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

I see Thelma (our clown) on Facebook so she's still alive and kicking. Haven't heard from Blondie in a month or so. She sends me private messages from time to time.

I arrived in Chicago last night. Today Allison and I took the train downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center at noon today where we met our assigned Chicago Greeter. It's a fabulous program and is free. You sign up on their website several weeks before your trip, telling them what you are interested in seeing. Soon a volunteer Greeter contacts you to discuss more about what you want to see or do. This trip I was interested in downtown Chicago's old buildings. Although I don't care about modern architecture and couldn't care less who the architects were, I love to see the oldest buildings. So many have been lovingly cared for. Many have fabulous mosaic ceilings and floors, grand staircases, and beautiful facades. We spent the day exploring. I even found out about the underground walkway, the Pedway, that runs about 40 blocks beneath the downtown buildings. I was surprised to see shops down there and even an LA Fitness Center with windows onto its pool. Allison and I finished the day just as it was getting dark. (4:30) We had gone to the German Christmas Market in Daley Plaza. It brought back so many good memories of living 6 years in Germany back in the early 80's. Tomorrow we will go back since I didn't get my gluhwein (spiced hot wine) due to the long lines. We had bratwurst & good German rolls called brotchen. Not as good as Germany but still pretty nice. I think I walked 5 miles today. Allison suggested we take a Lyft car home since my legs and feet were screaming at me. We don't have Lyft in San Antonio. It's a neat service, all done online. It took about 2 minutes from when we entered the info into the iPhone until a driver was there to pick us up. Downtown to Allison's apartment in the Ravenswood/Andersonville part of town, 25 minutes north, was only $19. Well worth it for this worn out old lady. I couldn't face the 1/2 miles walk from the train station to the apartment, in the dark especially. Now I have my jammies on and feet up. Feels good.

Tomorrow we're heading back downtown. We'll check into one of the fancy hotels for a day, go back to the Christmas market, go to the Art Museum, and wander around the nearby park. Tomorrow night we are meeting my friend Beth at one of the posh restored theaters downtown to see the Broadway musical "Beautiful", about Carol King and 60-70's music.

Sandra, So many new/old things . Haven't been home for 5 years! Never heard about the Pedway! You definitely saw the better side of Chi town. Do have some Chicago Pizza while you are there. The best! Jean

Mornin all,

Just a quick hello to let you all know I an still around. I got to my son's last Fri nite and other than whenLucia is sleeping, she and I are joined at the hip. This is the first time I've been with her that she is talking on her own, not just repeating what someone says. She is so polite. I am trying to potty train her while I am here and when I put her on the potty, she 'll say "no, thank you Grandma, no peepee now. We are having so much fun. On my way to go shopping with Rob and Lu. Will check in again later.

Anne

hi everyone. We're heading up to watch a movie. Just had my eyes checked... they've gone downhill a bit since the last check, so I'll be getting some new glasses... hope fully not too expensive. Bleah. Everything always costs more than I want to spend.

Sandra, you are having WAY too much fun! Seriously, I'm delighted that you're having such an interesting stay in Chicago. And you look extremely comfy in that bed with your grand cats.

Wren, thanks for the information on Blondie. I will look for her thread. Glad to hear that Chevy and Cammi are active on other threads.

Anne, you sound very happy spending a lot of time with your little grand daughter. How nice that she's polite. It speaks well of her parents.

I spent hours in the kitchen today preparing some meals for the freezer. I also made some fresh tortillas for Fajitas tonight. The home-made tortillas are so much better than the bought ones. No comparison really.

The weather was dreary all day. Fog, warm temperature, humidity, some rain. More of the same for the rest of the week but maybe the rain will let up for Christmas.

Puffin, we've enjoyed the outdoor Christmas lights this year, too. On the subject of birds, we have an acrylic feeder stuck to one of our living room windows. A pair of cardinals and another small bird we haven't identified are regular diners. Also a pesky squirrel that we chase away. We put black oil sunflower seeds into the feeder. DH maintains some larger feeders in the back yard. He buys the sunflower seeds in 50 lb. bags.

Termite, I know you'll be glad when your life settles down and you can adjust to your new home location.

It sounds like everyone is busy preparing for Christmas!

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that by His power you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Merry Christmas to all and blessings for a happy, healthy new year!

Hey Sandra, great pics--stirring up memories. When I worked for the AG's office in the NE Loop back in the day, I couldn't have survived the awful winter of '78-79 w/o the Pedway, especially when I had stuff to do at Federal court in the SW corner of the Loop. Sometimes when it was below zero, I'd even spend money on a CTA token & transfer so I could walk one continuous Blue or Red Line subway platform that ran all the way from Lake St to Jackson. In recent years, they've eliminated a few stations in between, and some of their street exits & entrances as well. You will love "Beautiful." It stars the older sister of the actress who won the Tony for it on Broadway. Ravens wood and Andersonville are the next neighborhoods to the south of Edgewater, where I live.

May try to hit the Christkindlmarkt today (assuming protests don't block access to it) if I have the time and energy after yesterday's flyathon (left the ship in Barcelona 7:45 am, flew to Amsterdam for an 8-1/2 hrs flight to Detroit (where it was a half-Mike slog from the gate to wait in line half an hr for the ICE kiosks, then another half-hr to get our bags and drop them back off at the transfer point, and then TSA again. Kept setting off the millimeter-wave scanner until I asked them to wand me. Turns out the problem was the hardware in my tibia and the zipper on my blouse/jacket--no way was I going to take it off to give everyone a free lingerie show. Bad enough that in Detroit I had to do the full Monty: take out my MacBook Air (which the TSA doesn't usually count as a "computer"), Baggie of liquid bottles, jewelry &I watch, neck wallet (had to stuff the latter items in my purse while holding my passport & boarding pass in my teeth to free up my hands) as well as remove my shoes. And DH got randomly selected for the pat down & wanting as well. So hot down there that they were running giant fans on the other side of the scanners. All the women my age were standing sweaty and spread-eagled in front of them--hot flashes revisited. Then long slog to our gate (as always, the last one) for the flight home. (Last gate again!). Fortunately, the baggage wait was short and there was no line at the cab stand. Home at last, after DH and I wrestled the bags up the stairs and into the house. By then it was nearly 10pm and we were starving and thirsty--but we were still on Central European Time so it felt like 2 am! Heated up some sauerkraut, a bratwurst and a kosher hot dog and washed them down with almost a liter of seltzer.

Today is for repairing my trashed fingernails, making appointments with the LE therapist and bone maven, yelling at OptumRx for not filling my Femara scrip, and doing last-minute shopping (half the fridge was occupied by science projects and there are still a couple of friends for whom I've not found the right gifts). Christmas Eve depends on DH's work hours: if early enough we'll go to B'way Celkars, if not we'llorder out for Chinese food (or if it's stopped raining I may even grill). Christmas Day our friends are roasting a goose. Since they live in north Rogers Park (any Chicago neighborhood with "Park" in its name means you can't), we'll Uber it there & back.

ChiSandy, glad you made it home safely with your sense of humor intact!

Linda, YAY on the BIL moving out. That will be one annoyance gone from your life.

Hope everyone's Christmas preparations are going well. I plan to do most of my cooking tomorrow.

ChiSandy, I love that any neighborhood who's name contains Park means there isn't any. Wish the Seattle neighborhoods had a code to tip people off.

Washington has been wet, wet, WET since about the middle of november!!! I'm sick of it.

Linda: Did Dr tell you not to put the aquaphor on within 4 hours before your radiation treatment? Use it liberally after the treatment, but not before.

Your greatest gift to your family and friends is yourself -
your relaxed, happy, and fully-present self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Merry Christmas to all my "oldy" young friends! Hope your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are enjoyable.

Merry Christmas! Waiting for DS to finish showering & dressing before we go to dinner. Our favorite neighborhood restaurant is open tonight, so we needn't observe the traditional custom of my people and go around the corner for Chinese food. Have a rotten cold so stayed in most of the day. Realized there was one friend I hadn't shopped for yet, but the book he'd have wanted was out of stock so I set out to buy him an esoteric bottle of booze. Unfortunately, all the liquor stores were closed by 5 (so I'm gonna have to make my own DIY glogg), but Whole Foods was open till 6 and with literally minutes to spare I found him an artisanal local single barrel small-batch bourbon. Also scarfed up nearly the last funny cards at Walgreen's--the funniest one I didn't buy was one I gave at the same party last year! Waiting for DS to finish showering & dressing before we go to dinner.

Hope you all have a Blessed Christmas, with no storms. Jean