WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2018
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Felicia - So sorry about your oldest son. I know how worrying it can be. My elder son has suffered horribly from anxiety and depression and had to give up a wonderful job because of it. He struggled on for years. He has has quite a bit of therapy, which has helped him, but some of the drugs put a huge amount of weight on him. He adopted two greyhounds which were a great comfort to him and through them he met his now girlfriend. They seem very happy. He is still doing a much lower level job than he is capable of, but he has come to terms with his need for less stress. He has found another outlet with some freelance journalism. I'm hopeful he will live a happier life. A couple of years ago things looked pretty bleak.
Depression, anxiety, etc etc runs in my family along with schizophrenia on his father's side. Sometimes I wish I could have been a better mother, but I think almost everyone can say that. We just do what we are capable of.
It's good that your husband is being a good sounding board. Mine is also usually good if he thinks it's important. I am thankful for that and remember to tell him so.
I hope your son will take a turn for the better eventually. It could be the guitar. We all need a purpose and an outlet.
Very best wishes to you,
Love Heather UK xxxxxxx6 -
Hi Gals,
Lisa – laughed at the sausage metaphor !!! excellent
Heather – was so happy to hear of the positive response from DOS and then the DDIL response and I danced a little jig for you! What a great day!
Felicia - I only know a tiny bit about SAD (more about general depression) but if your son and DH are dealing with SAD and are both living at your place, could you replace light blubs with the full spectrum one that are supposed to help? You wouldn’t even need to announce it just do it and see if it helps at all…. I think Katla deals with SAD, she may have more insight than I do.
Terry – Happy Days!!!!
Smiles
Kim from N. California
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Felicia - I only know a tiny bit about SAD (more about general depression) but if your son and DH are dealing with SAD and are both living at your place, could you replace light blubs with the full spectrum one that are supposed to help? You wouldn’t even need to announce it just do it and see if it helps at all…. I think Katla deals with SAD, she may have more insight than I do.
That's not a bad idea. My DH is fine, well as much as any of us are fine. My dad is the one who suffered with depression during the last decade or two of his life.
I think light, exercise, and better eating habits, all would improve his mood. But it's hard for him to get up and do things, so he spends a lot of time in his dark room in bed then roams around the house at night.
Felicia
Willamette Valley, Oregon
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cityjaneLondon wrote: »Felicia - So sorry about your oldest son. I know how worrying it can be. My elder son has suffered horribly from anxiety and depression and had to give up a wonderful job because of it. He struggled on for years. He has has quite a bit of therapy, which has helped him, but some of the drugs put a huge amount of weight on him. He adopted two greyhounds which were a great comfort to him and through them he met his now girlfriend. They seem very happy. He is still doing a much lower level job than he is capable of, but he has come to terms with his need for less stress. He has found another outlet with some freelance journalism. I'm hopeful he will live a happier life. A couple of years ago things looked pretty bleak.
Depression, anxiety, etc etc runs in my family along with schizophrenia on his father's side. Sometimes I wish I could have been a better mother, but I think almost everyone can say that. We just do what we are capable of.
It's good that your husband is being a good sounding board. Mine is also usually good if he thinks it's important. I am thankful for that and remember to tell him so.
I hope your son will take a turn for the better eventually. It could be the guitar. We all need a purpose and an outlet.
Very best wishes to you,
Love Heather UK xxxxxxx
Thanks, Heather. This helps. I was sorry my son's gf broke up with him, but I was also not surprised. She just turned 22 herself and is very motivated and ambitious. I think he was probably really dragging her down. When they first started dating, I had to bite my tongue, because I really wanted to ask her if she knew what she was getting in to. Then they moved in together . . . .
My son has a new gf now, and while they are a better match emotionally/mentally, I don't think that's necessarily a good thing.
His ex gf said she would price getting the guitar packed and shipped. It has an amp, too. Which I didn't know about, so this is going to be expensive . . .
Thanks for letting me share/vent.
Felicia
Willamette Valley, Oregon
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Terry and Allie - We refinanced our house to a much lower interest when it went way down, and number of years, although they wouldn't refinance it for 10 (if they had we'd be nearly paid off; but, at least it is below what our life insurance is. By doing so we saved roughly $45K. Don't regret doing it at all. Now we are so close to paying it off I feel like I would be able to pay for my living expenses with my SS and Retirement. My SS would increase by the difference of his versus mine. Otherwise, I will either deeding the land to my sons (after paying it off) and rent a condo somewhere - preferably in a gated community. Not sure where at this point. Might even consider moving to Macon. Then I would be closer to where I grew up and near friends and in the same town my PsycheMD is located. Finding other MDs would not be nearly as difficult. But, they would be something to consider about moving to the beach, too.
Paying off the house versus keeping the money invested needs to be something that only a finance advisor should give (after looking in to how much you have invested, how much your house mortgage is, and working out a balance in keeping with your income). One thing you need to take into consideration if the interest deduction you get on your house on your 1040 every year (but, the interest on money in as investment might not be considered ... I can't remember, if you take money out of your investment). I think money that goes into an investment has already been taxed if coming from an existing 401K or through an inheritance; and, if you had invested it and made interest off it; I think if you took it out you'd only have to pay taxes on the interest that would be considered income. But, don't take it from me; it has been a couple of years since we took much money out of our investment; but, took it out to pay off high interest credit cards. My CareCredit account had interest of 29.99% - that really is 'mobster' level. When we paid off our debt the only one we did not pay off was the one that Louis uses for his business. Since it is in his name only, I don't think they can hold me responsible for it in the event he passes away before I do. They'd be on the bottom of the list of things to pay for such as a funeral and his last illness, if he had to have long-term care. They'll just be SOL. I'll pay off the mortgage, my car (if not already paid off), and his last expenses including his funeral. Then I will put the rest back with the financial company I use. Whether or not I pull the interest earned (monthly or quarter or roll it over to buy more stocks and bonds)) will depend on my expenses. I have a reasonably low life insurance policy; but, I don't know if it has any cash value. I might check into it, I'd rather have it 'working for me' instead of something I have to pay for. It's term and now will (over the next 14 months) reduce down to 1/4th of the face value. But, that's be more than enough to bury me. I plan to be cremated anyway. But, all this is something I don't need to concern myself about. I could pass away before he does anyway.
But, I've never gone through a divorce. Was TomCat ordered to keep a life insurance policy in full force to pay alimony if he were to drop dead tomorrow? So many decisions and things to consider. Start writing down any questions you have, that will help a lot when you go to see the financial advisor (1st trip); next would be to go to an attorney to draw up a Will.
Lenora3 -
New here. What a great group. Barbie, is that a poodle or a doodle poodled? Beautiful!4
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April Goals
Enjoy every bite slowly
Lose 6 pounds
Only one rest day from exercise per week
Mix it up....Hula Hoop, walk, swim, bike, free weights
Try 3 new recipes or more
keep it simple
No more elevators, taking the stairs.
Increase my lunges and pushups from 30 to 40 twice a week.
Here we go.4 -
Hi Ladies! I'm new to your group and need a swift kick in the butt to get me moving! I was 3 pounds from my goal weight at the beginning of winter, but went into hibernation and gained 12. I'm having trouble getting back on track. Oh, and by the way, my name is Lynn.5
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Afternoon gals. I have a dilate eye exam in half an hour so trying to do this before going.
Heather, it's coming than end now! And then you have to get it published. Will you self publish it like you did your other books?
We paid off our house years ago and it was a good feeling. A really good feeling. As you know, we did our funeral planning the other day and purchased it all. Well you don't really purchase. It is on a ten year plan and they say it is better that you pay it off in one year. I think they actually call it a life insurance policy. We have one retirement policy that really does no growth, it is a gauranteed death benefit. So we are thinking of pulling that money out and paying off these burial plans. But the interest rate is terrible.
Joyce, indinana2 -
Joyce, When I have my eyes dilated the use a machine now. It does not enlarge the pupils and cause vision problems for the rest of the day. The insurance won't cover the cost of the machine but it only costs me about $35 and well worth it.
Janetr OKC3 -
Felicia: I hope the ex girlfriend is willing to send your son's guitar. I agree with you that it might improve his outlook on life. They say that music soothes the soul and that seems like it would apply to both musicians and listeners, but music is an essential part of a musician and more important to them. Good luck.
Allie: You're doing a great job working with your brother on your dad's estate. WTG!!! :flowerforyou:
DH has been to the doctor with digestive issues. The doctor put him on the FODMAP Diet and he is feeling better. We are learning a bunch. Products containing gluten have been kicked off the island, so we're adjusting things every meal. So far he is feeling so much better & the change over it is well worth the trouble. We've found gluten free bread and rice based noodles that are tasty and easily substitute for the conventional bread and noodles. I'm still eating regular bread while he eats the gluten free version, but soups and stews are now gluten free. As near as I can tell, a gluten free diet is not necessarily lower in calories. Some of the substitutions are a bit higher in calories than our old standby choices. Salads are a challenge, too, between dressings & ingredients. He needs head lettuce only & I like romaine so we now have two salads. We make a homemade dressing that is okay for both of us but his beloved blue cheese dressing is now in his past. He clearly feels better and this is a very good thing. Are any of you familiar with FODMAP? Advice is welcome.
Katla in beautiful NW Oregon
"It is not selfish to be happy. It is your highest purpose. Your joy is the greatest contribution you can make to life on the planet. A heart at peace with its owner blesses everyone it touches." ~ Alan Cohen
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Lenora ,yes he has a life insurance policy and has to keep it up to date..and when he retires he needs to keep it if it costs less than 750.00 a year..
I will be getting most of his 401k and 50,000 in cash.but am still renting here want to purchase this condo .but with what I make and alimony still won't cover the bills.so looking for part time work .Kim suggested odd jobs so have put that out on a secure social media outlet...
I pulled a muscle in my shoulder blade area and having issues .so laying low the rest of the day..will see if I have any Flexeril left.4 -
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lodiloowho My dog in the picture is a Standard Poodle. My other dog is of very mixed ancestry. My daily dog walking is two to three hours
Barbie from beautiful NW Washington2 -
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Felicia: I hope the ex girlfriend is willing to send your son's guitar. I agree with you that it might improve his outlook on life. They say that music soothes the soul and that seems like it would apply to both musicians and listeners, but music is an essential part of a musician and more important to them. Good luck.
Allie: You're doing a great job working with your brother on your dad's estate. WTG!!! :flowerforyou:
DH has been to the doctor with digestive issues. The doctor put him on the FODMAP Diet and he is feeling better. We are learning a bunch. Products containing gluten have been kicked off the island, so we're adjusting things every meal. So far he is feeling so much better & the change over it is well worth the trouble. We've found gluten free bread and rice based noodles that are tasty and easily substitute for the conventional bread and noodles. I'm still eating regular bread while he eats the gluten free version, but soups and stews are now gluten free. As near as I can tell, a gluten free diet is not necessarily lower in calories. Some of the substitutions are a bit higher in calories than our old standby choices. Salads are a challenge, too, between dressings & ingredients. He needs head lettuce only & I like romaine so we now have two salads. We make a homemade dressing that is okay for both of us but his beloved blue cheese dressing is now in his past. He clearly feels better and this is a very good thing. Are any of you familiar with FODMAP? Advice is welcome.
Katla in beautiful NW Oregon
She sent it -- I have tracking numbers. :-) -- $263 later . . . I didn't realize it had an amp, which is very heavy and needed to be insured.
I hear you about gluten free -- it is not lower calorie, nor necessarily healthier, in general. For those of us who can't eat gluten, of course, it is healthier. I'm going to track down a video about it that is really funny. I'm not completely FODMAP, so I'm not sure in what ways it's more restrictive than just gf.
Franz has the best gluten free bread, in my family's opinion. Also gluten free brownies, gf corn bread, and gf pretzels are actually better than the gluten options. I ended up not satisfied with gf pasta, so I don't eat it much.
Cross contamination is a thing -- so even if it doesn't list wheat/gluten in the ingredients but says it was processed on machines that process wheat/gluten, he may want to stay away.
We have two toasters. Gluten is sticky, so I can't let my bread come anywhere near where their bread has been. I even have my own butter.
Any questions -- I might have answers.
Felicia
Willamette Valley, Oregon
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Gluten stand up: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zky2ShG3XPk
When my son and I feel down about being gluten free, we either watch this or quote lines of it to each other. It's about 3 minutes long.
Felicia
Willamette Valley, Oregon4 -
Rori - chiropractor visit went GREAT! My hero! Feel like I got pummeled, LOL. There were plenty of places "out" other than just my sacroiliac. Good day to drink lots of water and nap.
Heather - glad the letters were sent and older DS understood. Sounds like younger DS will be in good hands with DDIL helping out.
DH and I decided to pay off the house and cars and everything before we retired, mostly by doubling up on interest payments and putting tax refunds toward it as well. Our goal was to never owe anyone for anything other than monthly bills after we retired.
Long story which I will tell someday - this decision was based on some near-financial disasters we encountered when first married and consequently decided to take the ultra conservative financial road, plus our parents lived thru the Depression and "owning the house/land outright ASAP" was kind of drilled into our heads.
I guess we could have put any extra $$ into mutual funds or IRA's, but after going through a couple recessions and losing $$ we decided we'd rather own this place outright and sleep at night than hope the economy doesn't tank at the wrong time.
I stepped on the scale this morning.... I have gained three pounds from a week of not doing any exercise and eating all the junk and fast food I could lay my hands on since I was in no position to cook much. Chiro said to cool it for a day or two then I can get back to my strength training....woo hoo!
That's the quick and dirty, lol.
Lanette
Sunny and warm (68f) and rainy and humid SW WA State
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Heather.... I admire you... and think you are a gutsy gal.
Betsy in NW Washingon2 -
Heather, so happy that your oldest already "knew" something and that he is happier to be in the loop. Also happy that dil feels that younger son can be told. So much better for them to hear it from you rather than from someone else, also better for them to know, not have their imaginations running wild! I know I can come up with all kinds of wild and wonderful (not!) thoughts if I don't know what's happening! We always imagine the worst, don't we? I know this was a hard thing for you to do, so major kudos to you for grabbing the bull by the horns. I think you came out on top!
Machka, you and your hubby are still firmly in my thoughts. Happy to hear that he is responding to sounds, hoping he will make a full and complete recovery. Our brains and bodies really are quite marvelous machines, we sometimes just need to let them "reboot" themselves!
Terry, hope all goes well with the MRI and that you don't need surgery. Keeping you in my thoughts also.
Lanette, glad to hear the chiro helped! Have to admit, I love my chiro! She does a lot to keep me upright and mobile!
Felicia, well, glad that ds will get his guitar back, but OUCH! That's a lot of money for shipping! Oh well, sometimes we need to do these things for our kids.
Lisa, so happy that your sil got home in one piece. Hoping that things go well for your daughter as well. How is her ankle holding up?
We paid off our house many years ago, so nice to be mortgage free! When we bought the house we are currently in, we were able to pay for it outright as we sold our old place. We even had a bit of money left over! Course, then I decided that we needed some new furniture...... Well, we really did, the old couch would have been too big in the new living room, so it's downstairs in hubby's man cave. I wanted to get new recliners, one for each of us and a small loveseat. Even hubby admits that was all a good idea. We also made and paid for our final arrangements, my mom and dad had done that and it was such a huge load off my shoulders. MIL did not do that, so we had to set up, and pay for, her final stuff. She's not gone yet, but at least when she does go, it's all taken care of.
So thankful that neither of us has gluten issues, but have to say there are certainly many, many more options now that even 10 years ago. I think of a girl I went to school with, she was celiac (probably still is!!) and I can't imagine the trouble that her mom must have had to go to in order for this girl to eat. There was no rice or soy flour, certainly couldn't buy any gluten free pasta or baked goods.... I have tried brown rice pasta, hubby was reluctant, but even he decided it was pretty good. So then I tried corn pasta, yeah, won't be buying that again. It's okay, but not great. I will buy the brown rice stuff again tho.
Weigh in was Wed, down .8! Was doing the happy dance, gotta tell ya! Only 7 more weeks til the wedding.... Still haven't talked to our son about wanting his grandmother and uncle at the wedding, really need to try and get him to see things from their perspective, neither of them were ever social butterflies, this would just make them so uncomfortable. My bil has anxiety issues when he's in unfamiliar surroundings and he doesn't like crowds..... Will have to tackle that this weekend, I guess. Not a conversation that I'm looking forward to. Somebody asked if this was coming from the fiancee's side, I'm pretty sure it's not, I think she's being supportive of his decision. I do understand him wanting them there, she has a large family and they are all in the area, so he wants some family there too. Unfortunately, most of the people that he invited from my side are all older and live farther away than they feel comfortable driving. We might have a plan in place for a few of them to get here, we shall see what happens in the next few weeks.
Okay, enough of this novel for today! There was another topic that I was going to put my two cents worth in about, but darned if I can remember what it was now!
Hope everyone has a great day/night!
Evelyn, Vancouver Island5 -
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Physical went well. Dr was happy about the weight loss. Going to have my blood work done next week and depending on what that shows will determine if I can come off any meds. Fingers crossed. The small itchy rash spot I had on my hand turned out to be ringworm! I said “where the he!! did I get that”? Guess you can catch it just about anywhere. So now I’ve got anti fungus cream for it.
Well, I’m beat and ready to read. I’m reading Lisa See’s The Tea Gurl Of Hummingbird Lane and enjoying it.
Hope everyone has a good night.
Terry in VT6 -
I remembered!! I only use Facebook for Facebook, nothing else that I go into is linked to my facebook account. So, the only password that Facebook has for me is for my facebook account (and darned if I know what it is!) so nobody is going to get very far looking for a phone number or email address there!
I have found there is less and less on there that I am interested in, I joined in order to keep up with friends and family, but people seem to be posting less and less on there. Oh well, I do still use it to message the kids sometimes and it is handy for some of my cousins, I'll keep it for now.
Evelyn, Vancouver Island3 -
Well I went to the movie at the movie theater here the adventures of tin tin...really cute movie,now to bed and work tomorrow.5
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Allie - Glad that TomCat has to keep insurance with you as beneficiary. It'd be awful to suddenly have 'income' fly right out the window.
We're debt-free as far as credit cards; but, Louis kept the ones he uses in his business. I was prepared to pay them off, too. He has to make the payments and he recently took up paying my car payment rather than transferring funds each month for me to be able to pay it. Can you say, "Insurance Poor?" That's what we are. It is expensive to insure a man in his mid-70's; but, we have to do it so the mortgage can be paid off. I have a little more than he does just because I had some through my job that I did not have to pay for. Talked to OPM today and she brought up the fact that I can change from 'family' health insurance to "Me + one" and save over $35 - jumped all over that and it takes place immediately; I will wait until I get my bank statement to take out the lower amount. My retirement check should have already hit by now. Louis was surprised that it wasn't more of a savings. Hells Bells - I will take it, that is a 'haircut' or 'something' for me. I need to get my eyebrows shaped.
Nothing good on TV tonight; seems like we should have started watching a movie earlier; but, oh well! Maybe tomorrow.
Terry - Do you have a garden or anything? Ringworm used to be something that I'd get as a small child; but, I played outside barefooted most of the year. It is something that is caused by a fungus; and, you can also get it from pets if they pick it up. I think ringworms and lice are common in children because they don't think about trying on hats or using combs or brushes of others. May be one reason I chose not to wear hats. But, I used to go with my mother a couple times a year to the hat shop in Albany and we'd try on hats for quite a while.
Lenora3 -
stats for the day:
bike ride hm 2 gym- 7.45min, 133mhr, 11.5amph. 1.4mi= 78c
apple watch- 64c
0 RUNNER- 20min, 113ahr, 137mhr, lvl5, 8.58min mi, 2.23mi= 137c
apple watch- 128c
floor exerc- 21.38min, 140mhr, 1 set of 15ea, burpees, squats, running stationary lunges, squats w/jump, single leg toe touches, ceiling to fl single leg touches, single leg squats, single leg low dips, mountain climbers, hamstring leglifts, push-ups, all 4's elbow to knee= 148c
apple watch- 127c
bike ride gym 2 dome- 5.12min, 130mhr, 17amph, 1.4mi= 53c
apple watch- 41c
Bike ride puy 2 sumn sta- 15.13min, 11.9amph., 143mhr, 3mi= 135c
apple watch- 119c
jog sta 2 wk, 4.44min, 143ahr, 157mhr, 9.13min mi, .5mi= 63c
apple watch- 54c
jog wk 2 sta- 5min est, 153mhr, .4mi= 65c
apple watch- 58c
bike ride dome 2 hm- 19.57min, 7.8amph 144mhr, 2.6mi= 174c
apple watch- 146c
total cal 8532 -
Barbara I spent some time looking over the dances that we may be doing for the County Fair. There are 15 dances on the list but we'll do only 8 so the next few weeks will be spend trying to decide which ones to do. In years past, I've known almost all the dances. This year I know only a few and two of them are dances that are different from the ones I already do to the same music. The group of dancers includes two beginners so that may determine which dances get eliminated. No matter, what, I'll have to learn some new dances. When the list is final, I'll let you know which ones we're going to do.
Evelyn, I got a Facebook account to see photos of my grandchildren and my friend's dogs. I hardly ever look at anything, but I maintain the account so if my friend asks me if I saw the photo of her dogs, I can look. I didn't even check Facebook on my birthday.
Heather, you are doing a brave thing with your memoirs and sharing the info with your sons. I admire your courage.
Lanette, I am very happy with my chiropractor. I'm glad you had good results.
Stats for today:
*19,000 steps
*170 minutes walking Sasha and Bessie
*47 minutes riding the exercise bike
*taught the two hour beginner line dance class
Barbie from beautiful drizzly NW Washington5
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