WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR OCTOBER 2020

1272830323392

Replies

  • Whidislander
    Whidislander Posts: 3,388 Member
    edited October 2020
    exermom wrote: »
    Rebecca – Athena is soooo beautiful. I’m not going to be the favorite grandmother, either. You're so lucky you get pictures

    Michele NC

    We are both great grandmas👍. Its a matter of things out of our control. I will be the grandma she can love me from afar. husband and I both find things and say ooh Athena would want THIS. We found a hard cover book with a place for a little car, and each page has a track. There's things to hunt for, and the wooden car is a pull back car. Husband was a bit hurt when he came downstairs and I had wrapped it already!

    This morning I had a big breakfast meal of bacon, eggs, toast with butter. Right now I think I am good for this whole weekend!

    A storm is supposed to blow thru here this Sunday.
    My avocado plant is growing well. I just need to buy a small bag of soil and a pot. Its leaves are beautiful!
    0py5p4s992ir.jpg
    💖Rebecca
  • cityjaneLondon
    cityjaneLondon Posts: 12,124 Member
    For KJ :D

    e1kuqko9hj8s.jpg

    Love Heather UK xxxxxx
  • Whidislander
    Whidislander Posts: 3,388 Member
    The other grandparents don't obey the rules and just carry on as usual with indoor visiting, close contact, overnight stays and bigger gatherings. So I guess we aren't the favourite grandparents either, as we don't do indoor meetings and keep our distance at all times. :o The parents say they understand. ;) The kids are wonderful and treat all the weirdness quite naturally. <3
    On Sunday my son and the grandchildren are coming over for a short garden visit as the weather is supposed to be fine. I was hoping to go over to them, but my DDIL is working, they say. Last time she came here she froze to death as I didn't allow them in the house. :( She works in a shed in their garden, mainly on Zoom calls, so I can understand it, but she doesn't normally work on Sundays. :*
    Last time I did birthday tea, so this time I said snacks only, not a meal.
    If I could wave a magic wand I would wish for things to be normal with the grand kids. I miss physical contact with them so much, that close, heads together, contact doing an art project, or making biscuits. The unconscious way they lean into you. As someone who doesn't like physical contact normally, apart from a sexual partner, it is very refreshing and crosses my usual boundaries very happily.
    I'm awake in the night again with aching legs. I've taken a pain killer and hope to drift off again. The decorator is coming to finish off, so I can't sleep in. Three days running I have had to wake DH up from a deep sleep. I'm usually awake early.

    The one thing that is keeping me sane through all this is doing my memoir and reading my old diaries. But it also stirs up memories. The steady boyfriend I am now writing about died at age 24. I had moved on by then, but I went out with him from 15 to just 18. An important part of my life. He was four years older than me. We had discussed marriage.
    The writing is the most important thing my life and essential to my sanity, it gives meaning to my existence. But I am feeling a certain amount of sadness as I revisit that relationship. I went off to university, found my husband to be, and dumped him with the insousciance of youth. My mother found out about his death in the local newspaper. Too young. Cancer.
    So now I am writing about the very beginning of our relationship. The very early excitement. Persuading yourself you are 'in love'. Reading my 15 year old self is bitter-sweet.

    Love Heather UK xxxxxxxx

    You writing your memoir is like therapy 101 and so positively cathartic for you.💖. Processing the feelings associated with your younger self is like talking to your younger self, and giving her permission to feel.💖. Good On Ya!
    💖Rebecca
  • Whidislander
    Whidislander Posts: 3,388 Member
    Katla49 wrote: »
    Rebecca: You are lucky to be close enough to Athena for occasional visits. Our grandchildren are thousands of miles away. We don’t expect to see them live and in person this year. We take advantage of zoom and facetime. DH will not fly due to his medical situation. I won’t leave him home alone to go visiting so we’re stuck. Maybe 2021 will be an improvement. :cry:

    Tracey: Our son is a long time Doctor Who Fan. One of our local stores has Doctor Who items for sale and we’ve bought him several Doctor Who Christmas ornaments over the years. :smiley:

    Heather: I miss my grandchildren, too. I have the option of facetime and zoom. It is better than no visits at all. Is that possible in your situation? :flowerforyou:

    Barbara: Joe’s BP down to acceptable levels is very good news. CONGRATULATIONS!!! :bigsmile:

    SuziQ: Thank you for reminding us about the value of kegel exercises. I haven’t had any problems in a very long time. Keeping up with good muscle tone “down there” is important. :flowerforyou: DH has been an insulin dependent diabetic for more than 50 years. He is very good at managing his blood sugar levels, measures several times a day and keeps careful records. :star:

    Machka: DH is unlikely to board any jet, now or in the foreseeable future. If we’re to see our kids in person, they will have to come here. We may go there but it will have to be a very long road trip & it won’t be happening in 2020. :ohwell:

    Barbie: Happy Birthday to Jake! :star::flowerforyou: :star:


    We have cloudy skies and wet pavement, but it isn’t raining at this exact moment. I have an opportunity to go horseback riding tomorrow. It looks like the most likely probability will be to ride in the arena due to the damp weather today.


    Katla in beautiful NW Oregon

    I suppose I just need to come to terms with being a far away grandma. Whether its a thousand miles away like you guys, or 7 hours drive away, its pretty much the same. It still involves overnighting and staying at hotels, eating at restaurants and just being out. I am not willing to jeopardize my husband's health. That is the underlying fact of the matter.
    Yep I am grateful for my sons participation in sending pics and videos. I have to remind myself that when I had a toddler, calling my mother was paramount, my mother in law not so much. It wasn't like I didn't love her or anything, it was that my brain would just think of calling my mom, if something cute was going on.💖
    💖Rebecca
  • Snowflake1968
    Snowflake1968 Posts: 6,687 Member
    Debbie - my Grandson loves Groot, he is always amazed that I don’t follow all of the Sci-fi, Marvel and gaming characters. I have learned a lot since he was about 2 though.

    Fae - I know that people can hit it again to get rid of it, but I think it can get hit without even knowing you hit it to go correct the error.
    I think if they are going to have a disagree button it should be away from where it can be hit accidentally at least, but at least it’s not the “woo” button it once was.

    Rebecca - I called my parents every week without fail, I call my in-laws about once a month. It irks me though, as those phone lines work both ways and we never receive a call. As a matter of fact I can tell you that in the 23 years we have lived here we have received exactly 5 phone calls, 2 were death notifications, 2 were when my MIL had heart attacks and 1 was when my MIL returned home from being here last year she called to see how Rodger was feeling as I had to take him to emergency the night before she left. They love us but it’s like we moved away so it’s all on us to keep in touch.
    When my Dad was alive I would receive random calls frequently. My brother has not called me once, I do receive a message once in a while asking me to call him.

    I wish the technology would have been there that is available now for the long distance grandparents.
    It’s not the same but I think it’s better than just the voice.

    I am just waiting for my youngest and her husband to arrive, they have a couple stops to make before they get here, but are on the way. The turkey is in the oven, some sides are ready to cook and pies were made by my daughter and Costco. I am more excited about the visit than the food.

    Tracey in Edmonton

  • cityjaneLondon
    cityjaneLondon Posts: 12,124 Member
    Poor D H had a fright this afternoon. He had been having trouble with wax blocking his ear. I gave him drops to soften it and then my syringe to flush it out. It is a good one with sideways jets that don't hurt the eardrum. Unfortunately, after a few goes and lots of debris coming out the final flush caused a horrible dizzy spell and he staggered into his study, where I was sitting, having dropped his glasses, and with the world swirling around him. :o It took about half an hour to settle down. :'( Poor man. That put paid to any effort to put back the stuff in the living room. He felt sick.
    All well now, thank goodness. We are watching a brand new episode of Inspector Montalbano in separate rooms as his sofa is sooooo uncomfortable. I am in the bedroom.
    The room looks great. Just got to put it back together. I honestly don't want to put anything in it!

    Love Heather UK xxxxxxxx
  • Faetta
    Faetta Posts: 1,059 Member
    Faetta wrote: »
    Spent the day working in the yard and not looking forward to heavy leaf fall in about a month. Two neighbors that refuse to manage their trees or keep leaves clean up as they know the slightest wind will carry them to my place that seems to be the leaf collection spot of the neighborhood. I am tired and sore and fighting a melancholy feeling. I think that the feeling is that this fall my daughter would be 50. The wonderful young neighbor lady brought me a pan of soggy sticky brownies, just the way I love them, and I only ate one which was a surprise to myself.

    I will add a brownie to my Oregon produced 4% butterfat cottage cheese and Washington grown organic unsweetened applesauce breakfast in the morning. Adding a little unhealthy at times is healthy for the mind.

    Bamboo fabric sleep shorts ... I love them as they are so soft and light and breathe great. The only downside is the cotton elastic band that is hard to dry as towels or heavy jeans. I fear that all the extra drying time will wear the light fabric out and hanging them in the house takes all day and half the night to dry. Outdoor hanging would be best but I am not set up for it and did it for too many years and like to get laundry done as fast as possible. At $20 each, I want them to last as long as possible. I suppose if the extensive dryer time wears them, I will whine about it, then pony up the dough, that is if they are still available. Finding them was about like finding the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. I think I have that on my bucket list along with the Fountain of Youth. Ponce De Leon. Wasn't he the one that discovered the Fountain of Youth? Too tired for accurate recall of High School history. I might have ditched that class anyway.

    Fae preparing for playing dementia fighting words puzzles and then dosing off to happy dreamland

    You need to buy another set of those sleep shorts so there will be one pair drying and you wear the other set.👍 Yes its another pricetag, but in the long run, both of your shorts will last longer.👍
    👍Rebecca
    Whidbey
    Washington

    Way ahead of you girl, I have 6 pairs in different shades if grey. I just hate things hanging and taking time before i can fold them and get them in their place in the drawer.
  • pipcd34
    pipcd34 Posts: 16,433 Member
    D
  • Faetta
    Faetta Posts: 1,059 Member
    edited October 2020
    Poor D H had a fright this afternoon. He had been having trouble with wax blocking his ear. I gave him drops to soften it and then my syringe to flush it out. It is a good one with sideways jets that don't hurt the eardrum. Unfortunately, after a few goes and lots of debris coming out the final flush caused a horrible dizzy spell and he staggered into his study, where I was sitting, having dropped his glasses, and with the world swirling around him. :o It took about half an hour to settle down. :'( Poor man. That put paid to any effort to put back the stuff in the living room. He felt sick.
    All well now, thank goodness. We are watching a brand new episode of Inspector Montalbano in separate rooms as his sofa is sooooo uncomfortable. I am in the bedroom.
    The room looks great. Just got to put it back together. I honestly don't want to put anything in it!

    Love Heather UK xxxxxxxx

    Yep, flushing out the ear canal of anyone with vestibular disorders is not a good idea. Leave what wax you cannot remove with your little finger (per Dr Epley & Dr. Black) Any forced liquids or even forced air can trigger vertigo. In medicine, the caloric reflex test (sometimes termed 'vestibular caloric stimulation') is a test of the vestibulo-ocular reflex that involves irrigating cold or warm water or air into the external auditory canal to see how much is tolerated before vertigo.
  • dlfk202000
    dlfk202000 Posts: 2,896 Member
    Debbie - my Grandson loves Groot, he is always amazed that I don’t follow all of the Sci-fi, Marvel and gaming characters. I have learned a lot since he was about 2 though.



    Tracey in Edmonton

    uentvc1o8vww.png
    2qhvarp3pcfc.png
    he has also done some cool lithophanes-They don't look like much in the daylight but amazing with a light behind them. I thought they would sell well at the craft fair but so far haven't.
    1na8q31bww6k.png
    mutd0kfd9kpl.png
    that is Father in law, husband and son about 20 yrs ago

    Debbie
    Napa Valley, CA
  • grandmallie
    grandmallie Posts: 9,638 Member
    Afternoon ladies
    Trudy and I took a drive to new haven to drop her census stuff off and we went to Pepes and took a pizza to go.. we stopped in a hotel parking lot that had picnic tables and had some pizza,then came home and were exhausted..still are..
    Did my laundry early and didnt need anymore blood work.just picking up the jug..
    Will have to do the 24 catch again tomorrow..
  • pipcd34
    pipcd34 Posts: 16,433 Member
    F
  • Anniesquats100
    Anniesquats100 Posts: 2,959 Member
    I went out to lunch today. I had a bison burger, which is lower fat but sorta dry. But I am within my calories and my eating window! Yay!
  • Whidislander
    Whidislander Posts: 3,388 Member
    Debbie - my Grandson loves Groot, he is always amazed that I don’t follow all of the Sci-fi, Marvel and gaming characters. I have learned a lot since he was about 2 though.

    Fae - I know that people can hit it again to get rid of it, but I think it can get hit without even knowing you hit it to go correct the error.
    I think if they are going to have a disagree button it should be away from where it can be hit accidentally at least, but at least it’s not the “woo” button it once was.

    Rebecca - I called my parents every week without fail, I call my in-laws about once a month. It irks me though, as those phone lines work both ways and we never receive a call. As a matter of fact I can tell you that in the 23 years we have lived here we have received exactly 5 phone calls, 2 were death notifications, 2 were when my MIL had heart attacks and 1 was when my MIL returned home from being here last year she called to see how Rodger was feeling as I had to take him to emergency the night before she left. They love us but it’s like we moved away so it’s all on us to keep in touch.
    When my Dad was alive I would receive random calls frequently. My brother has not called me once, I do receive a message once in a while asking me to call him.

    I wish the technology would have been there that is available now for the long distance grandparents.
    It’s not the same but I think it’s better than just the voice.

    I am just waiting for my youngest and her husband to arrive, they have a couple stops to make before they get here, but are on the way. The turkey is in the oven, some sides are ready to cook and pies were made by my daughter and Costco. I am more excited about the visit than the food.

    Tracey in Edmonton

    Tracy, I have a memory of my mother talking sternly to my Dad about, "just call your Mother! Why is it always me"?

    My husband calls his Mom every couple of months. She is faithful with either a card or a call on our birthdays. Its really sweet. When we were dealing with husband's illness, extra bills etc, she would send us money, or if we visited she'd sneak us $100. Turned out it was my husband's brother that was helping us. He had given money to his Mom, to give to us. Men are very proud, and he just figured money given to my husband would be accepted better, coming from Mom than him. My Mother in law passed me the note ( that came with the money to MIL) quietly once, so that's how I knew.

    With me being the one that (left the nest of Oregon) it was my job to "check in" every so often. My Mom was the passer of information, telling me about all family matters. My eldest sister used to never call me. My middle sister and I got along great when both of our kids were the same age. Reality sunk in, when I came up from CA, kids in tow, to go thru Moms stuff after she had passed. We stayed with my middle sister, and because we were way out in the country, we just ate what they had at mealtimes. I told her I would pay whatever and at the end of the week. My sister's husband said it would be about $100. I knew we hadn't eaten $100 worth of food! But that's kind of the first reality that the dynamics of the family had changed! Now since my eldest sister has a new husband in Montana, she's happier, and we get along wonderfully. A couple of days ago she called wanting to vent. After a minute of general conversation she said, " ok I need my sister". I said, " always, what's up"? I feel privileged that she talks to me this way. Its a level of trust, that makes me feel valued. I'm really glad she confides with me.💖. Now my middle sister is just the opposite. We text so general that its uncomfortable. If I text anything that gets into how she's feeling, she ignores it, or says let's talk about something else. I usually text something funny like, " ok we can talk about cute cats or the weather somemore"!

    💖Rebecca
  • TerriRichardson112
    TerriRichardson112 Posts: 17,929 Member
    Up to page 29 but too tired to read to end. Will catch up in the morning
  • grandmallie
    grandmallie Posts: 9,638 Member
    Hurumph- ya know I try and check on both my kids.. more so Dan because of his mental state ..but do you think i even get a text from either of them..geesh im tryin..
    When my mom was still alive i would call at least once a day...just to check in.. when she was sick i was there almost daily..
    Oh well..
  • exermom
    exermom Posts: 6,310 Member
    Did the Dynamic Toning DVD. Then, because there was a background noise, I just wanted to be sure it didn’t affect the DVD player so I did a TaiChi DVD. Worked fine. The plan for tomorrow is to do a Women’s Health Total Workout in Ten DVD

    Tracey – so cute!

    In a way, I feel bad for Vince. I know that he likes to do a lot of decorating for the holidays. Not sure what’s going to happen this year. I have a feeling that we won’t do anything for Halloween, not enough time. I want to mention to him that perhaps he should do things that he wants to do when he can. Like we’ve had the Christmas decorations in the house since last month. He hasn’t done anything, and I kept mentioning to him that I was surprised he hadn’t started yet. He really should do things when he can, but he’s the kind of person who procrastinates. Perhaps if he hadn’t procrastinated, he would be that much more ahead of things now. We shall see how that goes Update: he mentioned decorating, but right now he’s sleeping in the living room. Update, Update: He did do a little decorating (got some of the trees up)

    Have these rugs that I step on when I go from the pool to the bathroom. They dry very quickly. Well, I just put them away (pout)

    Barbara – so glad to hear Joe’s pressure is down. How I remember seeing the trees burned down years ago when there were bad fires in FL. We saw them that year when we went down there. It took quite a few years for things to look normal. So I can imagine (sort of) the destruction that you saw

    I’ll probably make some more icing for Vince to ice the cake for him I made yesterday. Last time I made chocolate icing and I was going to give that to him. Only now he’s avoiding caffeine so he’ll want white icing. Actually, there isn’t take much chocolate in the icing, but I know that he won’t eat it. He didn’t want to eat the chocolate chip ice cream I had until I talked him into it. Really, there isn’t much chocolate in those small chips.

    Barbie – happy Birthday to Jake

    Pip – Lenny was such a handsome man. And Kirby ain’t no slouch either. You sure know how to pick them!

    We (me) put acid in the pool then I realized that I needed to add more apple juice to the wasp traps. Both of them were bone dry. While I was putting the second one up, the twist tie broke. Before I got it up, the need to go to the bathroom was so very intense that I admit that a bit leaked out. Ahhh…the joys of getting older

    Made the icing for Vince. Now I have two containers of icing in the freezer, chocolate and vanilla!

    I bet whoever hit the “disagree” button for M doesn’t even realize that they hit it, it was just an accident.

    Fae – I agree with you, there should be a “love” button in place of “disagree”. What does Thumper say? “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”. I don’t disagree one bit with your post. Actually, guess it’s a good thing that I very rarely use those buttons. I mainly don’t because you can’t see who “liked” or whatever, so what good is it?

    Michele NC
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 16,878 Member
    :) Jake declared his birthday "perfect". He did some cleaning in the kitchen while I walked the dogs, then stayed out of my way while I vacuumed. He decided to take a nap before lunch. His choice for lunch was take out from the drive through at Jack in the Box...imagine 4 digit calories, 4 digit sodium content and then look at my diary to see what it was. We spent a quiet afternoon together that included phone calls from both his grown children and his brother and a the arrival in our mail of a package from his daughter of tuna caught and canned by them and salmon caught and smoked by them. I got to ride my exercise bike and watch old episodes of Magnum P.I. while Jake was on the phone.

    :) I think there should be no buttons at all and if you want to comment on what someone said, you should say it.

    :) Expectations will cause problems all the time. Other people will often not do what you want them to do.

    <3 Barbie in NW WA
  • pipcd34
    pipcd34 Posts: 16,433 Member
    Stats for the day-
    Walk w/family- 1hr 40min 32sec, 100elev, 3.40ap, 83ahr, 109mhr, 5.52mi= 546c
    Strava app- 669c
    Zwift bike trainer- 45.15min, 19.4amph, 472elev, 132ahr, 165mhr, 14.65mi= 436c
    Strava app- 395
    Walk 2 dinner n back- 1hr 10min 30sec, 3.0ap, 84ahr, 99mhr, 3.54mi= 299c
    Strava app= 429c

    Total cal 1281

    Exermom- they actually both picked me, I didn’t pick them :0)
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,706 Member
    edited October 2020
    bwcetc wrote: »
    Machka ... " In an ideal world, someone would come by one morning a week and take him round to Bunnings hardware, have a cup of coffee and a chat with him, and that sort of thing. However, that sort of thing isn't available.
    "
    . You would think something this would be so simple, but I know it's not. My son rarely has visitors from those outside of the medical community, but sometimes those he has formed friendships with over the years at various schools/churches will visit. I don't recall if you are affiliated with a caring church ... sometimes (not always) there are those who would do something like this with members of their church. Or, perhaps, if you were to share this statement with friends? Sometimes, especially when we are independent people, others need to know that we are receptive to help. And taking someone out for coffee would be so easy to do.

    Beth near Buffalo

    People are less inclined to do that sort of thing now ... more inclined to stay within their family groups. And everyone I know works.


    As far as paid care goes ...

    One of the reasons why C19 spread through the aged care sector and hospitals was because of the casual nature of home care. Home care places were offering clients and hour here and an hour there. So the care workers and nurses had to find employment elsewhere to make a living.

    One care worker/nurse might do a couple hours in someone's house Monday morning, then 4 hours in an aged care centre. The next day, she/he might spend the day in a hospital as a "sitter" or work a shift as a nurse. The next day it might be 4 hours in one person's home and 4 hours in another person's home. And so on.

    If she/he picked up C19 somewhere along the way, it spread everywhere!

    So now the home care organisations are trying to give more hours to workers, with just one or two people, rather than spreading them all over the place. So those who need a little bit of care occasionally may be out of luck.


    My husband is more social than I am and misses being able to talk to people every day. Whereas I would happily hide out in a remote cabin and not speak to anyone for days on end. So when I am home in the evenings and weekends, he hopes I will want to talk and do things with him ... but all I want is silence. It's a bit of a conflict.

    So I try to arrange things where he can be out among people each week ... not crowds because they overwhelm him ... but just a few people. This past week, I took Wednesday off and we attended a joint group of Brain Injury peers and Stroke peers for Mental Health Week in the morning. That was nice because it gave him an opportunity to talk to others who have had brain injuries and strokes. It also absolutely exhausted him! He slept for hours that afternoon while I "attended" by Zoom a "class" about Brain Injury. This is what I do with my days off!

    Next week, he has his main doctor's appointment ... which reminds me I need to prepare something for that.

    I am hoping that now that I don't have university to worry about, I will be able to take him for bicycle rides, walks, etc. more on weekends and in evenings.


    M in Oz