WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR FEBRUARY 2016

Heather such a happy pic. love them cuties! Karen from NY

Kim from NC – I’ve heard that slowing down while eating and/or putting down the utensils while chewing helps make you feel fuller quicker. Portion control will be the way you’d need to go in order to fill your plate the way your nutritionist wants you to do. Doing that will also make the tracking easier because they are broken down into serving sizes. Such as 4 ounces for meat (protein); ½ - 1 cup in veggies, and fruit. Getting a smaller plate than a dinner plate will also help you think you have more food than you’d have if you were putting the same amount on it as you would your dinner plate. A nice sized salad plate is what I use; my dishes are large in the first place, so my salad plates are larger than normal.

I think my early- to mid-20’s were my hardest time; 3 pregnancies (I lost first to a very complicated condition); then the 2 others because of being considered ‘high risk’ was a most stressful time. But, I enjoyed being a mother, always have, always will. Our sons have made both of us very happy and proud. DOS who has 3 of our 4 DGDs lives next door; DYS and his ‘new’ family (wife and her daughter) are very happy and getting used to being newlyweds; but, they are so far away that we don’t get to see them but 2; maybe 4 times a year (if that). Hoping that DDnL#2 will be able to get pregnant; but, she will be considered ‘high risk’ as well. Crossing our fingers and saying prayers for another GC. I don’t mind my 60’s; another hard time was in my late 30’s and early 40’s … hysterectomy and being diagnosed as bipolar and having to get use to what my ‘episodes’ would do to me. Some bad MDs and getting Lithium Toxic and almost dying several times for different reasons. But, life has improved and I think I am a whole lot more mellowed out with age.

Becca – I might be able to do Tai Chi in the pool … water would help me with my balance; but, not on dry land. Broken big toe on one foot; crushed heel and broken ankle on the other with a lot of pens and plates. I do good to handle my balance when getting up from chair and start walking. I stumble and fall a lot more than I want to; but, thankfully DH hangs on to me most of the time. Especially when the ground or sidewalks are not even or if I have to maneuver steps. I don’t lift my left foot up nearly as much as I should. Probably caused from having non-stop seizures when I was Lithium Toxic. DH cannot watch any show where a person starts having seizures; it just upsets him so because he said he watched me doing so for near 3 weeks. Now on several seizure meds to keep (or help keep) me from having another. I’ve always wanted to be able to sing soprano; I sing alto which doesn’t give me much range in my singing. Sing along with radio when driving.

Katla and Donna – Guess I need to ask my MD about the Nexium (Rx strength) that I am taking; not looking forward to ‘losing my mind’. I already make several trips to another room and back again to remember why I went there in the first place. LOL! Katla, one of my DOS’s fiend is a ‘Ferrier’ (if I spelled that right or if that is the right terminology); he puts horseshoes on horses as a 2nd-ary job. It keeps him busy on the weekends. I think his wife likes it because it gives her another reason to go shopping and try to spend all his money. His other job is with UPS; and, he’s been with them for nearly 20 years. Good workout for him.

Joyce – We’ve gone to my retirement account to do things like a down-payment on our house; ‘new’ windows to make our screened-in porch into a glassed-in one so we will use it more often. Still waiting to buy the door – that will be our next most expensive thing next to the windows. DH did cover the screened door with plastic so I could bring some of my bigger plants inside instead of trying to lug them out to greenhouse. He watered them the last time; and I think my lipstick plant is dying because he gave it too much water. I do have a place I can go to replace it for nearly nothing. It does not like sunshine nor too much water. I won’t use his money or our money to buy new plants in the Spring … I’ll use mine. Usually, he will give me some $$$ to buy plants; but, a lot of the time I have to repot most of mine and divide those that are pot bound. Some need to be pot bound in order for them to flower.

GloworninWA – I can bust my butt cleaning the house. DH will comment on it; BUT, why did I not dust the TV screen. Mmmmm, maybe because I did not get around to it. The little word ‘But’ negates most of what he has previously said. He’s getting better. Another couple we’re friends with both work for the telephone company. They both retired this year. He used to say that floorboards in most houses were the dirtiest places; he’d clean off just enough to run wired (and he’d say that most would want him to clean the rest; he isn’t a maid, so the answer was ‘no can do’. He also said that a lot of the big houses in fancy neighborhoods might have furniture in a living room or den; but, the mattresses were on the floors and nothing in the way of dressers or other bedroom furniture were in the house.

Kimses in MA – We got Cracker from the Animal Shelter, they decided she was approximately 4 months old; confirmed by our vet; so we backdated her birthday to be the same as our DOS’s birthday; so we’d know about the time she was born. DOGD wants to claim she needs a dog as a service dog (for anxiety) so she can get a dog in the apartment complex they live in. They (she and boyfriend) are thinking about looking for a house to rent; but, I’m not sure they will find one they can afford; but, they figure the rent they each pay for the room(s) in a suite of 4 bedrooms would be enough to get one with a fence. Not so sure there will be much to choose from in a college town.

Pip - Bike as ‘art work’ … if you are getting rid of it because it takes up too much floor room … go to a place that sells old ‘rusty’ but fancy fence work and have them cut out an area and weld the bike to the fence and hang it on the wall with bicycle hooks; you’d need to find the studs to handle the weight. I saw this on a show called “Salvage Dawgs”. I like watching a lot of the decorating shows, to get ideas for when my DYS and DDnL#2 find a house on some land that they can remodel or build their own house on it. They are looking for some land with enough room on it so they can hunt on it and be between their work places. DYS will always have a ‘lake place’ that is paid for by his bosses as a ‘perk’ and her house will be ‘rented out’. It’ll be totally paid for in 8 more years; and because of its location they say that others in the neighborhood that have not been remodeled like hers are renting for a minimum of $850; and her 2 bedroom house has 2 bathrooms in it, making it more desirable, probably. When we refinanced ours we did not have the choice to refinance it any lower than 15 years; but, we saved a lot by doing so and the interest is about as low as it got when I did it. DH was surprised by my doing so; and it cut off about 2 years of payments in the process. The extra money went back into the house in the way of getting some furniture recovered and a new dining room table, new bed and mattress, and glassing in our screened in porch so we will be able to use it more often; and, some into our retirement account. It’s off the MBR; and I will be able to use it as a reading room or to watch a different show than one that my DH is watching.

Glad that Kirby has increased his running on the treadmill.

Lenora

Grits~ I love the pool where we go, because it has a warm pool (for the younger crowd, and for lessons and classes). On one side of the pool is a Ballet' bar so you can stretch and still keep your balance. The pool has a huge window on one side that if you are standing outside of the pool, you can see it overlooks the skate park. But when you are in the pool you just see sky. So many mornings I am watching the clouds, and standing in the sun (when it does come out). I have always been able to float, so on days when there is nobody else in, I just end my stretching with lying in the pool... (and almost falling asleep!) When I do the lap swimming, there is of course the deep end part. I channel orca whales there...hahaha... I can be horizontal, with no movement and still float. My grandmother taught me that. I couldn't drown if I wanted to! Lol. When I was swimming at the pool in the resort, there would be ladies with those small noodles that had mesh you could sit in. Then here's me just kind of standing in the water. They would say, "what are you on?" I would laugh and say I have my own floaties...then hold my hands close to my chest... hahahahaha!

Sorry about you having seizures. Yep that must have been scary! ((((hugs)))) Glad you are on medicine to help keep that under control.
((((hugs)))
Becca
Oregon

Vicki GRAND ISLAND, NE~ Can you hear the flowers trying to poke outta the ground....that is what spring fever sounds like! We have an old Presbyterian church that has daffodils that bloom in a field in front of it. They come up in the shape of a huge Cross, its really beautiful.
The aria I sang was an Italian aria-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDeFdGzthV0. I love this lady, Cecilia Bartoli... She is amazing. I didn't sing it as well, but I channeled her!!

Oh today I found two great books and two free magazines at our little library...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Warrenton+Community+Library/@46.1992363,-123.948247,3a,75y,350.91h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svue9dr2Bud00OA8Aqz3R7w!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xc7b720e635e17f8c!6m1!1e1

Paste this address and you can see pictures of it. It used to be the Town Hall. Its the sweetest little library I have ever seen.

I am reading a series (I'm on book 3) called "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children". Here is the trailer for book one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWrNyVhSJUU It's cute, odd, funny, scary, mysterious all rolled into one. When I read the first book I immediately got the second!

On the way home I walked by a new home that has gone up over the winter. It is a block from my apartment complex, and they have an attached beauty parlor so I went in today and got their card. How convenient is that? She complimented me on my grey and brown hair. I have grey around my face, kind of like Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmatians movie...lol
Becca
being productive in
Oregon

I'm alive.

Becca - So envious of that pool near you. Wish so much that we had warm weather all year long so we could keep ours open all year. We also have a hot tub; but, last year had a hail storm and it damaged it; mesh on the inside holds water and I can't lift the top by myself. It has a lift on in but not a mechanical one. Cover would cost about $500 without the lift; but, one that could be attached to it. I'd go out and get in it all the time. I sure miss having it so I can use it. DH keeps saying we need to get another one; but, don't want to get one with a soft top because of the hail storms we seem to have sometimes. Having a bar in the pool would be nice to be able to stretch. I tried doing a DVD that my sister gave me (after the 3 of us tried it at her house). Lord only knows why I thought I could do it now; I could not even do it then; and what I did do made me so sore I could barely walk the next day.

I was a lifeguard at our city pool as a teenager for 3 years; and, taught lessons. One boy cried the entire time, making it hard to pay attention to the other 19 kids in the class. What made it worse was his mother would stay; I finally asked if she'd not stay, it would be easier on me if she didn't. So, the next time (next day) he started up crying; and, I told him to get out of the pool until he felt like he did not need to cry. He wanted to stay in the pool; but, not participate in the class. I decided that if it hair lipped Hell; he was going to learn how to be 'safe' if he ever fell in. The pool was a 1/2 Olympic size so I made him walk with me around it a couple of times; then he had to walk around the raised sides a couple of times with me behind him. I was talking to him about how much fun he'd have if he'd trust me enough to teach him and he said that he wanted to learn. About the 2nd time around the pool; where the deep end started; I grabbed him by both arms and slung him as far as I could out into the pool and immediately went after him; but, not where he could touch me. I got him to stop crying and told him to keep his mouth shut and then lean his head back so that he would float; then I taught him how to tread water. I told him that 'if' he could do that ... he would at least be safe enough for one of us (lifeguards) to get to him. I also told him that 'if' he would be quiet during the lessons he'd learn how to swim. That's not the way to teach most kids how to swim; but, he was either going to learn 'something' or he was not going to be allowed back in the class. Then, he wanted to jump off the diving board; and that is the way he learned how to swim. I'd tread water just far enough out that he could not jump on me; and, I'd make him jump 'out' and 'not towards the edge of the pool'. Then I'd make him swim towards the ladder at the end of the pool with me kicking his feet. Years and years later when our HS put on a party; he came up to me and told me that he had always had a 'crush' on me. LOL! Even 'if' I did try to 'drown' him.

My parents tried to get me into swimming lessons and I was about as bad as this boy was; and, finally actually learned how to put my face in the water after being knocked down at the beach by a wave. I must have tumbled over 3 or 4 times with my face in the water. Then I bugged my Daddy to take me out on a raft. He took my middle sister and me out on a raft; and we got caught by a rip-tide. He was able to push my sister out of the rip-tide; but did not have the strength for us to get in; so the lifeguards came out after us. I never realized how bad it was and thought it was pretty neat to be rescued by a good-looking teenager/young man. Then, as I got older and walking up and down the beach started flirting with them and getting dates for the 2 weeks we were staying down there. They'd talk to you for a few minutes and then tell you that you had to move on (so they could watch out for the people in the ocean). Best way to get attention was to walk over the bridge that went over where the cars would drive down to park on the beach and the lifeguard station was at the end of the steps. They'd sit on the boardwalk fence and try to get you to come over and talk to them..

Trying to get friend support doing MPF.....trying hard to eat clean and stay motivated.

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