Good morning everyone,
I'm glad everyone who has posted had a good Easter and if no dinner, at least got to hear from or see their loved one. I'm jealous that some of you had nice enough weather to sit outside. I'm making hamburger hash with mashed potatoes today. Nan doesn't like pork or fish so I''m getting sick of making the same things like chicken; ground beef; beef roast; stew or pasta. I love pork and know I could make something just for myself but I don't.

Sandy Thank you for letting me know about DH's sister. Having a brain tumor is so very serious too. I wonder how she got that perforated bowel and glad she is now "out of the woods" on that one. Yes, her Mom not being around to help care for her down the road is also a serious situation that should be planned for. So glad your 2nd knee shot has relieved your pain.

Have a good day everyone,
Karrine

Sandy, I had a perforated bowel in 2011 and also had to have emergency surgery. It is very serious and can cause death if not caught in time. Mine was caused by diverticulitis that I didn't know I had. I had to have a colostomy bag for 6 months, then had it removed in 2012. It was a very uncomfortable time for me, but I am happy to have lived through it. Those 2 surgeries are the reason I have such a big belly. Cutting through my abdominal muscles twice has totally ruined them. My over eating doesn't help either and I cannot blame it on just the surgery.

I had open heart surgery in 2008, and the bowel surgery was much worse than the heart surgery. Not everyone has to get a colostomy. I had to have it because they removed a small portion of my bowel and also because of the extent of the infection. Some people just get their bowel repaired and don't need the colostomy bag. I hope your sister-in-law has a speedy recovery.

Gayle, you are right. Easter and other holidays are not just about the food, they are about spending time with those you love, so it sounds like you had a nice day.

Karrine, the weather on Easter was a fluke here in PA. The day before was cold and so was the day after. Normally we cannot sit out side in March. Sometimes it still isn't warm enough to sit out on Mother's Day. We just hit it lucky this year. We have had times when we had to wear snow boots to church. LOL

It's so nice of you that you cook according to what Nan will eat. I'm sure she appreciates it. That is how I am with DH's food limitations, but recently I have started cooking two different entrees so I can eat some things I don't usually get, such as grilled whitefish, grilled salmon and calf liver. Actually, now he has started eating the grilled salmon, much to my delight!

Mary, I hope you and Joe are doing well and getting rested up from your Easter entertaining.

We had a good Easter, plenty food and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Son and his gf came late as expected as they had a previous commitment, but they stayed long enough to enjoy being with everyone. He even ate a slice of the coconut cake and he usually doesn't eat sweets but he admitted recently he'd been a little more interested in them. Even my dd liked it ..her only complaint was she was hoping it was coconut pie. Seems like no matter what I make someone wants something else...:dizzy:..just part of the craziness of a larger family I guess. There was so much going on and it was fun, but I hardly got to hold the newest addition to our family because every time I'd start to hold her, someone would want my help with something and off I'd go..handing her back to her mama.

At one point after dinner, my dd came running for me to help dh, as he was having pain. It was the same kind of pain he had before his lung surgery. It apparently caught him as he was standing up. Got him into his recliner and it went away but whenever he would get up, move around, bend over or anything it came back. By evening it was easing but in the morning it was back again so I called the pulmonary clinic. Couldn't get an appt until April 8, but they sent an order for a chest xray. Won't get the results for a few days.
We then went to get new lenses put into his glasses and ended up going to a couple places for that. The last place was close to our primary doctor's clinic so we walked in to see if possibly they had a pulmonary doctor in their clinic system that might see him sooner. It is a different clinic system. They did have an opening but offered a triage nurse first because without an x-ray we realized a doctor wouldn't be able to do much. He was not in much pain by then. They listened to his lungs and said they were clear and just a little more quiet on that side and his O2 was fine. So we didn't see the point in seeing the doctor until she has the x-ray. This morning he had no pain or sob before he left to go fishing. There are usually lots of men out there so I'm sure someone would help him if he had trouble.

Our son also found out Sun he lost a good friend. Too young to die. So although we enjoyed our family time together, it was not uneventful.

Sandy - Your Easter meal sounds so good and healthy. The ribs my dil brought were SO good, very tender. Both meats were eaten about equally but doubt both were needed as we had leftovers of both even though the kids took some home. We ate some of the ham leftovers yesterday but hardly made a dent, so I will freeze most of them today and tonight I will make bean soup with the bone and pieces of meat. I don't think I'll do ham next year, perhaps I can get her to bring the ribs again. ;) Or I'll do something healthier. But yes, I likely will do it again..unless someone else steps up to do it and as long as they all want to come here or until I can't do it. It's tiring but I don't mind as I love to see my family happy together. We have all been separated too long in the past and this is like a miracle to be together again, that is all but our oldest dd.

I have usually done the ham as others like it, but I'm ready for a change. My dd brought a beautiful asparagus salad. I really liked it, but knew we weren't likely to eat the leftovers though so she took it home. Glad you had such nice weather! It was raining here but the kids still wanted hide eggs outside and they were out there quite a while doing it first with parents and then alone. At least they had fun. Only one didn't want to go out, preferring to stay dry and play on his ipad. They also loved the treat machine...it was good for some laughs. We planned to line up the kids and let them put their hand under the dispenser and get their jelly beans, but dh accidentally started it and jelly beans went all over!! The kids were scrambling for them..then he found a way to set it so less comes out. Regardless it was a hit.

Carole Sue - The ham sounds delicious! Funny, my dil's ribs (that were SO good) had coca cola in them. I've never tried that as it sounds unhealthy to me but it sure tenderizes the meat and tastes so good. Glad you had a nice day too.

Glynne - Glad you got to spend time with your dd and gc and it was peaceful for you. Like Karrine, I'm a bit envious that you can sit on the deck. Although it isn't really cold here, it will be a little longer before we can comfortably to that.

Since we were running around all day yesterday and waiting in offices, I didn't get anything done here at home. Today I hope to do a little more. I am still picking up things the kids left around the house and will also try to do a little dusting in the living room. The kids aren't in the living room much except on holidays as we have a door we can shut and restrict them to the other rooms.

Sorry this is so long.

Mary, I enjoyed hearing about your day. Sorry about your DH's scare with the pain, but hope the X-ray also shows no problem.

Loved imagining the jelly bean incident.!!!

CarolSue: Thank you for giving more information on the perforated bowel issue. Don't know for sure for Jennie, but now I can ask the right questions. Understandable that your poor abdomen muscles have been treated so harshly.

Thanks for explaining Gale. I agree, that sometimes having the quiet can be helpful, too. Glad for family!!!

Lost the first post that was long. Forgot to post it. Grrrrr

Last night I invented a way to use part of the roast lamb, single huge protebello mushroom, garlic and butter and gluten-free pasta to make a really tasty supper. Probably would have been a casserole, but I was not sure the gluten-free pasta would stay together if I put it all in oven. Serving it from large pan worked just fine. Don't know if we can afford Lamb again, but if we did, that is a super way to use leftovers. DH got the Lamb on discount by ordering it the week before when it was on sale. To feed 10 of us it helped.

Today, good weather, but cool. I transplanted some in Garden, and tried to get rid of weeds. My poor body is not too happy with me, but I'm glad I began getting in better shape for warm weather.

Tomorrow is last knee lubricating shot, Massage, and Adoration at the Chapel. My day away by myself. DH is going to put up some new light fixtures under the cabinets. LED Lightening is expensive but uses so much less electricity. Funny how it is different. He replaced the vanity lights in the Master Bathroom. When I turn on the switch, there is a slight pause before the light comes on. When I turn OFF the lights, it also pauses before the room goes dark.

Sandy

I had to laugh at some of these...how did they know I still am holding on to these?!!
http://embracinghomemaking.net/2015/...c_location=ufi

Hope everyone and their families/friends are doing ok ~ none of you have been here today.

It is 70 degrees today and a beautiful sunny day! We went to the gym and then I babysat for about three hours. My gs and I pulled a few weeds in the front yard. It felt good to be out there and good to get him away from the electronics for a few minutes. The babysitting was unexpected so I still haven't gotten caught up with my housework but making memories with the gc is more important. I fixed them boxed (ugh) mac and cheese for their lunch as they like it. Tonight I am making a chicken and pasta dish. Hope dh will like it.

Yesterday dh only had pain when he sneezed and today so far no pain or sob. Still waiting for the x-ray but if there has been no change in the amount of fluid in their we will probably cancel the drs appt. Perhaps this is just something that will come and go. I would like to know why but I realize sometimes they just don't know what causes pleural effusion and if it is not so much to be harmful he may need to live with the occasional pain. He is working in the yard now...our dd gave us a flower in a pot for Easter and he is planting it in our front yard right now.

Last night we sealed and froze several bags of ham, putting enough for two sandwiches in each bag. Left only enough for a couple sandwiches. And the jelly beans are gone, thank God! I didn't even like that many of them but they still tempted me.

Carole Sue - Did you see that Patty Duke died of a perforated colon? Mine still hurts mildly now and then but so far the increase in fiber helps. That sounds like a bad way to go.

Sandy - Hope you are having a good day today on your own. When I am on my own, I rarely can think of anything to do and end up home sleeping then doing housework. I live such an exciting life. :dizzy: Glad those lubricating shots help you.

Bye, for now..

Good morning,
It is another rainy day here today. I go for physio again this morning. Nan's family couldn't come last Thursday so they are coming today. That will be nice for her. She told me yesterday that she needs to redo her will now that DD is separated. There are a couple of things in my will that do not pertain anymore so I'll just leave it the way it is as everything else is to stay the same. Everything that I had decluttered is starting to get cluttered again so today I'll start on that.

Mary Glad your Easter turned out so well. Thank you for the site on 200 things to throw away. I really enjoyed reading most of it and I see several things that I really should get rid of like old makeup, nail polish and plastic containers without lids etc. Looks like more in depth spring cleaning is needed LOL.

Have a good day everyone and sorry for not posting more personals today.
Karrine

I'm up a few pounds and not happy about it, but I'm not surprised with my eating of the past few days.

Mary, I saw that about Patty Duke. When I had my issue, I had some slight abdominal pain for a few days, then one morning the pain was very severe. DH kept saying that I ate something bad and I should make myself throw up. I knew it wasn't that, but he hates for me to go to the hospital and tries to avoid it. My pain started around 10 AM and I didn't go to the ER until 4 PM. By that time, I could barely stand up. They did some tests and I was on my way up to surgery by 8 PM. The surgeon told DH that he didn't think I was going to make it and even after surgery when I was in ICU I was still not out of the woods, and was still full of infection. I was on heavy IV antibiotics for 13 days, and then pills after I went home. DH told me that if it had been him he would have died, because he never would have gone to the ER for a "stomach ache." Since then I've heard of others who had this and died. Perhaps they felt the same way as DH. I told him I would rather go to the ER and have them tell me I have a stomach ache than not go and find out that it's something serious. My pain started very low in my groin area, but then anywhere you touched my abdomen I felt pain. And riding to the hospital, I had pain with every bump we hit. That's the only way I can explain it. I know I was very lucky.

I hope your DH is ok with his lung issue.

My step-son's ham was not cooked in the ginger ale and orange juice. The liquid was in the bottom of the pan and the ham was on a rack above the liquid. It cooked on a low heat and the steam cooked it overnight. He told me that some people do it the same way using coca cola. Perhaps that's the way the ribs were cooked, not actually in the coca cola.

Sandy, we have a dimmer switch in our bathroom, so I can go in there in the middle of the night without a lot of light. We have a little night light at the entrance to the kitchen for the same purpose. We have under cabinet lights in the kitchen that we rarely use.

Joe went fishing so I'm being lazy again. I have put chicken in the slow cooker and have the garbage/trash ready to take out and made my bed but that's all I've done. I still haven't gotten into the living room to clean, hopefully I will today. My dinner tonight is Ranch Chicken...and I am using the mushroom soup that I rarely use...it also has ranch dressing mix and cream cheese it it and will be served over bow tie pasta. Not sure we will like it.

Carole - Your experience sounds so terrible! I'm really glad you made it! I would think the pain would get so bad that anyone would eventually go in but then it might be too late. When I had what was my second gall bladder attack (tho I didn't know it then), I waited a very long time before finally going into the hospital. Couldn't figure out what was wrong with me and when I got in and the doctor said he thought it was my gall bladder, I thought oh of course, stupid (meaning me) as I felt I should of thought of that. Then they did the scan and there were the stones. I didn't have surgery then though...instead I waited about ten years and through more attacks larger and smaller til I actually felt kinda sick most of the time. When it was bad I'd go in for pain relief and once I did have a scope done as one smaller stone got free but no surgery. Now I think that was also stupid, I learned a lesson, but the doctors really didn't encourage me that much to do it. By the time I had it done, I was ready, I wanted that thing out of me! My primary doc had by then sent me to a surgeon who agreed it should come out, like yesterday. By the time he opened me up it was black and all shriveled up and he had a hard time finding it as it was buried under intestines. He said it was the worst/most difficult surgery of that kind he'd one. Actually I'm surprised I wasn't sicker. So if my colon begins to throb again, I will definitely get in right away like I did last time when I had diverticulitis with infection. I've had enough pain in my life. I hope it never comes to that though as I don't want anymore surgeries. Dh says the same thing.

Dh still continues to have a little pain when he sneezes (allergies) but that's it. I'm hoping if it does occur again that he can just have it suctioned out now and then to keep the fluid down rather than surgery. But it still puzzles me what caused it..there is a lot of built up in the wall per the surgeon, he couldn't remove it all. I know water flows from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration so perhaps that build up has something to do with it, but I don't know how water would get into the wall to begin with so I can't quite understand it and the surgeon didn't know either.

About light in the bathroom, I'm funny as I never think of light usually when I get up at night. Dh is always telling me to turn on a light, but I just feel my way around with my eyes closed even. Might as well close them since I can't see anyway and I don't want to get so wide awake I guess too. But the funny part is that a few years ago I bought one of those candle warmers with the little tart candle wax. It has a light bulb in the lamp and is plugged in all the time but usually I only turn it on after I clean the bathroom until bedtime. I just recently found out that dh uses it as a night light...you know I'd never even thought of doing that! So lately I've been doing that...of course I still walk in there in the dark but at least I have a light when I get in there for taking meds etc so I don't have to turn the light on. I like a light for taking meds as once I almost drank from a cup with a big spider in it because I started to drink without a light on, decided to turn the light on and there is was!:( I have also recently learned to use my phone light when I go to bed late and don't want to disturb dh. I'm a slow learner sometimes I guess..

I was reading about Patty Duke. She developed sepsis. I didn't have that, I had peritonitis. I think sepsis is more serious. It says you get a fever and chills which I didn't have. That's a shame. She was the same age as me I think. When they were talking about it today on the news the guy said "If you feel sicker than you've ever felt in your life, get to the ER." Good advice.

Patty Duke had a rough life. I'm so grateful for the many many years of good relationships with family and friends. Actually I've had it easy most of my life. Illness have been few, I have ZERO pain today even when I walked UP the ramp like drive way that usually causes me a problem! Worked hard all my life, but am now spending more time simply enjoying good books, good conversation, writing in my Journal, and recently back in the garden.

Lenten Roses are blooming in mauve, pink and one even white. As babies come I give them away. The fact it bloomed February 1 this year and we can see them from the house is a real bonus. Some friends want the extra's we have when the visit next.

Our new small Red Maple with fern type leaves is really starting to leaf out, Warranty would be up in 8 more days - that was close! Service Berry in the front yard is full of beautiful fluffy white blooms. It is still small and doesn't do what the old Maple did which is to supply lots of shade. Actually the grass out front loves the sunshine that feeds it.

Mary and CarolSue DH also likes night lights between bedroom and the refrigerator, but still would turn on lights as soon as he shuts bedroom door. He needs far more light than I do. I do as Mary said and get up, go to the bathroom and back to bed without any need for light. I used to pretend I was blind as a child and could go anywhere in our home without light. Mom's arthritis made it important we keep all pathways free of anything she might stumble over. Really good suggestion anytime.

DH and Pat replaced all the lights under the cabinets in kitchen and in TV room with LED lamps and dimmers. Amazed at the difference in usage of electricity. Thank goodness "do it yourself" has always been in my life, but I'd NEVER tackle electricity. I did once repair the dryer and put in a new belt many years ago. They are more complicated now so again that is not an option.

Loved our youngest's visit both Sunday with family and again yesterday between her doctor's appointments. We talked and talked. Loved every minute.

I'm shocked how fast savings goes as we compare this April with last April. God some major work done on house, helped daughters, and bought some much needed furniture. Scary to see savings go down because there is NO way to increase it. Dental costs were extremely high for the second straight year. DH has a chipped tooth and we dread to find out what that will cost. His new hearing aids were really, reaally costly but he can hear so much better and that is priceless.

Ready to return bunch of books to library. I'm so grateful for that Library. We had none within 22 miles for the first 12 or 15 years we lived here. Today I drive past it to go to appointment and can run in. Kristin Hannah is an author I really appreciate. She can develop each character so well, but also shows growth in character as each interacts with each other or with situations such as illness and death. I finished a second of hers late last night. That continues to be a problem. I sat up way, way too late reading, but when I finally went to bed I slept so late I still got full 8 hours sleep!!!

Sandy

Good afternoon GG's,

(Started this on Wednesday, but didn't get it finished.)

It is a dreary drippy cloudy day here today. Maddie is supposed to be having soccer practice this evening, but I'm wondering if they'll end up canceling.

Feeling accomplished today. I've had a good couple days of getting some stuff done. Yesterday, I hemmed up a T-shirt (part of mom's birthday gift). Then got the name labels sewed on that and a pair of pants and socks for her.

Today, I got a stack of kitchen towels, dish cloths, bath towels and wash cloths that I had washed and dried and left on top of the dryer for weeks ~ never getting around to putting them away where they belonged. Also rounded up sheets, blankets and pillows that had been used different times Maddie stayed here and never got taken care of. Got to some dusting that desperately needed to be done ~ in my bedroom, the bathroom and hallway. Picked up two different sets of building blocks that Steve and Maddie had made stuff with and left their creations sit up to admire ~ they hadn't been used for months, so back in the box they went. Straightened up the sewing room ~ I have major work to do in there, but have a few other projects that I need to do before I can tackle that. But at least for the time being, it is in a little better shape until I can work on that big job. Whew ~ pooped.

Friday evening

I've kept up with reading your posts, but haven't had a chance to post anything. More cleaning ~ got to take advantage of the desire to do it before I poop out and lose the urge to do. Laundry, vacuuming, mopping, washing bathroom rugs. More sewing. Still more to do. Never a lack of stuff to do.

Sorry ~ almost bed time ~ I'll try to get the personals tomorrow.

Hope you all have had a good day and have a good rest tonight.

We went to the gym this morning. Because dh's back so often hurts after walking the track, I convinced him to try a sit-down elliptical. I haven't tried it but have watched others. He enjoyed it and said he felt better using it than walking. I think it's good to switch up your workout from time to time anyway.
We stopped at the CU on the way home but otherwise we just stayed home today although dh ran out a couple times for things he needed. It is hard for him to just stay home unlike me...I can rarely think of anything I want to go out for.

Glad you are pain free now, Sandy. The roses sound beautiful. Our maple is starting to leaf out too and our azealas look really pretty...much better than last year. I think it's because dh fertilized them. I have been asking him to do this and finally he said he just fertilized everything and I also notice our flowering tree looks much better this year too. Either that or because we got more rain...last year was so dry altho we did catch up in the fall. I don't know that author but will check her out...however I don't need anymore books.

Oh, two electronic things happened to please me.....I thought my old kindle was dead. I plugged it into a new cable and it charged and is working fine! I haven't used it in over a year I'd guess. Then my old iPad was not allowing me to delete my apps, was thinking to go into AT&T and ask them about it, then decided to reset it...I was afraid of losing data but when it said I wouldn't I though I'd try it and it worked! Even got rid of another wierd thing that had happened the last time I updated as well. So really felt I accomplished something!

Carole - Yes sepsis would be really bad...nasty bugs..and more widespread I should think. Both are things we all want to avoid for sure.

Yesterday I got all my weekly cleaning done except the kitchen and today I got that done, however I did plan to do some decluttering today and I didn't get to that.

The Ranch chicken I made last night was surprisingly good! Our son dropped by on his way to his drill weekend and we talked him into spending the night since he wasn't sure what his sleeping situation would be. He left early this am. Halo was excited to see him as usual.

Tonight I made Cheesy Pizza Pasta using the same bow-tie pasta. I didn't like it very much, but it was edible and dh liked it. Tomorrow night I am preparing meatloaf Burgers with Tomato Gravy and will serve it with rice and pea pilaf. I like to try new recipes.

Goodnight...

Good morning everyone,
Oh my, I don't post for one day and then see that I have a lot of catching up to do LOL. As I mentioned in my last post, Nan has started reviewing her will and because she doesn't want her daughter to give me a bad time when the time comes she is being concise on a few things (furniture) that she wants to stay here when she goes. I got rid of some of my things to make room for her things when she moved in. I started to cry a bit as I hate the subject of her making final plans but I guess it has to be done. I am fearful that if Nan has to go into a nursing home that her daughter will want her to be in her city and not here which would make it difficult for me to visit every day. She will stay here as long as possible until she can't walk anymore or get herself to the bathroom. We are not looking forward to this Thursday when we find out if the cancer has spread to her internal organs and options for treatment. All we can do is hope and pray and just take it one day at a time from now on.

Carol the stomach problems you had sure were serious and glad you got through it all ok.

MaryYou too, went through a lot with your gall bladder and I bet you are glad that is overwith. I had my gall bladder out many years ago. I have a nightlight in my bathroom which I love as it is just enough light for those late bathroom visits without having to turn on the bright light. I also have one in my kitchen.

Sandy That's great that so far you have had few illnesses in your life. Your Lenton Roses and gardens sound to be beautiful right now. Everything here is starting to turn green but we haven't had enough good weather for a spring cleanup of our yard and gardens. Sorry to hear that DH has a chipped tooth as dental expenses are so high which reminds me that I am overdue for a cleaning. I'm going to change dentist's as the one I have has moved too far away at the far side of the City and I know of one that is just down the street from me.

Gayle Sounds like you sure are keeping busy with everything you have mentioned in your post that you are doing. For some reason, my bedroom gets so dusty compared to other rooms. I have to dust my bedroom every 2nd day and the rest of the house just once a week.

I might tackle cleaning out my computer desk today and going through my files. There is a lot of old stuff in there that I think I can safely throw away now.

Have a good day everyone,
Karrine