WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR MAY 2025

Barbie, thanks for another month, another chance, another fresh start. In preparation for our church’s kitchen remodel both fellowship committees emptied out all the “stuff” from the cabinets, storage racks, closet and island. None of us were prepared to decide what to donate, what to dump, what to keep so we just piled it on 6 banquet sized tables. Then the church admin and the pastor’s wife came out from the council meeting and stunned at the amount of stuff. With their inspiration and energy we were able to get it down to 2 tables of donations, 1 table of keep and a huge garbage can full of dump. I even threw some things away! You’d have been proud of me. Guess that’s what Cas calls “body doubling.” It sure worked.

Kay are your brother’s children all adults?

Mo, is that your daughter Julia in the pic with you? Was the feather in your Mom’s hair yellow?

Tina enjoy the Elton John concert. That screw coming out sounds scary!

Rebecca ((hugs)) and prayers for your youngest and you.

Heather do the girls change in the dry robes, or wear them home?

Machka I love avocado with a little salt or lime, I’m so with you about green bell peppers, why would anyone eat something that is unripe on purpose? I like the orange bells and can tolerate the red and yellow, but suspect I have a little capsicum sensitivity as I always sneeze when cutting them up. Every time I’ve tried to skip the after potty sit to stands, I shake my head and tell myself “your future self will thank you for doing this.” Hoping it becomes a solid habit in 3 weeks, or less…

Debbie raw mushrooms, yuck, sautéed mushrooms, yum! Tomato sauce/paste is fine, but raw tomatoes? Nasty slimy things, just like okra. 🤢

Carol I like fresh mustard greens better than canned. I do not like ANY kind of squash, period, end of sentence. Cilantro tastes like Irish Spring (don’t ask me how I know.) 🤮

Lisa sorry to hear your son and his significant other are splitting. Remember she was a stabilizing influence, grateful he’s grown and their parting is amicable.

Pip the cruise sounds great! Hope no issues getting the book style passport in time.

Heather concentrating on being curious sounds like a great strategy for visiting the foreign country of who your son is today. Glad it was successful. That tart looks mouth watering. Safe travels home.

Rita glad to hear your kidney news, sad your DS relapsed but grateful he went back to rehab, (and they took him back in.) WOW you really helped rescue that hiker. What Lanette said about how sadly you’ll be missed at that campground. Enjoy your well deserved vacation.

Michele I know, I can’t quite believe I’m 75 either. Kind of like Heather’s son being 49, how the heck did THAT happen? Take it easy, rest, and recover from your procedure. So glad only polyps and not the scary other.

Terri what is the public holiday Monday?

Lanette glad to hear you’ll have dry weather for a few days. I got out into the yard for two hours today before the wind picked up. The soil thermometer in the mini greenhouse read over 90F this morning so I quickly unzipped and rolled up the “door” before the cucumbers melted completely. Must remember to close it all up before I go to bed.

Evelyn imho steps around a big box store count. Congrats on the new trend!

On water sports: I used to love to swim, and really enjoyed Aqua Zumba back in Idaho. Water skied once, wasn’t good at it but managed to get up at least once and it was euphoric. Alas the only pools here are outdoor and not heated to my taste. There’s also the issue of being seen in public in a bathing suit…

April summary WT up, steps down, details some other time.

May goals same Move more, fuel better, open heart. Different details, potty sit to stands, max 2 pcs chocolate, get back to steps goal.

Later, lighter, lovelies!Barbara, the Southern Oregon Coastie AHMOD
May focus: Just one thing from the OMG room

2025: Chose NOW: to move more than yesterday (5 sit to stands every potty break no excuses, get steps back up towards goal), fuel better than yesterday (hold that after dinner sweet down to two pieces of dark chocolate max, 50 % AF days, add 1 C bone broth and 1 TBS collagen peptides daily), open heart and mind before mouth, REALLY.

Evening ladies

Well i napped a couple times and one was until 5 pm so tonight could be iffy..

Stopped and brought a few batteries over for Miles new flashlight I got him,and stayed a couple hrs outside with Tracy and the kids..tomorrow we go early to a kids tag sale ,and then think im going with Dan to his credit union to straighten out his address.Sean still hanging in there and Jean still ignoring.his calls and texts

This afternoon,the weather has been beautiful.. she has them outside most of the day,they are bathed ,and fed and basically knocked out by 6 pm lol

Barbara, yes, my brother’s children are 21, 22, and 37. They each have one chid. The boys have girls and the girl has a boy. The oldest is very mature, knowledgable, and is doing a good job of handling things. The daughter is getting there after a rough patch of bad decisions. She has found a new inner strength and determination to get her life on track. The youngest son has some major growing up to do.

I’m going on an overnight spiritual growth retreat later today. I’ll stop and visit with my mother for a few hours on the way. I finally got the pollen off the porch yesterday and put out my new cushions and throw pillows. My rocking chair cushions won’t be here until Tuesday. The cheerfulness and cleanliness lifted my spirits.

Hello, my dears,

My stomach has finally settled down - bubble guts all day yesterday into last night, was up from midnight to 2 a.m. and then after I got up again at nearly 7. Not a good 24 hours… but it may be the Activia. I ate one of the small cups of it in the early morning yesterday, and apparently my system doesn't like it at all. I have some odd reactions.

I'll wait a week, try it again and see what happens. Could just be the stomach flu.

Heather - So pleased you've enjoyed your visit.

My best friend is in Hawaii, and got a chance to spend time with my daughter. I got this pic texted to me last night. Two faces I love so much. But no, I don't wish I was there. I wish they were here! 😻

Just got off the phone with my baby sis; like me, she's been inundated with rain for quite some time. So much flooding around Lawton, Oklahoma. She said the Army base there is basically underwater. We're under a flood watch, but living on the side of a hill has its advantages.

Later, y'all,
Love,
Lisa in AR

Good morning ladies!

Heather - sounds like you had a great trip visiting your son. I just looked up where Nottingham is. Quite a ways from where you live on the coast. I can see why you ended up taking several different means of transportation to get there.

Rita - thank you for posting your goals. Lots of great information and ideas there. With all of the "action" anticipated at the park, they'll be sorry to be without you for a couple weeks.

Margaret - I would love to have taken swimming lessons from you.

Tracey - glad you got to talk to your mom, sorry Alzheimers has her in its grip like that. I recall when my mother was unable to even speak on the phone anymore, but it gave me a chance to catch up with my dad - he was normally not a "phone talker" - due to his hearing no doubt. But he made an effort.

Lisa - glad you are feeling better today. Sounds like plenty of water to contend with in your area. Neat that your BF is able to spend time with Kels!

I messaged some questions to Dr. Lisa and got answers back yesterday. My Creatinine was low and the BUN/Creatinine ratio above high normal. She said she's not worried since all of my kidney markers are just fine, this is probably due to excessive protein. She's holding me down to 100 gm/day. I was probably getting 120+, since I was cutting down on carbs. I plan to go over all of this in detail when I see her this Thursday.

Our outing to the art gallery yesterday was fine. T and I plan to hit another one in a few weeks. These are nothing like Margaret visits - they are tiny spaces where a few artists have their drawings, paintings, pottery and jewelry for sale. Lots of beautiful things. Luckily my house is already overflowing so I wasn't tempted to pull out the checkbook.

I rode out to the gallery - in Morton, WA just off Hwy 12 - with Pat, one of the artists. She told about a friend of hers, quite elderly, who had to move from his large home into an assisted living situation at a well-known place in town. A large room, bathroom, kitchenette is $5,000 per month. NO nursing care.

If that's not incentive for me to eat right, keep exercising and taking care of myself, I don't know what is.

Lanette 😎

SW WA State where I'm waiting for it to dry off enough to get some mowing done. Otherwise I'm looking at Sunday afternoon or Monday. Which would work. 😁

Afternoon all ,

WWas Up early and went to the children's tag sale i went early and Tracy met me there.it was wild..lots of grandma's like me,and a bunch of other moms,dads etc... Tracy had a list of things she was looking for,and we found it all in and out in about 45 minutes..so grandma paid and Miles road back to there house with me.. then came home for a nap

Miles with one of his new purchases

I swam competitively when through college and taught swim lesson at one point. I would stand next to the person I was trying to help learn how to float and have them arch over my hand that I would have supporting them from underneath. I would tell them to think of touching their belly button to the sky and use your hips to lift your legs. Once they felt more comfortable floating on their back I would slowly remove my hand. When learning it would sometimes scare they and then they would pull their head forward which would make them sink.It's Important to keep head back like you are arching your head to see someone behind you. When arch your head back it makes your chest expand and this is what helps you stay afloat. Dead man's float is different and it is learned so that is you need to stay afloat in the water for a prolonged length of time and want to use as little energy as possible.

Margaret, I can float on my back all right. In fact it's one of my best moves in the water … just lying there and relaxing. 😃

I can even do the back stroke reasonably well.

But, turn me over and that's where it all falls apart. For years, I've been sort of propelling myself along with my arms, head up, holding my breath, and dragging my legs. That's not particularly efficient. When I do kick, evidently I bend my knees a lot.

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Regarding the time and energy to get to a place to swim …

My work colleagues have been extremely supportive of me taking swimming lessons. No criticism. No judging because I don't know how to swim. No being made to feel a little bit foolish for wanting to learn to swim at my age. No giving me reasons why I wouldn't want to learn to swim.

And all of them have told me that as soon as I'm comfortable in the pool, I will be taking it to the beach and will start swimming outside. Because everyone swims outside at the beach! My work colleagues are already talking about me learning how to swim out of a rip, dealing with waves, swimming deep under water, and all sorts!

I am surrounded by water and beaches here and would not have to go far to be somewhere I could swim. The triathlon club swims at a beach about 5.5 km from where I live.

And, if I walked about 100 metres from home, I could climb down to the water and might be able to swim there. I would have to ask around to find out if it is OK for swimming, but we're certainly going to try canoeing.

This is the little tiny beach about 100 metres from home.

Machka in Oz

Aging and Accommodations

Independent Living, Assisted Living, Full Care, etc. places are expensive. One of the places my mother would kind of like to move to is about $7000/month. We've advised my parents to stay where they are right now.

That is one of the big reasons why my husband and I bought the place we did. It's all one level. It's open plan so that the whole place is quite accessible. The main bathroom can be modified to make it accessible. It's got room for a medical bed if that were to become necessary. The hard surface flooring throughout makes cleaning easier and helps the air remain clean.

We're also working on the yard so that there will eventually be minimal yard work. In front, I'm planting mostly native plants and bushes that will just grow … I hope. No need for lawn mowing.

We've already had to test the place to some extent with my husband's ruptured Achilles tendon and we've been pleased.

Because this house is set up the way it is, we could opt for a home care nursing package if it became necessary rather than going into a facility of some sort.

Machka in Oz

Heather - Chess geeks are a special breed… sweet card! The trip to and from your son's sounds tiring, I'm so pleased you're handling travel so well now.

Machka - So pleased your work colleagues are supportive of the swimming lessons. Helps a lot when you don't feel like you're having to push to get what you need. We definitely considered the lack of steps, hall width, hard floors, all the same things you're talking about, when we bought this house. Where it hasn't been big enough, we've made it big enough, like the little half bath. It will easily accommodate whatever walking aids are necessary. We may not live in this house forever, but we wanted to be able to do so if we wish.

Corey and I are probably going to just take this beautiful spring day off and accomplish nothing much. It's awfully muddy out there, still, and there's enough clay in this soil that it's sticky.

The birds are yelling their little heads off this cool morning - about ten degrees cooler than yesterday, but will warm up soon.

The demo work is still going forward on the little house. They've stripped it down to the studs on the inside. Stuck my head inside yesterday to check on progress, and the worker bee showed me the closet that had been walled off in the old living area.

When I looked at it, I saw he hadn't emptied it yet. The denizens of the place had apparently left a few items in it when they closed it off. He said that he hadn't got them out of there because he kept running into snakes every time he moved anything.

I left. Hastily.

Urk.

Need to get down there and take pictures again today. From outside. 😜

Love y'all!
Lisa in AR