Senior Golden Sneakers ~~~March~~~Welcome all young and old

Hi Everyone!

I am ok and doing fine. It was a real tough week here with Day's mom and life in general. I will get on tomorrow and catch everyone up! Take care!

Jeffrey

:flowerforyou: I had a committee meeting to go to today that required getting up early, driving an hour, meeting a friend, riding an hour, spending three hours at the meeting, going out to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, riding for an hour, getting my car and driving for an hour and getting home at 4:30.........I had grilled chicken, tofu, rice, and salad, ate only half and brought the rest home, I resisted the spring rolls, fried egg rolls, Vietnamese coffee, and a bunch of other tempting goodies.so even though my calories are higher than usual, there's not the damage that I could have done. :bigsmile:

:blushing: :blushing: :blushing: :blushing: :blushing: One of my goals for March is to redouble my efforts nurture my marriage.......Jake and I are participating in a CD series called "Become Passion" which is about making your marriage stronger and we're listening carefully and doing everything that is suggested.

:flowerforyou: We're watching a recording of the USA vs Canada gold medal hockey game and taking turns riding the exercise bike. hugs Barbie

Hi All... 20 days until the Shamrock Half Marathon!!! I am so NOT ready and I leave for training in Floriday at the end of the week. Oh well I will jsut gut it out like I always do

Barbie - the whole issue with a geographic bachelor is well known but this one has a wife here where I met him!

Marie - I am heading to Wichita Falls in May for my sons graduation from High School I may drive if I do maybe we can meet up.

Jake - SO HAPPY YOUR WELL!!!!

Jeffery - Hope things are calmer at your house

Sandy - you crack me up...and slim or slime they are all bad when applied to him

Everyone else If I missed you I am sorry I am heading to a meeting and will try and catch up later
Beth

Good afternnon everyone!

It was a heck of a week. Day's mother was having a lot of isues that bore down on us. We coped! I had to go to Detroit for a presentation. And my work contract is expiring soon and the company is not putting any addtional dollars into the project. So I probably will be done soon. My brother is having cateract surgery but the doctor that ran the eye center took off with all the assets of the clinic. They got him and brought him back but in the mean time my brothers insurance cut off all payment to the clinic. So now he is waiting. My SIL is not doing well. My cousin now has cancer, ovarian, and my wife's cousin has gall bladder/liver cancer in stage 4. Top that all off, my wife's other cousin is diabetic and is now needing a kidney transplant. That my friends was my week! BUT! We will survive, we will go on, and we will laugh out loud again! It is just life, abeit a crappy week, just life!

Our daughters are fine and doing well. Sam will be home next week! I have been working out and running more and more. It is a good escape for a bit. My distances are better but my time is not so good. I have been working on my bike as time allows and it is starting to look like something.

Sandy I hope all went well over the weekend.

Jake and Barbie I always enjoy sharing your days.

Marie what is going on at your house this week?

Beth you will do fine! Have you ever read "Zen for Runners"? Good book. Barnes and Nobels and nice to hear from you!

Sandi keep at it! Quilting too!

Gayla! You back yet??? Where the pics and the recap of the cruise!

Jeffrey

Hi everyone! We got back this afternoon after a wonderful, amazing fantabulous time. Another week would have been great but I am happy to have what we did. The week was warm, enjoyed the sun. Sorry this is so short but I will be back tomorrow. I hope all is well here, I haven't had a chance to read the news yet.
Take care and keep smiling. Gayla

Welcome back Gayla, you deserved a fun time, and I'm glad you had one!!
just a quick hello, supposed to leave in the morning. Just had time today for laundry and groceries.
Hi Marie! take care

Hi all,
Finished all the squares today! All 19 of them. Did not make it to Curves but we are going tomorrow. Went to Quick Trip today and did not get a diet soda...had peach tea! Still no sweets but did have some white stuff for dinner. Get to get out of detox tomorrow.

Sounds like life is going on as usual...full of not so good surprises but life is good and we will all carry on and do what we have to do!

Gail, glad you had a fun trip...we will love hearing about it!

Take care everyone and
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

It is Tuesday, card day.:happy: After cards we will go to lunch with my husband, where I normally have some sort of fish that is the special. :drinker: I love Tuesdays because my card friend who is 87 is a special man and the three of us became really good friends. He is still sharp most days and unfortunately he is still driving. He is a little unsteady on his feet but refuses to use a can or walker. He is an ex marine and very stubborn and demanding but with a heart of gold. He is from Texas and a true southern gentleman. I think he is from Texarkana Marie.

Barbie, I am jealous of your weather, I can't wait for spring so I can take Daisy to the dog park without freezing. :grumble: Glad you are able to relieve some stress now that your income tax is done.

Gayla, welcome back we have missed you so much. The cruise sounds like it was wonderful, so how did Neil do?
Once you get caught up give all the details, inquiring minds want to know. :laugh:

Sandi, good for you on the detox. I have never done that and not sure I would know how. Glad you are able to stay off the pop, I think that will help a lot, better if you substituted water. :blushing:

Barb, that Bradley is a trouble maker just like our Daisy. We left her alone for a couple of hours last week and when we got home she had my Monk series of DVD's all over the floor. She chewed the box but thank goodness she didn't damage the DVD's themselves. We have to make sure there is nothing on any table or area that she can reach when we leave or she will get it to punish us for leaving her. She can be such a brat. :laugh: :laugh:

Time to get ready for the "big" game, will check in later.

Sandy

OOPS! Double post, so I will delete this one.

Irene,

I was sorry to hear of your family's loss. I hope your niece has lots of support around her.

You did see that post about National Pig Day. As a matter of fact, I posted it!! The day was actually celebrated on March 1st, but I didnt' get around to putting up the message until Monday evening. Here it is for anyone who missed it:

Did you know March 1st is National Pig Day?

Really.....It is. :huh: :noway: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I saw a news story about it earlier today, and forgot to post until now. Below is a excerpt from Wikipedia..

"National Pig Day is an event held annually on March 1 in the United States to celebrate the pig. The holiday celebration was started in 1972 by sisters Ellen Stanley, a teacher in Lubbock, Texas, and Mary Lynne Rave of Beaufort, North Carolina.[1][2][3] According to Rave the purpose of National Pig Day is "to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place as one of man's most intellectual and domesticated animals."[2] The holiday is most often celebrated in the Midwest.[4]

National Pig Day includes events at zoos, schools,[5] nursing homes, and sporting events around the United States. It is also recognized at "pig parties" where pink pig punch and pork delicacies are served, and pink ribbon pigtails are tied around trees in the pigs' honor.[2] According to Chase's Calendar of Events, National Pig Day is on the same day as pseudo-holidays Share a Smile day and Peanut Butter Lover's day.[6] The question of whether the holiday is a time to honor pigs by "giving them a break" or to appreciate their offerings (spare ribs, bacon and ham) is an open question......"

Every day is "Pig Day" at my house. I have three dogs who are known, collectively, as "The Three Little Pigs.":laugh: :laugh:

Barbiecat,

I am sorry to hear about your cold. I hope it straightens out so you won't have any problems flying. The change in air pressure can be tricky on the ears if your head is stuffed up. Good luck.

I have to get some things done, so no long posts tonight.

Barb

Hi everyone! You are all just so DOGgone nice!!! I did take a few pictures but am way to techno challenged to share them. Perhaps I will figure it out. Dave put all our pictures on our picture frame and it keeps cycling through them -- I sincerly do not like looking at myself, even on holidays!! I will try to give you an idea of what we did.
The first day in Miami we stayed at the Hotel Riu which is an ok hotel but not great. The good part was it was right on the beach. My kids found the outside bar immediately (of course) and then we walked along the beach and dipped our feet in the ocean. We found a very nice Cuban restaurant and tried many things that we hadn't tried before. We found that we really enjoy Cuban food as well as the atmosphere. (now I have to look for some Cuban recipes online)

We were up early the next morning to start our cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines. I really can't say a single bad thing about it. The only slightly negative thing was a shortage of deck chairs if you didn't get to the pool early enough. It wasn't a biggy and most days we go chairs, otherwise we sat at a table which was also fine. Our kids spent hours in the pool and hot tub with beer flowing constantly. We also spent a fair amount of time in both. Neil loved the pool. He did look like a beached whale getting out but he seemed to think it was worth it. Our other kids were very helpful getting Neil in and out of the pool and hot tub. Dave and I could not have done it on our own. Because the water in the pool was salt water Neil was able to dog paddle all over on his own. We made one huge error in judgement and Neil had quite a big seizure in the hot tub. No ill effects but if I hadn't been sitting next to him he would have been under water in a second. He flopped over on me and it took Dave and Quinn a bit to see something was amiss. They helped me keep him upright and then took him out of the hot tub. He was groggy and had a headache for awhile but after a snooze he was fine. No more hot tub for him after that and in the pool someone always stuck to him like crazy glue. I think that was our only misadventure the whole week although Neil did have one cranky day. He was stressing about getting off the ship to go on our excursion but all went well.
Our stewards were wonderful, always pleasant and available to help when needed. We had been upgraded us to a great room (for disabled guests) which was quite large. For those of you who have cruised you will appreciate this -- the bathroom was large enough to do a jig in it (if I had wanted to)! There was a pull down seat in the shower which was so great for Neil. We had a balcony and enjoyed it so much for part of every day. Dave was able to get up at the crack of dawn each day to get a picture of the sunrise (I slept). The bed was so comfortable, the bedding great. About the sunrise which I saw only in pictures, it was gorgeous but really doesn't hold a candle to our wonderful prairie sunrise.

Excursions -- The kids (or adult children as I call them) had a wonderful time kayaking in Roatan, Honduras. Dave went ashore to look around and enjoyed that as well. Neil and I took the opportunity to each have a massage (Swedish for me, Athlete for him) which were over the top expensive but without doubt the best massage I have ever had. Neil was a bit disappointed because the guy told him not to talk which was very hard for him.:laugh: The next day everyone but Neil and I went cave tubing in Belize which they loved. Neil and I played a rousing game of Bingo which Neil enjoyed and it was fine for me. By the last game I had to really work to stay awake so we dozed by the pool for awhile after the game. In Costa Maya we all got off the boat (a pier for us there) and took a tour to see some Mayan ruins which was very interesting on a gorgeous sunny day. We had a terrific guide who made the tour very special. He seemed to take a shine to Neil which was nice. The last day we stopped for the day at a small island in the Bahamas which is owned by NCL. That was a great day, lying in the sun, a swim in the ocean and a BBQ. Neil and I both found the water very cold (pansies) but everyone else happily spent a lot of time in the water.

Food -- The food was always good and sometimes exceptional. There are so many choices at the buffets that you never try it all. For me the best buffet dinner was the turkey with all the trimmings but others enjoyed the ribs or prime rib more. The salad buffet was excellent and that made a very good lunch for Neil and I when the others were away. We did try several other restaurants and were never disappointed.

Entertainment -- Most evenings we took in a show, sometimes good, sometimes not. Their singing group was not great but the acrobats and dancers were very entertaining. Neil loved the juggler who was very good. The final night crew show was hilarious. Our kids went on a pub crawl (because they couldn't get enough booze poolside) and had a terrific time. They went to 6 or 7 ship bars and at each one they played some kind of game. I gather our kids did well at the games. They planned on going to another one the next night but for some reason a couple of them weren't feeling that well. They also went to a couple of wine tastings (may have been one wine and one something else). They put their new knowledge to work as they ordered wine for dinners.

Neil and I usually had an afternoon sleep which was great for him especially. He was so rested that he actually had very few seizures (my theory). It was slow paced for the most part and we all enjoyed the ship days as much as the excursion days. We all came home with some tans in spite of using a lot of sunscreen.

Would we do it again? In a heartbeat, all I have to do is save my pennies.

I am sure that I left something out that I meant to tell you but in a nutshell that is our holiday -- sunning, swimming, eating, visiting, touring, sleeping. No complaints from this group!!

I still have only read this weeks news so will have to check back to see what I missed.

Sandy -- Sorry to hear about the baby with so many problems. I will say a prayer for the baby and parents.

Irene -- Sorry, also, for your niece and family.

Marie -- Have you had results from your Dr. appointments? Hope all is well.

Phoebe -- Still working hard as usual.

Barbie -- Sorry you are under the weather. Hope the cold goes quickly. Dave has one as well and I am hoping he keeps it to himself. I am a bit jealous that you got to watch the Gold curling game and we didn't, no Olympic coverage on the boat!! I was glad that the Martin team won (the team that my cousins son is on). We did get to watch the Canada/USA last hockey game in the hotel Sunday evening. I will keep my yeahs to myself but what a barn burner!! Is that a prairie expression?

Jeffrey -- You still are making me feel very lazy with all your exercising. Is the race soon?

Everyone else, take care and keep smiling. Gayla

Oh Gayla, your cruise sounds absolutely wonderful!!!! You made me feel like I was right there with you except I have no suntan. :noway: Too bad about the one seizure in the hot tub but at least you were able to keep him under control and he seems like he enjoyed the rest of the trip. I am so happy you got to do this with your family, I know when I went with mine it was just heaven.

Jeffrey, so sorry about your job but I am sure this too you will overcome. Having Sam, this time I mean your daughter, home will be wonderful and now that you have a little free time, it is like a blessing in disguise.

I am off to bingo now, don't wish me luck because it doesn't work, so just ignore saying anything. :laugh:

Sandy