WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR DECEMBER 2017

Lanette - I have not done the ancestry research for myself. I find myself more interested in the family stories. I need to go see my Aunt soon as she is the only one left with some of the stories. She is funny sometimes when I seek her help about a photo I have found. the last one that I showed her "Those people. They are no one important." I say to her that they must be as I found them in my parent's photos and she tells me "You don't need to know who they are. They don't count." I guess she is right but now I want to know the story because I think there has to be one.

Heather - Great photo of the grands.
Good luck with your subtitle.

Cheri - What a blessing it is to be content in life.

Rye- I love jicama. Raw cabbage I can't stand. Cilantro -Bleh! and it seems to be in everything thesed days. Why?

Becca - I almost hit a deer on the way to work today. They are so used to humans and traffic that you have to lay on the horn to get them to move.

Katla - One of my young friends recently had a good pay day barrel racing in Vegas.

Allie- Alfie is going to bring such joy into your life.

Joyce - Sorry that happened to you. Hope you feel better.

Sue - Nice photo of your DD as a princess. Lucky girl to ride a unicorn.

These early mornings have really been messing with my sleep. I usually have a nap of 1-2 hours in the afternoon after work. My best sleep seems to be from 3-6 a.m. but now that I am up every day around 4:30 that isn't happening. This last month I have definitely felt the effects of sleep deprivation. It is so bad that when I get up I am already thinking of having my nap later.

Today our neighborhood deer family was on my route to work. I blasted the horn and they sauntered across. I almost hit one which is a scary thought. Harmony loves them and insists that her Mom take many photos.

It was Keira's turn to go Christmas shopping with Grandma. This is the first time that I have taken her by herself. Jheri tells me that she got up the first time before 5. We went to the mall and Chapters. I was willing to give her some money to help with the pretty sweater she had picked for Jheri. She decided to be "fiscally responsible" and opt for a less expensive sweater. The girl in the store was quite taken with her and her adult vocabulary. The hunt for merino wool socks was easier than expected. Greysyn is receiving the 2nd book in the trilogy. One look at the line to see Santa and she decided she didn't need to do that. We went to the food court instead. She wrapped gifts and did some simple crafts at my house. She also climbed up and cuddled with me "Grandma, I needed this quality time with you". I have the most wonderful grand kids.
I was toast by time we got home. My back had me on the verge of tears and the ankle had let it be known that it wasn't happy either. It was a good day though.

Not looking forward to work but haven't got the word that will allow me to retire yet.

We got our snow last night but then the wind blew. It is pretty much gone.

-Sharon in Lethbridge (Going to bed to let sugar plums dance in my head)

Ack!
7 days and 18 pages later...

Christmas fruit? Clementines are popular here in the PNW. Won't buy the Halo brand because of their horrible ads,
but went through a bag of "Cuties" last week. When my papa was a little boy (in the 19teens in St. Louis) the big
deal was a California orange in the toe of his Christmas stocking. How he and his sibs looked forward to that
treat!

Christmas cookies and candies: Mama always made almond crescents (taste like Mexican wedding cakes or Russian tea cookies) and Holiday Nut Balls (citrus buttercake cookie rolled in chopped walnuts topped with a slice of candied cherry) and so do I... sometimes. Not sure what I'll do this year if anything. Used to send pkgs of fudge, rum balls, English toffee, Holiday Nut Crunch and spicy trail mix to co-workers in NJ, GA, IL and CA, even after I retired in 2016. This year with even flat rate boxes at $7+ I'm just not sure. Maybe to the ones in GA, IL and CA who have kept in touch and forget the NJ bunch, then again its sooo late I may just bag it.

Now if you want to talk about fruitcake... ;}

Rice socks sound great. Any idea how to warm? We don't have a microwave.

One of the gals at Tai Chi let us know that another had to go to urgent care for flu, despite having had the shot. They told her to advise everyone she'd been around. Seems like this year's vaccine is only 5-10% effective. At another gal's recommendation, I've been drinking 1/8 tsp of cayenne in tea with lemon and honey. Zing! Warms me right up and clears everything

Katla Thanks for the NPR BP tip. Eggnog custard pie sounds yummy. Love the "... try just one more time" quote
Sue in WA Thanks also for the BP cuff size tip. Have a larger one, micro action for tomorrow will be to try it.
Machka DH drapes lights on tree like you do, I send him away so I can arrange as your mom did. Takes all damday so sometimes it doesn't happen at all... like this year. We have so many trees outside our home we won't have one inside, especially with the wood stove. Thanks for the link to Banjos, had to check out the French Vanilla Slice. Good thing there's none near me "soft gingerbread" do you mean a cookie? Had some at fellowship today, thin, rectangular, and so soft you could bend them almost in half before they'd break. If that's what you mean, I'll find out who brought them and get the recipe.
janetr amazing pic of your beautiful ornament against the snowy mountains. Love Heather's next year's card idea
pip The retriever pup and Ruby Slipper ornaments brought smiles, but the rubber chicken made me snort my tea! You are sure a great looking couple Love love LOVE Winkle n Boots.
michele "Let me tell you, if I ever saw an alligator, you can sure bet I'd REALLY be running....lol" Got that right. hmm, maybe that's what I need to motivate me to move more and FASTER Thanks so much for checking in on Lenora.
Lisa in NC under desk eliptical... hmm, maybe... are you really able to type while you do it? Not sure I'm coordinated enough... I envy you your job writing grant requests for the Girl Scouts. Seems like it enables you to work from home, mostly?
Heather Thanks for the tea tutorial, I'd never pass. Must have my tea sweet NOT milky. I do fancy the Prosecco tho'. Love the dirndl, biker Santa outfits. What is "blind bake" ?
wendy photoshoot?
Betty ROC " just because I am still alive and I wanted to! " Amen sister!
Marcelyn I am in awe of your marathon with snow and gators, but cannot believe you were disappointed that you "only saw two on the whole run". (shivers)
Allie hope you feel up to going for the certification, learning is something no one can take away from you. Definietly hope the building gets rid of the critter in your wall. We are also thankful we no longer have to shovel or snowblow, where we moved to we don't even have to walk on it Glad your rescuing friend will be along for moral support. She'll be a big help introducing Alfie to Homer and Chester.
NYKaren So sorry for the loss of your and that her last years were so hard. Gives a different perspective to facing death as we all must.
Margaret way back you encouraged Allie to get certification. Your encouragement was so well said! Ice skate ornaments are precious.
okiewoman That WAS some tough bubblewrap!
Rori Loved the ZZtop gnome comments. I, too, belt out the Messiah but only in the privacy of my car or at home when even DH is out. Love to sing, but it is NOT a kindness to others. Doesn't bother the dogs
Terri thank you so much for the seductive video links! Your bookmarks are so much more beautiful than the
tutorial's. The snowflakes led me to a video of scandinavian stars, had to stop myself from watching the modular
origami stars, I am NOT crafty.
Barbie knitted xmas stockings are amazing. We love our wood stove even though we're still trying to figure out how to finagle it so we don't get too hot. It sure helps to drive off the damp... ;}
Cathy A 5K cruise, you almost make running sound good!
Yvonne "Modern" Nutcracker meant some of numbers were danced in a hip hop style, v. cute on the little ones. So sorry to hear your Dad's tough news. Yes, definitely get Christmas dinner ready made and figure out any and everything else you can delegate. You'll need to take extra care of yourself in this stressful time.
Joyce Brava for singing with the choir despite those loft stairs. THey are always so narrow, steep and poky, cannot imagine climing/descending in sling and boot!
Lanette Glad you'll soon have 24hr vet facility. Worried moving here as the nearest 24 hr vet hospital is a 3 hr drive. BUT when Scooter got sick before we'd established contact with a vet, we found the vet 40 mins away is on call 24/7 and he was great. Never heard of a "green" rub for sinus how did it work? I have a similar rub for my knees but delaying the experiment until after my Dr's appointment Tuesday.
Kim afraid cheesecloth too porous, the stuff that gets through is tiny. Honeyed tea through tea towel works best but what a pita!
Rye con VERY gratulations on the photos
Karen in VA, So sorry for your loss, sounds like he was a treasure. I tried to make fudge (at about age 8) while Mama was at work. The recipe read "cook until forms a soft ball in a glass of cold water" so I poured in a glass of cold water and waited for the soft ball to form...
KJ Gingerbread a laxative? Oh noooo! Jack Daniels and Cherry Whiskey fudge? Hmm, maybe its time for me to try something new!
Carol Shame on ATT! it is their line, their responsibility. I too must get up off the computer chair.

only got halfway through. Will try again tomorrow.


Hugs to all,
Barbara,
the Southern Oregon Coastie AHMOD.

Good morning Ladies - It was a nice weekend of not doing much of anything! My TMJ is still at a bad level, but it is better today. I will continue on liquid/soft food for a couple of more days (or until my appt on Thursday) to try not to aggravate it further. The upside is my weight continues to go down despite the holidays .

We had a neighborhood dinner last night to celebrate one of our friends 70th birthday. I made the birthday boys favorite jalapeño popper deviled eggs. It was weird not being able to taste them to see if I had the seasonings right...I had to rely on my hubs for that part. Evidently he did a good job as they went over very well and were gone quickly. I also made a simple green salad (normally I take that so I can fill 1/2 my plate with it, last night I took myself pureed soup) and some corn. There was Cheesecake Factory german chocolate cheesecake for dessert. I had a bite of frosting since it melted on my tongue

Have a great week everyone!

Okie in the TX Hill Country

Barbara - good to see you posting again... and yes, I work from home. Pretty much completely, with a couple travel days here and there. I'll be back in Texas in late March for our main fundraising event of the year, and after that, well, who knows? Got very lucky, as I have a CEO who a) wants to be more involved in fund development than she has been of late (60 percent HR issues for this last year, and she's very frustrated with that) and b) who values my work. So, when I moved to North Carolina, even though I'd only been working for her for six months, she chose not to lose my services. Honestly, in West Texas, I was mostly working from home, but driving between 1,000 and 1,200 miles a month, so I'm more productive NOW, with trips every three or four months instead of once a week losing an entire day for an hour of meeting time.

Mary - hope the new jobs go very well for both of you.

Chris in MA - thinking about you!

Allie - love the new doggie--thinking he might have been the culprit on the mousie, as it was wet. Probably a present for his new mom!

Love y'all,
Lisa in NC

((((((Beth))))))

Martha join in anytime. Welcome!

Mary congratulations on the job. If we don't hear much from you I understand. You just went for 30 to 120 MPH overnight.

Machka thanks for the heads up about the flu. They are telling us the flu shot this year is not as effective. I had mine in September. Another reason for me to really work on my sleep habits. I am getting eight hours with one bathroom visit. Working towards a solid 8 hour rest. I did have a dream the other night and it is a long time since remembering a dream. So progress. Weight is still holding even. Again with the the holidays I consider this a victory.

We have a new soprano in our choir. Not quite sure what to make of her. We had to sing a high F in one of our piece. She said to me we need to blend on that note. I then found someone to go over with me that part thinking maybe I was missing the F or having a pinched sound. Easy to do on those high notes. The woman who helped me said everything was good. I did resist saying to the new soprano the best thing is we just both hit the note. Proud of myself that I didn't. One of my pet peeves is when fellow singers point out a note I sing wrong. Nine times out of ten I realize my mistake without them saying anything. I prefer when they ask our director to clarify and play that part again. I did go for the descant when we sang Noel. I took everyone by surprise. That was fun!

Margaret

Lisa~ wasnt Alfie he was with me lol
Morning Ladies~ a few accidents here and there but other than that he is very good.. though I think he might have caught Kennel Cough with being transported so off he goes to the vet before I go to work this morning... and then my DB will come down around 2 and get the older ones out and make sure Alfie uses wee wee pad before going back in crate..
Alfie such a good little boy comes running right up to me to pick him up..
I know he has a small bladder so will do my best with training... and I bought a training collar ,but honestly he really hasnt barked that much so might send it back..
Also Have a Retractable Leash with Flashlight and bag holder that is brand new I wont be using , dont have package,, but will post it on marketplace and see if I can at least recoup the money for it.

Another dissatisfied Amazon customer here, FYI. My sister in Chicago and brother in New York didn’t get their packages from me this Christmas. I got refunds for Chicago ones but didn’t bother on the New York one.

Yesterday a small package was delivered to my home. That is unusual- we have been having most items shipped to the amazon lockers at 7-11 but for some reason this one said locker delivery unavailable so it was shipped to home directly.

Amazon own delivery service (not ups/usps) , a small bubble envelope, left on our lawn, not even brought to door of home. The only reason it didn’t blow away is it was raining and it was soaking wet. The item was fine- so I’m just joining the choruses of don’t use amazon this season!! I know only a couple more days will this be relevant, but still wanted to warn.

Rye

Beth - You are really having to work hard this Christmas. So sorry for all the upheavals and upsets. I wish you a much more peaceful 2018.

Well, today I did my typing, then started on the chocolate roulade. It's cooked and I just have to turn it out (!), spread it with cream and roll it up. DH lined the pan and has made a disposable base for it out of cardboard and foil, so we can leave it in Hove.
Then I made a soup for after Christmas lunches and I prepped the mushroom risotto for tonight. Poor DH had gone out to have his hair cut and was rather put out to find the sink piled up with huge pots and bowls. He set to it and soon we were all done and clean again.
I want to get the cards blutaked up later today.
We managed to get the kitchen light bulb changed, despite dropping one of the tiny nuts and having to search for it. They really don't make these things at all easy to change. It was a precarious and delicate two person job. That's why we have been putting it off.

Tomorrow is lunch out with my brother and DSIL. We have booked the posh pub as they are driving. I do know that there is a big party in just before us, so I am prepared for a wait. They always have very nice, sophisticated decorations there.

Having our 3rd AF day in a row today. Hooray!

Love Heather UK xxxxxxx

Wendy: I appreciate your advice. You're right that Arrow is trying to teach me something. I think he's trying to teach me that I'm not the boss of him. I'm trying to teach him that I AM the boss of him. In fact, he really doesn't show respect for anyone. Sometimes I think I'm making progress and other times not. I'll talk to my teacher about the tarp idea. It would be a good idea if I have enough dominance to get him to do what I want. If it is just another case of him refusing to comply I'm afraid it would make things worse rather than better. He is 18 or so, and has been left in his stall far too much of the time for at least the last year and a half. I don't know about before then but it may have been much longer. He greets me when I go to get him from his stall and comes over to hang out where I am standing, but he does not show respect when I ask him to do something. He seems quite lazy except when the trainer comes with his mechanical cow to give cow cutting classes. Then Arrow is eager, interested and compliant. In fact, he is a star in that situation. :noway:


It is a foggy day here on the river and a tragic day in the State of Washington where an AMTRAK train derailed today and crashed off of an overpass onto I-5. It is at Dupont, right by Fort Lewis. Prayers for the families of the dead, and prayers for the injured & survivors.

Katla in beautiful NW Oregon