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

Sounds like it was a dicey night out for you Sandy. The wind pulling you & suitcase -- just wow. Wondering aloud here but is it age that starts to make dealing with the wind more difficult. I do remember being "pulled" hard on windy days --- but I think I just didn't fight it all that much and apparently now do. Well, having to STAY on a sidewalk etc. in the city I guess just means to really do have to fight.

Hoping your cold travels are safe and hopefully not too windy. You are a real trooper.

We are staying fairly coolish here, but back to lots of sun which always minimizes the intensity of being out in the weather. Yesterday I stopped in at Goodwill and found two sweatshirts ( neither looked as though they had been worn, and if so it must have been very minimal ) for $3.50 each. I love getting a bargain.

It was so warm when I went though rain had been predicted and there was LOTS of wind going on. Still, it looked not great but quite okay. Just as I got ready to think about checking out -- I looked out and sheets and sheets of rain were coming down. Running water on the parking lot, the little bit you could see and it looked like it had the ability to go on for some time. I slowed my pace and did a bit more looking but finally checked out. I had a hoodie sweatshirt in case some errant drops fell and boy did I need it. It also had dipped drastically temp wise and what was 66 and warm before was now 44 and quite cool. I only had a t-shirt on under the hoodie and I was cold.

Stopped at Aldi's and picked up what seemed like tons of food ( 3 bags and two boxes ) and got home. No more real rain going on which made me happy. Outdoors it barely looks like it rained so much yesterday.

Hope you are all going to have a good Sunday.

I'm paying closer attention to Sandy's weather reports since we'll be heading north to Illinois, Chicago area, tomorrow. We're making it a two-day trip, hoping to arrive in New Lenox at a nephew's house on Wed. He is hosting Thanksgiving dinner with 25 of us, including his wife and two children.

I'll bring a parka but not a lot of warm clothes. Maybe it's just dh's family, but they heat their homes so that you can wear short sleeves. I learned this years ago when I used to pack warm sweaters. I like to keep our house cool enough to wear a cotton sweatshirt when it's cold and windy outside.

The nephew and his wife are not big on cooking so I won't be surprised if he gets catered food for the Thanksgiving meal. For Christmas he hired a chef to cook and serve the meal for that gathering which was smaller. We got a report from dh's brother, father of the nephew, that the Christmas meal was very good. It suits me not to have to do a lot of work in the kitchen for the same-old same-old Thanksgiving dishes. I know there will be good wine to enjoy. Plus we'll get to visit with dh's relatives in a range of ages.

Yesterday I worked on finishing up two crochet projects that involved making an edging around afghans. I have two more afghans to assemble. What to do with these afghans? Good question. The two unfinished afghans are heirloom squares that require making just about every possible crochet stitch pattern. It was fun making the squares, often challenging.

Today I plan to go to the library to rent some audio books for the trip. I also need to pick up a prescription. And pack my clothes.

Happy Thanksgiving week to everyone.

Carole, wow --- can't totally imagine not having a home-cooked meal on the holidays. I do admit a couple of times we tried a restaurant. It was okay. I think there is something about the smells, the memories and the left-overs that ( while for the cook or cooks of same might say something a little different ) that just have a feel of deep nostalgia to them. My mom LOVED making the memories for everyone. I am not good at that part but do try most of the time to do something. This yr. since I'm working pretty much it will be quite relaxed for us.

I hope the weather is good for you Carole. That is quite a drive to take but it is great to be able to do it and share time with extended family if you can. Anyway, catered or not -- spending time with family is always a good thing. I can imagine being too warm at places. We have kept out temps down here and once in awhile it is still warmer than I like. Dh can't tolerate much in the form of blankets, even throws if too heavy on him --- so he keeps the temps up. I think I'm glad we don't live in the Chicago area. It is much more temperate here ( the tippy-tip of southern Illinois ) and we are in that little pocket I've talked about before. There can be many extremes all around us while we barely notice. With the global warming I'm not sure anymore what we will have or when. I hope you have a marvelous time.

I hope you will all have a nice bight, sunny Monday which is what I'm seeing out my window.

The mystery was solved on Facebook when our hostess for Thanksgiving announced that we would be served by a chef. Appetizers will be served at 3 pm so I'm guessing the dinner will be 4 or 5 pm. Everyone is welcome to bring a dish or dessert or wine. DH decided to make roasted pecans. He bought a large bag of pecan halves at Sam's Club and I bought a couple of jars at World Market.

He made two flavors. One is melted butter with Worcestershire. You stir the pecans in the flavored butter, spread them on a baking sheet, roast in the oven at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes, turning them at least once. Spread on paper towel to cool and sprinkle with salt.

The other batch is melted butter, sugar and cinnamon.

We always make the salted version for ourselves. They're really delicious. And so low cal and low fat!

Jackie, I don't mind having a Thanksgiving dinner without all the kitchen toil. It will be fun to experience something different. Our most unusual Thanksgiving was spent in Hawaii. We were on the island of Maui and had driven up to the top of a mountain to see snow on black volcanic rock. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at a small restaurant and learned that the menu was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey and dressing and the usual side dishes.

I must go pack some clothes.

Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion.
Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception.
Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude.
Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed
and limps along the spiritual road.

John Henry Jowett

The art of thanksgiving is thanksliving. It is gratitude in action. It is applying Albert Schweitzer's philosophy: "In gratitude for your own good fortune you must render in return some sacrifice of your life for other life. "It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly. It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common godwit is thanking God for happiness by striving to make others happy. It is thanking God for beauty by helping to make the world more beautiful. It is thanking God for inspiration by trying to be an inspiration for others. It is thanking God for health and strength by the care and reverence you show your body. It is thanking God for each new day by living it to the fullest. It is adding to your prayers of thanksgiving, acts of thanksliving. -Wilferd A. Peterson

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope you all have the best Thanksgiving ever. Here's to great memories.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we
have into enough, and more. It turns denial into
acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home,
a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes
sense of our past, brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Melody Beattie

Happy Birthday, Bonnets! Happy T-Day from sunny and not-too-chilly Chi-town (we did have flurries overnight but we'll be in the 40s today, with mid-50s and high winds tomorrow). Long-range forecast says (fingers crossed!) no snow for the Bar Show run, except for perhaps some flurries Friday.

In the past, most years we always had one major yucky-weather event--either pouring rain, frigid winds, ice, or one memorable year a major snowstorm so heavy that several numbers had to be cut from Act I because their starring cast members were stuck on snowbound commuter trains. We didn't have understudies (still don't, at least not officially), so if you are the lead in a number, are sick or otherwise unable to perform, and nobody else has memorized your part the scene gets cut that night. (Some of us have quietly learned the lead's lines & vocal in group numbers so the scene needn't get cut--and in trios or quartets where no one member is essential to the scene, we all learned all the solos so they can be reassigned if necessary. That obviously wouldn't work where one character is crucial--such as the number in which I play Angela Merkel, because if either I or those playing Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron or Justin Trudeau isn't there, the dialogue, lyrics & choreography would go all to hell).

That snowstorm year, the conductor was on one of those snow-slowed trains, so the choral director/pianist had to lead the band. It was the first time in years there were no tempo glitches. After a partial regime change, we've since replaced those old Musicians' Union geezers & conductor with a rock bandleader/conservatory assoc. professor and several of his bandmates, including the producer's son on drums. We had to, as we needed to introduce parodies of more contemporary songs into the score in order to attract younger audience members. We now always have at least one Top 40 song (in recent years, "Blurred Lines," "Happy," "Uptown Funk," and this year "Can't Stop the Feeling" from Trolls). And we always have at least one or two songs from current B'way shows--original or revival. This year it's two numbers from Hamilton (three last year) and one from Dear Evan Hansen. That snowbound year, many of the Broadway-in-Chicago theaters were dark. So we called the two local news-radio stations (this was before the days of Twitter & Facebook) and announced we would honor all tickets for those cancelled shows that night. We had a nearly-full house!

Happy birthday, bonnets.

I always wanted to have a holiday birthday, but I was born in May, 4 days before Mothers' Day.

We celebrated my son's birthday today as well. His birthday was actually yesterday, but he was my Thanksgiving turkey 33 years ago...all 5 lbs. of him.

Everything is put up and the kitchen is clean. Tomorrow will be a true day of rest. I will do absolutely nothing except read and play with the dogs. Sunday we will start planning Christmas decorations. Tree, lights , etc. will all be up by the beginning of Advent - Dec. 03.

33 years ago, Gordy was supposed to have been my Thanksgiving baby--at my late Sept. OB appt., they measured my fundus and estimated he'd be a big one--at least 8, maybe 9 lbs. The night before my mid-Oct appt, I told Bob I was Braxton-Hicksing. He asked how far apart, and when I said 10 min. he said "those aren't Braxton-Hicks--I'm coming with you to the OB tomorrow." The OB examined me and ordered me across the street to Maternity. After 10 hrs., they were able to stop my premature labor, and kept me in the antenatal unit to fatten him up a bit (was hard to wrap my brain around being told to eat as much as I wanted of anything I wanted). A week later, I was standing by my closet, trying to decide whether I would go to that night's Halloween party as a pregnant bride or a pregnant nun...when my water broke. Gordy, due Nov. 23, was born by C-section Oct. 28. 6 lbs. 3 oz., 20 in. He was ready to come home before I was!

Ah, the morning after. Well, Dh had to be at work at 7 a.m. this morning. I think we are fortunate he works at a home town Sears store or it would have been a really lousy time in the wee hours. It will be another really long day for him. I am done with my ( paid ) work so can start paying some bills and resuming things that need doing here. I was up at 5 a.m. this morning myself. It will be a somewhat long day but a satisfying one.

We are having okay weather though the sun hasn't come out this morning -- hmmm. Maybe it will get here later. I hope you are all going to have a great day after. See you later.

We had a nice dinner with lots of veggie choices. Army 1st Lt was here on leave and came with his vegetarian girlfriend. She is a lovely young woman. She was amazed at all her choices. I finally broke down and told her we'd been vegetarian in the past, so it was easy. He will be posted to Korea in Feb. New level of anxiety to master. Of course if they can reach the West Coast, we may be in as much danger as him.

Heat wave today--almost 60. Gonna get out my wheeled shopping bag and walk to do errands. Cooler tomorrow with a shower or two. They changed Sunday's forecast to rebound into the 50s. Back to the 40s Monday, warmer Tues., etc. etc. Sort of a roller coaster, but highs no lower than 40 through the show's run. Rain opening night, but if that's the worst there is, I'll take it.

T-day dinner portions were gargantuan. Even half was too much. Regretted having had pecan pie for dessert--or any dessert at all. Bob wants to go back tonight for prime rib. More leftovers for sure. I think we're gonna have a pretty full freezer by tomorrow.

Sun out today and I think it will be nice. I'm going to lunch with a friend. I think we need to keep it simple for the fact that a lot of people ( even in this small place ) will be shopping.

Yesterday was a really good day for me. I did go out shopping for a bit. Not because I wanted too -- but because I needed some things. It wasn't great but since we only have about 13,000 residents here in our town ( some outlying close towns ) it wasn't horrible to be out. Not something I like though. Guess I'm too into going out and not fighting much of a line at check-out. Anyway, I think it will be fine.

I finally went back to Goodwill and got the last set of sheets they had. They were those hotel-type sheets ( Fieldcrest ) and no one took the original sticker off which indicated if buying in the store you'd pay $70.00 for them. They had three sets and I bought the first two -- for $16.00. After washing and putting the first set on my bed ( talk about heaven ) I went back and got the last set. All sides of the fitted bottom sheet are long enough to tuck in and it keeps the sheet much tighter on the bed. Top sheet just a bit longer so it too tucks in quite well. I think some of my older sheets may quit finding their way to my bed.

Happy Saturday to all.