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

Linda,

It's 37 here this morning, so enjoy your 48!

SIL came knocking on the door on Sunday . Tells DH that one of his trucks isn't working and he has plans to get his stuff off the property. When??? I'll believe it when I see it! After 10 years, it will be a miracle. Maybe your BIL and my SIL are brothers of the same mother! DH believes him, me, not so much. Time will tell for us both. If anything happens to my DH I will do what I need to to get SIL OUT. He gets so mad when We say anything , he scares me sometimes. Good luck, Jean

We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly -
spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity
to renew itself and create order.
- Susan Taylor

Afternoon to all,

Had to start work a little early today.  The good part is that today was the last day to do my friend's house and cats ( all such sweet things ) and I won't have to go back to my other place of work until Tuesday.  Nice to have some catch up time for me.  That has been in short supply the last three or so months.  Though I would get to anyway --- I'm looking forward to sleeping in ( if possible ) tomorrow and just being sort of lazy at first.  There are always numerous things to catch up on so I will have to lollygag just a bit and then get something going. 

Have lots of yellow, and orange tinged leaves outside.  There are plenty already on the ground too.  Not ankle deep yet though. 

Linda, I sure feel for you too.  I never had the pleasure much of not having to be fairly responsible and I do think it is extremely difficult at times when you have to deal with people ( really close -- like underfoot close ) who have never really been that way.  I know due to mental issues they look at things differently, but even knowing that --- I would find it so hard to be somewhere where I often was not wanted.  We don't know how its accomplished because we were never like that nor can we be. 

Anne, I don't think its really normal to live where there is no natural light.  I don't think I could do that either.  Well, actually we all do what we have too, but that would have me climbing the walls and likely spending as much time outside as I could. 

I don't have any answers about anything today ( I think I'm too tired to think ) but I am trying to send positive energies to everyone and hope that good answers and maybe even a stray wonderful solution might just show itself. 

See you all later.

Blessings,

Jackie

Hi Ladies

Linda, good luck with your BIL. Try to relax and take care of yourself.

Sandra, your trip sounds fantastic. Glad Mike is doing well. We have been to Key West a few times. I love to just watch the people there.

Carole, it is always nice to have a relaxing meal and great conversations.

Had my mammogram yesterday - everything is okay. Then saw my radiation doctor for my 5 year check up. and then had to have a xray cuz I am spitting up blood when coughing. That came back clear but since I did it again today a few times I need a cat scan tomorrow. Hopefully, it is just from the coughing. They said they would have the results by late tomorrow. Next week we are suppose to take 2 grandkids to florida with us. Then their dad will bring the 3rd one down with him at the end of the week. The oldest is in excellerated classes and he has too much homework to miss 2 weeks of school. The other ones are in 2nd and 4th grade and will bring their work with them.

Time to try to get some sleep. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Today and tomorrow we're getting into serious freezing. We've flirted with temps around 33 but my flowers and even the tomato plants have held up. Weathermen were predicting (correctly) temps in the mid 20's so yesterday afternoon I picked ALL my cherry tomatoes. Last year I spread them all out on cookie sheet and eventually they all ripened so will try that again. We have 4 rain barrels behind our garage, didn't want them to freeze and crack the plastic so I drained them, hauled the water to various trees in the yard. It dropped to 26 degrees last night so that should take out the annuals. Next project will be to pull them up and add them to the compost pile.

Lew's sci fi club is sponsoring their annual festival/convention this weekend so Lew's been busy printing the banquet tickets, name badges for the 3 guest presenters. Does anyone watch Faceoff? It's a competition show for people who create the special effect makeup for movies. Anyway, one of the celebrity guests this year at the convention is Laura, the winner from the second season. She ended up working on the makeup for the Hunger Games Mockingjay. There will be Q&A sessions with the guests, workshops, panel discussions. The banquet is Saturday night with the costume contest after. I won't enter the contest but plan to wear the same costume I wore last year (think I posted a photo here), will be nice this year to have my own hair and more energy.

I'm still taking my tombstone photos but have had to adjust my times, my hands get too cold taking the photos in the morning and the camera batteries don't like the colder temps either. Looks like it should be up to 50 degrees by 3 this afternoon so think I'll go then and try and get a couple rows done. I've counted up the number of rows I'd like to complete before it snows, and at 2 rows a day I have 8 days of work. With the convention this weekend, won't be taking any photos. Rain (snow?) predicted for a couple days next week. I'll get done what I can, it's not like they're going anywhere!

Wishing a good weekend for everyone

Good Morning,

Nice to be up and feeling rested ( it was after 7a.m. when I finally awoke ) and enjoying coffee ( second cup ) after most of the morning chores -- all done late. I never think I'll get an actual chance to sleep in -- how refreshing to have it happen.  I think Dh didn't make it up when he usually does, hence my good fortune. 

Puffin, I forget how fortunate we are to have ( usually ) a lingering Fall.  Hard to predict anything the last few years, but when normal we sometimes have to wait till almost Christmas for the first good snow.  We still have a fair amt. of leaves on the trees, though they are 'colored' now and have yet to have any frost.  Our nighttime temps will start to dip down later on, but hopefully most days will be full of sun. 

Got a kick out of what you said about your tombstone pics.  That you had plenty of time since they weren't going anywhere.  Reminds me of long ago when we sent my Mom with a Realtor to preview some houses for us.  We were living in California still ( and what can you tell much from pictures about how a house feels and flows ) and Mom previewed one that was across from an old cemetery.  Was probably the house we should have taken -- but I remember Mom saying to us on the phone --- it would be a great place for you, the people across the street never make any noise. 

Anyway, I'm still doing my amoxicillin but have been feeling fine now pretty much.  A little lingering very, very lt. hoarse sound, but not a problem as it waxes and wanes.  I base my recovery on the fact that I was coming home ( from wherever I had been ) sitting in my recliner and falling asleep.  I'm not a good "napper" and now I sit in my chair and nothing happens.  So, I'm sure I'm well on the way.

Don't have to go back to work until this coming Tues.  Hope I can inspire myself to complete some chores around here that went begging badly while I was helping my friend get back into her house from the attic fire.  She seems to be doing fine pretty much. 

I'll be back later so see you all then.

Blessings,

Jackie

Gosh, Jackie, that's a mini vacation if you're off work until Tues. Of course, your work hardly seems like work the way you describe it.

On freezing the shrimp, Rita, I take a freezer quart-sized bag and run some water into it. Then count out the number of shrimp for two helpings. Depends on the size but the shrimp I bought yesterday were very large so I will probably have to butterfly them. If I need to add a little more water, I add it. Squeeze the air out of the bag, zip and lay it flat in the freezer until it freezes. Then it can be stored standing or flat. For thawing, I put the frozen package in a bowl of water, maybe change the water in the bowl a few times. When the shrimp are thawed, peel and prepare. My favorite cooking method is sautéing in some butter mixed with olive oil or other veggie oil of choice. Grape seed oil has a high cooking temperature. Most important with shrimp, don't overcook.

I use the same method with freezing fresh fish fillets. Of course, you could use a plastic container, too. The shrimp I buy are usually not a long time off the fishing boat. You can easily tell if shrimp are fresh. They're very firm to the touch and the heads are securely attached to the bodies. Pinkish color in that attachment area between body and head means the shrimp aren't as fresh as they could be. When you're removing the heads of very fresh shrimp, you have to rip them off.

Termite, what lucky grandchildren to have grandparents to take them to FL. They must be well-behaved children for you to want to take them. Is your house sale going through?

Blondie, haven't heard from you in a long time. Hope you're doing well. Haven't heard from Cammi in ages. Or Chevy. Or our clown. We miss you non-posters.

I'm having lunch today with a long-time friend who lives about 20 min. away but we never seem to get together. So I made seeing her first priority today. We're just going to Longhorn. It's the get-together that's important not the food.

DH is washing my car. I'll go out and towel it off.

Happy Friday.

Hi Ladies,

it's cool here , but the sun is shining. Supposed to get sown into the 20's at night, by the weekend. HAve kicked the heat on off and on for the last week or so. The colors in the Hudson Valley are spectacular this year, and we are not even at peak yet. Some of the trees have shed a lot of leaves, birches and black walnuts esp. The squirrels will be fat and happy this year. We had no walnuts last year, but this year is a bumper crop. Love these beautiful fall days. Sad to see the mud slides in Calif. Our daughter was lucky that their condo in Myrtle Beach survived the floods there. Snow may be the adventure for us this year!

Spending time wading thru the Medicare suppliment and advantage policies , to try and decide what to do this year. No increase in medicare and premiums going up.

Have a good weekend. Jean

Anne, thank you. DH and I never wanted or had an opportunity to be leeches. It's so disgusting and today I'm powerless over it. I hope your closing goes off soon. I was a document reviewer in one life and sometimes you miss something. It happens to me when I do web pages too; sometimes it looks different online than in preview - that's my current job now.

I'm working from home and listening to meditation music and drinking peppermint tea. I'm having one of those tearful, anxious days and I'm feeling sorry for myself. I choose to end these yucky thoughts by 1pm and replace them with positive thoughts.

Carole, a full freezer is wonderful. Enjoy the shrimp and steak.

Jackie, thanks for your inspirational posts and celebrate your time off.

Puffin, hope you have a good weekend too. I may go with a friend to her synagogue. Some are having talks about Israel since people are being stabbed and bad things are happening. Please pray.

The fall colors are pretty here too and some of the leaves are dropping. It seems so soon. I refuse to turn on the heat although it was in the 40s this morning. I'm wearing a flannel shirt and warm socks.

Time for lunch, have a great day!

Linda

Pessimists see only the dark side of the clouds, and mope;
 philosophers see both sides, and shrug; optimists
 don't see the clouds at all--they're walking on them.

 Leonard Louis Levinson

Good morning,

Sorry to say we did not close on the house yesterday. Someone (we know who and he apologized profusely) changed the amount on the mortgage from $130G to $120G's. That threw everything off. Suddenly, my SIL had to pay $1800 at closing, and my check would only be $2000 instead of $9000, which I am giving to them anyway so they can make some needed repairs. The end result of the closing will simply be that they own the house, not me, which was the plan from day one anyway. The closing was set for 1:00 yesterday and Nancy was a wreck because they couldn't reach Jeff who was the one who created the whole deal. Turns out, he was in the middle of giving a speech somewhere. He says he couldn't stop the speech to see why his phone was blowing up with texts, he just prayed his family was okay. As soon as he could, he called Nancy and immediately told her it was hismistake. The closing is now set for Thurs at 11. I tried to calm Nancy down by telling her there was no reason to panic - they didn't need the money to close on another house and nobody was waiting to move in. This is merely paperwork, and unless we are all happy with the deal, we don't do it. And if we can't do it this visit (I leave next Sat), we'll do it when I return in Dec.

Meanwhile, I think you all know what a pushover I am when it comes to my kids. I lend them my car pretty much whenever they ask. Nancy, in fact, uses my car the whole time I am not in Ga. I am not sure if you know we have a young college student living with us right now in Fl. She and her sister were raised in foster care, and Rob got very close to them when they came to his summer camp, starting when they were 11 and 12 and has become their "big brother", "mentor", "surrogate father" etc. So when Becca needed a place to stay while attending college this year, we took her in. It is working out fine, except last night she called to see if she could use my car to go to Orlando this weekend. Luckily, my daughter gave me a heads up, and when I asked her why Becca needed my car, Tracy said just because it's bigger and nicer. So when she called, I told her I had already told my youngest daughter she could use it Sun. Becca has a perfectly nice car of her own to use. And being the age she is, I can only assume a trip to DisneyWorld includes drinking and partying. She is probably going to be upset when I let my son take my car to come to Ga for Thanksgivng. But that's my choice because I want to switch the cars and he's available to do it.

No big plaNs for the weekend- hope you all have a good one

Anne

Frankly, I think Becca has a lot of nerve, asking to borrow your car, Anne, when she has one of her own. She should be grateful that you're giving her a place to stay and she shouldn't be trying to take advantage of you.

Jackie, I earned a real estate license many years ago and did not ever use it. Real estate involves far more work and time than many people realize.

It's a lovely day here. Windows and door are open and no a/c humming. I went to a farmers' market this morning and spent quite a bit of $$ on veggies, some home-made feta cheese and a container of a spread called skordalia, characterized by the seller as an "ancient Greek garlic aioli." I think the sign by that booth said there were no carbs in the skordalia but I just looked up recipes and they all had a potato base, which doesn't jive with low carb. Oh, well, the container is only about a cup and you use just a little of the spread because it's very strong with a garlic taste. I put some of it in a chicken salad I made today.

I'm glad you talked to Cammi, Jackie. Evidently she is doing ok but just doesn't post here any more. I think Chevy gets bored with us, and I guess I can't blame her!

Dh and I have season tickets to the Abita Opry and there's a performance tonight. So we'll have to go and will miss the Cubs game. We'll have our cell phones and can check the score.

Happy Saturday.

Prayers are with you.

So much to read after not being on the board for three weeks! Welcome to the newbies........good to see that Carole made it safely home after another fun summer in Minn. and it's sooo great to read about the fun Sandra and Mike are having in Florida! Termite, I'm sorry about the nodule found on your lung scan. A very close friend of mine had a similar scare following a chest cold but they did a biopsy and found it was benign and that it was caused by the cold. She was put on a strong dose of antibiotics and it disappeared. I'm optimistic that you'll have the same outcome, but it does cause anxiety for sure! And isn't it irritating that these things always seem to happen just when you're going on vacation?

I've been on an adventure of my own for the past 3 weeks. In March I had my yearly appt. with my opthamologist (sp) and told him about problems I had reading or watching TV while laying down on my back. He said that was because my eyelids were halfway covering my eyes while laying down. He also said that insurance rarely covered it (especially the eyebrow part) because it's considered elective plastic surgery, however my lovely insurance authorized all of it! So, long story short, 3 weeks ago I had an eyebrow and eyelid lift!! While I was really excited to have it done, I was also afraid that I'd come away with eyebrows up to my hairline and a forever look of surprise! LOL As of today the swelling is almost gone (yes I did have to hide out at home for the first 2 weeks) and I'm very pleased. Everyone says it makes me look at least 15 yrs. younger....... and at my age I'll take that! I need to wait a few more days before I can get back into applying eye shadow and liner but I can wear eyebrow pencil and mascara...... even that little bit looks good. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll put my before & after pics on here.

Now for the downside! The surgery took 5 hours and recovery was (and is) extremely painful.......much more then my lumpectomy which also only took about an hour in surgery! I had staples placed in 5 different areas along my hairline (which were removed last Friday). A large portion of my forehead and the sides of my face are numb to the touch but painful underneath.....hard to explain the odd feeling of not being able to feel brushing my hair on the top and sides of my head and not being able to feel applying the eyebrow pencil. He said this should mostly go away eventually but I may always have some numbness. I'm unable to scowl but have no lines on my forehead........think Kim Kardashian lol! I had always thought I'd like to have a neck lift so no turkey neck but after this experience I've come to the conclusion that there are so many medical reasons one might need surgery, I'm not going to go through unnecessary elective surgery and weeks of recovery just for vanity's sake. Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend.

The picture is of my 4 yr. old twin grandchildren taken at pre-school. Life is good!

Ah sometimes it is good to complain.  The twins are beautiful.  That's a good reason to ALWAYS make sure you can see well.   Sure glad you said something.  And the big bonus -- the insurance being just fine with being charged for it all.  I guess some times the insurance Gods decide to treat us nice.  Hope your recovery just keeps right on going well.

Getting ready to turn my computer off and decided to check one more time. Glad I did.  Really cool tonight so I got out warmer pj's to wear.  I keep my bedroom door closed so the room stays cooler than the rest of the house.  I think I stay asleep better and actually rest more during sleep. 

Anyway, see you all in the lovely morning.

Jackie