WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR FEBRUARY 2019

Today is International Tug-of-War Day!

"Tug of war was played in ancient Egypt, Greece, China, and India. It originated in ancient ceremonies, and then came to be used to train warriors, entertain kings, and settle disputes. ... Over 50 countries have formal national tug of war organizations; there are tug of war clubs, and outdoor and indoor competitions. Tug of war was an Olympic sport from 1900 until 1920, when a decision was made to have less participants in the Olympic games, and the sport was cancelled."

Betsy - I'm so sorry to hear about your friend! That sounds like an awful fall. Glad your falls didn't result in broken bones.

Machka - I've been trending toward kitty level 9 lately, which is a little strange since I'm not much of a party girl! But Philip and I been getting out a little more ofen, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Barbara - My mom had the same experience with perms. Her hair was baby fine, and the minute she was old enough to refuse, she quit getting permanents. Her mother's hair was permed and sprayed into a gale-proof helmet to the very end. Saw a lady in the grocery store recently with one of those styles and she was pausing at the door to put on a hairnet... made me smile!

Kelly - Ooh, be sure you post pictures when you get your "peek-a-boo" color! I think that is so cute.

Holly - Welcome!

Heather - I'm glad you're reading about the end of life. My mom went into hospice pretty late and nobody talked to us about that until she was there. I think if we'd known, we'd have recognized the signs and moved her sooner. When Dad was in hospice the skilled nursing staff kept trying to make him eat, and it aggravated me because it upset him and he was obviously well into the active transition stage where he didn't need food.


I've been pretty much on track with my step goal and workouts, but I'm not feeling very energetic even though I've lost 12 pounds now. The blood bank called begging so I made an appointment for Friday - guess we'll see if the new iron supplements are making a difference. Getting turned away because of low hematocrit has been an all-too-common occurrence, and if it happens again I may just take a break from donating for awhile because it's a big hassle to clear my schedule, drive over there, go through the intake process, and then find out I can't donate. The dietitian I work with as a requirement of our health sharing ministry suggested a different type of iron supplement from what I was taking. This one is supposed to be easier on the digestion. I got turned away at the blood center even though I'd been on the other one for months, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try something different.

-Yvonne in TX

Took a nice long weekend this week for President's Day. Didn't do much -- played some hot seat computer game with my 12 year old, which he seemed to enjoy. While he was making his moves, I got quite a bit done around the house. Back to work today, so it's going to be a short week.

Hubby is teaching up near Portland, OR this week, so while he still has a hotel (because traffic), he didn't have to leave until last night after dinner, and he will be home for dinner on Friday.

KJ -- your rant about Tim really resonated with me. My husband works hard and he has his own projects around the house (while usually successful, also usually result in more mess and clutter for me), he is perfectly happy to not do anything around the house -- cooking, cleaning, mowing the lawn, pulling weeds. If we had snow, I would be shoveling it. He spends most of his time at home in bed, on his computer (working, browsing, shopping??). He has been like this since we married. I remember I blew up at him after a very short time, actually slapped his foot, and said, "You don't do anything!!! You just lie there!" He was absolutely shocked, and it made no difference.

He sucks me into that behavior some times by guilt tripping me because I'm not "spending time" with him. When I do, I feel like the old grandparents in Willy Wonka (or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). And we have no excuse. That's why I spent this weekend with my son down stairs doing what he wanted to do. My husband pouted quite a bit. Came down to try to spend time with us, but got annoyed by our being silly, nagged at us to keep it down, and finally sulked back up to our bedroom. (I originally typed "his room." That's telling, isn't it??)

His health has really been declining, and I know he doesn't feel well, but I think part of it is because when he's not working, he's in bed. All he does on those days is walk down to get food or something to drink and then goes right back upstairs.

I knew it was bad when he called me one afternoon to ask me where the dishwasher soap was. We had lived in our house for over two years. It's been in the same place since the day we moved in. He has never run the dishwasher. In two years. I tried not to be shocked, and just politely told him where it was. At least he ran the dishwasher, right?

Oh, and the complaining. Everything is a complaint. About everything. It is exhausting.

It's just him, and he's told me very clearly, when ever I begin to complain that "people don't change." So, it is what it is. But it does get extremely weary. I am sorry that you are dealing with that kind of behavior.

And for what it's worth, I believe people can and should change. And I've told him so. I hope I am changing, all of the time, hopefully for the better. I just get sarcasm in return. So I give up.

Felicia, feeling a little salty this afternoon
Willamette Valley, Oregon

Allie ...so sorry ... praying tomorrow will be a better day ...

Felicia ... hugs ...

So on Saturday got our gas bill. We're on balanced billing (average usage spread out over 12 months) and February is our balancing month. Since our account had a zero balance after paying February's bill, I expected the next bill to be about the same. Imagine my surprise when it was 6 times higher!! My husband went to check the meter to see if the reader had read it right and it was ok, but he was astounded by how fast the meter was spinning. And he could smell gas. That in itself is not always a problem as there's a production well in our side yard that often leaks. But it has nothing to do with our meter! We have a pool heater that was shut off at the heater but not at the side of the house (the line runs underground). So hubby got a pipe wrench and shut it off. He could hear the gas "whoosh" off and saw the meter immediately slow down to a more normal speed. The pipe was leaking and significantly so. We have a huge bill to pay but feel very fortunate that the leaking gas didn't find a way inside the basement and ignite. Lesson learned ... never ignore the smell of gas ... which we should know since my husband works for the gas company!!

Still working on eating out of the freezer, today I decided to use up some of the beef scraps and beef bones I had. Making bone broth.

Beth near Buffalo