how about drinking?

Good afternoon friends- well Jazzy is a bit frustrated on this Saturday. I had the second attempt today to get my large ash tree out front pruned. The tree company I usually use has been pushing me out repeatedly since I started trying to get this done in the spring to early summer. They have postponed on me twice and suggested now Sept and decided to look for someone else. So my neighbor referred me to his landscaping company. They said they would come look at it and give me an estimate (which they never did and I was away, blah blah blah). So today two guys showed up with gloves and were going to do the tree and said "is someone bringing the tree truck?" This is a very large tree that requires that and they looked at me with deer in the headlights and said all they could do was to raise up the lower canopy. Obviously no one came to look at the tree. Ugh. Anyways, they said they can find someone and said "that is fine, I have another place to call." Onward to a third tree service I used many years ago to remove a yucca that died and whom I know are good. This should not be so hard? I sent a message to the third company asking if they can give me a quote and get this done for me in August. Wish me luck.

Anyways, the good news is I am off to the spa for my monthly massage and work on my feet!

Cami- I am really sorry to hear about about your increased L. I know that is really tough to deal with, and it sounds like you have it in a few places. I am praying for better days for you sister. These past few months have been tough on you.

LLL- you sound like you are doing well. Working and rads at the same time right? I had internal rads (otherwise known as tubes in the boob) and was working during that, but remote for a client. I hope you are not feeling too tired. The whole working thing treatment and recovery is hard. Keep taking good care of yourself!

The floating on the river looks great. I used to do that on the CT River back east and also the Brazos River in TX when I lived there. So cool and refreshing. Jazzy likes anything with water. And I love watermelon juice and vodka with it would be divine, along with a sprig of mint?

NM- I have been limiting my time on FB lately too, went off it while away and it helped me to avoiding an annoying person who was bothering me (a crazy woman from my music world who has very poor boundaries) as well as a lot of other wasteful stuff. I joined FB years ago for music and yoga stuff, nice way to keep in touch with old friends but lots of anger and other weird stuff out there. It can be a time waster. I check it morning and evening and best to keep some boundaries around it. You have many better things to do!

Goldie- that picture is stunning. Never been there yet but on my bucket list. A dress for $12 is a smokin' deal, wear it when you have something special. I am not someone who likes form fitting, more form fitted on top and looser on the bottom to hide my lumpy body. I am sure you look dynamite in it!

Gotta get to my treatment and thinking of Hsant, Mema, Genny, CeliaC, and everyone else here I am forgetting. Wishing you a blessed weekend!

Well, the tree pruning was a bust but the spa was a plus today! Great massage with Jerod and had him work on my back (always needs loosening up after some flying time) and a good 1/2 hour on my feet and legs. My feet were bothering me the past couple days so very welcomed! Just enjoyed a delicious green chili crab cake from Whole Foods for dinner.

Chi- I have had that Bai drink before and they are good! I like to mix some of them with seltzer to get some sparkle in the mix.

NM, glad you had a nice relaxing day Friday. How big is that dumpster? I know when we were doing our house and we had a dumpster, it was like the size of a semi trailer. So I couldn't imagine filling it in a day. I'm thinking you maybe have one of those like square ones, that businesses use? I'll share a pic of the dress. Heck, even if I just wear it at home, DH will appreciate it.

Ilona, used to love to go canoeing in Michigan. I got this picture from a regatta they had in Laughlin NV. Love the watermelon spout. Yep, fill that puppy with some Wodka! The fatigue from rads in cumulative, so you may not feel it for a while.

Cami, I absolutely LOVE shoes and boots. When I get in a nice shoe department I want to buy every pair! I am so sorry about the L. I guess there really isn't much they can do with it, right? Except maybe reduce the swelling? And so sorry you have to take all those meds.

Wow Jazzy, what a PITA trying to find a tree removal person. Hopefully the the third one is a charm. Oh shoot, just saw it was a bust. Certainly you enjoyed your spa day! I'm, not really into form fitting either, even tho I am thin, I'm pushing 60, so there is flab. I don't like seeing panty lines and such, but may just have to suck it up! And for $12.00, like I said, even if I just wear it at home, since we don't really do anything "special". Beautiful sunset.

Sandy, too funny about the cave making you think of the colonscopy! Never have heard of that sweetener erythritol.

Washed and detailed my FJ yesterday. Today is get the pellet stove cleaned out and ready for winter, which will soon be upon us!

camillegal, I hope your feeling better today.

Jazzy, beautiful sunset

I got bit by the cleaning bug too. Yesterday I cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the floor, rugs and stairs, straightened up and filled the recycle bin. Today I'm on my 3rd load of laundry (towels, bedding, etc), then I've got to bathe my dog, mop the floors and hit the store for steaks (surf n turf tonight for my friends birthday and my 1/2 birthday). I'll be enjoying some wine, of course

I'm so thankful that I can be this productive. My stage IV diagnosis was a sucker punch, totally out of nowhere but I feel great, I always have, the only time I haven't was directly related to treatment (SE's and that damn surgical drain). Sometimes I wonder if the docs could be wrong since I feel way better than I rightfully should, lol (knock on wood)

I soooo can't wait to get in the water, I love love love the water, I'm a Pisces, grew up at the beach and always wanted to be a mermaid. Here's my happy place, Balmoreah State Park and San Solomon Springs.

Cami- here you go!

https://www.facebook.com/sothatsbuzzy/videos/18725...

Jazzy, mmmmm peaches... and lol!

Goldie, I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling great, you certainly look great and happy. I'm hoping the good health lasts for many years

Just enjoying a lovely glass of rose and watching the eclipse from the comfort of our patio - we will see 91% coverage of the sun. It is a beautiful, clear blue sky day - warm, but with a slight breeze. Cheers!

Good evening friends- happy eclipse day! Not a big thing here in NM, we were 73% occluded but also had a lot of rain and cloud cover around so not as much to see. I heard it was pretty cool in the dark path area though. I hope those of you who had a good view enjoyed it. Now what will the country have to talk about again? Nice diversion for awhile at least!

Went to my PCP today for my annual physical, and she came in the room with a little graph trending my weight losses from 2014 to now, including the 20 lb loss the past six months. She was all smiles looking at the big drop and said "wow, look at you!" But I also made sure she knew I had been working on it, as when they see a big drop, sometimes a sign of a bigger problem. I told her the endocrinologist had made a huge difference with helping me with getting the meds balanced and was swimming more. That is when she said "oh and I am so sad she is leaving us." WHAT????

So in fact, my endocrinologist will be leaving the medical group end of October and hoping to find out where she is going and will follow her if she is staying town and I can still access her. She is my most favorite doctor her eand really helped me more than any with some of the issues being on the AIs. Good endocrins are hard to come by here too, and know she was in her own private practice before. I have an apt with her in Sept and really need her help until I get through the last six months on the AIs and all she is managing. Funny, I always go in to my apts expecting one of my providers to say they are retiring (most are well in to their 60s), but my endocrin is younger and was not expecting to hear that today! Sigh.....

BP was very good today, going to get my lipid profile done this week and should be done with the more major check ups for awhile. She also told me about a great yoga class on Sundays I should check out, many bc survivors there too. Going to call the teacher (I think I know her) and been looking for a new class since I left the gym.

I celebrated the eclipse today by doing 80 laps in the pool. Crazy woman!

More tomorrow, hoping all had a good day today and a great start to the week!

Chi- it is pretty well known in the healthcare industry that many older docs retiring now. I am sure Bob knows this and sees his colleagues going too. I have watched it with healthcare clients as they put in major changes like the electronic health records and other changes that doctors want no part of. They use those as their decision point to just go. Even my PCP said today it is about productivity and reimbursements, but know that working as a healthcare consultant. My sister who is about six months from retirement now says the same thing to me all the time. They have young doctors leaving their practice and others retiring too. Docs are tired of being limited with the time they can spend with patients. I saw my PCP get that panicked look today on her face when she realized she was over her time with me and scooted out of the room quickly. We were done, but still, who likes that feeling!

My PCP is in the retirement age zone so I expect to hear it every visit with her, but don't. Family practice/GP/internal med docs are not coming up through the ranks either. Med schools cranking out specialists, but less generalists. I worry about mine too, but will try one of the ones in this group as I have been with this doc my entire 21 plus years here. The others have been more recent.

Williamette Valley would be awesome to go to. Best pinot noir anywhere. I bet you would have visitors galore!

Eclipse 2017 Moorestown NJ

Good morning, Loungettes!Twofer Tuesday today. The eclipse was rather disappointing here. Some clouds rolled in about eclipse time, it wasn't until it was all over that I realized that the dimming of the sun wasn't just the cloud cover moving in. It was barely noticeable from my point of view. I guess lots of people on top of Cadillac Mountain had a good time watching, though. I did see a really good view of the totality on TV at one of my patient's homes. It was actually pretty exciting, they were on an aircraft carrier deck, with the eclipse in one direction and thunder and lightning in the other! Lightning during the totality was really cool.

It got really warm here yesterday, supposed to be warmer and with more humidity today. Slept with the AC on in the bedroom last night, probably will need to tonight, too. Got a full day at work, probably won't get home in time to take Sadie swimming this peeyem, but I can hope. . . .

Illi--I live the water, too! Those spots look wonderful!

Jazzy--those peaches look marvelous! I hope I can find some around here soon. Hooray for progress with the Yoga! That must feel amazing. I prefer spirited and spontaneous, too!

Goldie--WOW, that dress is FANTASTIC!I love it with the belt and black shoes. The all white look is great, too!

Celia--sounds like you had a great spot for the eclipse. Glad you could enjoy it.

Chi--I doubt I could make the paper plate thing work, good for you!

Jazzy--Boo, hiss on the endo leaving the practice. It's so hard to find a really good doc in any specialty. I do hope you will be able to follow her where ever she is going.Swimming for the eclipse sounds like a good way to Save the Sun! Maybe it will become a thing?

Chi--we are at that age where things start changing all around us, including us! It's hard to deal with all the retirements. But I can tell Bob from experience that semi-retirement is a great way to live! Enough work to feel like a productive member of society, but with time to do things for fun. He should try it! Lots of folks in health care are getting fed up with so much regulation and computer/paperwork getting in the way of actual patient care and are looking at retirement or changing careers. Someday this entire health care system will implode and die a nasty, painful death. I just worry how many innocent patients it's going to take with it when it goes.

Dara--Poor Lucy, I would not like to have had all that done to ME! Glad the vet isn't concerned about the seizures. She sounds like quite the picky eater, though. Taking tests is hard work. I have a tendency to try to go too fast and also get distracted. I've learned to stop every 5 questions, close my eyes and take 3 deep breaths to keep myself from getting too tensed up. I look down when I do it so it looks like I'm reading. It reminds me to untense my shoulders and refocus. Keep working on it, I know you will do fine with the real thing!

Chi--oh my goodness, your kitties eating stories are hilarious! Love the head whomping part. Too funny. Also too funny they are both eating the same thing and haven't caught on yet!

Dances with Hornets' DOTD:

Hello Kitty recipe

1 1/2 oz vodka

1 1/2 oz Calpis® soda syrup

1 1/2 oz strawberry puree

2 oz soda water

Fill a tall glass with ice and pour ingredients in order. Similar to a tequila sunrise; the hello kitty is layered when presented but stirred before drinking.

Kim, you’ll be a lot closer to the totality for 2024—Mt. Katahdin (sp?) is right along the center line. (I bet there will be some sort of mystical gathering of hardy climbers).

Heid is still overweight, lost only half a lb. Because she has healed from the kidney stone surgery, the vet says it’s okay to feed her the same low-cal kibble as Happy. So since she only started eating that a week or so ago, she may yet lose some more weight.

Dara, wish I’d known you’d bought those glasses. (Gordy paid only $20 online—he could have stood in line in the predawn hours at the Daley Center or Lagunitas Brewery to get them for free, but he’s even less of a “morning person” than I am).

Coravin-ed myself an ounce of chilled La Spinetta Vermentino we bought in Tuscany last year. Almost broke the injector needle—not sure if that’s because the cork is synthetic (can’t tell w/o removing the foil, which you’re not supposed to do if using a Coravin) or because the wine (and therefore the cork) was ice cold in the fridge. Nice and crisp, with a little richness to it—went nicely with the shrimp “har gao" dumplings from Whole Foods I steamed for dinner.

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Hump Day! I am seriously blessing the inventor of room air conditioners after last night. So muggy here, and so warm, I'd have gotten no sleep last night without the AC. The humidity is supposed to be dropping off today, and I sure hope it does. This bit of taking a shower and then working up a sweat trying to towel off is nuts!Even Sadie is moving slower than usual, although she is getting in some runs around the yard whilst supervising the neighborhood. Speaking of Silly Sadie, she's learned a new trick. She's discovered that tipping over the bin that I keep the dog food in will make the top pop off and she can get at all the dog food. So now when I come home, if I don't immediately fill her bowl, say cuz I'm running to the bathroom cuzI haven't had a chance to pee all day, she dumps it over and stands next to it while I clean up the mess!All day she could have dumped it any time, she waits till I get home!What a nut.

Goldie-- I never thought eclipse watching glasses and such would go for so much money!Might want to hang on to the ones you have, only 7 years to the next eclipse visible in the US!FYI, that one will be viewable here in Maine. Nude or white, the shoes and the dress look great on you! Have a good trip to UT.

Chi--I bet there will be quite the crowd up on Katahdin in 2024. Elclipse, end of the Appalachian Trail, general craziness in the world, should be interesting. It's so hard to deprive our fur babies of food and yummies, isn't it?

Dara--hope you didn't lose power in the thunderstorm. And I know you will do just fine with the test whenever you decide to take it. Maybe take it on Friday but tell yourself it's not the real test, just another practice test? Sort of psych yourself out of being nervous. Have fun at Myrtle Beach!

Chi--Not supposed to take the foil off when using the Coravin? I wonder why that is, does it have anything to do with the way the machine works? Sounds like a lovely wine, and dinner.

Cammy--being alone can be a bit scary. Do you have one of those emergency call thingys, like a Life Line or such? There are really inexpensive ones you can get at Walmart and places like that and knowing you can get help if something happens will make you feel more secure. Keep up with the exercises, you're doing great!

Dances with Hornets' DOTD:

LIFELINE COCKTAIL

1 oz light rum

1/2 oz brandy

1/2 oz apricot brandy

1/2 oz triple sec

1/2 oz sweet vermouth

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a wedge of lime.

Hi mese ladies,

What fun we had until Monday when we tried to fly home. From Bossier to DFW (Dallas) is almost a 3 hr drive, we got up at 4am left at 5, dropped car off at 8:30 am took shuttle from RAC bldg. to terminals and discovered we were at the wrong airport...were supposed to b at Dallas Love airport, another hour away. So we missed our flight. Dallas Fort Worth does not sanction SouthWest air, but Love does. We managed to book out of LOVE via SW but not til 3pm. So we had a 4 hour layover basically. Finally got to LV about 3:45, jumped in a cab to my sons ($20 with tip). My DH maintained better than I thought, ya'll probably guessed WHO will never fly again, yep, DH, took me years to get him to fly somewhere with me and this nightmare f'd everything up. DLA (dallas love) was on the ticket but hell, we didn't even know there was a 2nd a/port in Dallas so we didn't kno better. Enuf of that.

Yesterday was my onco appt. Got my Xgeva injection and my labs done. Doc gave me copy of my results. She even sent a RX letter to the PS with instructions for them to call me for consult appt. Like hell, not going to until I kno whats what. But I am thankful that my onco's staff was able to get me into Diagnostics at 1 for mammo and ultra-sound on rt breast. Tech and I talked and agreed both breasts should be done. Tech got the approval and that's what we did. U/S was just the R breast. Anyway, twas another excrutiating (sp) day. Finally got cut loose at 3ish and made it back to Mesquite at 5, picked up our pooches (who peed themselves from excitement), all of us in our beds by 7ish. Still worn out today. The company I booked with will hear from me that's for sure. I am still totally wiped out so will keep this short.

Want to thank all my lovely ladies for ur support and prayers. Will get final answer on Tues. 29th, I think it's the silicone that was left from a '96 breast replacement, but won't know anything until tues. Trying to keep my head out of the wabbit hole...hate this.

Lubslubsllubs all!