WOMEN AGES 50 + FOR NOVEMBER 2018

Don’t mess with him!

Barbie, those doggies of yours would be appetizer and dessert! I’m glad you keep them safe. I know there’re lots of deer that way, so of course! You always sound so cheerful and positive. I tend to forget, unless you mention one (like Jake’s cancer treatment), that you have them. But that’s what I strive for - living in the moment and loving them all. 😘

Lisa in AR - I’ve had smoking dreams and drinking dreams, but I think I’ll dread fat dreams more! Do get that knee done ASAP. It’s a tough recovery, but I’ve been so glad I got mine done!

Allie, I hope your change is for the good too!

Margaret, I hope you find the right house at the right price.

Lanette, the most influential book one IS tough, I think it may be Colkeen McCulliugh's series on ancient Rome, starting w "The Grass Crown". I lived studying Latun as a teen, though I recall little of the grammar now, but it has just set me on fire wanting to see what's left of the Forum, the old City, the statues and historic places that are left. Rome was in the center of things for so many centuries, and we have so much preserved!

Sharon near Seattle

Irish Terri OMG that garden. Be still my heart.

Karen In VIrginia

Oooo

In the time it took me to write this, two more pages were added!

Place I'm most grateful for: Kitchens. My grandma's kitchen, my mom's best friend's kitchen, and even my own. (My mom hated to cook.) The heart of any home is the kitchen, and there were so many wonderful times gathered around the table with family and friends. I moved a lot growing up, and I bloom where I'm planted, so my favorite spots involve people more than places.

Michelle in NC—I've been in Texas about 3 ½ years. We'd lived in NC for almost 30 years, but never had any family nearby. Here I get my husband's parents, and his little sister and her family. I'm originally from Ohio, but the area where most of my relatives live is so depressed, it's hard to even visit. It's sad when young people aspire to work at McDonalds, because there's little else for them. Thanks for the advice on responding.

Dana in Arkansas—I love pumpkin soup! I have a recipe a woman in Germany gave me, that uses ginger, garlic, and curry, and I love it! If only I could find some of the different pumpkins she uses.

Grandmallie—I can relate to your plan for “not being fat.” The food's the easier part—at least it is for me. Now that I've got my diet under control, I need to do some intentional exercise. One Mountain at a time, though. I'm cheering for you!

Kelly—thanks for the advice; I'm using OpenOffice to type this! I love the daycare ideas, and how devoted you are to teaching the little ones. I worked with the 3 year-old choir back at my old church, and you have to be creative and energetic to keep them entertained.

Lisa in Arkansas—I loved the Charlain Harris books. I picked them up when I discovered True Blood on TV. As usual, I liked the books much better than the show—though some of those actors could steam the screen. I also read the Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin—and loved it more than the show. The only movies I've seen improve on a book was Twilight. Funny, I've never been scared by a Stephen King book. I read for his characters, not necessarily the plots or horrors. Okay, I lied. One thing King writes does scare me—the dark side of human nature. I need to get back into reading more. I used to have a journal of all the books I could remember reading. Many were good, but not memorable. I can definitely relate to the love of books. Adding—Good luck on the job interview!

Jan—I love that photo of you and Annie. I had a pen-pal in Germany who knew more about horses than I ever imagined. She talked about how fit you had to be for riding. I just thought it was a consideration for the horse—so it didn't get stuck hauling a heavy load. She corrected me, and told me how much strength and muscle control it takes for the connection between rider and horse. Good luck on the gold medal!

Barbie—I am such and admirer of strong senior women! I used to work out with several back in NC. One lady was in her seventies, and after taking care of her invalid husband she did the dance aerobics for fun. Another was in her eighties, and she could walk for miles without breaking a sweat.

Jo from Chicago—The orange fluff salad is easy-peasy. 24 oz light cottage cheese, 16 oz whipped topping/Cool Whip, Two boxes orange jello (I used 4 serving regular, and 8 serving sugar free,) I can of crushed pineapple well drained (I pressed it in the sieve to get out most juice,) 1 can pineapple tidbits, two cans mandarin oranges (they're smaller,) and a jar of marischino cherries. Mix it all in a big bowl, and refrigerate. I've also added diced peaches, glazed pecans, and mini-marshmallows before. If you're diet conscious, look for fruit in its own juice, and light topping. I'm also tempted to try it with vanilla yogurt instead of cottage cheese.

DiabeticDer—you're on the right track. I still have that colonoscopy to schedule myself. I've been taking charge of my health since August, and I've gone from diabetic to pre-diabetic.

Janetr OKC—I love your ornaments! My grandma used to make some like that, but she used kits.

Paige - have you ever done strength training? Several of us follow the Strong Women Stay Young program; I have dumbbells and ankle weights and do the workouts at home 2 or 3 times a week, takes around 25 minutes per session. Great for building muscle and weight loss too. Since it's not cardio, I discounted it because it didn't log a lot of calorie burn, but went down a pants size and lost around ten pounds in just a year. We refer to it as the SWSY as Barbara mentioned.

Here's a nifty little website that explains more about it: http://www.strongwomen.com/fitness/

Jan - welcome and terrific photo of you on your horse! We have several other gals in this group who ride horses - Katla from Oregon and Wendy from New Zealand who is on hiatus right now to name a few.

Rita - What a cute sign. And people don't believe in aliens... why you have them all over around Roswell!

Heather - glad things are coming together and you and your DH got some grandparent time in. Bet you are anxious to get back unpacking and getting the repairmen in.

Favorite place? I try to think of wherever I am as my favorite place. It's taken a lot of effort in my life because I tended to live in the past and/or the future a lot. I'm learning I need to appreciate where I am right now.

Have a good evening ladies!

Lanette
Chilly & damp SW WA State

paigern82 wrote: »

Blew my calories for today with some pizza - but it was so good. Will be back to healthy eating tomorrow! My biggest problem is working in exercise. I am working one full time job and two part time jobs to pay off student loans (I went back to school late in life and don't want to be paying these off at 80!).

How do you all fit in exercise?

Paige

I work one full time job, and I go to university part time ... slowly working my way toward my Master's degree.

I fit exercise in throughout the day.

I walk as part of my commute.
I go out at lunch and walk or run.
I walk between university and work.
I climb flights of stairs in my office building from time to time.

In the evenings, my husband and I walk a little bit. We used to walk more, but he's recovering from a very bad accident, so I'm glad for any little bit of walking he does.

Occasionally, if I've got the energy, I ride my trainer (bicycle on device that holds it in place) and use Zwift (a program for cyclists).

On weekends, we try to get out walking, running and/or cycling for an hour or two.


Machka in Oz

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

My sister-in-law posted this and I thought it was good ...



So ...

Nov 1 - my roses.
Nov 2 - social media and staying connected with family and friends.
Nov 3 - blue. The blue of the mouth of the river/bay/start of the ocean out my window. The blue of the sky. My new blue sleeping top that was nice and comfy last night.
Nov 4 - food ... cheese. I ate a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches when my husband was in hospital. They were my comfort food. Also cheese has calcium which I think I need. Unfortunately, cheese does tend to be a bit high in calories so I shouldn't eat too much of it. But anything cheese-y is comforting.
Nov 5 - sound. I like listening to the waves and the birds, but I think the sound I'm most grateful for today is my husband's voice. Just the fact that we can talk to each other again.
Nov 6 - "What in nature are you grateful for?" ... That's hard to narrow down to one thing. Oxford dictionary describes nature as "the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth". I am grateful for all of it. I find that getting out into any sort of nature helps to relieve stress.

Nov 7 - "What memory are you grateful for?" ... Another one with so many choices!!! Recently, I've been grateful for two memories. 1) June 2017 ... my husband and I had a wonderful visit to Canada and did several things to make great memories ... hiking, cycling, visiting my family. I clung onto those memories during the months he was in hospital. 2) When I was 9 years old, my family moved away from where my grandmother lived. One of of the last days there, my grandmother took me to her window and showed me a full moon outside. She told me that on every full moon, we could both look at it and know that even though we were far apart, we were both looking at the same moon. That's a memory which has stuck with me all these years, and every time I see a full moon, I think of my grandmother. She's 97 years old ... but not doing so well ... so I've been thinking of her a lot. And I've also been very glad that my husband and I were able to see her when we visited Canada in June 2017.
Nov 8 - "What book are you most grateful for?" That's easy ... The Bible.

I've enjoyed reading all your memories.

Love the discussion about books!


Nov 9 - "What place are you most grateful for?" This is not an easy one for me because I don't have the sense of "home" that many people have. I've moved too much for that.

So ... I've had to give this one some thought.


What place?

Well ...

I'm grateful for our current house. It's comfortable enough. It's not very big so it's fairly easy to manage. And it has a great garden which my husband has been able to work in since returning home from his accident. It is also close to a couple beaches, which is nice.


Machka in Oz

Nov 10 - Taste!

Hmmm ... salt. In the "Do you crave sweet or salty" discussion, I fall on the "salty" side.

As it happens, I have a diminished sense of taste and smell for whatever reason, so I divide foods into the basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour or bitter, and from there it's harder to distinguish precise flavours. Although, I do seem to have some odd tastes like, for example, meat and tomato taste metallic to me, and I don't like that. If I salt them well, the metallic taste goes away and they taste salty, which is OK.

Then, one of the side effects of my husband's accident is that he has lost most of his sense of taste and smell. He has regained a little bit, and they say it should return very gradually. But he'll comment that dinner has no flavour, and I'll think, "It just tastes salty to me. Is there supposed to be more flavour than that?"


Machka in Oz

Terri me too on Karen's response. I was trying so very hard to squeeze my eyes shut tight and wish hard enough that I would be transported to that beautiful spot. Thank you so much for sharing

Janetr OKC

KetoneKaren wrote: »

Irish Terri OMG that garden. Be still my heart.

Karen In VIrginia