Ubee ~ Yes I did, I have since then done my laundry again and I folded and put those clothes away too.

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I woke up at 3 A.M. this morning but I went back to sleep at 6:00 A.M. until 9:30 A.M. and now its 10 AM and I'm gonna stay up for the rest of the day. So far today I havent done anything I ate breakfast when I woke up at 3 A.M. and now I'm eating a early lunch at almost 11 A.M. I'm gonna try do my 2 mile walk at noon and then if I'm able to do my noon walk I'll do it again at 7 pm tonight. I havent been working out for a week now cause the bottom of my right heel is cracked opened so its really hurts to walk on so I've been doing the least amount of walking I can. I cant wait until it heals and after it heels I'm gonna do whatever I have to so they dont crack open again. Mom and I are also going to walmart for our weekly shopping trip. We dont have much to get so I wont be walking that much which is good until my heel heals.

Good morning everyone. Just a quick fly through again -- I do so miss my morning chats with you all, but there's several more weeks to go on the care giving so it will be mid-October before I'm back to "normal" -- or what passes for normal for me.

Sounds like everyone is busy and working at staying on plan. Since I have to fix 3 meals a day, I'm not losing -- not gaining, but not losing either. Somehow, I sit down and eat it even if it's a healthy meal. When Bill isn't here, I usually just eat 2 meals a day and maybe have a snack.

Off to the post office and the grocery store and then the dreaded cleaning! Have a great day.

Terra, I used to have a terrible problem with cracked heels and I have found 2 really good solutions. Hemp Cream is one and the other is Norwegian Formula Intensive Moisturiser. I used to put it on before bed and wear socks for an hour or 2 (then my feet got too hot!) works a treat!
Good luck!

Ohmygod, mountain walker, you're back! (Sorry, I used to call you by name, but I've forgotten it...) We talked a lot about missing you and were worried about you! Please fill us in, when you feel comfortable with doing so, on what's happened in the past few months.

I'm doing very well, just a touch now and then of -1 level of depression, but on the whole, I'm back to normal. I guess those days of depression were just something I needed to go through, my brain's rather painful way of enforcing a rest period.

I've been busy reading, writing letters, putting ideas together for my studio at the farm, and dreaming of the pictures I want to make—big, complex pictures, with paint as well as collage. I always have to fantasize, visualize things before I pick up a single piece of paper, and I enjoy that drifting state when my eyes are closed. I especially enjoy it when a kitten or two is sleeping next to me.

The only bummer these days is that our house is basically quarantined for at least a month, because of the ringworm. I can't see Grace; we can't have Margaret and Gavin over; we can't introduce the kittens to anyone. Not until they've been on oral medications for a month, plus have had a few antifungal baths, plus have had, at the end of that month, a negative culture for the fungus. And so far it's only been a little over a week, so we have a long time to wait.

Mountain walker ~ Thanks for the tips about cracked feet.

Good Morning!
Donna! What have you been up to? We've missed you. I hope you will be stopping by more often.
Fi sorry about the quarantine. Your new project sounds very interesting. I can't wait to see it.
Betsy I miss you too! I get so attached to everyone on here. Glad you are not gaining. Remember that is a victory for persons with our history.
Terra way to go on folding AND putting away! Do you go barefoot often? I find that is hard on my feet and makes them dry.
Dean who takes care of your babies when you are out of town? We had a special kitty and I hated to leave him alone. The one we have now I could leave for a week and as long as he had food and water he could care less. Not like I would do that but you get the drift.
Well I gave in to the evil sugar yesterday. Still not nearly as bad as back in the day. I am slowly but surely going to win this battle.
Have a peaceful day.

Well, so much for being back to normal. Later last night I crashed quite dramatically, into -4 level of pain. That's bad enough it makes me cry out, and the poor kittens were disturbed. I got Bob to keep them with him while I was waiting—it takes forever!—for the Geodon to hit and for me to get some relief. And then the Geodon wore off, about two in the morning, and I woke up suddenly into -5 level of pain! It was so awful, it was unreal. The only thing that gave me a little bit of relief was Bob rubbing my feet. Once again the Geodon took a good 45 minutes to have any effect.

And I have no idea what happened to trigger it, if anything. I did have an exasperating trip to the post office in the afternoon, with long slow trains holding me up both directions, plus a broken water main on the main drag at the exact point where I turn on a tiny side street to get to the P.O., tying up traffic in all directions. What usually takes ten minutes to accomplish took an hour and a half. But I didn't really think it was stressing me out, because I was listening to great rock-n-roll on satellite radio.

These days I'm as fragile as tissue paper, so who can say...

Ubee ~ Yes I'm bare foot when I'm in the house so I start wearing socks while in the house and see if that helps, Thanks for the tip.

Mountain walker ~ Is your name Donna? Ubee called someone Donna and the only person that doesnt sound familiar is the person named Donna so I was just wondering.

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I woke up at 6:30 this morning and had breakfast, Mom made everyone biscuits and sausage gravy with a side of scramble eggs but I didnt eat my eggs I was full by the time I ate the biscuit and gravy. We went to dillions after breakfast and I bought a book a stamp and a bus pass and mom bought me more soda cause she's so nice like that (cherry coke zero and cherry diet rite) Although I'm gonna cut myself down to one cherry coke zero in the morning and one diet rite in the even instead of 2 cherry coke zero's in the morning and 2 diet rites in the evening. Anyway so we came back home and dropped the soda off and then we went to Scott's doctor's appt. and then we went to Dollar General and Walmart to find a fitted sheet for my bed, We found one at Walmart and while we were at walmart Mom also bought brake fuid and oil for her car so its ready for when her and I go pick up my aunt next Tuesday. Now its almost 1 pm and we are home until 3 pm, At least Scott and I are, Mom has to go to a doctor's appointment at 1 pm and then at 3 Mom,Scott and I and maybe my younger brother, his girlfriend and their baby are gonna go to Denny's for dinner and then we'll come home for the rest of the day. My heel feels better today so I'm gonna try to do a at least 1 mile walk tonight and then after the week is over hopefully I'll be able to do 2 miles again.

Good Afternoon!
Terra yes Mountain Walker is Donna. She was on here months ago and I became quite fond of her. May I suggest putting lotion on your feet before you put your socks on. Will you be going on line and checking out the menu, calories, carbs... before you go to Denny's?
Fi I am sorry you are in such pain. I do not have depression anything like yours but I do know that your trip to the Post Office would send me into a tizzy.
I always say I gain 10 pounds with one cookie. On Saturday I ate one cookie and have been eating sugar ever since. Now I am starting to crave carbs. That my friends is how I gain 10 pounds with one cookie.

Ubee— In my own experience, I have proven time and time again that one dose of sugar always makes me crave more. Bob brought back some peaches from a tree at the farm, and I found that even one small bowl of peaches and cream made me crave sugar. Fruit sugars don't have so dramatic an effect as sucrose treats like cookies, though. I've found that a sucrose-free diet is just so much less stress, because I hate the cravings.

Yes here I am back again!
I have had mental health challenges and trouble with my chest ...yet again!
My eating has been WAY out of control at times and at others I have been eating much less and enjoying the food more!
You would think that after a zillion years of doing this I could figure out exactly what gives...but ...no...!
Then several things happened.
My daughter announced that she will be getting married next year on July 11th and I didn't want to look like Mother-of-The-Bride Tellytubby.
I started with a new Psychiatrist and am now seeing an absolutely fantastic Therapist who is very much holistic in her approach and links physical and mental health together (hooray!) and is helping me figure out where my attitude toward food comes from.
I have signed up to do an 8 mile walk for Dementia on my birthday the 5th Oct and have been training for it for a few weeks. 8 miles is a long way for a puffed out old flubba wubba like me but it is mercifully flat and I am taking my gorgeous spaniel cross for company!
I am so glad to be back and will read the recent posts in more detail to catch myself up.
Fiona I hope your pain is under control today.
Hugs
Donna

Racing through quickly, with some "autumn" blend coffee... I've got to head out for an On-the-job visit with one of my people this morning...

Our doggies stay at a "doggie day care/kennel" when we're travelling. It just happens that the owner used to go to our church, and takes goood care of the pups. She's also a good bit cheaper than the really expensive one we used to use.

Have a great day!

Dean

Ubee ~ Thanks for answering my question. Yes I sure did do my research about my meal at Denny's before I went

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I woke up at 3:30 A.M. and its 6:59 am right now, I need to start watching for my bus at 7:30 am cause the bus is coming between 7:40 am and 8:10 am. I'm gonna be at school from probably 8 am to 4 or 4:30 am maybe even 5 pm so I hope its not too hot outside cause my school closes at 4:30 pm so if I'm not picked up before 4:30 pm I'll have to wait for the bus outside but hopefully I'll get picked up at 4:30 pm or earlier then that. I got out of the shower so now I'm ready for school. I'm gonna be pretty busy until my meeting at 1 pm today. I have to make sure the agenda for the meeting today is done and there are copies of it that are printed out for the members. Although there isnt a good turn out for the 1st meeting of the month, I'm not sure why but for the 2nd meeting we have a better turn out. I dont know if the monthly birthday cake has anything to do with it LOL. I didnt get my 1 mile walk in yesterday but I will tonight, I was too tired yesterday cause I only got 6 hours of sleep. Last night I got a good amount of sleep so I wont feel like I need to go to bed early tonight like I did last night. I'm hoping to get more people to join my fitness group so I can get that up and going, Even though I have my music to listen to when I work out here at home, It's gonna be nice to work out with friends at school.

Good Morning!
Terra what kind of exercises will your fitness group be doing?
Dean glad you found a good place for your doggies while traveling. Do they give you the cold shoulder when you return like my cat does to me?
Donna it is so nice to have you back! I lost my chunk of weight for my daughters wedding but now I am just kind of stuck here. It will come off because I am committed to getting healthy. 8 miles is a long way for most people at any weight. Good for you! Please feel free to share anything you wish from your therapist. I'm still trying to figure it out too.
Fi in case you don't know it you are my sugar free mentor. I know I can not even take that first bite but some days that does not stop me. Your being sugar free helps to give me strength and not feel so alone. Thank you! My sugar "problem" makes me feel so weak and dysfunctional. I am back on track and in a better mental state today.
Thanks for being here everyone!

Dean and I may pass in our quick pass throughs. First, I am reading all the posts most days -- just not enough time to actually respond even though I miss you all terribly.

With that said, I'm going to be even more of a stranger for the next few days. Bill mentioned to me on Saturday that he was just so tired and was having a little trouble catching his breath. He's 74 -- I didn't worry a whole lot as he said he felt better on Sunday. Yesterday at PT, he mentioned to the therapist that he was having trouble catching his breath, that he had pressure under his sternum when he was doing his walking, and he just couldn't shake the tired feeling. Well, the therapist call the doctor's office, and they had him come in immediately. 20 minutes later they had him loaded in the ambulance and headed into town to the hospital. Five hours later and multiple tests, they told us that he has blood clots in both lungs and in one leg.

So, he's in ICU for today while they administer heparin and then they'll keep him in there for another 2-4 days. The doctor kept asking why he wasn't telling them about the pain -- seemed to think that Jack was holding back. I finally told the doctor that Jack has the highest pain threshold of anyone I've ever known and that he probably wasn't in pain.

Anyway, I'll be heading into the hospital soon and doubt that I'll have a lot of time to check in over the next few days. In the meantime, everyone please take care of yourselves!