WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2024

LisaInArkansas · April 4

Tracey - Seriously, woman, sometimes the echoes in our lives get a little spooky. My best friend will be here May 3rd, and the last time we saw each other was 2019. I even talked here in this group about the ladies camping trip that I went to up in Montana to spend a little time with her. I do not camp (still seems like pretending your homeless to me!) and I didn't get nearly enough time with her, because we were out with this whole group of other women. I remember Kaitlyn's wedding, too, and your beautiful dress. And the reason I'm up this late is because I couldn't get my head to stop making plans for her visit, among many other things.

Sue - Seriously hope that woman takes the legal steps you're taking as meant and decamps, but it could agitate the dang bats in her belfry instead. Please be wary, the situation with her just seems so volatile.

Machka - I loved the background on that flower picture. You're really branching out! (Pun intended.

)

Lying in bed for more than five hours this morning, wired up to all the beeping, whirring honking monitors, has my Fitbit showing I was asleep all that time. Unfortunately, my body seems to believe I was taking a nap as well, as I could NOT get my head to shut off after I went to bed at my usual time. My insomnia is reasonably rare these days, which I appreciate. Egg just raised her head and gave me the stink-eye. She went right back to sleep, of course. Makes me want to go poke her and wake her up.

Strange day all the way around, but a good one, in the end. Got back home from the test to a present from Corey, a tabletop easel. I said a month ago that I wanted one to use when I'm working on some of the small canvases. I've got a floor easel that telescopes down to tabletop, but it's not really sturdy on a table, very wobbly. Thoughtful man.

The rest of my gift was him installing a door between the laundry room and kitchen. He had to cut down a standard door to make it fit the space... and then he took it right back down. He didn't like the way it looked, and I didn't like the fact that it cut off the light from the laundry room, which lit up the kitchen more than I knew. At least we agreed on getting rid of it, if not for the reason!

Then he cooked my favorite comfort food for me - Little Smokies in barbecue sauce, and mac and cheese. Growing up poor in the South leaves you with some interesting comfort foods. My mama's was cornbread with milk, and toast dipped in her coffee. Mine include cornbread and bean liquor, macaroni and cheese, and Vienna sausage. Weird, I know. I seldom indulge in any of them, but every once in a while... What's a food or a combination of foods that mean complete comfort to you?

Well, back to my computer cribbage game - once I start yawning over that, I know I can go lay down and I'll sleep.

Later, my dears,
Love,
Lisa in AR, at just past midnight on a Thursday morning

TerriRichardson112 · April 4

Tracey: Not surprised you are feeling excited. Wishing you a great visit with your bestie.
Lisa: My comfort food is chocolate 🍫 it used to be Cadbury whole hazelnut, but these days I like a good dark chocolate, and am partial to Lindt with a touch of sea salt, which I let slowly melt in my mouth. Mmmm…

Just about to do yoga, then pockle about looking busy until lunch. I have Shakespeare Study group this afternoon.

🤗🤗🤗 and 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 for those who need them.

🙋‍♀️ Miele failte to the newbies.

☘️ Terri

Anniesquats100 · April 4

Good morning ladies!

Sue we are all concerned about your crazy tenant! Be careful, and record everything!

Not much going on here. Groceries later this morning, during the break in the rain. Then I will take dad to physical therapy. I have to get him to call the newspaper and pay them. And maybe get back to studying a bit for this pharmacy technician thing.

Teddy is a lap dog this morning. Fuzzy cuddles!

Have a fantastic day! May you be happy, healthy, safe and free!

Annie in Delaware

Anniesquats100 · April 4

Today's lesson from the Beck Diet Solution I that when you are tempted to eat something that's not on the plan, tell yourself you have no choice other than sticking to the plan. Smells like discipline to me.

When I am tempted, first I look to see what the damage would be to my calorie count. Would I go over, or just eat back my exercise calories? Could I substitute Cole slaw or yogurt as these are more filling? Yesterday I wanted ice cream, but I decided to wait until today so I can skip my daily chocolate and make some room in my calorie count. Ice cream is not special, it's continuously available, and I don't need it right this minute. So I will have a little bit later.

I have more trouble resisting when I'm tired or worried, or eating out, or with leftovers. But I'm slowly getting better at resisting.

Annie in Delaware

I have more

Anniesquats100 · April 4

Hello again! It's quiet out there.

I did twenty eight minutes on my bike and fourteen minutes walking! Yay!

Annie in Delaware

Machka9 · April 4

Last month, I mentioned we had a plan.

And it was Joy who guessed that our plan involves house buying.

We bought a house!

That's a first for me. I've never owned a house and have rarely lived in a house that someone in my family owned. I have mixed feeling ... somewhere between delight and feeling like I'm going to have a stroke. But then, the last few weeks have been stressful with all the paperwork and everything that goes into buying a house.

The new house:
- is all one level
- is on a relatively flat block
- is in a relatively flat neighbourhood - good for walking and cycling
- is in a position to have a great view
- is fairly new
- is slightly bigger than our current place
- has more closet space than our current place
- has 2 bathrooms!!

- has room for a home gym
- has room for a decent home office/library
- has a gorgeous deck
- has a garden that is a blank slate
- is closer to our son and his family

The view:

Machka in Oz

Anniesquats100 · April 4

Congratulations Machka! Wishing you many happy years in your new house! When are you moving? Do you have to vacate by the end of the month?

Annie in Delaware

Machka9 · April 4

Anniesquats100 wrote: »

Congratulations Machka! Wishing you many happy years in your new house! When are you moving? Do you have to vacate by the end of the month?

Annie in Delaware

We'll move in slowly. We've got the time.

We want to have a bit of work done - paint, floors, etc. to make it ours. So we'll spend the next few days talking to flooring people, getting quotes, looking at paint cards, etc.

Then we might do one room at a time and I'm hoping to purge as we go.

M in Oz

1948CWB · April 4

Machka ~ How exciting and a little scary. Sounds like a perfect place.

Carol in GA

bwcetc · April 4

Machka! ... Congratulations!!

Tracey ... My mom isn't even in a full nursing care home. She's receiving assisted living care. Here in New York State (and all across the US) the rates for care are astronomical until you use up all of your private funds ... then it goes to Medicaid, a government funded program. Assisted living for my mom ... a private one-bedroom apartment (about 550 sq. ft.) with the extra premium care is $9300 per month! It does not include medications, phone, things she needs like briefs, insurance premiums, etc. A full care nursing home ... private room ... would be $512.56 per day or $15,889.36 for a 31 day month plus tax!! Once my mom runs out of her private funds, she will be moved into a nursing home dependent on the government Medicaid ... where she will then die. They are awful in my area. It angers me to watch my dad's hard-earned savings disappear for over-priced care.

Cold here today. I have an appointment to get a pneumococcal vaccine this morning ... a preventative for meningitis when having cochlear implant surgery. And then I have to take my son to an infusion appointment for his migraine. The pain is not responding to his medications.

Beth near Buffalo

barbiecat · April 4

margaretturk · April 4

My mom was in one of the better nursing home facilities. My dad died before having to be in one. It was expensive ten years ago. She did die before COVID. Yes the way they are funded is you either have nothing and then little choice where to go and usually not very good. If you have money they take a good chunk of it if not all. Sad. Here you can give a certain amount to a loved ones per year tax free to them it is considered a gift if you would rather see your money go to them and not a nursing home.

One saving grace is DH did die at home so didn't have to deal with any nursing home business.

If you are healthy you can apply to buy long term health care insurance. It is very expensive and just learned from the friend I took to lunch they thought it covered assistant living. It only covers nursing home care. I told her it will protect their assets if one of them ends up in the nursing home part of their facility. (Given the state of both their healthy there is a strong likely hood of this.)I did not say this to her. Another friend has it too but she bought in when working for the government so her premiums are a reasonable $1000 a year. She now has a heart condition and would no longer be able to apply for it. I told her it would be worth it for her in her situation. When we looked into 10 years ago it was $5000 a year then. We declined.

pipcd34 · April 4

400400

grandmallie · April 4

Machka- congratulations on the house..and what a view....and thats great.. a little at a time..
After the last few days im sort of spent..so Im going to rest today..

kevrit · April 4

Going to Renal doc this morning, then therapist this afternoon. My comfort food includes sugar. My family had desert after every mean except breakfast, which usually was something sweet. ‘Sweet stuff’ was always given for any occasion. I have a very had time avoiding sugar, especially when I’m eating my emotions, which is often lately, or have ‘sweets’ in the house. Very hard to lose weight this way…..

And Today is: ‘weird!!’.

cityjaneLondon · April 4

The nursing home situation is not good here either, but not quite as exorbitant. Successive governments have talked about a cap on costs, but no one has done anything about it.

Machka - What great news! Lovely view. The property sounds ideal. Will you be able to cycle to work?

I had a nice time with G. Grilled hake in caper sauce, and fries.

I'm afraid I cannot resist their fries. I got an Uber both ways. Not being able to walk is expensive!

We talked quite a bit about my plan for my new book, and her ghastly ex husband.

Waitrose delivery in a few minutes. John is being lovely, and making his signature chicken stew for dinner. Thatt way I can have a small, or large bowl full, depending on my appetite!

Love Heather UK xxxxxxxx

SophieRosieMom · April 4

Machka - your new house sounds wonderful.

Hope it all goes smoothly and you'll be settled in soon. Can't wait to see photos - the view is gorgeous.

Sue - hoping your tenant is out ASAP, and she moves far, far away. Sounds like she has severe mental problems. And it's awful that her behavior is affecting your health. She was a nurse? If so, that's scary and I wonder how many patients died under her care. I can see a mystery novel in the making, my imagination is in high gear. Vera would have been right on it.

Heather - so glad you are getting the surgeries set up, it won't be long now until you'll be enjoying some pain free walking. I don't mean you'll hop out of the hospital ready to run a marathon, just that at our age, time seems to pass quicker.

Lisa - glad your ultrasound is over and results were good. I love hearing about Corey's latest projects. Your laundry room door story reminded me of when we needed a new back screen door. DH went to Home Depot, found one he liked and ordered it, set up the delivery. When it arrived, it turned out to be a spendy all glass door from top to bottom, with a "hidden" screen, not just glass on the top half. HD's mistake was our gain - we really liked having the additional sunlight shining in when it was warm enough to have the inside door open.

Kylia - hope your week has gotten better. I've had stressful jobs where the work wasn't so much the hassle as the feeling that I was stuck there due to finances and other obligations. Plus I was just considered an employee but the management/owners let things slide that drove me nuts and I ended up fixing messes that could have been avoided in the first place. I can see you are in a tough spot at times.

Debbie - how are the plant starts doing in your greenhouse? My little tomatoes are surviving, growing a little - cool weather has them in suspended animation.

Annie - I sometimes see recipes for a "mock" pudding-like dessert using plain yogurt or cottage cheese, cocoa powder, and a no-cal sweetener like monk fruit. Considering the good amount of protein it gives, the calories aren't that high. I'm going to give it a try one of these days. Good job, by the way, on increasing your exercise. Hope the PT helps your dad.

Beth - the costs for your mom are just staggering. I haven't priced assisted living lately in my area. They used to publish this information on websites, now a person has to "call for a quote." Something tells me costs are increasing rapidly. Hope your son gets relief from the infusion and it's good getting the pneumonia shot out of the way.

I've been busy the past couple days with a bit of spring cleaning and decluttering (cleaning out drawers mostly). Grateful the weather has been nice enough to get caught up outside.

Sometimes Luke Silva comes up in my YouTube feed. He's a street performer- not sure where - maybe London? He invites people to sing with him and often showcases amazing talent. So for something new and different, check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLxe0Vup4o0

Before I forget - the hugs discussion.

When I was a kid, my family weren't huggers. Even as an adult, my parents would do a tight squeeze then let go. That's probably how they were raised, I don't remember my grandparents being huggers either. They were good at patting shoulders or arms though. It was still human touch, wasn't it?

My DH wasn't a great hugger either until his later years and even then, hugging him was like hugging a stiff board.

My friend T is a great hugger as is her family and my other friends, most of them near my age, are huggers too.

A couple weeks ago I really scored in the hugs department.

Dr. Lisa's nurse is a hugger and I got 2 really good hugs from her - the nurse she replaced was a hugger too. When Alex the landscaper stopped by, I got 2 more good hugs from him.

He's young enough to be my grandson and was raised in a hugging family.

Last week I clicked with a gal in the produce department at Safeway. It was early, the store was empty. We discussed organic veggies, raising chickens, widowhood, etc. Both of our arms were loaded with market baskets, and we had other places to go after a couple minutes of chatting. When we separated to continue shopping, we vowed to hug the next time we encountered each other.

To me, hugs are a part of love language.

OK gotta move. Make it a super day!

Lanette

SW WA State

MsElphaba · April 4

Good morning!

Michele NC: I’m hoping for the best outcome for Eva this weekend.

Terri: The Lindt Sea Salt (NO caramel) are my favorite Lindt truffles! I’m very partial to Lindt. Growing up, I had an “uncle” who visit from Switzerland once every year or two. He would bring a 5-pound box of Lindt mini bars. My grandma would promptly take the box and hide it. She would give me a bar now and then, always tell me to let the melt in my mouth rather than bite them so they would last longer.

Annie in Delaware: It really comes down to making choices, right? I hear you on the leftovers. Always a problem here especially after a big family meal. The kids don’t always take leftovers home. Tim is funky about leftovers, so that leaves me. I hate wasting all that food that took so long to prepare. I try to go through it in smaller portions or repurpose into other meals. Unfortunately, sometimes I just have to suck it up and throw it out.

Machka in Oz: CONGRATULATIONS! Tim (my son), Ed (my boyfriend), and I bought a house almost 2 years ago. It was such a wonderful day! As you know, it was a process, but I can so relate to having that dream become a reality! Good for you! Enjoy!
Beth near Buffalo and Tracey: Don’t get me started on the price of health care. It’s insane.

Had a splendid evening last night! Stevany, despite my efforts, was not prepared for SIX. She loves Tudor history and didn’t like Anne Boleyn’s (her favorite wife of Henry VIII) characterization. She also picked up that the history Catherine of Aragon talks about wasn’t accurate. However, she loved Jane Seymore, Catherine Howard, and Anne of Cleves. Had to remind her this was musical theatre. Including a picture of us all at the show last night. I’m the shiny one. LOL

Before the show we dinner at local Cuban restaurant. Enjoyed a papa relleno (picadillo wrapped in mashed potato and fried) and paella with a mojito. We got to the theatre early, so indulged in some candied pecans and a glass of wine. All in all went over my calorie count by about 250, let’s not talk about the macros LOL. First time I’ve gone over since I started back last week. Today is another day! Weigh in tomorrow.

Make it a great day,

Linda
Jacksonville, FL

pipcd34 · April 4

Moms cremation ceremony well……
The guy at the crematorium said they had a limit if 5 people that could attend. Joey(bro that was setting this thing up) called Janie (sis) and asked her if she wanted to attend. in my previous post I mentioned who he had asked, Joey never called me or asked me. Janie said you’re getting in, I’ll lt you know when. WHen I got there, there were way more than 5

Raymond (2nd oldest bro)
Nephew Jesse jr and wife
Joey and girlfriend
Emilio (massage guy)
Janie (sis)
Niece Amanda
Martha (cousin)
Me,

When the guy was looking at the list calling out names, my name wasn’t called out, he asked who I was, I said, her daughter and he said I wasn’t on the list and I said I’m going in. Everyone waited til he gave in, no one was going unless I went . Joey and girlfriend were already inside so he didn’t know what was going on. When we were about to walk in Joey told me I wasn’t on the list, but I went in anyway and bit my tongue because that wasn’t the time to start something.

All we did was hold hands around her covered boxed boy and that was when Emilio started his prayer, he was saying so many things that were not true about her, I.e. loving and caring mother good to everyone, blah blah blah. I was thinking to myself, he’s not not talking about our mother. While thing took about 1/2 hour. If I remember correctly the only person that didn’t make it inside was moms. Ie e, our cousin and she flew in. That in itself is another whole drama.

Some of us went for a beer and a bite and to gossip later.

**** interesting side note: Janie gave the guy $300 in an envelope to have moms gold fillings pulled out , yeah, that’s messed up

GodMomKim · April 4

Machka - You had dropped a couple of hints.... the view is amazing!!!! and the home sounds ideal. It will be nice to be closer to family.

Pip - in my weird family Death brings out the weirdness at a new level. I have a couple of family members who were toxic until they died and then they became perfect.... kinda like the Emilio situation. Did Kirby go with you, not to the cremation but for beer and gossip? Fillings pulled out??? creepy! seems like she might not get $300 worth of gold....

Kim in N. California

WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR APRIL 2024

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