WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2016

Michele in NC – The way I knew the encyclopedias needed to be updated were ‘stickers’ that crossed-referenced each book in the encyclopedias and the year book, page for page. In other words, if something came out about a ‘new’ discovery about Mars; then there were 2 stickers referring you to the other. One sticker went in the year book to refer you back to the encyclopedia; and in the cyclopedia under Mars, would be a sticker referring you to that year book. You’d put it in the corner of the page or at the beginning or ending of the article; wherever it would fit. They came out every time the yearbook came out. Even the library would not take the encyclopedias because they had been made obsolete with the Internet being the place to go; so they went into the burn pile.

I remember, in HS, having to write term papers; and, having to reference where I had gotten the information. As a Senior in HS; we were generally given subjects to write them about or we could decide on our own. I decided that I would see if I could ‘freak out’ out English teacher; and, wrote about ‘abortion’. I quickly found out that there was so little in 1969 about the subject that I almost thought about choosing a different subject; but, I stuck to it.

She ‘checked’ ever reference article for ‘everybody’s paper. Also learned that she was an avid reader; and, if you thought you could get away with reading the “Cliff Notes” … you would be in a heap of trouble. None of the questions on the test were things you’d glean from not reading the actual book. I did not become an ‘avid’ reader until I was an adult.

I agree about the ‘either … or’ comments; one of the things I learned from my Mother was to delete the “and/or” and say … My friend went to the park; then which sounded the best: 'I went to the park’; or ‘me went to the park’. Both my husband and I just ‘look at one another’ over this misuse of “DONE” … when it should be “FINISHED”. I tell my DGDs that you are only DONE, if you are a steak, so bring me that knife and fork and let me test you’. I.E. – “I’m ‘done’ eating.” And anytime that you are ‘finished’ with a task. My DOGD, just cringes when she hears others making grammatical errors or typing them - for example: their, there, and they're. All sound alike; but, totally different meanings; and quite often change the essence of the sentence in which they are used. But, I would never ‘think’ to correct an adult; just my DSs and DGDs (as growing up). I think when my DMGD ‘corrected’ her mother about the correct pronunciation of “Salmon”; it embarrassed her. Mainly, because she told her that she was only doing what “Nana” did to her. Did it ‘in front of us’ … I wanted to ‘correct’ her for being ‘disrespectful’ to her Mother in public or in front of others. I turned and looked at my DOS; and, he was just ‘shaking his head’. He was not about to get into the ‘conversation’. But, he quickly steered the conversation back to what the ‘visit’ was for; rules to follow since she was not going to the beach with them.

I have found that some apps work best under IE; others better under Chrome. If I find I am having issues with the way something is working I go in and change my ‘default’ search engine. I think that using Chrome works best when you are dealing with pictures and/or videos. Sometimes I go in and make sure that my ‘history cache and cookies’ have been cleared out. That will slow your computer down a lot.

We’re really happy that Cracker is putting her weight on that paw again. It seems like just about any time she gets to that point; something else would happen to it. Vet told us not to expect for her to stop favoring that paw until the nails on her two middle toes grew out completely since those pads are the one that get the brunt of the weight bearing load.


Jmkmomm – Happy that everything went well with your procedure. Talking about a noise machine; falling asleep while the TV is ‘on’ is something the ‘best sleep for a nap’ that I do. Sleeping with a C-pap (even for naps) keeps me feeling refreshed when I get up. Once I am asleep, nothing wakes me easily. I told my DH that the ‘next’ time we had a big storm and I had gone to sleep he needed to wake me so that I could ‘enjoy the lightning and thunderstorm’. I just love them (especially when I don’t have to go out in them). The last big one; the kids came down, it was storming to beat the band; and I was ‘dead to the world’.

Betadine is what is used the most on a site of an incision or puncture - brown liquid and tends to stain for a few days. I wear a ‘night guard’ in my mouth, at night because of TMJ; and, I fill it with Biotene gel – otherwise my mouth is dry and have a bad taste because I lose the ability to make the moisture if I wear it without it. It’s difficult to break the suction … but they aren’t going anywhere. Then all I need to do before having my morning coffee; is rinse my mouth out.

Loss of dignity – sometimes you just don’t really care! My GYN will tell me to take deep breaths and then he will say ‘in-and-out’ quickly. I asked him ‘if he wanted a deep breath or did he want me to pant’? I could not do them at the same time. I’ve been going to him for over 42 years; when he was ‘new’ to the practice. On first name basis; but, he gets so flustered with me when he tells to take Ibuprofen or Advil; but, I can’t take it with one of my ‘bipolar’ meds; and can’t take OTC Tylenol because of a seizure med. He’ll tell me that ‘he has never heard such an thing and will check with the pharmacist’ … then back in and says, ‘ok; going to give you a Rx instead’. Surprisingly, I can take Tylenol w/Codeine in it; just not the OTC one.

Once while giving me a breast exam, without any warning he pinched my nipple to see if their was any discharge; I grabbed the side of his leg; and held on ... he said, 'ok, guess that hurt ... won't do it again'. I finally let go of his leg (thigh).


AWWW, The Today Show … the little boy who had ‘hands’ transplanted … such a positive young sweetie. He also has prosthetics for his legs, too. I think little “Zion” and his mother and the team of MDs have made such a total difference in his life. He is now playing baseball; but, the sweetest thing he said about having ‘new’ hands was to be able to wrap them around his Mother. I’m just so surprised that they will grow with him. Thank GOD for the MDs that take on these difficult experimental tasks and the things they learn from them. One of the reasons I decided to become an “Organ Donor.”


Re in TX – Thanks! Now I won’t bother with ‘wanting’ one of the front loaders. I have a big capacity top loader; and, I get just about anything into it, including bed mattress covers and the dog’s bed; then I run an extra empty load to make sure all the hair is gone and doesn’t get on the next load of clothes. Occasionally, if the load is not equally put into it ... it will get off balance and walk! When I put jeans in it, I put one leg going around the agitator one way and the other going the other way around it.

Cracker goes to the ‘groomer’ for a cut and hair wash tomorrow! So she will be ‘fresh and sweet smelling’ when we get to Louisiana. I am taking a bottle of dog shampoo with us, in the event she and Lily decide to go ‘roll in something’.

Did not mean to make you jealous by posting my weight loss; I set a small number for each 2-week weigh-in. I don’t weigh myself between times; and, my next goal is to get down to the next ‘even’ number, in 5lb increments. I know when I started that I had 55 – 60lbs to lose (or more); but my ‘goals’ were set at 5lb. increments. Do you think a goal of 20lbs is harder to obtain? Maybe ‘if’ you cut back and worked on small goals; you would not be discouraged that you seem to be, continually losing/gaining the same 4lb? If you had set your ‘goal’ at 5lbs; then you were 4/5th there; then you could then set you next goal for 5lbs more. Just a suggestion. For me, setting a goal of 20lbs would seem very ‘daunting’ and I might have ‘given up’.
I just know (and was told by the dietician) not to ‘think’ about the total amount I had to lose; it would set me up for failure because it would seem to drag on. I had to agree with her. I wear the exact same outfit for each weigh-in and my appointment is around the same time of the day (9:30- to 10:00AM).

I’m going to miss having my ‘driver’ after next week; which means I will have to stay at my BF’s condo until DH quits for the day. At least, I will know that her GS won’t come busting through the door and give me a heart attack! While she had given him the keys to her car, so he would not embarrass her by making a scene; she never thought that he would come by the condo knowing I was staying there. I crawled her for not letting me know that he had gotten her car; then, I would not have been ‘so surprised’ when he opened the glass door and walked in on me. I told her that ‘if’ I had been ‘packing heat’ … she might have been called about me shooting him! It surprised me that much. He’s a ‘sweet’ kid; but, on drugs, I don’t want to find out what he might do … especially when he brought in someone I did not know or had met.

My DH and my DMS both say they will retire 3 days after they die. DH with a paint brush in his hand, still constantly moving up and down; and DMS ‘grading papers’ while drinking something.


Heather – DH’s brother is probably ‘hooked’ on ‘scratch off ticketss’. He buys the expensive one; and he’s won as much as $10K, $5K, $1K; but, no telling how much he spends to do that. He has a huge stack or two; which he is planning on signing the back and mailing it, to try to win in a 2nd draw they have on them while they are on the market. I’m sure they have more winners the more expensive the ticket costs; but, I would sure be upset to have blown $20 at a time on a ticket and lose. He buys 5 or 10 of them at a time - the $10 (or more) ones. But, it is only himself that he has to worry about supporting. He gets SSI, military retirement, and his income from working with DH; and, we are convinced that he uses that money for his gambling; and, lives off the SSI and military retirement checks. He is such a ‘tightwad’ to boot. But, he will probably give everything to the granddaughter; and, leave out his surviving son because his in-laws have money and his wife is their only child.


Grandmallie – I’ve never heard of Title 19; but, there are a lot of things I don’t know about ‘elder care’. I know that DDnL#1’s mother has been through a whole lot with her mother needing to have ‘more’ care than she was able to give her. Was put into a ‘nursing home’ and then on ‘hospice’ … she wasn’t familiar with all the terms and conditions about them ‘taking her check’ and what they considered as ‘income’. She had too much ‘life insurance’ for them to allow her to stay at the ‘nursing home’; so she brought her home and getting neighbors and friends to come in on those days that Hospice is not there. Her brother has not helped much; and, he wants to move her up near him (and put her in a nursing home up around the Griffin area). She is balking at that; and, she has not been using her check, it goes directly into her account; unless she needs to pull some out to pay anything ‘extra’. Supposedly, the Medicare/Medicaid was going to go back and retroactively pay for the 2 months she was there when it became apparent that she was not getting any better. Now, that isn’t going to happen and she has a $6K bill staring her in the face. One brother has not darkened the doorway since their Mother has been bedridden. It’s an awful thing all the way around. I remember when my BF’s husband was dying and on hospice care; but, she still had to pay for a sitter to be with him while she worked. She ended up with a really good woman to sit with him, too.

Hasn’t the retirement age gone up to 66; and will go up every year for a period of time? So, is that why you are having to wait until you are 67 to start collecting Medicare?

Lenora

24

Heather- you have a fabulous workout regiment! If you continue to up the weight of the Kettlebell you will notice tightening, toning, throughout your body. Have you noticed any of that going on yet?

Miriam- fantastic picture of your girls! Even though the older one does look a little cranky you can tell that they are very happy! I noticed your door in the background very cool!



Mary from Minnesota

Katla- I usually have to have the Costco hotdog! A lot of calories but for some reason I love it!



Mary from Minnesota

Penny - Can't watch BBC EARTH. What a shame. Perhaps they'll put in on the normal channels one day.

Heather UK

Stronglifts Rest Day

Kettlebell Swing
Goblet squats-3X5X 35
Russian kettle bell swing-25X 10 X 35

Walk 1,000 Miles Challenge
6 miles

Has anyone on here ever taken the Amtrak Empire Builder train across country? We will be doing that mid October from Minnesota to Portland Oregon. Then we are going to rent a car and drive the coast highway down to Sacramento and San Diego. If you have, do you have any advice for a first time train traveler? We do have a roomette reserved for round-trip comfort.



Mary from Minnesota

Gorgeous photos Heather. They are so adorable!

Beautiful pictures, Heather!!! I bet you do miss them. time will fly!!

been off line for a few days--remodeling back bedrooms. Husband got the computer running in the living room and I feel better now!
Got so used to tracking food on line that it took me 2-3x as long trying to look everything up in my calorie book and some of the things weren't there--had to "guesstemate" AAUUUGGGHHH. I couldn't find my calculator either so it was back to "finger counting" lol!!!!
So I am back. I missed so much and I don't know if I can catch up.

Went to Silver Sneakers this morning and Judy gave us another work out. She has gone to boot camp exercise class and wanted to "up the pace" a bit. Some of the olders (70-80) just did their own thing. I kept up and it felt good. I was going to go to the POUND class, but hear it is fast paced and they play very loud music. I may just go and observe next week.

Been moving more. That is really what I need to do. Move and not sit and vegetate. Weigh in is tomorrow at the LifeSmart class. I know I'm still not balancing things right nor do I get enough food--hungry all the time. Starting to be afraid of eating too much carbs or fats.....Anyone have good ideas for meals or snacks???

That's all for now.
Di from Western PA

Hey Ladies, just dropping in to let you all know that I am ok. Thanks so much for the well wishes & prayers. I wasn't able to save much because of the mold spores. I got 9 in. of water throughout the whole house. The most important thing to me was my pictures, and believe it or not, I was able to save them ALL. Over the years (before digital took over), I managed to keep all pictures in Rubbermaid tubs. I had flood insurance, but not content. Daughter and her family were renting and lost everything, including 2 vehicles. It's a difficult time for her, as she has 3 beautiful girls 11months, 2, & 8, and is expecting daughter #4 next month. On top of ALL this, she starts nursing school on Monday. Someone has set up a go fund me account for her, so hopefully she will be able to begin to rebuild their life. Me getting my house back up & running (completely gutted at this time), will certainly help them with housing, but even that is in the distant future.

Oh well, such is life....this too shall pass. Please keep us in your thoughts.