Carol Sue ~ our library is the same. I love being able to access the catalog online. I can look for a book, request it and they send an e-mail when it is available. I can renew online ~ like you said ~ if there is no other request for it. No, I have not found it yet. I have looked all over ~ I can not remember taking it to another room ~ but I have looked in other rooms anyway. What bothers me is the complete lack of any memory of moving it to another place.

Have you ever been driving along and you get to a certain place, but can't remember having traveled a portion of your route? It's like you were doing your drive, but your mind was thinking of something else. It is kind of a weird feeling ~ wondering where your mind was. Well, that is sort of how this book thing feels. Like I must have done something with it, carried it to another room and I totally can not remember doing so. It feels kind of scary and frustrating. And the harder I try to remember, the more I can't remember.

I have come to the realization that I can not clean and straighten up while talking on the phone, becasue I do stuff ~ put stuff away ~ but then later can't remember where I put it.

Hope you are having a nice Sunday.

Gayle, it's the same with me. I have 2 pairs of reading glasses that are normally on the table beside my chair, but sometimes I will lay them down somewhere else, usually with my book. One day recently, I could only find one pair. Way in the back of my mind I could recall putting the other pair someplace, but I couldn't remember where. I could even remember that where I had put them was in a tiny space between 2 other things. I looked for them for several days, in all the usual places I put them. Couldn't find them. Then one day I was looking for something in my bedroom. I never read in my bedroom because of the poor angle of the light. But I spotted my glasses, in-between the Kleenex box and a small box I use for my everyday jewelry. Instantly I remembered how they got there. Sometimes I slip them up on top of my head rather than set them down. One night I realized I had done that when I went in to go to bed. I didn't feel like turning lights back on to bring them back out to the living room, so I just slipped them between those 2 boxes where they would not get knocked down. Since I don't read in the bedroom, that was not a place I would look for them.

My library books get misplaced sometimes because I take them in the car once in a while, when I'm the passenger. Sometimes I have other books sitting around, too, and they can get mixed up with them. But I usually find them quickly when I look for them. It's really odd that you still haven't found it. Maybe you accidently set something else on top of it and just can't see it. I sure hope you find it!

Our library system must be the same as yours. I discovered it when I started borrowing e-books from the library, which is done online. It sure beats the old days where you had to lug the books back to the library to renew them.

My husband is a lot neater than I am. Problem is, he will put things away, but not where they belong, then I have a hard time finding them. If I ask him where he put it, he can't remember. I remember one night I was planning on baking something the next day. I got all the ingredients out and set them on the kitchen counter, then went to bed. The next day, I got up early to start my baking and all the stuff was put back in the cupboard. LOL I like to get everything out, including the pans, so I don't make a lot of noise with them while he's still sleeping. Too bad that morning. I made LOTS of noise!

Now I am going to be very curious to hear where your book is when you find it! If you were sitting in a chair reading it, could it have slid down between the cushions?

Carol Sue Your husband sounds like my own. Also DD who lives with us. When she was younger I found the shoe polish in the refrigerator.

DH puts things on upper shelf, I'm short and can't reach them, but at least I can SEE them. He has to come get them down for me. Think it would make a difference? No. However, we agree that I have certain lower shelves in the big pantry and in the Kitchen cabinets that are strictly for my things. Helps.

Now that I do almost no cooking, the kitchen is arranged to suit DH and DD. I really don't complain!

Finding glasses? I have special computer glasses that Occassionally I'll do as Carol Sue did and start to wear them to bed - then put them in bathroom, not back at computer. Then the weird experience of putting them on and looking outside . . . the Computer glasses are designed for the distance just to Computer screen and bifocal lower like the desk reading.

Gayle, what is the latest reguarding your thyroid issue? I've been gone for several days and am out of the loop.

Here, weather is spring like and I was able to bend over to brush leaves and stuff away from small red buds on all 8 of the Peonies. Then to put up the green hoops for them to grow up into and not flop with those beautiful big blooms that come in May.

Sure was sore later after also bending here and there to pull up weeds that will go to seed making weeding even harder later. Good exercise in sunshine, but very sore later. I can at least see what I accomplished.

Hi Mary, I didn't go back far enough to read your post. Will catch you later.

Love2garden, I have a step-stool in the kitchen to reach things on the top shelf and also a thing on a long pole that I can use for some things. If DH is in the room I ask him to get things down for me. I arrange the cabinets so the things that are seldom used are on the top shelf and the commonly used things on the 2 lower shelves.

My yard and flower beds are a mess. I haven't done anything with them for a few years. Every time I go out there to work in the yard, something hurts too much. I'm thinking this year when I want to work in the yard I will take one of the Vicodin we have left over from when DH had shingles. I am almost at the point of telling DH to dig everything up and plant grass. When we moved in here the house was 10 years old and the people who lived here only had 2 shrubs, one on either side of the porch, nothing else. I had a clean canvas to plant perenniels, with some space between to add a few annuals each year. But now I cannot kneel, I cannot bend, an I have no strength to dig. DH would help me, and does, but this was my project, not his, and he has enough to do.

I hope Gayle found her book and Mary is enjoying her family. Hope the dogs are behaving, too!

In case anyone is reading, I think I found out what is wrong with my elbow.

http://www.aidmybursa.com/bursitis-e...s-symptoms.php

I saw pictures of this and it looks exactly like my elbow looks. I don't have a fever, so mine is not the urgent one. It seems that it will not go away by itself, but a doctor has to aspirate the fluid and then possible inject medicine to help it heal. Sounds like so much fun, but I guess it could be worse.

Have you heard anything about your parathyroid yet, Gayle?

CarolSue Bursitis can be a real hard one to recover from. I've carried it around both knees for decades, but never had any fluid removed. PT helped a lot to strengthen the surrounding muscles, and if I don't bump it I do fine.

An elbow is much harder to protect. Hope you can get relief.

Regarding gardening: I do understand how you claim the flower gardens as your special project, I do that too. DH is concerned he'll step "wrong" if he goes in because of the buried goodies under the soil. He is right. I do know where to step.

I can still bend over and semi squat so I can do some work, but not sure how I'll do when I'm ready to plant. DH and DD have helped dig holes and are good to follow my directions, but how I miss getting down in the dirt and simply gardening. Sorry that you also feel that loss.

Hello everyone! I finally got a chance to get here. I've started a post a couple times but then got distracted. Im busy keeping up with the extra people in the house, but enjoying them all. They are all (incl dogs) out for a walk right now. Turned out their little Chihuahua is out outdoor dog! Living in AZ that was ok, here it's much cooler but hasn't been terrible and we bring her into the garage at night. When she gets in the house, she jumps around on top of everything. She can really jump high. She has a kennel and we move it outside for the days and in the garage at night. I put a folded 1/2 bath towel in it to help keep her warm. If it rains during the day, we bring her into the garage too. So she's ok, but makes me feel a little bad. She's not totally house broke.

The kids (and parents) are very picky eaters but my dil tries most things and she surprised me and actually liked my teriyaki beef stir-fry tonight. It had lots of veggies in it and she doesn't like many veggies. She always credits me with getting her to eat veggies. I also had some leftover teryaki chicken on the table and of course rice. So a couple (my son and the oldest dd) ate chicken and rice. The younger kids just ate rice. They keep some foods on hand that the kids are used to and will eat and sometimes they go out for fast food. So we are getting along...

My oldest dd will not be coming afterall. It would have been nice to have everyone here but we understand she has to work.

My doctor diagnosed my shoulder as bursitis, but I am not at all sure it is. I asked to go to PT (was going anyway for my back) and the PT she though it might be partly that but it was also damaged due to my messed up neck. So part of the same issues. It is better but still hurts. It's been over three years now, so I may mentioned it to my doctor again when I go in.

Carol Sue if your elbow looks like that pic, it really looks sore! You poor thing!! I hope you can get some relief soon.

I've had been extremely achy recently...it started a week or so before the kids came...in fact it's a little better at times now but still bad. It's my feet, ankles, legs but esp my right leg and hip. So now when it hurts I can't lay comfortably on either side. I know the doc won't have time for so many things so I'm trying to decide what to talk about and what to leave for another appt. I also have some lesions on the side of my face I want removed. The dermatologist removed them once but they didn't completely remove. I no longer see that doc so hoping my primary care doc will do it.

Ok, dh is calling me to watch TV with him....enjoy reading about your gardening. Talk later..

Mary, I'm glad you are having such a nice time with your family, and that the troublesome dog likes the outdoors. My dogs never liked to be outdoors unless we were out there, too. They went out to do their thing and then right back to the door.

I bought some BioFreeze as recommended by a friend for my sore hands. I have used it for 2 days and also put some on my elbow. After reading about my elbow online I decided to try a Motrin. I took one yesterday and one this morning. Both my elbow and hands feel a lot better, but I don't know which is helping the most. I have a feeling that it's the Motrin. My cardiologist doesn't want me taking it, but he said once in a while is no problem, so I won't use it more than a couple more days. The Tylenol Arthritis does not give this much relief. I just wanted to see if the swelling in my elbow would go away with the Motrin. If it's not gone in 5 days I don't think it's going to go away. In the meantime, I'll make an appointment with my PCP. I don't think my A1C will be very good right now, so I will tell him that I forgot to get my bloodwork done. Little white lie. I am also going to try to limit my computer time to once a day, in case typing is irritating things.


Love2garden - I am not real picky about my flower gardens. They are mostly against the house or the fence and not where anyone would normally step. But DH doesn't care if they are there or not and will not bother with them unless I ask for help, which I often need. They have been overgrown for about 3 summers now and he has done nothing with them in my absence. The only thing I tell him is not to cut anything back. Some things are supposed to just die off so they will bloom again the next year. I don't want him cutting off the growth just because it's no longer in bloom. I have a hydrangea that has never bloomed. I don't know why, unless I have it planted in a bad place. It was a gift. My step-son always gave me a hanging basket on Mother's Day and I really liked that. One year my DIL decided that they should get me something different. It was blooming when I got it, but hasn't bloomed since. It could be that it was grown just for 1 season and isn't hardy enough for our weather. If it doesn't bloom this year I'm going to dig it out. It's not pretty without flowers. Just looks like a weed. I am not real good with plants, but just want some color in my yard. I have a lot of day-lilies that don't require much care and produce a pretty flower, but they don't bloom long enough. And I have Iris, but they need to be separated so they will bloom more. I don't know if I'm up to that since it would require kneeling.

It's not always fun to get old.

The little dog would love to be in the house, but lived mostly out doors in AZ, even slept out there. It makes me feel sad to leave her out there and even Halo would like to have her inside I think. Halo is like your dogs, doesn't like to be out long unless we are out there. Even with the little dog, she enjoys her for a little while but then wants to come back in pretty quickly. I'm glad they all went for a walk last night as the two dogs got to be with the humans and together too!

Really hope you can get help for your elbow. I would think Ibuprofen would be a good med for the pain. It can cause bleeding (like Asa) so if you already take Asa or another anticoagulation drug, that can be an issue. I wish I had some Ibuprofen right now...I think it might help my achiness better than Tyl but I keep forgetting to get it. I do have some ordered from our free OTC products we get through our health ins but not sure when it will get here.

We went to the gym this am, and I've mopped the kitchen floor plus done daily housework. Now I need a nap.

Good afternoon GG's,

Sorry I haven't joined in for a few day. Been busy ~ now kinda tired out.

Spent most of the last couple days making phone calls ~ for dr's appointments and such. Waiting for call backs. Trying to arrange things. It feels exhausting ~ I guess because it is never striaght forward ~ always some rock in the path that makes it hard.

I have three bigger things pending. An endoscope ~ to check how my stomach is doing after removal of a lump in there a few months back (hoping everything is still ok in there). A colonoscopy because I am at the age where it is time for a repeat of that (hoping that things are ok on that end). Then this parathyroid thing I have been working on. Just when I think it is coming together, something else comes along and delays it. I know things happen when they are supposed to ~ but I will be glad when that is over with.

Got my mamogram scheduled. Gotta make an appointment with my PCP so I can get renewals on my meds. Need to see a podiatrist so I can get new orthotics ~ mine (10 years old now) are kind of worn out and need to be replaced.

On Sunday, a friend shared that she had just found out that she has cancer. She is a little younger than me. That kind of shook me up. It is in her lungs and has spread to her bones. She was to have a biopsy and get a thing placed so she could begin chemo. She hopes/prays that they found it early and that she will have a better outcome.

Mary ~ are all your family still there with you? Hope you are holding up ok. Sorry that you have been so achy lately. Glad the family took the dogs out for a walk ~ at least that gave you a little break from doggy duty. Glad you are getting to enjoy the time with your family. Maddie started soccer last evening ~ do I remember you saying that your little granddaughter is doing that too?

Carol Sue ~ I hope your elbow and hands get to feeling better ~ it is no fun being in pain all the time. Did your cardiologist say why he didn't want you to take it? Could he suggest something else you could take instead? Doesn't seem right to leave you with no options and be in pain all the time. Oh ~ no book yet ~ Grrrrrr

Love2garden ~ glad you are able to somewhat enjoy gardening. Glad your husband and daughter are able to help you with it. Hope your soreness after weeding in the garden has subsided. Glad you got to enjoy the sunshine.

Need to move ~ starting to hurt. Hope you all have had a nice day.

Gayle, I have read that Ibprofen is bad for heart patients, because it is similar to Celebrex. Puts you at higher risk for strokes, I think. I asked him about it once when I got out of the hospital because my release papers said not to take Ibprofen. Up until now there wasn't an issue, because I never had any major pain that couldn't be handled with Tylenol. I have an appointment with him in May and will ask him about an alternative. He might just refer me to a rhumatologist, and I don't want to start with that. Maybe if I get back to exercising I will feel better, even though exercising will not involve my hands.

It sounds like you have had some health issues lately. I hope you get it all worked out. I know for me, I'm tired of going through all this. Makes me wonder if it's really worth it.

It's scary when someone you know get a cancer diagnosis. I think that's one thing everyone wants to avoid. I hope they caught it in time for her.

Here I am back on the computer after I said I was going to only get on here once a day. LOL

Got most of my weekly housework done although it was done very quickly and not very well as the living room is full of the kids stuff in boxes and bags so hard to reach things to clean. Just did the best I could. I think they will be here until April 12.

Last night they went out to eat so it was just the three of us for dinner here. I made chicken fried rice to use up some leftover chicken and served it with stir-fry asparagus. I used garlic butter to saute both in and it was tasty.

I'm still achy but didn't hurt much in the night and today is not so bad so far.
I'm tired now so think I'll lay down for a while while my dil is busy with the kids.

Glynne - Hoping for the best for your friend and for you also. Glad you are getting everything done...must keep you busy.

Mary Glad you are willing to get the rest you need.

Gayle Your friend's cancer diagnosis is scary. That diagnosis along with Alzheimers are the dreaded ones for each of us. May all your tests show that you have NO serious problems.

Carol Sue My doctor convenced me to avoid all pain killers as much as I can. I am finding as I am more active that I hurt less. Once a week before heavy gym day followed by great massage, I do take 2 Alieve but try to avoid it the rest of the week.

Turned bitter cold here after several days of delightful weather that allowed us to be outside. We are ahead on the gardening for this time of year. One shrub less tan 2 years old has lots and lots of winter damage. I had cut out 1/3 of it last spring from such damage, but this year will simply leave it alone and see what it looks like. That area is so full of tree roots I'd never be able to plant another shrub.

One idea to use if my shrub is beyond hope is to get brown tub and plant it with Red Dragon Wing Begonias that we love. sun/shade is perfect in that area, easy to get to to water, and we used to plant them there in spring before tree roots became so thick. Also, planting in a tub means little bending over!!!

The kids went out for the day...ds wants to show his fam the falls that aren't far from here. Should be a nice day for them, and a break for us too. Our older son is away for most of the weekend too.

I didn't sleep well last night...ended up taking my pain and sleep med way too late but at least it helped me get a few hours of sleep. I'm having a lot of trouble with steps (up) and getting up and down in general. I can tell I am losing my core strength. Strange how this came on so suddenly. A few nights ago I tripped over my little gd (2). Went completely down on the carpet (thank God it was carpet!). My wrist and knee really hurt at the time but I recovered quickly. I keep saying I need to get back to a gym class that does exercises that strengthen the core but haven't done it yet. I try to work at it here at home but with the kids here it is easy to forget or simply put off.I also continue to ache and occasionally have headaches. I also continue to cough from the last virus I had...I'm wondering if the achiness is related to virus as well I hope so, as then it will go away in time. Yesterday I babysat for a couple hours. I enjoyed it but it was very tiring for me even as short a time as it was! The two and four year old seem to cry (scream!) a lot and it wears on me. Everyday I pray for grace and strength and so far we are doing ok. Last night was pantry night and I just fixed boxed mac and cheese (they love it!) and fish sticks. The fish sticks weren't crunchy enough so didn't all get eaten. I was so tired I forgot a veggie. Not that anyone but me cared.

Like Love2garden, I feel better when I'm active but being active is getting harder to do. Not sure what we will do today. It's a beautiful day but all I want to do is sleep. Think dh is going to work in the yard. That's what he does most days. I have a pot roast in the slow cooker. I marinated it in vinegar for about 24 hours ,poured that off, and put it in the slow cooker this morning with sliced onion and coffee. I will let it cook on low all day. It's a new recipe for me. Hope it will be good. This part of our family likes potatoes so will probably serve with it, make a gravy and also some other veggie. I won't tell them about the vinegar and coffee or they probably won't even try it!

Hope you are all having a good weekend...Hi Glynne, Carol Sue!

My hands and elbow have really been hurting. I was taking Motrin, but then I had some palpitations so I got scared and didn't take it yesterday or last night. I did put ice on my elbow, and I run warm water over my hands. I gave in and made a doctor's appointment for Wednesday. I hope he can take care of this elbow and not send me to someone else.

Mary, I never would have thought to marinate a roast in vinegar. Does it make it taste of vinegar, or just tenderize it?

I'm so sorry to hear of your fall! I hope you don't suffer any ill effects from it. The normal aches and pain of aging is bad enough. I think the answer really is exercise, and we all need it.

Love2garden, I will have to look into those begonias. I think they would do well in my yard.