WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2019

Michele - I am always sitting with my mouth gaping open when I read the coats that American’s have to pay for medical procedures. What happens if you don’t have the money? Do you just get left behind?

Janet - that was a very insightful speech from your soap box. Thanks for sharing.

Lisa - I’m glad you enjoyed the concert. Amazing Grace on the bagpipes gets me every time.

Rori - what a great memory you will have.

Heather - I think you deserved to treat yourself. What are your books called? Can I find them anywhere in Canada?

Evelyn - I have done a couple of adult shirts. I don’t know if I want to get into selling items or not. So far my family is enjoying my treasures.

Allie - you’re strength amazes and loyalty amaze me.

I had a fairly relaxed day today, I talked to my BF, her BIL passed away at noon. 56 years old from alcoholism such a terrible shame.
I talked to my brother tonight, our Mom’s birthday is next week and I saw a connect the dot book for adults I was thinking of getting her. She used to do all of them in my activity books. I am not sure if she still knows her letters and numbers to do it so I didn’t want to send it and frustrate her. My brother said he didn’t really know either so I will call the nurses and ask tomorrow. I did get her card made today.

The Grands came for supper and always expect dessert. I bought ice cream that I don’t like so it’s easy for me to avoid.

Tracey In Edmonton

exermom wrote: »

I just learned, tho, that my MRI next Tuesday is going to cost $645.73 and it needs to be paid before I have the MRI

Michele in NC

Snowflake1968 wrote: »

Michele - I am always sitting with my mouth gaping open when I read the coats that American’s have to pay for medical procedures. What happens if you don’t have the money? Do you just get left behind?

Tracey In Edmonton

I've had several MRIs recently (two head ones and a hip/back), and the people who refer me for them always apologise about the cost. Here in Australia, they run about $200, but sometimes I've gotten about 1/3 back. We pay it immediately after the MRI, just before we leave the building.

I do miss Canada's system at times!


Meanwhile, down here in Australia, it's ANZAC Day.

"Anzac Day is the solemn day of remembrance of those Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers who have fought and died for their country, and is marked annually on the anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War."

There's more about it here:
https://publicholidays.com.au/anzac-day/


Because Easter is so late and so close to ANZAC Day, I've been able to take my Easter holiday time (Fri 19 - Tues 23) + ANZAC Day (Thurs 25) + this coming weekend (Sat 27 & Sun 28) ...... and add 3 days of my annual leave .... to create an 11-day holiday.

It has been great to have the time off!!! Just wish I weren't sick. However, maybe I needed rest more than anything.



Machka in Oz

I've slept 12 hours (or very close to it) since April 16th!
I had no idea I was that exhausted. It ahsl is due, I think, to working on my physical therapy like mad. I hit over 2500 steps for the first time in almost a year the other day.

Machka and Heather, please take care of yourselves. Nausea can come from mucus that wasn't expelled going to our stomach and irritating it. Anything that brings you so far down for so long deserves some professional attention.

To the two (or maybe it was more?) women who fell recently. It's one of my major fears, even though the surgeon who has done both knee replacements and my 1 hip says he's not looking forward to the other hip. He says they have to get out their heaviest equipment to deal with my bones.

I hope your bruises heal swiftly and that you regain your confidence quickly as well. One of the major predictors of falling is the fear of same. I try to be proactive and keep my eyes open for slick or uneven spits, and to give myself small challenges at home, like walking carefully over a damp floor.

Allie, your extended family and co-workers have a true treasure in you. You understand the concept of duty perfectly, and never seem to shirk yours, even when it isn't in your best interest. Such honesty is refreshing in these haded times.

Lisa in Arkanses, I spent a week staying around Leslie and was amazed that I never got too hot, even though it was around the 4th of July. What kind of phenomenal luck did I have? Or is that normal in that area? I'd almost like to go back.

Barbara AHMOD, how is your road repair going? I may want to take a road trip a little later this spring, and I'm wondering how far that detour might take me.

I have slept, worked out, and have stored up plenty of healthful food in my pantry. Now I'm getting ready for summer. I'm becoming so energetic that I may open the Instant Pit box I bought just before Chriatmas and also unpack the Shark broomstick-style back I bought and put it together.

Someone mentioned Borscht, and now I'm craving it madly. Does anyone know a recipe that doesn't require hours of prep time? It's a great springtime soup/meal!

I caught up all the pages, but too many comments. I'll do them as I'm reminded. I've missed you all so very much!

Sharon Near Seattle[\b]

Good morning all! Happy Thursday! So fantastic to see old friends posting again (even if it is just a quick pop in to say HI)! Just want to let you know all of your voices are missed when you are not here.
Lisa- So glad you just have a couple little jaunts here and there to do for work. Makes it a little easier, I bet, knowing that you will be home at night. Love hearing how the yard and house are shaping up as you get ready for your daughter and grandchildren's visit!
Yvonne- Sorry to hear about your fall! Glad you are on the up and up!
Sharon- Hello! How does it feel to feel the sun on your face and breathe the fresh air now that you have lifted your head out of all of the tax time paperwork? lol My hubby used to be an accountant and he always said that May was like walking out of dark room into the sunshine; a little bit painful, a little disorienting; but so glorious to be back in the "real" world.
Evelyn- I have never had Borscht. As a child I was never fond of beets; and it is one of the vegetables that I have never bought to eat as an adult. I would probably like them now. And I haven't found a soup that I didn't like. Your borscht sounds like cabbage soup. I love that!
Irish Terri- Your poem! I laughed out loud at that one! Very clever!
Kay- lol Loved hearing about your kids/grandkids on the farm. I didn't grow up on a farm, but spent summers on my aunt's farm. Fields, woods, dirt roads, farm equipment, barns...lots of things learned at an early age in those settings. lol some good, some bad. But mostly good. (driving was one of them) Kudos on the three days of staying within your food limits.
Ginger- I love how you post your stats; but the thing I find most inspirational about them, is how you post your overall feeling on that day! Brilliant! I never thought about tracking that, but it makes perfect sense because so much of what we do is based on how we feel.
Tracey- I think you should get your mom the dot to dot. For years, we thought that my mil had lost the ability to read and write, because no one ever saw her do it ,and her hubby paid bills, wrote the birthday cards, etc.. One day, when she was in one of the rehab facilities after a stroke, she and I were sitting in one of the common areas and we were looking at a coffee table book of National Parks. She loved the photographs, having traveled and visited many of the parks. And she was reading the captions. After that, I made sure she had a few books to read (most of them were coffee table style with more pics and less words) AND she loved crossword puzzles and regular puzzles so we made sure she had some of those. I think the dot to dot books might trigger the memory of how to do them.
Michele, Machka, Tracey- don't get me started about health care costs. We are drowning in medical bills right now, and we even have insurance! My d&c procedure is costing me $2,947. For a one and a half hour hospital visit (prep took a half hour, procedure took a half hour, recovery took a half hour). When I called my insurance company to verify the cost I was being billed I was told that they only covered a certain percentage because nothing was found! They did the same thing with my second mammogram that I had to have last year. If cancer or another complication had been found in either procedure, they would have covered more. SO EXASPERATING!
Machka- Your beach photos are beautiful! The first one you posted made me think "Wow! That is some big sky!" Just awesome in every sense of the word!
Heather- lol Calories/healthy choices aside; do you prefer the thin/crispy crust or the thick? I hear you on the discussion from the Belgian chocolatier. I have gone to a couple of them from a local artisian chocolatier and the subject, the smell and the samples were all wonderful. She has a shop locally and one piece of her chocolate runs about $3 (this is a one square inch piece). She has about 30 different and unique flavors and I buy a four piece box for my daughter for her birthday/Christmas. At Christmas I will treat myself to a four piece box. These are the only chocolates that I eat very slowly. I cut each square into four pieces and will have a piece a day for 16 days. My husband laughs at me, but it makes them last, it makes me treasure each taste, and it makes me feel altogether decadent. Silly what chocolate can do.

Well, I better scoot and get breakfast going for the kiddos. Welcome to the new ladies! ttfn xoxoxo KJ (Kelly)

Went to the water class. The plan for tomorrow is to do a Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD

Barbara – The tumor (slow growing, non-cancerous) tumor in my ear is prompting the MRI. I need to go to the MD about once every 2 years to just check on it unless I start to get vertigo or something else.

Allison – whenever I have to have blood work, I usually take my breakfast with me in the car and have it in the parking lot right after the blood test. Vince usually goes to Waffle House (ouch!)

Got gas and more salt for the pool last night. After exercise stopped at the Salvation Army then WalMart. Got the prescriptions and some frozen veges that Aldi doesn’t carry.

Rori – You are one special gal (but I already knew that!)

Made some chocolate bran muffins last night and then hard boiled some eggs (since they were older)

One of the prescriptions I picked up was for my Actonel. I did find that I can get a 3 month supply (versus the one month at WalMart) for less money than WalMart would charge for 3 months. Plus…I can get it on automatic refill that I can’t at WalMart. So guess what I’m going to do?

Thursday here: I woke up late this morning so just did a Les Mills strength DVD since it’s a bit shorter. The plan for tomorrow is to do Gilad’s Step Aerobics DVD

Volunteer at the Green Room. But first I think I’ll stop by the soup kitchen and make a donation. See, sometimes people leave things at the church and I just take them with me. So I’ll donate those things

Had to go to Lowes hardware yesterday and get a new thing for taking the leaves out of the pool. I finally convinced Vince that we need grass seed and weed and feed so we got that, too. After the Green Room I need to go to Aldi.

Jess has a dentist appt. Not sure when she’s planning to go to VA.

Yvonne – thanks for telling us about guide dog day. I still swear on a stack of bibles that the service dog was had was meant for the girl who got him. Not many people train a service dog by taking it to college, it lives in a dorm, is used to all the sounds of people in the halls, etc, is taken to concerts, and so on. Now the girl who got him is a college student, was in the band (she was concerned that the dog wouldn’t be used to the loud music. Hey, if he can go to a rock concert and just lay under the table not being phased by the music, he can stand being with her in the band)

Evelyn – a friend made borsch and I had some last weekend. I hadn’t had it in years and years. I should have taken more of the soup it was SOO good

Went to ceramics last night. I’m surprised at how fast the Peanuts characters are going. Well, part of that is because they are smaller, probably about 9”. Wish I could find larger things

Tracey – almost all the time you can make a payment plan for a medical procedure. Like my MRI will be $600. They did say that if I couldn’t afford it, then I could make arrangments for a payment plan. To me, it’s just obscene how much they charge. They said (and this I don’t completely understand) that the reason it’s so expensive is because it’s of the head. Now what that has to do with it, I’m not sure at all. I’m so sorry about your BF. I many times buy things that I don’t like but Vince does. Like right now he has this chocolate truffle ice cream. To me, it’s just too much chocolate so I probably will just have a little bite and that’ll be it.


Ginger – I do the same thing with my grocery list. I have an app where I just add things to and then when I’m at the store, I just get them. I can’t get over how many things I’d forget if I didn’t have it written down. Not because I’m forgetful (which I can be) but more because I realized I needed something and didn’t get to the store until a few days later

Sharon near Seattle – congrats on those steps. Oh, that would be great if someone had a borscht recipe. I’d love to try it. Wonder how many calories (without the sour cream) it has?

There’s this lady at ceramics who is BIG. Well, she just recently had WLS, yet she constantly still talks about where she’s going to go out for dinner after ceramics (and it isn’t at the healthiest of places). Needless to say, since the surgery she honestly doesn’t look like she’s lost anything.

KJ – fortunately, our insurance covers a routine mammo once a year. So you’re hurt by not being sick? How convoluted is that? Last time I went for a mammo I was told that they were only covered every two years so we checked with our insurance and they cover one every year. They don’t cover a 3D one, or at least the last time I asked they didn’t

Better post this before I forget again

Welcome everyone new and those returning. You're going to love being here.

Michele in NC