WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2022

1948CWB wrote: »

Vivid Dreams....My dreams confound me! It's like there are stories/movies playing in my mind. Sometimes they include people I have known and other times complete strangers.

Carol in GA

Lagopus wrote: »

Hi everyone
Heather dropped me an email again - bless her heart - and encouraged me to post here.
I've had a rough few months. In late December I lost my mother. Shortly after that, Covid finally started infecting people close to me. I've put it all in spoilers so nobody has to read it unless they want to.
Mom

Back in August, my mother fell out of bed and my father had to call for help to get her back up again. That led to her being moved from independent living to assisted living, and left my father alone in the apartment with the cat. The family was informed at the time that Mom was probably in her last weeks, so my sisters and I gathered from the ends of the earth to be by her side. In the midst of all the trauma of impending loss, it was good to be together for the first time in over two years.
But my mother was made of stern stuff. I stayed with her for over three weeks, postponing my homeward flight as long as I could. In September, the family decided we would do our darndest to gather at Christmas. I figured if she survived that long, great, and if she didn't, it would be especially good to be with family for the holidays.
So in late December my husband and I were back in the US. Just after my brother-in-law had picked us up at a regional airport, my sister called to say that our dad had been informed that the end was imminent. We'd intended to spend the first night at my sister's house, but instead we only stopped and picked her up, then drove to where my parents live. When we arrived a couple hours later, Mom was breathing peacefully. She was unresponsive (as she had been for a few weeks) but we sang for her and I held her hand. We patched in our West Coast sister on Zoom, so in a way we were all together again. I stayed until around 1 am, fighting jet lag, then went to a hotel. My youngest sister stayed with Mom until she breathed her last a few hours later.
I feel privileged to have been allowed to see her and hold her hand one more time. So many families have suffered losses under far more traumatic circumstances.
Strange thing, though: After Mom died, the head nurse told us how amazed she had been that Mom lasted so long. The nurse had found her breathing irregularly and with effort (as one does when actively dying) and called my father. But the moment he entered the room, Mom's breathing calmed, and it remained peaceful through the next half day while we were there with her. Clearly she knew somehow that she wasn't alone.

Covid

Then there's Covid. My nephew caught it just after my mother died. (My poor sister!) Then my husband got a sore throat (fortunately after we'd returned to Norway) and tested positive for Covid shortly after (on both the rapid test and the PCR). Then my father "caught a cold" as he told us on Zoom. We encouraged him to get tested, just in case. And yesterday my grandson tested positive. *sigh*
But on the bright side, my nephew has recovered fully, my father no longer has any symptoms, my husband is almost 100% again. And Lisa will be intrigued to hear that I have tested negative throughout, despite never having left my husband's side and never wearing a mask at home. So yeah, it seems entirely random who gets it.

Sorry, but I haven't even tried to read back in the posts before this page. I'd like to, but simply don't have it in me right now. Later...
I sound awfully depressed if you only read what isn't in the spoilers, but I'm doing fine! :flowerforyou:
/Penny, still hanging in there, not far from the

exermom wrote: »

Did Margaret Richards All My Best DVD. Tomorrow have senior bowling but no ceramics due to MLK day Got the paint I ordered for ceramics so I’ll take it Tuesday. See, the alligator and seal are going to take A LOT of paint so I bought some. I don’t want to use up all the ceramic places’. Update: senior bowling was cancelled

Vince thinks we probably got 3-4 inches of snow so far

M – Vince uses nasal spray and decongestants depending on the symptoms. I remember when you had that surgery! Be careful there isn’t any poison ivy in those weeds. We have this stuff “ivy block” that you put on your skin and if you come in contact with pi, the oils don’t get on your skin. You do have to wash it off after you come in the house, but that’s a small price to pay not to get pi.

Right now I’m transferring the VHS tapes of the kids when they were little (no CD’s back then) onto a CD. In a few years probably there won’t be any VCR’s to watch these tapes on. It’s amazing to see some of the things from when they were little like what they got for Christmas. We have a lot of Hess trucks and I was going to wait to give them to PJ, but Bryan was able to play with them at 1-2 so I think we can get them out of the house and give them to PJ. I just feel sorry for him in a sense. We one year gave the kids a sort of “gym” that they can use in the house. It had a slide, seasaw, balance beam (OK, it was probably 2” off the floor) and rings. He just doesn’t have the room for something like that.

I know Vince looks forward to getting a paper every day. But the chances of that happening today are slim and none. The tineyst bit of snow and the whole city shuts down. Even just the word “snow” sends people into a panic. I remember Lynette (a native Newtonian) say one time to me “they’re calling for 3-4 inches of snow. Well, I have a friend who has 4 wheel drive so he can get me to work” Really??? Four Wheel Drive for 4” of snow? Well, we used to live in the Poconos so 4” to us is no biggie. It’s starting to be for Vince, but it’s still a dusting to me.

I see the kids next door are out in the snow.

Really, I guess the only dairy Vince has is milk in the morning. Cheese on pizza too (but only on pizza) Me? I’m addicted to my cheese. Glad I don’t have a problem (very much) with mucus buildup

Supposed to have Rummikub for Newcomers Tuesday. You know, I’m getting used to this not having it. I honestly think that I’ll give it up probably at the end of the year. They’re having trouble finding people to run activities, but oh well….. With it snowing today, I and I’m sure a lot of other people wouldn’t look forward to driving at night. So we won’t have it (cry <sarcastic>) Then I’ll probably be in FL for Feb. and March. Too bad (can you hear me crying?)

I heard that omicron was supposed to be called Zee but they didn’t want to offend the Chinese premier. Who knows?

Sounds like it’s sleeting right now.

Made an orange cake yesterday. I had a can of these mandarin oranges I was going to put in it. But then I saw the expiration date! It was something like 4 years ago! The can looked like the top and bottom were blown up but it seemed to be very even. Anyway, I just threw it out.

M – so Tasmania is known as apple island, huh?

Well, we made the pierogi for Jess. Now I have them in the freezer. None of them stuck to the pan (boo) but, believe it or not, a few did stick to the mat so maybe next time I’ll put them on a slipmat instead

Heather – so sorry for Edie and Bea. Glad it’s mild.

Lisa – Good thoughts for Corey. Do you use a bread hook?

Penny – you made my day when I saw your name. Thank you, Heather. I’m so very sorry about your mom. I truly believe that my grandfather lived long enough to see me get married and to find out about his first great grandchild. My father lived long enough for me to be there. So I’m sure you are right, your mom knew!

You know, tomorrow before I leave for work, I’m going to call to be sure there’s someone there. If not, I’m not going to go. And when I do call, I’ll ask if they want me to come in since I’m assuming they probably weren’t busy today and won’t be tomorrow (everyone is shoveling out or waiting for the snow to melt), they probably have the prep from today so do they want me to come in? Deep down I’m hoping they don’t. The truth is that whoever is there can probably do prep.

Have two DVD's that I will do about 30 minutes of hoping that I won't have to go in to work

Debbie – I have a quilt my aunt made for me (it’s completed), hand quilted, for our king bed. She wanted to do it before she lost her eyesight. In the meantime, I found some quilt blocks from MIL. I would somehow like to incorporate those blocks (I guess there’s enough for a double bed) onto my quilt. You know, something of Vince’s family and something of mine. I just have no idea how to do it with a quilt that’s finished. There’s a quilt place around here so I’m going to ask them. There’s also a quilting group in Newton that I may ask. Just hope they don’t expect me to quilt it. That is about the only craft that I absolutely hate to do. You have some lovely blocks

Michele NC