WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR DECEMBER 2013

NEWS FLASH
Another donut found in the dirty clothes hamper....of course it was the second maple bar!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Hello everyone: Finally back home after visiting the Pacific NW for Christmas. We had a wonderful time with family. Went expecting warmer temps and the second day we were there it snowed. My DGD was ecstatic. School was called off and I went with her to the park so she could play in the snow. I got to see two of her horseback riding lessons but swim team was on a break. We had a jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table on Christmas Day and all sorts of people working on it. We finished it in the evening. My DIL does not like big noisy family groups but that is exactly what we had and she managed okay. I am glad as she has had meltdowns in the past when we have had large family groups together.

Well now I am back home and have to attend to medical matters this next month. I have an MRI scheduled for January 7 of my liver to evaluate the lesion further and just a couple of hours before we got on the plane they called to tell me I need to redo my mammogram and have magnification done because there are small calcifications in the right breast. I need to schedule that this next week as there was no time before we left.

Silvia - Hope you are finally doing better. Sounds like you have been through the wringer.

Healing angels to all who need them and congratulations to those with victories. Sue in SD

I know someone that does her 40 min. walk in a mall before it opens to the public. The doors are open, but only a few people are there. I did it with her once and I actually worked up a sweat.

Good evening,

Sylvia many healing thoughts sent your way after what you have been through. :flowerforyou: I hope you can take things slow.

Ribblondie Welcome:flowerforyou:

I went to drop off some donations today. I will create a pile of donations, but it seems to take me forever to get them to a drop off spot. I don't put things on the street anymore. The last time I did someone else took them before the pick up truck came. :grumble:

Tonight we went with friends to see a Christmas light show. We had a great time.


Margaret

Anamika - I do go to a class. As a matter of fact, I'm going to one this morning. But then there are times when I just can't get to the class and the DVD's are a good addition. But I totally agree, you need an instructor to show you the correct form. It is so very easy to fall into a bad habit and not even realize it. Like I know when I was in Warrior II I was letting my knee fall inward (does that make any sense). It wasn't until an instructor pointed it out to me that I even became aware that I was doing that. Now I'm conscious of it. I also usually go to a class on Wednesday mornings (when I go to the deep water class on Wednesdays).

Tomorrow I'm planning to do a pilates DVD that I got for Christmas.

DeeDee - I'm haveing mahjongg at my house this Monday (we usually go to another gal's house), so the decorations can't come down until at least then. Then I'll be ready to get them down.

I told Jess last night that she's probably going to have to do most of the cooking for the dinner tonight. Fortunately, most of it is heating things up, except for frying the pierogi.

Sylvia - so glad to hear you're on the way home! thanks for keeping us updated. You get better real fast, ya hear????

Joyce - I'm so sorry you can't get your license back. You are one heck of a nurse. I bet with your knowledge, you would be a wonderful phone nurse.

Heather - to be a teacher, what do you have to do, what do you have to go thru to get your license? Good for you getting that check!!!!

One of the ladies who I think is coming to mahjongg Monday said she wants to make something special, can she stop by another lady's house? I do hope it isn't any kind of cookie. Well...if it is, hopefully, it'll be something Vince'll eat or else I'll just be nice Monday night and then donate it to the soup kitchen. I'm just so sick of cookies and cakes and pies.

Allison - so glad you're home safe

Geri - so sorry about your MIL. She's in a better place now. I just sent you a friend request on facebook

Well, we had our second Christmas dinner. I think Kris sort-of enjoyed being with a family on Christmas. Wish he was able to be here Christmas Day, it probably would have been so much better. But oh well. Went over on the calories today, I know I did. But this is THE END, absolutely the end. Jess did the dinner (well, most of it was just heating things up). I am so used to being the one who everyone relied on to get the dinner going, I have to learn more and more to step back and let her do it. Well...I'll get there.

Kris and Jess gave me two bottles of wine for Christmas. Honestly, I'm not much of a wine drinker, it'll probably be put downstairs for a few years. but it's the thought that counts. Interesting seeings how I'd sent her my wish list on Amazon and I know I have a few books on there, I would have thought they could have gone to Barnes and Noble and have gotten some, but no matter....

Thank goodness for tomorrow being another day. then Monday when we have mahjongg here.

Michele from NC

Good morning beautiful ladies:flowerforyou:

Cynthia “An oasis in all the holiday busy-ness” sounds absolutely delightful !

Renny Love your new profile pic! Hope you feel better soon! Happy Anniversary:flowerforyou: !!!

Katla I didn`t get any decorations taken down yesterday:ohwell: . I`m going to try and get all the decorations up, except for the tree, which I will take down after New Years Eve. It took me a couple of days to get everything out, will probably be that long putting everything away. I`m longing for longer days too:glasses: !

Gail Hope you enjoy your company, sounds like you`ve got a nice plan to keep them busy!

Juanita Hope you`re doing well!

Sylvia Hope you`re feeling better today:flowerforyou: !

Joyce Sounds like your cats had a nice time:laugh: !

Heather Yay for finally getting at least part of your money!

Grandmallie (Alison) I`ve been calling you Grandmallie for so long, it`s hard to get used to calling you Alison:blushing: . Glad you got home safe and sound!

Geri How very nice to see you again! So sorry to hear about your MIL:brokenheart: !

Jane Martin I`m confused on what day it is too:noway: :laugh: !

Meg Howling wind and 6 degrees….brrrrrrr!!!! Another donut in the clothes hamper:laugh: ….oh that Benny Beagle! Just think, now when there is a donut in front of you, that Benny has already licked it:sick: , that would stop me from eating it !

Yanniejannie The gremlins ate your post , it used to happen to me all the time, I started using a word doc. to type my posts on, and then I just copy and paste.

Sue in SD Sounds like you had a very nice trip, snow and all! Wishing you good luck for your tests:flowerforyou: !!!

Barbie You get up so early in the mornings, no wonder you were tired:yawn: . Naps are so nice…I love it when I get the opportunity to have one ! Fresh ground peanut butter…yummy!

Margaret I sometimes have a problem getting my donations to the drop off location too. Before I put up my decorations I had to drop off several bags of clothing I had sitting in my way:embarassed: ! If I will take things to the car as I do them, they would get there faster!

Michele Passing the torch to Jessica…sometimes it`s hard. When the kids came over for Christmas, I did everything, my daughter offered to help cook and clean up, and I wouldn`t hear of it. She takes care of 3 other people all the time, I wanted her to come and just enjoy being here, not cooking or doing dishes afterwards. That may change one day, but as long as I`m able to do it, I just want them to have a good time!

I`m having brunch with my best friend today ….now all of the presents will have been delivered:bigsmile: !

Have a wonderful day ladies! Drink your water:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: and log your food!

Hugs,
DeeDee in rainy, icky NC:grumble:

Good morning, slept like a rock after all the exercise at Colonial Williamsburg yesterday---annual trek to see the decorations. It was crowded but many, many people brought their dogs; best part of the day was meeting new doggie friends!!! Ate at Olive Garden on the way back home............shared an entree with DD, but still afraid to look at the cals.

Threw out the remainder of the French Coconut Pie. Not sure what I'll make today; maybe chili.

As a child, we always left out decorations up through Jan. 7.......Russian Christmas, because we had neighbors who celebrated this. I still don't take mine down until about the 10th.........I love them, and we have them such a short period of time.

Meg..........laughed at the bennybeagle antics, imagine, hiding maple bars---he has good taste, that's for sure.

DeeDee..........I don't have a clue how to do any of the fancy things on the computer, always feel lucky to find my way back here to post and open my email successfully. About the only thing I can claim to be good at is looking things up on google.

Much colder weather coming, but just rain and maybe 50's right now.
yanniejannie

In Britain we normally take down our decorations on 12th Night. 5th Jan. It's considered unlucky to leave them up longer.

Just had phone call from DH's twin sister to say her DDIL passed away last night. She was in a hospice. Only 45.

Heather

Michele: In the US every state has its own rules for issuing a teaching license. In my state it involves hours of coursework in specified areas, depending on your endorsements. I had a K-8 endorsement and was “highly qualified” in my subject area-which was social studies. To determine “highly qualified” status, they looked at my college transcripts. You are also required to take hours of training annually. The school district had training sessions on inservice days to provide for keeping the staff up to date. If you're not working, you have to pay for classes to maintain your license.:flowerforyou:

Heather: Congratulations on the first installment of your inheritance from your former MIL. :bigsmile: Good news about renewing contact with your cousin. My cousins are very important to me, too. I was/am an only child, all the elders are gone now, so they are the only family I have apart from the immediate family DH and I created. Sorry about the loss of your DSIL’s daughter in law. If she was in hospice, it must have been a blessing for her, but hard for her family.:flowerforyou:

Alison: Welcome home! I know how hard it is to maintain healthy habits during a road trip. Don’t worry about it and get back into the groove now that you’re home.:flowerforyou:

Patchworkpers: I’m sorry about the loss of your MIL and all the hard work it entailed. It sounds as though it may have been a blessing for her.:flowerforyou:

Meg: Good luck with your writing marathon. Sometimes deadlines are valuable motivators.:grumble: :sad: :ohwell: :flowerforyou:

Juanita: You said your goodbyes at the right time. I hope your BIL’s family can start the healing process now. I think funeral services are good ways for families to readjust to the loss of a valued family member, but sickness and treacherous weather are very good reasons to stay home.:flowerforyou:

Yanniejannie: I’m glad you had a good time at Colonial Williamsburg. It sounds like a lovely outing.:flowerforyou:

Cindy: Congratulations on your daughter’s engagement.:flowerforyou:

Sylvia: Congratulations on being home and having a restful night of sleep with your DH. I’ll bet the weight gain is related to your hospital procedure and will melt away on its own.:flowerforyou:



I spent much of the day yesterday working on DDIL’s Christmas stocking. I want it done and put away by the time all the decorations are taken down. I went into a shop to get a tool to write her name on it so that I could embroider over it and ran into one of my fellow yoga students in the shop. All is going okay in her life, and that is good as her DH had some frightening reactions to medicine in November. It turns out that I haven’t actually missed ANY yoga classes. The teacher had to cancel those that were planned for December. My fellow student told me I was still losing and didn’t need to lose any more. So this morning I hopped on the scale to find I am right where I expected to be and haven’t actually lost more weight. I think I’m doing okay on switching to maintenance. My fitness efforts are still derailed by the broken wrist, though. I’ll see the hand doctor again tomorrow.:bigsmile: I hope to be out of the brace and into flexibility exercises, but DH thinks it is too soon for that. We'll see what the doctor says.:flowerforyou:

Happy Holidays!
Katla in beautiful NW Oregon

December goals:

1. Log every bite and swallow
2. Focus on fitness: daily cardio until my wrist heals, then add back strength training.
3. Drink at least 3 glasses of water every day

Good Morning,

Welcome Geri:flowerforyou:

Katla in Minnesota we have to have 125 hours of additional training every five years. Some of those hours can come from life experience like travel and volunteer activities. I will renew one more time at age 60 and then been done with it. We also can get a two year license where we do not have to do all those additional hours. That license is only good for subbing. We are required to take a math, mental health, technology, and diverse training. The union is St. Paul offers a one day training class for about 50 dollars that covers those requirements. I was fortunate I was able to get most of my hours when I was still working so my costs were minimal. I do understand your dilemma because it can be a hassle and expensive to get those hours. Good luck with your decision.

Dee dee good idea about the donations.

Sylvia your body has gone through a trauma and is reacting accordingly. I agree with others once you are recovered that water weight will fall off. If it doesn't be sure to discuss with your doctor.

I am resting today. The high is 0 today. I am not even going out to go to church. Yesterday I chipped out our driveway because we were in the thirties. We have a two car driveway. I am tired and sore.


Margaret

Joyce or Meg, could either of you explain why they felt it necessary to draw a big red circle on me in magic marker? It seems to mark the edges of the hematoma. I didn't even see them do it, but it's there and doesn't want to wash off. Just curious why.

Sylvia

Hi, I'm not Joyce or Meg :bigsmile: , but I think they're doing that (did that) to keep an eye on the hematoma. With the circle it's easy to see whether it's getting bigger or smaller. You see it sometimes on tv when someone got a snake bite; they draw a circle so they can see whether/how fast the swelling is spreading.

Keep getting better!
Cynthia

Hello Ladies!

It's so good to see so many of my old friends still here. I haven't really been around much since last May, but am hoping to rectify that now. I probably won't manage to post every day like before, but will try to get on as much as I can. I'm sorry to say that I've regained 14 lbs. over the past 8 months. There was just too much stress in my life, and something had to go. I recorded my current weight and measurements this morning, and am going to start down the road to getting healthier again. My weight tracker looks so sad, saying only 2 lbs. gone. At least I didn't regain quite all of it!

There were a few positive habits while I was gaining, though. I've continued to wear my Fitbit every day and sync to the site, so have been aware of my steps (or lack thereof!). I've kept up with drinking my water every day. And finally, I had started doing "counter pushups" most days, so that my arms aren't too flabby. That old "sugar demon" still has it's claws into me, so the next couple of days will probably be difficult while I try to tame him again.

As you may recall, I was having so terribly many medical issues with my parents. My father was in either the hospital or rehab from the end of April until mid-October, and I had to go there every day in addition to taking care of my mother. When I finally got Dad home, Mom lost consciousness less than 24 hours later and we had to take her in to the hospital. She was in the hospital for 4 of the next 6 weeks and underwent 4 surgeries during that time, so I was at the hospital every day in addition to taking care of Dad, who isn't very mobile or able to care for himself. That took us up into December and Christmas. My daughter was here for 6 days, then my cousin (she left yesterday). My parents are doing much better (fingers crossed), but I don't know for how much longer. Mom's mental capacity is deteriorating. They won't consider going into a home, which means that I'm on call 24/7. The VA has been great, though, and sends a CNA every morning to get Dad up and going. They also send someone to cook their lunch 5 days a week.

The problem with being in the "sandwich" generation is that I feel so resentful that I've lost my life, and feel so much guilt for having the resentment. My husband has been on several trips without me, which is the hardest since I love to travel. He and I went to California during a lull, supposedly for 8 days, but had to come back after 3 days because of another medical crisis. I'm hoping that I can send my parents to my brother in Hawaii for a month between doctor appointments, but am not sure yet. They won't pay to kennel their dog, and I'm not sure what can be done with him. It's too cold to just have the neighbor kids put out food and water -- he needs to be indoors at night. If I can get this to happen, I'm planning to just go sit on a beach somewhere while they're gone. I gave up working 8 months ago to care for them, and am not sure if I want to try to go back or not. It probably isn't worth it, as the next medical crisis will probably not be too far down the road.

The kids are doing well. My daughter will start school again in March to become a nurse practitioner and my son went back to school this fall. He should graduate next Christmas (2 more semesters), then spend the spring studying for his dental exams and hopefully start dental school in the fall of 2015. He is working in his uncle's dental office part-time, and learning the business part of running a large dental practice.

That is the short version of what's been happening in my life. I hope you are all well and doing much better in the weight wars than I have been. I'm off to try out my new treadmill for the first time!

Jane in Colorado

Jane in CO: Welcome back! I’m glad to see you here again. You have been missed. I’m sorry you’re in such a tough spot with your parents. When mine failed, they did it one at a time. Mom mostly took care of dad. When it was her turn, I took care of her. It was clear she couldn’t live in her own home, so we put her into an assisted living facility near our house. I was able to visit her daily, someone from the facility brought her medications, she had meals with convivial people in a dining room and the necessities were easily managed. Is that a possibility for your parents? It would take part of the load from you. At the very least, your siblings should take an occasional week to fill in for you so that you can get some rest. Tell them I said so.:flowerforyou:

Hugs and sympathy,



Katla in beautiful NW Oregon

December goals:

1. Log every bite and swallow
2. Focus on fitness: daily cardio until my wrist heals, then add back strength training.
3. Drink at least 3 glasses of water every day

Sylvia, yes, a permanent marker is sued to mark the margins of a hematoma are. We didn't have red markers though, we used black. They need to be permanent so they aren't washed off during bathing. It will wear off, eventually:ohwell:

Jane, you certainly have had a trying year. Have you talked to your parents home health nurses about how you feel and see if they would be a mediator so you could talk. Maybe there is a social worker in their department that could help you. You still need to be you. And your husband needs you to be with him when he travels. I am glad that they are better but it is at the cost of your mental health. Do they, your parents, realize that?

Well this time next Sunday our family Christmas will be over, everyone will be on their way home. The house will be very quiet since my husband will be driving my daughter and grand kids home. Our son in law still hasn't done anything to get his responsibilities on Sunday covered. GRRRRR He was told in October. I have a brother who is an assistant pastor in his church and he is taking that morning off.

Joyce, Indiana

What is bump, again?