Mary, I forgot to mention that I googled cathedral windows so I could get an idea of how your garage door looks. Pretty. We just got regular square windows. We chose not to get the additional inserts, which do dress it up a bit. DH put tint paper on the windows so he could see out but people can't see in unless they put their face right up against the window.

Here are my wedding pictures. This was in 1981...note the big hair! LOL I wore really high shoes back then so it doesn't show the difference in our height. I was 5'4" and DH was 6', but we look the same height. That minister was really short! The second picture shows more of what my dress looked like, my "prom gown." LOL I didn't think it looked like a prom gown.

Carole - I don't think your dress looks like a prom dress at all! Looks like a very pretty wedding dress and I really like it. If I were getting married now I'd like something like that. I didn't have much choice as I said and although my dress was pretty it really didn't suit me. But then at 19 I didn't know much about what suited me anyway. :D You are so pretty! I know you aren't as old as me, but how old were you then? Your dh is very nice looking too.

Dh tinted our previous garage windows but we couldn't see out except on one he made a small round space where we could. He just liked to use it to look out at night sometimes, like when the dog barked or when the ding ding went off. Doubt anyone could see much from the outside if they tried, but I never did.

I would not want to live in a nursing home, but a senior living place might be ok. What I'd prefer though if I'm able is to have a smaller home with just a small yard. Our yard now is too big and I would not be able to keep it up.

We had a wonderful service at church this morning and afterwards went to Olive Garden as dh wanted to try one of the new dishes he saw on TV. I got spaghetti with meat sauce which was one of the buy 1, get 1 dishes. I ate a lot of salad (dressing on side and I ate very little) before the spaghetti and then some with it so I brought home at least 1/2 my spaghetti. Then I got the second one so we sure have lots of spaghetti to eat up! Great!:dizzy: Last time I did that my son ate it but now he's not here. Guess I can freeze it but I think we'll probably just eat a little and throw away the rest. I don't like to keep restaurant meals too long even frozen.

It is raining and cool today (yesterday was beautiful, like spring!). Sometimes I get a little chilly in church but yet don't want my coat on either so I usually end up just draping it over my shoulders so I can take it off/put it on easily as needed, but today I was cozy in my leggings and kimono I mentioned yesterday. Just perfect!

I was given a Nautilus protein shake powder and also some pb boosters. I tried one with the booster but it was too rich for me. Perhaps if I use less I'd like it better. There is also a chocolate fat burner. It contains Garcinia Cambogia which I have taken in the past by capsule. I read some bad things about it so I quit just in case and it didn't really help me anyway. I have a family member though who lost weight losing it and had no problems. I'm a little leery of fat burners but I might try just the one pkg. I think I might like the shake alone though...it is french vanilla and smells really good. Its a large bag, and I frequently do buy protein powder in french vanilla or milk chocolate....so since it was free, it's a great deal for me. :D

I'm a little aching today ..not too bad, just a bit annoying...think I'll go soak in a warm bath for a while. Hope you've had a good Sunday and having a good evening.

Good morning everyone,
We had church friends drop over yesterday with a "healing card" that also included a mass being said for my tenant. They also brought some baked goods as a treat for us. They told us of a church parking spot (next to where our pastor uses) that we could use which is closer to the church entrance so we wouldn't have to walk as far. We'll try that next Sunday. We have another church friend who is coming to visit my tenant & myself this afternoon. The friend who was here yesterday is going to go to Costco for me to pick up 4 things as I can't go there yet due to the walking distance. The rest of what I need can wait until my ankle has healed.

Mary I too, need to purchase some spring lawn fertilizer very soon as the lawns are getting pretty green now and have started to grow. I sure hope that the 2 boys I know of will do the spring lawn and garden cleanup for us sometime over the next couple of weeks. Perhaps some day I might try a pair of leggings as you make them sound so comfy.

Carol I hate the thought of going into a nursing home and my DD has said that when the time comes I am to sell the house and move to where she lives so she can help take care of me. We sure have a lot of horror stories here in Canada about the care given in nursing homes. Right now, I can't live anywhere else cheaper than right here even if I have to hire people to do some of the work.

Once again, thank you for all your prayers. All of you here are so wonderful.
Have a good day,
Karrine

Mary, thank you for the compliments. I was 35 then, and DH was 38. I am 70 now, and DH is 73. We have both gained a lot of weight since then and looking at that picture shocked me. Not so much for me because I know I gained, but back then DH wore a 34 pants and now he wears a 38. Also, he still had his hair. He doesn't have much left now and what he has is gray, and his beard is all gray. But we are happy to still be here. LOL

I guess if I get to the point that I can't take care of myself I would prefer to go to a nursing home because I know my step-children would not want to take care of me and I wouldn't want them to feel resentful if they had to. Even though I raised them from a young age, it's not the same as being a bio parent. The closeness isn't there. I know my step-daughter always resented that her mother was no longer there, but I had nothing at all to do with that. That all ended well before I met DH, but she was too young to realize that. Her mother explained it all to her, but still, she always hoped they would get back together.

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think I got up to go to the bathroom during the night last night. If I did, I must have been really sleeping because I don't remember it. That's the first time in years!! For one thing, I took a shower and washed and dried my hair before bed. I am usually a morning showerer, but last night I felt that I needed a shower. Also, I have trouble all the time with itchiness inside my ears. Last night I used these drops that are supposed to clean extra earwax out of your ears. You use cotton balls to hold it in the ear canal for 10 minutes, then you use a syringe to rinse it out with water. My ears feel so good today! No itchiness. I know it will probably come back, but this is an easy remedy to do every few days or so. I feel so much better. If the nighttime shower is going to help me sleep better I might start doing it all the time.

I wore my other more crazy patterned leggings to the gym today. They are not really for working out but I don't work out hard enough to sweat much and they sorta matched a workout tee my son and dil gave me for my b-day. Before coming home we went to Big 5 as dh wanted to buy something there and I tried on their capris leggings that were on sale..and I bought three. I hope they do not roll down my belly.

Karrine, if you do decide to try leggings, I highly recommend Lularoe over the ones in the stores...they are the nicest I personally have seen. I don't know what size you wear but I wear the Tall & Curvy...not because I'm either of those things (my tummy is my curve I guess.;) but because they are for people who wear over size 12. They have a lot of stretch in them...even with my big tummy I can pull the top clear up to my bra. I guess if I had bigger hips they would stretch out sideways. They are made well and so soft. I would love to just lounge around the house in them, but because they are new and I bought them with nice tops to wear out, I don't at this point. Some people do just that though. I would end up cooking in them and would get them stained up quickly.

Carole - Nice that your sleep wasn't interrupted. I slept well last night too. I did get up at 6 am but went back to bed and we didn't get up til 9. Even Halo...she slept a lot yesterday and we were afraid she wouldn't sleep last night but she too slept in til 6 and then til 9 just like us...even at 9 she ate breakfast and went back to bed! Of course, she may have realized we were leaving and was hiding out then. She does that. Guess she thinks we will forget to put her in her crate. We came home briefly after the gym but hated to put her in the crate again, so we gated off the kitchen and fam room and left her in those rooms.

Interesting about the wax remover solution helping you...I might try that. My ears don't always itch...they do frequently but it is now and then and right now they are not. Even my scalp has been a little better recently but my feet still itch a lot.

We all change over the years, almost without realizing it sometimes...dh has gotten bigger in the middle...he is still slender otherwise even more so in a way as he has lost muscle when he took Mevacor, a med for cholesterol several years ago...he still strong but it was strange how it seemed he suddenly lost muscle and made me sad. He is only about 20-25# heavier than when we married whereas I currently am 68# heavier and have been even more. He was never much of a snacker but he used to eat larger meals, but now he eats very little and usually eats one snack in the evenings. I should eat like him.

Have much to do this week..preparing for Easter dinner and want to keep on top of my cleaning as I like the house to be clean for a holiday. Also want to get Halo in for her "spa" treatment. She is so stinky right now!

Have a good Easter week..

Mary, I have taken Mevacor for years. I was never very muscular and don't notice a difference. Recently my cholesterol went very low and I have practically weaned myself off the Mevacor. I was taking 80 mg daily, and now I take 40mg three times a week. I would like to stop it altogether and maybe someday I will, but I know my cardiologist doesn't want to hear that. You hear so many bad things about statins, but also that they help the heart. Also, I have read that Mevacor is one of the least problematic statins. You don't know what to believe. You take all these meds and you die in the end, anyway.

My highest weight was 82 lbs over my wedding day weight. That is actually a small person! I am down 20 lbs from then, but that's not enough.

It sounds like these leggings are really working out for you Mary. I just can't get interested in them. I don't think they are very flattering on me. Every one is different, I guess.

Carol, glad Mevacor is working for you without problems. They didn't take dh off of it because of the muscle wasting, they took him off of it because of bad kidney labs. But the muscle wasting is related to problems with the kidney and of course that is what I observed without realizing it was caused by the drug. I remember I didn't want to say anything to him about it but wondered why it was happening so fast. I didn't relate it to the drug until the dr called to tell him to stop it. This happened in his early or early 60s I think.

Good evening GG's,

Whew ~ it's been a busy time and I haven't had a chance to get here for several days. We were away and there was no wifi where we were. I had my phone and could read, but too hard to post using that.

We went to the coast for a couple days with Sara and the kids ~ it was spring break for them from school. Sara's ex was supposed to be moving out of her house on the weekend. She mentioned going to the beach, so we thought that was a great idea ~ it would get her away from there when he was moving out ~ so that he wouldn't be able to “work” on her ~ making her feel all bummed and guilty and possibly cause her to change her mind and let him stay.

We had a nice time. It was kind of chilly, so we were only able to spend one day down playing in the water. It was just nice hanging out and getting to visit. Corbin's girlfriend came too, so that was fun. We got back yesterday evening. Good to be home. It was fun, but tiring.

Got up early this morning to go with Jason to an appointment at the Texas DARS (Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services) office. He has injured his back and is on light duty at work. He has had back problems for several years now and it is just kind of getting worse as he gets older. He is worried that he will not last the remaining years of his working life and be able to do the kind of work he does now. This department helps people get retrained so they can do some other kind of work and be able to continue to be employed and not become disabled and unable to work. So, he is getting that process started.

I hope things will maybe slow down a little bit now.

Forgive me ~ guess I will catch up on the personals tomorrow.

Hope you all rest well again tonight.

Good morning everyone,
Good news this morning in that I feel a difference in my ankle. It doesn't hurt quite as much when walking so far. Hope it lasts all day. My tenant was at her doctor's yesterday and now that she is walking with a cane and has a very bad time getting in and out of the car she got a form that will enable her to obtain a disability parking permit. I think that will help quite a bit. I am making a tuna casserole for dinner tonight but I need to purchase some egg noodles for it which I'll do this morning. I have the rest of the ingredients on hand so I won't have to walk very far to get what I need.

Carol If I ever get to the point where I can't get myself to the washroom on my own steam then I wouldn't want to burden my daughter with trying to take care of me but would rather go into a nursing home at that point.

Mary I think I would like to wait until I've lost at least another 25 lbs. before I would consider leggings. I used to wear them many years ago when they were in style but back then none of them had patterns. I am 5'6" tall; big boned and as you can see from my information I am very heavy right now but I know I would enjoy them as they look so comfy.

Gayle Good for you in getting away for a couple of days especially with Sara while her ex moves out. That is good that she isn't around while he is moving and let's hope she never lets him move back in.

Have a good day everyone,
Karrine

Good morning GG's,

It is a nice sun shiny day here today. The temperature is supposed to be up in the 70's by the afternoon ~ I'm thinking maybe I will try to go out and walk this afternoon.

Karrine ~ glad your ankle is feeling better. I'm glad your tenant is going to be able to get that disability parking permit. The tuna casserole you have planned sounds yummy. The people at your church sound very nice ~ saying a mass for your tenant (does she have a name we can use instead of always calling her ~ your tenant?) and getting some things for you at the store.

Mary ~ glad you are enjoying your leggins. They sure sound comfortable. Glad you will get together with family for Easter. I am wondering if now that Sara's ex is out of the house ~ maybe we will be able to have holidays with her again. She has custody of the kids and he has certain weekends (like the 1st and 3rd or something like that) and Thursday evenings, plus some of the holidays, but I can't remember which ones. I look forward to getting to have holidays with them again. Thank you for sharing your wedding picture. Your dress was pretty ~ you two look so young.

Carol Sue ~ glad you had such a good rest the other night. Thank you for sharing your wedding picture also. You guys look so young too. Your dress was really pretty. On the subject of care when I am old ~ I have mixed emotions about it. I don't really want to go to a nursing home ~ like Karrine ~ I've heard horror stories about those places, but I don't want to be a burden to my kids either. My husband wants to go to a place like his father and his wife went to. It has different levels of care as a person's needs change ~ starting with independent living, to assisted living, to nursing home or memory care if needed. When I get to that age and as much as I would miss the freedom of being in my own home, I guess it would be of some comfort to have that all lined up ~ especially if he should be the one to go first ~ things would be in place and I wouldn't be stressing out trying to figure all that out. I don't have a clue about how to take care of anything as he has always done it. And I think they said that once you get into one of those places, they keep you until the end ~ that they can't turn you out. That would be less worry for us and the kids wouldn't be left to figure out what to do.

Sandy ~ how is your knee doing? Glad you are able to get those shots to help. I have the same trouble with clothes/tops. Things that look good on taller people don't look good on me because I am short. I used to be about 5'2”, but have shrunk to 5' even. I usually have to shorten everything ~ tops, sleeves, pants. It is funny ~ those capri length pants are almost as long as regular pants on me.

Guess I'd better get off here. Hope you all are having a good day.

We are dog sitting this morning for someone else, but only for a few hours. I don't think Halo even knows she's here. Funny sometimes her nose is so sensitive and other times it's not. We were going to the gym but dh didn't sleep well so he is going to rest in his recliner a while. So I didn't get to wear my new capris I got yesteday.;) After he rests, we will go out to do some shopping. I only got the main bathroom weekly cleaned yesterday so hope today to work in our bedroom and the adjoining bath. Last night we just had leftovers again, but tonight I plan to prepare salmon (part of the steel head dh's caught) and roast veggies.

The top I had ordered came yesterday but I didn't like it at all so am returning it and exchanging for another in the style I usually wear. This one was like a dress on me, but the sleeves were just right almost tight so don't think I could go a smaller size either. Very strange fit. My dd had warned me about this style. Not for everyone. I will stick to what they call the Classic Tee as it fits me well. But everyone is different.

My bs was 134 this morning...that is not where it should be of course but much much better ...I think it is slowly coming down since I'm not eating as much in the evenings. I have always thought and still do think that it has primarily been my eating that has caused my high bs more than my diabetes progressing and suspect I would need much less meds if I just could get myself to eat less consistently. Last night I went to bed early...10 pm..so didn't snack much.

Glynne - Hope things work out well for your dd and that you can all be together for holidays again. I love it when we can all get together.
I feel that we should prob make some change of housing at some point too but it sure is difficult to take the steps. We love our old home and want to fix it up and stay here as long as we can, but realistically I know I that I cannot stay here alone unless I get a lot of help from the kids and they have their own lives and financial issues.

Karrine - So glad your ankle is starting to improve. Those disable parking permits are so helpful. I hate it when I see them being abused because some really need those spaces. We found that out when dh fractured his leg in 2010. He was only eligible for a few months but we sure appreciated it.
He used to complain about all the disabled spaces (he thought there were too many) but no more. Glad your tenant is able to get one. Understand about the leggings.

Have a good day!

Here I am again ~ probably procrastination in action by being here again.:o Maybe I am just feeling in a gabby kind of mood.

I have been having a nice day so far. Just kind of taking it easy and catching up on communicating, kind of resting a bit. This go, go, go that my husband does is exhausting. I don't know how he does it. If he is tired too, he never lets on or doesn't want to admit it. We watch Maddie a lot of the time and that is ok, until it runs into after hours. I'm glad we can help Sara, but I end up feeling (when Maddie is here beyond the regular times) that I can't relax and get to rest. Am I weird or anything? It is not that Maddie is difficult or anything ~ I just sort of can't let go and relax when anyone else is here ~ even though I love them and am glad to see them. I think I get run down when I can't relax and rest.

I had been sharing with my daughter about my struggles with my PT exercises. My intentions were good ~ that I would keep up with them, but my track record and self discipline problems took over and little by little I did less and less of the program until I was no longer doing any of it. The PT lady told me I would need to do them every day for the rest of my life to keep that sciatic pain under control. I would get to feeling guilty and try to resume them, and would end up in pain. That was puzzling and discouraging to me. How something that was supposed to help me would cause me pain. Because our insurance changed at the first of the year, I can no longer go to that same place to do PT and I really didn't want to start with another place. My PT lady had said that even though I couldn't come back to her place, that I could email her and she would always be willing to help me. So, my daughter encouraged me to reach out to her. I told Sara I was ashamed and embarrassed to admit to the PT lady that I had not kept up with the exercises and Sara said she was sure that I was not the first or only one who didn't keep up with the exercises. So, I sent an email to the PT lady this morning and she agreed with Sara that others also don't keep up with the exercises. She asked me some questions and is going to give me guidance as to how to go about getting back with the program.

I should be working on cooking some foods, but am not really feeling in the mood to do that. Maybe I will do that easy bean casserole. Thank goodness there is some of the soup left that I had made. I froze it while we were gone to the coast.

Ok, I'd better get something done.

Gayle Let us make a deal with each other about PT. I was told the same thing and didn't follow thru. I'm heavier, and afraid I'm loosing muscle that I worked so hard to build up. THat may be why my knee is doing some funny popping and snapping. I just imagine the ligaments snapping and REALLY leaving me in a bind.
Glad Sara has the place back so she can enjoy the kids. Wouldn't it be great to be able to go to visit and enjoy yourself!!!!

Mary I imagine my stomach is very large, too, but the rest of me is also so it doesn't cause anything to roll down. Besides my backend is large enough to support anything - funny that I still feel uncomfortable chairs even with all that padding.
Going to bed earlier does help curb the snacking, I've noticed that, too.

CarolSueWOW. Going all night? What marvelous sleep you've had. Wonder what made the difference?

Today's walk under our rare very, very blue skies was reviving. I used to walk 4 miles in an hour every day. Today I did great to get 3/4 mile, but I did so enjoy it. We have so much cloudy weather here that solar panels don't do very well. DH is an engineer who designed heating and cooling systems. A man with lots of money asked him to design a system of solar panels even when told that it would take over 20 years to get his money back in savings. He insisted so he has the panels, if he is even still alive.

Geothermal works fantastic here. DH and DS designed several fantastic systems for some of our schools and they have really, really had savings. One had enough to be able to brick the entire school with the savings!!!!

Hoping our new ferny Japanese Maple comes out soon. Guaranteed for 1 year when they panted it, but shows little life yet. Daffodils blooming have me impatient for spring. Pretty young Service Berry out my window shows buds that should open by Easter. DH mowed the lawn every week since end of January (whether it needed it or not) He has put on lime, seeded it, weeded it, and put on Scott's mix. That grass is absolutely beautiful, the envy of the neighborhood. Some neighbors are lucky if they have any green at all. Thank goodness one neighbor has Scott's coming to fertilize during the growing season and it has really improved his place.

DH has more energy at 82 that some teen age kids ever have. He is always looking for "something to do." I've always hoped I can get all the things done I must do and look for time rather than more to do.

Sandy

Good morning everyone,
My friend picked up a large package of lean ground beef at Costco for me so this morning I'll portion it out into 1-1/2 lb. packages and freeze it and will make about 12 hamburger patties with part of it. I also want to sweep my front porch as there are plenty of deed leaves that have blown into it during late fall and winter. With my ankle feeling a bit better I'm sure I'll be ok to at least do that much. I'll tackle sweeping out the garage perhaps in another week.

Gayle My tenant's name is Nancy but everyone just calls her Nan. I'll refer to her as Nan from now on. We have facilities here too that have different levels of care but are they ever expensive. I suppose the proceeds from the sale of my house would help me to stay there but at $3,000 to $4,000 per month there sure wouldn't be much of an inheritance left for my daughter. That's great that your PT lady is going to help you get back on track with your exercises.

Mary I agree that when you find the right fit for your own body in a top or leggings it is best to stay with that then to try something different.

Sandy That's great that you were able to walk 3/4 of a mile and that your DH still has lots of energy at 82 years of age. I see some solar panels around here that people have installed but not very many. When you are older I don't think you would retrieve your initial cost outlay for them but if I were younger and had the money I would look into it.

Have a good day everyone,
Karrine