thread for middle age to older Christian women.

Nancy, I am so happy to read the good news on your brain MRI that you have moved to longer test periods. Yay! Also about your eye issue. I never heard the doctor could override the DMV. That is great news too! I am sorry to read about your computer issues. Tech problems are always such a pain. Thank you for the good news about Ade and Faith. Your updates are very helpful.

I am doing ok. Tonight we went to a friend's house for a potluck dinner. They are living in a trailer while rebuilding their house so we ate in the garage. But I did fine (of course I took an Imodium and a pain pill before we left). They invited about ten additional adults and their kids. Our granddaughter had a great time with their kids who attend the same charter school she attends. They own about 80 acres so the kids ran and played. It was nice to feel normal and watch kids playing with each other and bugs and dogs instead of being on electronics. I also got an invitation to attend a women's retreat next month. I can't remember the last one I attended well over ten years ago. I am taking my daughter. I know it will be good for both of us. It is only one night, and is only a half-hour away so I think I can handle it. More on this later.

I am praying for you gb and Wheatfields. It is good to feel a part of a circle of friends again.

Have a blessed Sabbath. Chris

GB, I hope your visit via telehealth will give you some good direction. Praying it is nothing to be concerned with. When I was very young I was playing in the woods at my cousin's house who lived in the country. I don't recall if they normally did a hair check but they found a tick inside my ear. My Aunt who had seven kids and always as calm as a cucumber heated up a pin and was able to get it to retract it's hold on me. I don't recall anything bad happening. Hopefully yours won't be anything bad either.

Ladies, I had quite the scary night. I got to bed and it was very late for me for a Saturday night knowing church was the next morning. I no more got into bed and I started hearing this VERY loud man on a loud speaker. I was so annoyed I contemplated calling the police until I realized it WAS the police. Apparently a domestic violence situation became a hostage situation and he was threatening to kill the mother of the children that were there. The messages started around midnight and I could clearly hear this police officer pleading with the gunman that he was under arrest and to come out the front door. This went on until around 2 This happened in an apartment building about a block from my house. I finally heard this policeman change tactics and he said come out and we can talk. That must have worked because that was the last I heard on his loud speaker. I had received two calls from the city to shelter in place and for some reason my phone didn't ring and I didn't get either message. One came through around 10:20 to shelter in place and the last came through a little after 3 am that things were all clear. When I was laying in bed I was thinking if there were stray bullets could it hit my house as my bedroom is at the front of the house and on the second floor. Thankfully it was resolved and I even wrote our City Council praising this officer for his patient demeanor and sensitivity to a very grave situation. Thankfully no one was hurt or got killed and they did take the guy into custody. The poor kids will be traumatized as will the mother. I drug myself to church today knowing I could take a long nap this afternoon which I did. I just wonder what is going to happen to these children and if DCFS will come and take them. I have been walking at night and this situation makes me rethink that.

Have a good night dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Wheatfields, I took your advice and walked inside my house this evening. I was tempted to walk outside and it is getting darker much earlier now so I will have to get used to walking inside again.

I would like to share another photo which is what I have been trying to capture with the ethereal look with this new lens. I have been going to the Arboretum several times and trying to get pics of their dahlias before they are done. I have only been able to find pink ones and am trying to gather courage to drive to the Chicago Botanic Garden as they will have millions of subjects to shoot. It has been a couple of years since I have done that and driving up there in the crazy traffic is a challenge as I may have shared the reason for that in the past.

Have a good evening dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Thanks Carol. I am anxious to make a greeting card out of this one and see how it looks. How are you doing? I sense that most of us here are struggling with our own personal issues. I know I am.

Take care and I pray God will pour blessings out on you and on all of us today to give us a fresh touch from Him.

Love,

Nancy

Carol, we will be praying for your scans for next week. Pain and fatigue can really be hard to deal with emotionally and of course physically. I pray that you will feel uplifted and encouraged. I pray for peace as you wait for your scans.

I hope this picture I got today will brighten your days for you and for all of us. I spent the afternoon at a sunflower farm.

Carol, I will be praying for relief from your pain and fatigue, and also your upcoming scans.

Teka, prayers for your knee surgery even though it is a ways out. Praying for pain relief now.

Nancy, amazing photo. You are really turning into a pro! Thank you for sharing your gift.

Blessings for a good day for all. Chris

I have been waiting for 30 min to get my email to open up. I hope to get this computer fixed correctly one of these days!!

Teka, I do hope you can enjoy Sept and Oct. I pray for you regularly that you will have good pain control now. We will definitely be praying for your surgery on Oct. 31. Thanks for the cute banner. I love it!

Chris, how are you doing? I can imagine that the school year adjustment is for ALL of you. Thank you. That was quite a compliment.

Carol, thank you. I hope you have a good day today and can have peace and freedom from fear and anxiety.

Have a good day everyone.

Love

Nancy

Nancy, your photo looks like a painting! I adore sunflowers. They are one of my favorite flowers and always bring me a smile.

Wheatfields, the new hearing aid technologies are amazing to me. I pray yours give you fewer challenges and more enjoyment as time passes.

Carol, I hope you are feeling better. I understand that the west coast is bracing for a terrible heat wave. Praying that it quickly passes and wildfires fail to materialize.

Chris, I'm hoping you are enjoying some pleasant Colorado Springs weather.

GB, I hope you are doing well. In my area, ticks live in the trees. I don't like doing yardwork underneath a tree in case a tick decides to drop on me. Ick.

I've decided to retire at the end of this year and need to apply for Medicare Part B as well as supplemental insurance. How does that combination work for doctor visits? Do I provide both cards to the physician's office? This is all new to me.

I will post a whole field of sunflowers for those who like yellow and those who especially like sunflowers. I hope they make all of you smile.

Wheatfields, thank you. It is amazing what technology exists now for hearing devices and aids. I do hope that you will quickly learn the ropes of your new hearing aid and microphone. I had a sixth grade saxophone player in my junior high band. He had a cochlear implant. I had to attach a microphone so he could hear me. I was amazed back then at the technology and that was probably at least 15 years ago.

Hershey, thank you. Congratulations on your upcoming retirement. I do remember that period of time in having to make decisions for Medicare. I went to an information session that was offered through my doctor's network and that was very helpful. I ended up going with the State's teacher retirement plan which is a Medicare Advantage Plan. With these types of plans you don't have to have supplemental insurance and it includes Part D. Some plans now have vision and hearing benefits and possible dental plans. I have to pay for dental and my plan covers very little of the vision but has added some benefits as well as benefits for hearing aides. There are specialists who deal with all of the main insurance companies who can be a great source as you are researching what is out there. The caveat is that you have to pay for the regular Medicare plus the premium of the Medicare Advantage Plan but some actually have 0 premiums or did when I was looking. Mine is not very expensive though. I would start early in the search as it can be pretty overwhelming and scary. The thing is you can always change the following year if you don't like your plan. Mine however has a clause that if you drop out you can never enroll in it again. I don't know how they can do that but it is what it is.

Chris, I bet your weather is nice now. Seeing snow already gives me the chills!!! I was only in CO once and I think it was in June. It was really nice weather especially at night. Our meterologist just said last night that Chicago had the best August of most places in the country. We have really lucked out and had pretty mild temps for most of the month which has been really, really nice. Much different than in past years. I am glad to hear you are doing pretty well. I am still dealing with some fatigue and the insomnia has really been difficult. The newer version is I sleep like a baby and then wake up to use the bathroom and then can't get back to sleep. I continue to try to find ways of using my night meds to see what will help. I can sympathize with you on the fatigue. I too have to limit what I can do. It is a difficult thing to accept.

GB, how is your tick situation? Any changes?

Have a good night dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

The tick bite is getting smaller. The doctor had me start putting antibiotic ointment on it. It's looking much better. I see derm for my skin check this week so she will see it too.

I have been watching for the spreading rash that signifies Lyme, but even the doctor said it seemed very low risk. I don't think it was that kind of tick. I will be watching for the weird meat allergy though. I think it was that kind of tick. My understanding, though, is that it's pretty rare. Sure hope that doesn't happen.

I hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend. Tonight there is definitely a touch of fall in the air.

GB, I am glad the tick area is smaller and praying that it will end up to be nothing of concern. My hummingbirds have left on their migration and only a few left at my feeder. Before they go they drink a lot of nectar and that is usually my cue they are powering up for the long journey. I have a huge birds nest that build on the top of my downspout on my second story. It had sparrows in it and one neighbor told me she saw a big bird in it now with a long tail feather. I can't imagine what that might be. I have heard of other birds using an already formed nest but have never experienced it first hand.

Hershey, I have had health insurance with Cigna which was very good and now with my Medicare Advantage have United Health Care. I know every plan is different but I was very happy with both companies. Praying you will be able to make the best decision for your situation. It is a big deal and can feel overwhelming but once you have made a decision you can breath a sigh of relief and then wait and see how the benefits work with your specific needs. I know when my Mom had supplemental insurance and a separate Part D it was the Part D that turned out to be crucial because it can make a world of difference if your meds are covered. Also they can change midstream and some that was covered may not be in the future. I have run into that one. I also found that the GoodRX is a cheaper alternative which you can have with Medicare. Some of my meds that need a prior authorization which turned into a nightmare for me a few years ago the GoodRx was a great alternative and way less of a hassle and cheaper than my copay with my Medicare Advantage plan. I have used the GoodRx which costs nothing to work around that caveat.

Wheatfields, I have been praying for your upcoming scans. I know they are not until a few weeks out but praying leading into it. I' m glad you liked the sunflower photo. It was interesting because this farm had several plots of sunflowers and the one I started in the sunflowers seemed to be going every which way and was not in my mind making for a very good picture at all. As I was there longer I discovered this other field where things looked much more organized and the sunflowers seemed to all be facing the same direction. I am REALLY terrible at direction and I could not find NORTH if my life depended on it when I am out of town. However since the sun was setting in the West I believe those sunflowers from that photo were facing south. I did think that they followed the direction of the sun. You might know about that more than I do. There had a variety of sunflowers that were very, very deep purple. They were really hard to photograph.

Carol, I know you have scans coming soon and praying that all goes well during the long procedures and that you will get a good report.

Have a good night dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Haven't seen too many birdies because we're out of birdseed! Need to send DH to the bird store soon!

We had Mommy and Daddy blue bring their juvenile girl by about a month ago. I can't recall if I posted about that. They sat on the window and watched us intently for about an hour, then gave her what appeared to be a nest building lesson in her old digs. It was sweet to watch.

Chris, I will be praying for you today and for your MRI tonight. Praying your pain will be much better by tonight. Praying for a good result. I hate it that you have to go through all of this.

GB, that is sweet being able to watch your bluebirds. I would love that. I am watching the last of the hummingbirds. I think many have migrated already.

I have a doctor apt so I have to run. Take care.

Love,

Nancy

Chris, we will be praying for you and that the MRI would bring a good report and also that your pain would subside soon and you would be able to get the rest that you need.

GB your bluebirds sound fun to watch!

Nancy thank you for the beautiful picture and verse that reminds us that God is our refuge always!

My EGD and Colon procedure are on Wednesday the 14th - I'm getting the instructions down pat in my mind what not to take a week or 5 days before and how to eat or drink on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Praying for all of you!

Love, Wheatfields

Wheatfields, I worry over the prep for procedures too. I even sometimes write them down and the times to take meds, supplements, etc., so I don't forget anything. It is crazy but it makes me feel better. I can't depend on my memory anymore. I feel I have lost a lot of cognitive skills because of all the meds I take.

Nancy, how did the dr appointment go?

Thank you all for your prayers. I am not worried about the procedure as I do fine with MRIs, just the results. We are working on a schedule for tonight because we have our granddaughter, who will have to stay in the car with her papa, and the puppy who will stay home in her crate. Sounds dumb but I feel much better when I have things planned out. It is supposed to dip down into the 40s so it might get a bit chilly.

Take care. Chris