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

Jackie - great to have you back on line but do pace yourself. You don't want to spend Christmas in the hospital again.

Illinoislady - glad to hear that you are on the mend and that your surgery went well.

Sandy - What an honor to be asked. I'm an early riser without a clock I'm up at 5:00-5:15 during the week. On the week-ends, I'm lazy and might not get out of bed till 6:30. Most of my 40+ work career and still going, I've worked 7:30 - 3:30. I've had insomnia for almost 16 years, since I heard those dreaded words.

Till Covid, I went to synagogue every Shabbat and of course on all the holidays. Now, I rarely go. I go for long walks instead. Either my husband and I walk or if he is going to shul, I walk him there and back home they go back to meet him at the end of services. I love reading on Saturdays and on the warmer days, reading outside soaking up the sun. I think you know the answer - you have your week-end routine. Maybe, you can help once/month instead of every week?

The Colorado mountains are supposed to get upwards of 1 - 2 feet of snow and hopefully Denver will get lucky and get an inch. 1/10th inch is considered measurable snow. Maybe I shouldn't say Denver get lucky to get snow and I don't like driving in it.

Shared responsibility is an excellent idea. Better to experiment with the change than make a long-term commitment.

I believe that the first test of a truly great person is his or her humility. I do not mean by humility, doubt of his or her own powers. But really great people have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through them. And they see something divine in every other person. -John Ruskin

Perhaps, indeed, there are no truly universal ethics: or to put it more precisely, the ways in which ethical principles are interpreted will inevitably differ across cultures and eras. Yet, these differences arise chiefly at the margins. All known societies embrace the virtues of truthfulness, integrity, loyalty, fairness; none explicitly endorse falsehood, dishonesty, disloyalty, gross inequity.

Howard Gardner

I'll be filling in twice a month starting in mid-Jan., and the Torah portions will be read by those with good Hebrew skills who are being given an aliyah. (Special honor). Our rabbi moved back to CT, and our rabbi Emeritus is imunocompromised, so he usually logs in via Zoom (except on the High Holy Days, when he bravely removed his mask to do the sermons). I got the mp3s of the music for the prayers. The temple is now sharing space--after morning religious school services--on Sundays with Unity Church, whose landmark building was razed to make way for an expansion of Misericordia Village for the developmentally disabled. We've had a few ecumenical Shabbat services, so it should be fairly seamless. Still, not sure whether there will be an active search for a permanent senior rabbi: the church's rent should help, but the temple budget is still pretty tight.

At least I'll get to sing with good acoustics again--especially in the little round chapel made of Jerusalem stone!

Wren - babka is a pastry and challah is breaded egg bread.

LOL! Anyone remember the infamous "chocolate babka" episode of Seinfeld, when there was a brutal fight over the last remaining babka at the bakery? It's a cross between a pound cake and coffee cake--usually made with cinnamon-sugar swirl but sometimes chocolate swirls instead. So is "Babka" a brown tabby and "Challah" a buff one?

One more bout of scanxiety in the rear-view mirror: yesterday's bilateral mammo was benign. Next ones are the full-skin exam in Jan., ocular-onc visit in Feb., followed by the liver MRI & chest x-ray before my melanoma MO visit in March. (I don't see the breast MO till late April).

I remember the Seinfeld episode. I had no clue what kind of cake that was. The only Jewish people I knew of when I was growing up were owners of a jewelry store. I didn't know them, just their name and that they were Jewish.

So glad for you that you're home, Jackie. The decision to have your daughter and SIL live with you and your dh seems a very wise one at this point. I'm also thankful your town wasn't in the path of that awful tornado.

Love Alcove--back in 2018 when it was still Chef's Station, we went there, in a blinding snowstorm, for Christmas Eve dinner. (Too nasty out to walk to the L station). We took an Uber, and it was a nail-biter of a ride, what with the little Sentra slip-sliding at every traffic light. Fortunately, by the time we were done it had stopped snowing so we did take the train home. Not sure what we'll do for Christmas Eve this year--last year we picked up prime rib from the Palm downtown. The kids will be in Texas, as they were last year, so we will Zoom during the evening. Might see if Big Jones still has seats open for Reveiilon, which they didn't do last year.

Went to 900 N. Mich for Bob's haircut. He likes to go to an old-fashioned English-style barbershop, Merchant & Rhodes (used to be Truefitt & Hill). He's had the same barber for 25 years. We had a light lunch at the adjacent (attached) Four Seasons Hotel's restaurant, Adorn. The lounge was set aside for "festive tea," and we were definitely not dressed for it (in jeans & Bears shirts). It was filled with giggling teens in party dresses, mostly dashing up & back to & from the restroom. We then stopped in at Teuscher for chocolates (extra dark nuggets for me, champagne "truffles" for Bob). Got home, and as per usual our Bears wear has been in vain. (Maybe if I'd worn an actual jersey instead of my "Real Bears Fans Wear Pink" tee? Nah...).

Regalia finally has a website, regalia5959.com, and a phone (listed on Google). So reservations (and ordering out for pickup) are possible.

Florence, your husband has great taste in TV. (My DH has a "Ken Burns addiction"). In 1998, during a trip to NYC (my originall home town) we took "The Real Kramer Tour" of locations mentioned in Seinfeld. It was led by the actual Kenny Kramer, who is friends with Larry David--who poked his head in the door to say hi during the intro film. And during the tour, Terre Roche (of the Roches singing group) also greeted us as she was leaving her building (she was Kramer's neighbor). A highlight was The International Soup Kitchen, more commonly known as the stand of "The Soup Nazi." We went three times before it went out of business, and though we had to follow ordering "rules" (albeit not as draconian as in the episode), the soups were terrific and they threw in extra chocolates & tangerines. (No seats at the stand--we sat on a bench across from the He Who Shall Not Be Named Hotel on Central Park West, on fire hydrants on 9th Ave., and in our hotel room).

Jackie, I hope Centralia wasn't in the the tornadoes' path.

We had fog most of the day too, after such bright sun Monday that I almost needed sunglasses in my own kitchen. We're having a few sprinkles now, but tomorrow the winds will be picking up and we may even hit 65 before the bottom drops out. Perhaps a "wintry mix" Fri. or Sat., but nothing sticking for the foreseeable future. All together now: "I'm dreaming of a white.....Boxing Day....maybe...."

Good news/bad news on the COVID front. Good news: Pfizer's treatment pill, if taken as soon as symptoms appear or there's a positive test result, is 90% effective against severe disease or death. The bad news: Pfizer's treatment pill...is 90% effective. Of course, it doesn't do squat about preventing infection, because an antiviral needs a virus to kill. But the COVIDiot maskholes are doing the happy dance--if they get sick all they have to do is pop the pill, never mind how many people they'd be infecting before it kicks in. At Union Health today, Bob already had a cop & a firefighter refuse their boosters and demand the pill....which isn't available yet. (And there's the pesky little matter of the 10% of hospitalizations & deaths it doesn't prevent).

And Bob has called off our vacation for the first week of Jan., partly because he doesn't want to book flights and hotels that might have to be canceled if this new wave continues to worsen and things lock down again; and partly because he doesn't want to cancel any Tuesdays or Thursdays at Union Health. He has the Fri-Mon of New Year's weekend, and the following weekend Fri-Sun too, plus Wed. off....but we can't really go anywhere worth visiting on two winter weekends (even assuming nothing locks down). So unless we can make a quick NYC or SC (to see friends) weekend getaway, we aren't going anywhere till Gordy's NOLA wedding in April...assuming that city doesn't clamp down either.

Today I am going to the women's golf group's luncheon. It's kind of funny because my only participation this year was paying my dues. I didn't play on any of the Wednesdays. I play occasionally on Tuesdays. Yesterday I played 9 holes and got home in time to go to the chair yoga class at the gym.

It has warmed up again and the foggy conditions have returned.

Hope Jackie is doing well in her recovery.

Jackie, hope you are doing well and taking baby steps in your recovery process.

Mary, sorry to hear about your continued pain and hope you can find some relief soon. Would love to see photos of the caftans you are making.

petite1: congratulations on your 2 year free cancerversary.

We are experiencing a warming with temps in the 50's and lots of sunshine today after a gray day yesterday. Floor installers are finally working on basement floor and it is slow going. Though they claim to have had experience with this Daltile Revotile, click and lock flooring which is a porcelain 1 foot by 2 foot planks, they have made little progress over 2 days. Slow and steady wins the race so I want no problems post-installation so they can take all the time they need. We are now 25 months into this restoration and are only about 1/3 done on the interior. Organization is lacking in this process and true to form the floor installers were distressed to find that the underlayment flooring they need is not here. It has to acclimate for several days so we are waiting for the delivery which is supposed to be happening today. The small area that is done looks nice and now I can take time to decide what color to have the basement repainted. The flooring has more gray tones than I expected but I do not want gray paint. There is a beige and an off white tone I am leaning towards and want some softer undertones. I don't want it to look like a cave so off to Sherwin Williams I will go to get some paint chips since the price of their paint samples has reached the point of ridiculous; I was quoted $20 plus a surcharge for a small sample can due to issues with supply. Have a good day.

Stay safe all you midwesterners. Looks like more trouble coming.

One more milestone, Petite 1!