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

Welcome, Imurphy! My dh is from Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, Oak Forest. We made many trips to visit his parents when they were alive. His brother still lives near Chicago and his sister lives in Decatur. We have several women on this thread who live in Texas. Good luck with your treatment. Glad you found us.

It's cold and nasty outside. Dh just came in and lit the fireplace. Last month's gas bill was the biggest it has ever been. We used the furnace a lot during January and also the fireplace. DH's brother is arriving on Tuesday for a visit. Wish we could summon some nice weather for him.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable day.

Welcome Imurphy! I am originally from the UP of Michigan, but married a Texan. I am in SE Texas, in Fort Bend County, on the outskirts of the Houston–Sugar Land metropolitan area.

Getting ready for our trip to the hill country later this week. Our son is doing his EOP (end of program) next week and wants the house quiet, quiet, quiet! He has taken a week of vacation to write the papers. I was visiting with my former manager today and she told me the whole building is wishing him well. There will be two branches opening by the end of the year - one is a newly remodeled existing branch and the other will be brand new. Hopefully, he will find a position.

Well, we already have an inch of snow--3 hrs. ahead of schedule. Gotta get those UGGs and trekking poles in shape for tomorrow's quarter-mile snow-slog to the Super Bowl party.

Not so much sun today, but warmer -- Dh says its cold but to me it almost feels balmy. Hope that doesn't mean rain or something -- like snowy sleet. Well, fingers crossed. It is going to be a good day no matter what the weather does because when it feels warmer to me I get a touch of Spring fever rearing up a bit -- so onward. Likely I'll start scouting out some recipes to begin thinking about using --- things that herald warmer, sunnier days. Not too soon for me to start SEEING the good stuff on the way.

Though it will be a bit yet -- not too soon for me to look at the trees outside and think of the buds that will be there later on as all the trees that surround out house wake up for their winter rest.

Ooooh, well I can now forget about balmy. I had to go out and feed my feral cats and Dh treated me to a breakfast out at Mc D/s which is fast so that he could get to work. I did my usual of having an interlude with Goodwill. Nothing much there though I did find a little pan -- perfect for one since I often fix things just for myself. When I came out it 'seemed' cooler, not bad mind you, but not balmy.

I looked up a while ago and it is snowing -- so it did cool. It is snowing and will likely do so all night long. I don't know what we will end up with ( likely not that much I hope ) but just in the 15 or 20 mins. it has been coming down ( brisk wind at times ) my windshield is nearly all white as well as the ground. I really hoped we would not see any more snow this yr. knowing that it was a bit on the early side. It's just that we have had almost none at all and this time we may actually end up with an accumulation. Sigh !!!! Have called the indoor/outdoor cats back in and all the dogs are in......so we are snug as bugs for now.

Great quote Murphy. I have to look up Texas on my map. My memory doesn't like to keep too many facts at one time. I was stationed a zillion yrs. ago in San Antonio at Ft. Sam Houston/Brooke Army Hosp. training as a medical corpsman. Loved it but I did not go on and get a license. My ex ( now deceased ) lived in Houston and I have a friend who lives in Mineral Wells, and another in Lubbock. I don't know if I could handle the dessert heat of Texas though when younger I had no issues in San Antonio. It gets pretty humid here as you know, but not so bad the last few yrs. Global warming has changed things a bit -- never know what to expect anymore.

Imurphy:

We were overcast and cool with misty rain all day yesterday. I am not a fan of the weather here: too hot & humid in summer; dreary and wet in winter. i don't miss the frigid cold and tons of snow from the north, but I do miss the crisp fresh air. I used to rotate my wardrobe for the spring/summer-fall/winter when I was back home and in Germany, but here it can be freezing Monday and hot Tuesday, so I just keep all my clothes available.

On the other hand, it is nice to have longer and more growing seasons. H pulled fresh broccoli from the garden this afternoon for our vegetable tray. We usually get more, but the garden took some bad hits from Harvey and then the freezes this winter.

We have added New Braunfels and Port Aransas to our itinerary next week. I would like to go to San Marcos as well. H wants to drive down to Rockport, too. We know it got hit pretty hard with Harvey. It was our favorite place to vacation when our son was young.

Imurphy, how long does it take you to rv to Haines? We stayed in an rv park in town on the water for about a week the summer we travelled around Alaska with a truck camper. I had a great time in Haines watching some brown bears chase the fly fishermen out of a pretty river not far from our rv park. The bears would steal the fishermen's salmon. It was a beautiful scene with the river rushing over rocks.

Another good memory was the Dungeness crab feasts the owners of the rv park would arrange. They would buy the crabs from the fishermen and steam them. We would pay $10 per person and bring sides. What a treat.

We boarded an inland ferry in Haines and took the inland passage route on our homeward trip. We stopped at Sitka and other interesting places. Juneau, St. Petersburg, Ketchican. The trip to Alaska took us through the Yukon and all along the Alaskan Highway.

Now we summer in northern MN. We stopped towing our 5th wheel and leave it in MN.

Wow, it is a small world sometimes eh, Carole and Murphy. Alaska has always held some intrigue for me, but I think of it as so cold and no one has constant winter. I think a lot of it for me was the ? 6 months of dark. I'm light and sun --- so that would sure be a no-no for me. We have sun this a.m. after snow starting in the afternoon yesterday. The ground seems from what I can see to be well covered, but not by much. It is just consistent. So -- we won't be making a snowman for have a snowball fight. Suits me. That is how it goes here -- you don't know for sure what you will get. Use to count on a month of snow and a month of cold but that was 20 yrs. ago when we first came back to MY home. Dh was born and mostly raised in Sioux Falls, S. Dakota which long ago was really known for harsh winters. So, at least we can say we usually can be okay with the winters here. Just would be nice if it was a bit more predictable as it once was. Changes come and we have to change with the.

I hope you all have a marvelous day -- whatever your weather.

It is strange having so much daylight. We had blackout shades in the camper. DH said, "Close your eyes and it's dark." He was right! I didn't miss any sleep in Alaska. But it was strange to have people gathered around a campfire at midnight and it wasn't dark. I wouldn't like the flip side of darkness most of the time. I don't think it's pitch black for 24 hours but there's no sunshine.

This plunging stock market came as a surprise. I knew there would have to be a downward correction sooner or later but wasn't prepared for this much of a sudden sell off. I'm sure there's a lot of profit taking with big investors. It's kind of funny to hear the financial talking heads suggesting explanations. Personally I think higher interest rates would be good for people who want safe investments like cd's, which haven't paid anything significant for years now.

DH's brother will be arriving tomorrow for a visit. DH will meet him at the New Orleans airport and take him to lunch before they come back here. He will be staying until Saturday, when he has a return flight to Chicago.

Happy Monday to all.

I have never been bored an hour in my life. I get up every morning wondering what new strange glamorous thing is going to happen and it happens at fairly regular intervals. Lady Luck has been good to me and I fancy she has been good to everyone.Only some people are dour, and when she gives them the come-hither with her eyes, they look down or turn away and lift an eyebrow. But me, I give her a wink and away we go.

William Allen White

A front moved through early, while we were still in bed. I was "rudely" awakened by thunder and wind and rain. Now it's calm outside. DH is on his way to the New Orleans airport to pick up his brother. I will follow my usual Tuesday schedule and visit my mother this afternoon.

Sandy, I transferred dh's required withdrawal for 2018 to our bank account a couple of weeks ago. So we took advantage of the market at the top. We depend on our retirement investments to supplement social security income. Like you, I knew the stock market had shot up too fast and was due for a correction.

I have the feeling that spring is not too far away. We seldom have really cold weather in February and frequently February is shorts weather. Winter is always over by March even though we did have snow one March many years ago. I still have a mental image of snow falling on azalea bushes in bloom.

I wish we could arrange some nice weather for dh's brother but, unfortunately, we don't have a lot of control on weather!

Happy Tuesday.

The market bounced back a bit, but we might skim some off the top of our stocks and put it into cash or bonds. (Fortunately, we have more in bonds than I'd thought). Neither of us have dipped into our IRAs--we could have started at 59-1/2, but will probably wait till we have to start making mandatory withdrawals. As for Social Security, Bob wants to wait till 70 (he's 68) but thinks I should start collecting now. Mine's chicken feed (in fact, it's much less than we have to transfer into Gordy's accounts), but it'll help a little.

2" of snow last night (Bob did come home because his first stop today wasn't in Oak Lawn, but he will probably stay down there tonight). Expecting 2-3 more inches overnight. And from Thurs-Sun. they're predicting at least 7". Oh boy.

Got the rest of my bloodwork back. Lipids still good, glucose down 3 points (but it wasn't fasting). My Framingham score is 4.3%, and my PCP is considering taking me off Crestor (I'm on 5mg) and re-testing in a couple of months. Bob thinks I should go on 10 mg (he's on 20 of Lipitor despite a normal lipid panel, due to smoking--I know, "physician, heal thyself"--and his weight creeping up to the high end of "normal"). My PCP put me on Crestor both because letrozole spiked my bad cholesterol and took my HDL down to 70 (back up to 85 now) and there is plenty of heart disease on both sides of my family. My dad had two heart attacks at 50, and his third one killed him at 72. My mom died at 85 "with" (no autopsy so we don't really know precisely what "of," since she was alone at the time) CHF, COPD and a 6cm lung nodule "highly suspicious for malignancy" she refused to have biopsied. She had a TIA in her early 70s. My paternal grandmother died at 66 of her second heart attack (her first was at 61). My maternal grandfather died of a heart attack at 64. My maternal grandmother made it to 92, but only after 2 heart attacks and 2 strokes. And my mom's brother died at only 49 of a heart attack.

Do you mind if I call you Murphy? Thinking of your gardens ( both homes so different from each other ) and think it all sounds so healthy while you are busy. Not sure of your citrus in Tx., but limes are perfect for Spanish/Mexican food as well as lemons. Not good to drink the juice much, but the nutritionist I talk too says that yrs. ago the thing to do was have 'breakfast' juice on hand -- now it is off the list. Need the fiber and other vits. and minerals from within the fruit itself. Ah, if you ever go to a class it nearly makes your head spin -- all the do's, straight don'ts. Some on rare occasional, some barely cooked. I have been to the class several times and I find I just can't seem to absorb all that info.

Best thing to do I think is only have juice now and then -- look for good fibrous foods -- those with lots of colors, bright ones are the best usually, some green tea and coffee is fine. That one sure makes me happy. We don't have a garden here in the woods. There isn't enough light for the hours needed. We have lost some trees but not enough -- so though we'd love fresh veggies we can only rely on some of our family and a couple friends who have overflow.

Went to AK in June (some years ago) for a work conference in Anchorage & DD joined me after. Went to Talkeetna, Seward, Homer with various stops enroute and then back to Anchorage. Saw lots of wonderful sights and wildlife. Great memories. Stayed in B&Bs and all had blackout shades. Flowers & plants were amazing. Went to a winery in Homer that had wonderful fruit wines, sherry, sparkiling wines & mead. Some other highlights: Small plane trip in Talkeetna & the mountain was "out" in all its glory on a beautiful blue sky day. Dog sledding on a glacier in Seward & a trip on a small boat to see glaciers calving, orcas, porpoise, otters plus tons of bird life. Ate fish or seafood every day - what heaven!

We have a winter weather warning starting tonight and into tomorrow. Snow, freezing rain, wintry mix, more snow. We live in N Kentucky, about 10 miles south of Cincinnati and the slight hilliness will make driving difficult. If only it were flat like NE Ohio, where I grew up - I can handle snow, but ice makes it awful.

It is only in our minds
that we are separate
from the rest of the world.

Gay Luce