) 

On a non-food topic, I am getting prepared (at least cognitively) for my meeting with MO later this week, and I read up on people's experiences with AI's. Am feeling panicked at the notion of more joint pain (especially hand, which I already have pretty significally), cognitive fog, and weight gain, among other indelicate QoL reducing side effects.  

Is there anyone out there who takes an AI who has minimal side effects? Feeling so resistant to return to how awful I was feeling before I abandoned my tamox regimen. I think that for me, it's probably a case of my body just screaming out, "Don't mess with my estrogen or I'll turn you into a pained sloth!!"   Talk about anticipatory whining......:/

lacey - since being on the food sensitivity diet for 6 months, which lowers inflammation, I have no joint pain.  Already had hot flashes due to hyst/ooph 13 years ago, AIs (and chemo) did not make that worse, or better.  I took Femara initially for 6 months (Mylan brand) as my onc favors Femara due its statistical edge.  Mylan was the available formulary at the pharmacy.  I switched to Arimidex because I developed a trigger thumb, my onc was casual in suggesting the switch, just to see if the trigger would resolve, which it did.  It took a year to develop some more triggers in different fingers/toes/ankle, and some knee pain, so I ended up switching back to Femara because I felt that if I was going to have these issues I would rather be on the med he likes better.  When I switched back I ended up taking a different brand (Teva) and have been on it for a while, and have no problems.  I did have some mild joint pain, but after 90 days on the diet it went away.  I was also able to lose weight.  I am a happy girl!

Thanks guys....notice my safe generic term. So not sure if my post reflected the funk I am in about this damn upcoming meds decision, but since spending a lot of time last night researching all of the AI SE horrors, I have been in a very worried mental state. But life goes on, and after sending DH off to the store to pick up some ingredients (as I was not worthy of public viewing yet today)I was busy looking up which dressings I wanted to make for the salads I'm bringing tonight....when suddenly DH bombs back in the house with an announcement that "DS2 is here....with someone". 

Well! Sure enough, I was face to face with Chicago girl, his serious love interest. They were heading from western MA where they had attended a wedding this weekend, to the airport, and decided to briefly stop in so we could finally meet her, before the meeting we had planned in early July.  Yay! I have to say, my mood is now anxious and elevated. She seems lovely and I can tell they are both so good with each other.....so.....elevated mood since I am so happy for DS2....anxious because we really don't want him to relocate to Chicago, much as I love that city. To be determined.....

Okay.....back to dressings....

A friend sent this...he said he was going to step out onto the back porch....and had his mind changed.😨

Sharon used to jog a bit and her knees started bothering her...she felt it was just "getting old" stuff.  Of course the above would certainly turn either of us into a world class gymnast...if only for just a moment..

Eric, eek!

Lacey, I really haven't suffered a great deal from taking arimidex.  Warm flushes are my main complaint.  It remains to be seen whether my difficulties with weight loss, elevated bp and elevated cholesterol can be attributed to arimidex.  I haven't had problems with trigger fingers or joint pain.  I think it's an individual thing and you shouldn't expect to experience all the SEs other people have attributed to AIs. 

I read pages and pages of the discussion forum about AI SE's and was extremely nervous about popping my first little white pill.  I immediately discovered that I didn't want to take it in the morning.  That first day I felt about 100 yrs. old.  So I started taking it at night.  I also take a benedryl as a sleep aid and I sleep very well. 

I honestly think that stopping HRT was the big life changer for me.  If I hadn't developed bc, I would still be taking it and feeling great.  For the sake of women, I hope scientific evidence emerges that HRT doesn't cause bc. 

We had less rain today.  I am so ready for some sunny breezy weather to make the golf courses playable.  I've had enough of being indoors.

Enough whining!

Oh, hardly a whine, Carole. And thanks for your input about AI's. I'm glad that you have done so well on yours! My track record with hand and other joint pain doesn't bode so well for me......

I have a 70 year old friend who is on HRT, and I just learned that recently. No wonder she seems like she drinks from the Fountain of Youth!!

Our search committee and spouses potluck dinner tonight was fun. I did have to avoid some delish looking things that had dairy....but admit that by dessert, I had a piece of carrot cake that was out of this world....with cream cheese icing! Rogue me! Everyone loved the salads I brought...and I made enough.

Happily, tonight I met a woman (another search member spouse) there who teaches K in our town, and she indicated that she would love for me to arrange to teach her class my social skills curriculum. I might well get in touch with the principal there and see if they are interested since it's where my heart is! That was my potluck serendipity!

We live on the preserve here and get poisonous snakes all the time - I will never get used to it!  My DD's good friend was actually bitten by one that was under his car in the parking lot at his workplace - in downtown Tampa!  He spent three weeks in ICU and took 24 bags of anti-venom.  It bit him on the calf and hit a vein - by the time he got to the ER he was already losing his sight - fortunately, it was temporary and he is fine now, but that is because he is a big, strong kid, and was 22 at the time, but even with that he came very close to losing his leg. 

I will have to get my DD to send me the pic of the one that she helped the police kill in the next door neighbor's pool enclosure.  It could have eaten your woodchuck. It was shocking!

Coral snakes have the stripes all around their bodies, including belly.  They're very poisonous and like to hang around in sheds.  I saw one or two of them when I was growing up in the boonies.

SpecialK, that's pretty scary to have poisonous snakes in parking lots!  Glad your DD's friend survived.

Speaking of cognitive function....  I drove through frog stranglers today to my (I thought) 12:00 periodontist apptment.  Was greeted with surprise since they were expecting me at 2 pm.  Killed time at a shopping center and returned for the apptment.  Then drove through more frog stranglers on the way home.  I am TIRED of frog stranglers!!!!!

Home-made pizza for dinner tonight.  Crust dough thawed out of freezer.  Impromptu sauce:  yellow cherry tomatoes, EVOO, sliced garlic, fresh basil out of garden, splash of v-8.  Other toppings:  Italian sausage, sliced kalamata olives.  Grated mozzarella cheese and asiago cheese.    May make a tossed salad, too.

Speaking of poisonous visitors, we had another copperhead under the front sidewalk this morning. Some burrowing critter dug a hole, which attracts snakes. I saw a black snake there the other day. DH filled the hole with concrete this morning. If the snake didn't leave, he's buried in cement. I've seen more snakes this spring than I saw all last summer but this is the first copperhead this year.  we usually get one a year near the house.

Tonight was sirloins with mushrooms in a sort of gravy, steamed broccoli and roasted sweet potatoes with cinnamon.

Got the snake pic from DD that was in the next door neighbor's pool enclosure - this is a big snake! It is about 6' long and it had 11 rattles.  It was a shame to kill it but this was the second time in a week that it came out of the preserve.

Here's how we always ID's Coral snakes - Red & Yellow, Kill the Fellow.  Red & Black, Danger Lack.  If you want to take time to see which stripes are next to which other stripes, you can determine if it's a harmless King Snake, or the deadly Coral.

Wow Special.  I've seen Rattlers but this one's a really good size.  When we first moved to Texas my son (age 3) opened the front door of the apt to go out & play.  I was upstairs making beds.  He called & said Mommy come see what's at the door.  I was a little ticked since I was busy but I went downstairs.  There was a Rattle Snake coiled on the front porch.  Had to call one of our new neighbors to come kill.

Yeah, Minus, that was the rhyme I was too scared to remember and didn't care what "friend of Jack" he was - the version I learned.

That is one big rattler. Never seen one and I used to live in El Paso and Albuquerque.

Tazzy - go glad I have added frog strangler to your vocab and everyone else's. Don't forget the added "turtle floater" also. Now if y'all would just send one our way please.

Leftover meatloaf tonight. Yes, better than last night. It was a "sweet" one but I left out the added brown sugar per the reviews. Maybe should have added 1/2 the amount.

Never had snake. Have had venison and cabrito. Understand feral hog is good but haven't had any.