WOMEN AGES 50+FOR MAY 2024

Vicki, hugs friend, so sorry to hear of your long time friend's passing.🙏

Well the floor guy has done the dining room and today is the kitchen. The floor linoleum is more busy than I would've ever chosen. Lee and I think the lines in it look like you know when you sweep into a dust pan and lift your broom up? There's that dirt line? That's what it kind of looks likes strewn around with the rectangles and grays. But heck it will definitely hide dirt!

Its raining today on the island. We won't have access to our kitchen until the afternoon. He still has to glue down the linoleum in the photo, then cut kitchen side and glue. I think he would be annoyed, me trying to make soup while he's there.😂
Thinking of my youngest this week as he's heading to San Diego for some refresher training before he heads overseas to a ship. Hopefully I will get a call on Saturday though.💖. My eldest sailor connected with me on a text, while he's on his carrier on the Big Blue. I thanked him for checking in.💖. Now I just need photos of Athena's birthday party.💖. All in all everyone is communicating well in my family, and I am at peace with life.💖. Vertigo was less last night.
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

My mom had long term care insurance. It would have paid family $100 a day to care for her in her or our home, but we blew past all of that when she fell.

In the US, it is five years from title change. One of my coworkers just reached there with his mom. She currently lives in a small house on their property, but there have been scares over the last couple years, the most recent was a broken hip.

My mil was on Medicaid, so "they paid" for everything, then after she died, sent us a bill for $130,000 and asked when we planned to pay. Fortunately, we were able to sell her house to cover the debt, but just.

My husband is still bitter, but if they hadn't paid for it, we would have had to anyway. (As it was, he was supplementing what Medicaid didn't cover, maybe $1500 a month? Because his mom didn't want to stay in a place with "poor people" in complete denial that she was just about as poor as a person could be.) And why should the American tax payer pay for her care when she had assets in her house, and she didn't have to sell her house to get care. It's just the way it is.

My mom expected to live a long time and need lots of care, which is why she bought long term care insurance, in the end, I think it was worth it for her, but the premiums were high and she used it for less than six months.

It makes us nervous. I probably won't have to worry about it, but my husband's father is 90 and still going, so my husband could live another 20 years or more.

Hard things to think about because it's not just about money, but about dignity.

Flea
Willamette Valley OR

Annie and Beth-My thoughts are with you in this very difficult time.

Barbie-I’m the same as you on grocery shopping. There was a homeless person sitting near the door of the store when I came out once and I was trying to think of something in my bag to give him to eat, but there wasn’t anything that didn’t require preparation. I felt good about that for me, not so much for him.

Lisa-So great it’s working out with your BIL. I would love to have one man that does the hard labor, but alas, that is not how it works in our home.


Ginny-Sorry to hear about your brother. Hugs to you.

Barbara-Good news about Jake.

Eating out-We have very mediocre restaurants here. It’s extremely difficult to find even mediocre food and frankly, I can make anything we’ve had here in the past 20 years so much better. However, sometimes I want to go out and have someone else clean up after me. I get so tired of doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. That said, we used to go out 4-5 times per week (either lunch or dinner), but since everything is so expensive now, we have cut that back to 2 or sometimes 3 and we are very choosy about where we go. We also try to make the happy hour menu.

Heather-I thought Edie was gluten free. Avocado toast is a big thing here and you can buy it in restaurants for anywhere between $8-15. I refuse to buy it.

Machka-Nuts have the same effect on me. I have to weigh them out and stick to it or my innards are not happy. But I do love them so much.

Carol-So happy your DH is feeling better!

Vicki-Big hugs.

We spent a lovely long weekend in central California. There was a wine festival and we did a BBQ event hosted by a celebrity chef. It was very nicely done. Not too crowded, not too much wine. Just enough food. I think the price point was perfect to keep it civil. Then we went on a hike and did some tastings at a couple of wineries and breweries. Had some excellent food (It seems we can find good food anywhere but here). Had an episode with a familiar pelvic issue I’ve been fighting for more than 10 years now. I am going to start logging when it happens, what I was doing, eating, and drinking. Maybe I can find a pattern. I’m starting to think it has to do with hormones. My burning feet issue and inability to sleep on my sides just disappeared. I’m wondering if it’s all due to menopause and hormones.

Now that I’m home for a couple of weeks, I’ll start being more strict about my food intake. I’m struggling with motivation to exercise. I don’t know why. I like walking/running. My exercise routines are not lengthy most of the time. I’m just in a “blah” state of mind, I think.

Have a great week!

Tina in CA