WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2020

I am back to a 3:30 am wake up. I almost went back to sleep as my overnight rest was a night filled with tossing and turning. Each time I awakened I thought it was Monday! But knew it was Sunday.

It is just a little after 8:00 am and I have top-to-bottom cleaned both of the upstairs bathrooms, put away one load of laundry, completed a full load of laundry, and am now getting ready to put the bathroom rugs in the dryer. I have washed down the staircase railings. I really cannot remember the last time I had completed that chore. Each orchid was carried downstairs, fully soaked and drained, leaves wiped down, and then carried back upstairs (there are 9 of them up there). Also meal planned, picked up the courtyard as there were heavy winds last night, completed the typical morning chores, oh, and cleaned and organized both of the upstairs bathroom's closets/cabinets.

I am calling the rest of the day all "mine". I will probably end up giving myself a pedicure and get some reading done. Oh, and certainly a nap. Poor little Smokey has been following me around all morning. I am sure he will crash out in the next hour or so. LOL!

SuziQ - SFL

Good morning all! Happy Sunday! It has been a busy weekend getting some paperwork done and getting things ready for the kids this week. It is Holiday Week this week for my childcare! EAch day we will celebrate a holiday (because it is hard to wait a whole year for some of them to come 'round again!) Monday-Valentine, Tuesday-Independence Day, Wednesday-Halloween, Thursday-Thanksgiving, Friday-Christmas. My grocery bill was about $50 higher than normal, due to the holiday shopping. lol But it is going to be a fun week.
Faye- Thanks for posting the vestibular tests! I found I am not in as bad of shape as I thought I was. I had no problem with walking the straight line, or the up and down out of the chair test (41, but BOY was I out of breath), the balancing on one leg was tricky for me. I last only about 10 seconds with one leg out, like the guy in the video. I can last 30-45 seconds if I balance on one leg (easy tree pose) with arms extended. I do need to work on my core. I think that will help the balance issues I have.
Kim, Debbie, Pip et al in the fire/smoke regions- Glad to hear you are all safe! Wish I could bottle up some clean air for you to breathe!
Barbie- I love your book list! I have read a couple of them; but the one that made my heart leap is Stealing Buddha's Dinner! I love that book! I have read it a couple of times, the family lives/lived only about five miles from my childhood home.
Meg- What good news for you and your DH!
Barbara- So happy to hear that you and Joe are in a good place in regards to Joe's eye issues/surgery. It is amazing how our brains can lead us to "bad places" and make a situation worse than it actually is. Sending positive prayers and vibes your way!
Cathy in Arlington- OF COURSE you are wearing a wonderwoman tee! Go YOU with the virtual racing and have fun with the grandkids!
Kylia- I just attended a webinar on getting past the feeling of "overwhelm". One of the things that the facilitator suggested was to make a time chart and post it in your office or outside your office door. Chart your day in "time blocks" so that everything has it's own "appointment" with you. (Example: 8am-9am prep for opening store, 9am-11am work shop until employee arrives, 11am-12am paperwork/office work, 12pm-1pm lunch, 1pm-2pm cover employee lunch, 2pm-3pm employee connection, 3pm-5pm prep for next day, 5pm-6pm close shop) Be sure to post it where employees can see it; this way employees will know exactly when you are available to them.
SuzyQ- I laughed at the vacuuming your ceiling sentence. BUT...I have popcorn ceilings and I do take a broom to them on occasion.
Karen VA- Love the "choir" videos! I want to be friends with them/her!

Well ladies, I have a few things I need to get done today, so I better scoot. Love and hugs to you all! ttfn xoxox KJ Kelly

SuziQ & Kylia & Lisa & Faye ~ You all make me feel like a lazy so-and-so...LOL When you get so much done so early, what is left for the rest of the day?

Carol in GA

1948Peachy wrote: »

SuziQ & Kylia & Lisa & Faye ~ You all make me feel like a lazy so-and-so...LOL When you get so much done so early, what is left for the rest of the day?

Carol in GA

I suspect they go to bed at an incredibly early hour of the day!

Whereas I feel much more comfortable getting up about 8 am and going to bed about 12:30 am during the week ... and sleeping in even later on weekends.

Both last night and the night before, I went to sleep at 2 am and woke at 11:30 am ... blissful!! Absolutely blissful!

M in Oz

Hello everyone.

Kylia – Two friends/relatives that owned businesses hired a newly-able to work teenager. The teenagers started off doing clean up, putting parts away, assisting when a part was needed, etc.. Eventually the teenagers grew up, learned all the facets of the business, and then purchased them. I am sure there is some younger person out there that would love to make a few dollars and can do all of those little pesky things around the business (think….getting someone’s mower out of the truck, taking out the trash, cleaning the bathroom, grabbing tools when someone is repairing something). It would free up a lot of actual work time for others around the office. Oh, and all of those lovely veges…..there are recipes out there for making lasagna using grilled vegetables instead of noodles.

Lisa – I do not touch public doors if possible, too. I also use my foot to flush public toilets. It sounds like we both have a touch of the same thing! I did scale back because I was getting a little too out there – I drew the line with myself when I started thinking I should carry around a roll of paper towels! I truly do not think I would live full time in any travel vehicle. It has been my plan to have a home base and travel around the country at my own pace. I love road trips and have never minded being the primary/only driver. It’s an adventure to me. It sounds like your marriage is much like what Charlie and I had together. If one was not busy, the other picked up the slack. It worked very well for us. Honestly, we both had the same habits, we both liked a clean, organized home, both of us cooked, work ethic, etc. We also had those much needed discussions well before we moved in together. Even when we bought this place we agreed ahead of time neither one would try and talk the other in to a place one of us may “love”. We would discuss each place and when both of us felt like it was home it would be the one we would buy.

Faye – Sorry about your challenging day. It’s especially tough when the mentally ill are also drug addicts. I will sign up for your group, but honestly do not know how much I will post there. I made a promise when I found MFP I would decrease my online time. I am still working full time at a computer-based job and putting in anywhere from 50-60 hours a week. Please feel free to copy any of my How Tos, if you feel they should be posted there.

Coffee – I think I would love your FIL. He sounds like he is an adventurer.

Key Lime Pie – Hm, I was wondering where in the heck was everyone getting Key Limes to make their own Key Lime Pies……and, then I read a little further in the thread. LOL – Just know if the custard portion is green it isn’t a real Key Lime Pie.

Katla – Sorry to hear about the heron. They are such majestic birds. I am glad a new one moved in. It was very kind of you to call the trooper. You probably made his day.

Tracey – Sending positive thoughts another place of employment pops up for you. Keep visiting those boards. There are many hiring it’s just a very long process right now.

Rita – I want the best of both worlds….road travel and a home base. I keep thinking along the lines of a small cottage with a decent shed/garage. Between the pension Charlie left me and SSI I should be able to swing it, but not living in SFL where everything is getting more expensive by the day.

Tina – From what I have read excessive hand washing is a sign of a OCD which is why I had to reign myself in when I thought carrying around a roll of paper towels would be a good idea! I know I am a little OCD because I prefer things to be in their place, organized, clean, etc. But over the years have learned to temper myself a little. I started to get bad in my early to mid-twenties and then realized what was going on and toned it down. It will always be part of me, but in my instance very controllable.

Meg – Good news for you! Glad to see you posting.

Carol – Your DGD is lovely in her cheer uniform!

Rebecca – What a nice surprise from your pen pal.

Barbie – I love a PBJ every now and then. Except I cannot put two inches of PB and one inch of jam like I did when I was much younger! There is a restaurant here called Tucker Dukes and they make PB & J Bon Bons – Fried Peanut Butter and Housemade Berry Jam which is served with shots of milk. One day I will try them!

Machka – As I was moving along the ceiling I was also vacuuming the baseboards. Most of the hand sanitizers contain aloe which makes them sticky to me. I buy and make a blend of 50% alcohol and 50% sanitizer. It cuts the stickiness factor. I do not like touching raw meat either. I have disposable gloves for that chore. TG I am not a huge meat eater!! I think anyplace containing more than one child is a petri dish. 😊

KJ – I still want to be one of your kids! You are such a great caretaker.

Early Rising – Actually, I do not go to bed too early. It’s usually around 10-11pm, unless something really good is going on. Then, I can stay up. Six hours of sleep is about the best amount for me. On the weekends I do take a nap. When I get so much done in the morning I can feel good about taking the rest of the day and doing whatever I want. If I decide I want to spend the rest of my day in bed – it is guilt free!

Well, it’s now time to enjoy some courtyard time. I have to check on some plants and start planning the fall (ha) garden. It’s time to start tomatoes for fall harvest – so will check out some cherry-sized ones.

Hugs to all,
SuziQ – SFL

August 24 ...
is my husband and my anniversary. Although we were married on August 24 in Canada, which is August 25 in Australia, it will be August 24 in about half an hour here in Australia today, so we're celebrating today. Did you follow all that.


I've mentioned this before, so I'll try to be brief ...

My husband and I "met" online, on a cycling forum, in early 2003. I'm a Canadian and he is Australian. I had posted a question about the Paris-Brest-Paris, a 1200 km bicycle ride coming up later that year, in August in France, and he replied indicating he was going. That was that. We made no plans to meet or anything.

In late August 2003, on the Paris-Brest-Paris, I was walking through the last rest stop when someone called, "Machka". I wondered who would know that name, and it was him. We chatted for a little while then went our separate ways. He continued cycling and I found a table to crawl under to nap for about 10 minutes before continuing. But over the next year we got to know each other on cycling forums.

In October 2004, I went to Australia with a friend and spent 3 months cycling around Australia. My husband and I met again at the Great Southern Randonnee, another 1200 km cycling event, and then my friend and I stayed with my husband in Hobart for a few days. My friend and I went our separate ways after that trip, and my husband and I got to know each other better online, and through emails and phone calls.

He came to North America in 2005 and 2006, and of course we did cycling events and tours together. We spent a month in Europe in 2007. I went to Australia in early 2008 for a couple weeks. Later in 2008 he was planning to come visit me again, and asked me to marry him when he got there. I said, "Yes".

There's a campground on Goldeye Lake in Alberta, just in the Rockies that I'll never forget ... we stayed there a few days before we got married! We floated on the lake in a blow-up dingy. I ended up with wicked food poisoning from a Wendy's in Edmonton the day before. A massive storm came up in the night and a bolt of lightning struck really close by ... as in practically next to the tent. I had been lying there debating about making another dash to the outhouse when this bolt from above descended!! Lit up the tent and the immediate "CRACK" had us both sitting up and hugging each other!!!

A few days later we travelled to Jasper to look around where we would get married. We chose a dock on Lake Annette as the location, and we decided to include cycling. So we cycled a century (100 miles) first, then cleaned up a bit, and were married by my cousin (then mayor of Banff), with his wife and my parents in attendance. And our bicycles.

My husband returned to Australia 10 days later, and 9 months later, I moved to Australia. During that time, I finished my Bachelor of Education ... and the area where he lived was destroyed by Australia's most devastating bushfire.

February 2009, his place, and the whole surrounding area were wiped out in the Victorian 2009 bushfires. He had set the place up in preparation for me coming, but it was all gone, and he just barely escaped himself. Drove out through the flames.

For a while, he was living in a tent trailer on the property where he worked, and I thought that might be where I would be living too ... but his employer offered us a very rustic cabin on the back of the property about 2 km from "the grid". It had, somehow, survived the bushfire. I came to Australia in June that year, and that's where I spent my first year in Australia ... living off the grid in a remote and rustic cabin!

We heated the place with a large fireplace at one end, and I learned to cook over an open fire with a dutch oven. Water came from the rain. What little electricity we used came from a generator and later solar panels.
When I was able to get a job, it was in bushfire recovery.

We lived there a year before places started opening up in a nearby town, and we found a place with luxuries like hot running water and electricity!

When the area had more or less "recovered", we were a bit burnt out, so to speak, so we popped everything into storage and did a Round-The-World trip for 8 months in 2012. Then in 2013 we moved to Tasmania where we've been since. As most of you know, the last 2.5 years has been very challenging with my husband's severe traumatic brain injury.

So we've known each other for 17 years, we've been married for 12 years and have lived together for 11 years.










The whole wedding album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/albums/72157607097344648

Machka in Oz

Read all posts again. Thanks!

Yesterday's list

1) went for a walk done
Remaining
2) clean/tidy/file for an hour only a load of laundry done and a pair of jeans ironed!
3) meeting a friend and her significant other at 6pm for coffee or something yes, 2 glasses of hard cider and a shared plate of coldcuts and cheese (portions are small in France)

Today:
1) Walk already done
2) 15 minutes cleaning/tidying, (making bar lower, since unsuccessful yesterday with this part)
3) order new kitchen scale and laundry bin online done
4) Order monthly 2h of housecleaning help done
4) track food so far yes, had to eyeball it with kitchen scale broken
keeping bar low

1948Peachy wrote: »

SuziQ & Kylia & Lisa & Faye ~ You all make me feel like a lazy so-and-so...LOL When you get so much done so early, what is left for the rest of the day?

Carol in GA

Carol I love the mornings because they are quiet. No phones ringing, no beggars at my door, no dogs barking, and I can go out on my semi-private patio with minimal fabric encumber for my workout. I get the dishwasher unloaded, laundry done, workout completed, eat two breakfast, do music practice, and make notes for the day. My days are never without something going on. I used to fill my days with art and crafts, but now that seems like work. There is never enough time in my days.

cityjaneLondon wrote: »

I think it would be a lot harder to find early bedders in the UK, because so much of our lives is dominated by our television. 10 pm would be considered very early. Young people are socialising and old people are watching TV. I usually get to sleep soon after 11 and wake up for good after 6. I take DH a cup of tea at 7. I do sometimes nap for half an hour in the afternoon.

Love Heather UK xxxxxxxx

If we are going to watch TV, it will be in the evenings. The TV doesn't go on until 6 pm most of the time, maybe 5:30 pm if we're going to exercise and watch while exercising.

Hour-long shows are aired from the half hour, approximately. So Death in Paradise tonight started at 7:30 pm and wrapped up about 8:38. New Tricks started about 8:40 pm and wrapped up about 9:50 pm. Then I turned the TV off.

If Midsommer Murders is on, it usually finishes around 10:45, and that's the latest we'll watch TV.

I don't really like having the TV on later than that ... I dim the lights and switch to easy listening, instrumental or classical music for my late night work - usually homework.


M in Oz

Did Leslie Sanson 5 Mega Miles DVD. The plan for tomorrow is to do a body pump video. Still need to look on uTube to find one

Faye – that sounds reasonable to me. No, keep it private. If you go public, who knows what weirdo will join?

Coffee – my hubby likes key lime pie. I take a can of sweetened condensed milk, a drop or two of green food coloring and a tub of whipped topping. Mix them all together and pour in (I used a prepared one) pie shell and refrigerate. Oh, add lime juice. I usually add some of the “true lime” stuff. You can add the lemon food color, but it just seems that people associate lime with green. Like I love golden beets. Yet, all the stores only carry the red beets because people associate beets with red.

Tracey – what Pete has, I’d never heard of. Makes me almost afraid to go to the bathroom…lol To me, one of the biggest worries would be that it might happen at any time. Seems that even coughing or sneezing can bring it out. Yikes! When someone tells you not to cough or sneeze, that’s usually when you want to cough.

Had to run to Food Lion to get Vince milk. Good thing I’m an early riser. To his credit, he did text me before I left work yesterday. I just didn’t look at my phone. Now I’ll try to make it a habit to always look at it.

Regarding the sourdough starter – it’s still not rising. I looked on the Internet, some places tell you to drain off the hooch, others say that mixing it in is fine. I did mix mine in. The other thing I could think of is that I keep my flour in the freezer so I don’t get bugs in it (especially the whole wheat that I’ll use and Vince will have as long as I don’t tell him it’s in something). Maybe the flour was too cold when I added it? I think today when I feed it, first I’ll let the flour come to room temp. My water is at room temp and I’m using bottled water.

Made hard boiled some eggs in the IP. Yes, that is my new kick. I love how even fresh eggs peel so easily.

I usually get up around 6.

I’m thinking that I’ll take a pedometer with me to work one day just out of curiosity to see how many steps I get in.

M – happy anniversary

Michele NC

michele- my starter took almost 4 weeks of babysitting, mostly on the counter before it was usable starter. and even then I wasn't really happy with the level of sour-ness - now about a year into it, I feel like it has a level of sour-ness that is in the finished product a just a bit of a bite. and I am happy.

I have only made Key Lime Pie a couple of times, but what a South Floridian calles Key Lime Pie would have to have a custard made with real key limes, I believe. SuziQ ???

Kim in N. CA

Kim CA – that’s so good to hear that it took quite a while for your starter. Makes me feel like not so much of a failure.

Michele NC
Who is off to the pool

pipcd34 wrote: »

I tell u what, it’s been a month now since retirement and it still hasn’t sunk in. I am loving not having to wake up at 3:30 every weekday and living my life in bike gear and sports bras.

What job did you work at that you were in bike gear and sports bras? That sounds ideal to me if I could still ride a bike. I am thinking about a 3 wheeler.