Bargoo

Dagmar

Michele Potluck, by definition, is a meal to be shared by a group, to which participants bring various foods. I think your idea of fruit is fine. If you want to "fancy it up" a bit you could cut the fruit into chunks or segments or whatever, and also bring along a dip for it. Greek yogurt with a bit of honey is a good fruit dip, as is vanilla greek yogurt.

Becky My snacking food is stuff I don't prepare as usually I'm really tired and ready to just crash when I want it. I've tried carbs/fats but wound up eating things like boxes of crackers or whole bags of nuts . I decided to prepare my fruit this morning and peeled and segmented 2 Minneolas. They are in a pretty glass bowl and coming to room temp as I type this. if I can get the prep donw in the a.m. I really do enjoy eating fruit in the p.m.

The mental/emotional thing is a bit harder. The candy still seems to be more of a reward than the fruit. The fruit is something I have at hand while the candy is a "special" purchase. Amazing how we can rationalize stuff, yes?

Dagmar

Waving to Bargoo - Good to hear that you appreciated "the cutest male nurse."

bargoo

Bargoo, my Dad had a port and was glad to be done with the needle sticking and worrying about bruising or vein collapses.

It's always good to see your posts: Always on the side of the animals.

Bargoo, glad your treatment seems to be going well. I had to have three different IVs put in the week I was in the hospital before delivering my girls and it was a disaster as I have awful tiny veins. To be quite honest the time they tried to draw blood from a vein in my foot actually hurt worse than labor & delivery! If I ever need to be hospitalized again I might opt for a port!

Also laughing about the cute nurse. When I was a teenager the only reason I didn't mind going to the dentist was because my dentist was a total hottie.

I think I need to buy a bulk package of baby food prunes. It seems like unless they eat a container of prunes every day, the girls get constipated. And if they're constipated, they're grouchy and don't sleep well. Although last night they weren't too bad -- just up at 3 for a snack, then up for the day at 5, though I think they may have slept better if we'd dressed them a bit more warmly. It got so cold outside that our heater just can't keep up. We have the heater set to 69-70 degrees so that the babies will be more comfortable but it was only 64 in the house this morning, and the heater had been running more or less constantly all night. We put them in two pairs of PJ's and a sleep sack for their first nap!

Dagmar, oh, yes ... the brain is a powerful force to reckon with when it guides the hand.

Jessica, I don't think anybody can have a good outlook when things are backed up! I hear you on the heaters - I'm almost afraid to go out and check the propane levels. Going to be an expensive winter.

DH comes home tonight. DS beat the bug and went back to school this morning. The flooring is down in the bathroom and closet and inspections are almost done. The last nasty piece is the drywall finishing - so glad that somebody else is doing it! Only question is where the heck are my oak doors? Time to make a phone call. All in all ... life's good. And BONUS - it's Friday!!! And speaking of bonus, I just found out that we have some very healthy profit-sharing this year.

My brother called last night. At first I thought he was just bored (his wife and youngest daughter left for Australia and he doesn't leave for another few days). I was wrong. He had news about my Dad. He got in another accident (just as I've been predicting but he's "a good driver"). His 20+ year old car (which was "totaled" by his last accident but he fixed it anyway) lost both headlights and ruptured the radiator when he rear-ended someone. He claims it did nothing to the car he hit. Apparently no one was hurt (thank goodness). He told the tow truck driver to just take it to the junk yard (again, thank goodness).

My sister is going to call him today to get his story. We're all wondering just how many times his story will change. His last accident changed at least a dozen times before we got the real story.

Anyway, it is a relief he's off the road. Not that I wanted it this way, but at least he can't do anyone any harm now. But it's going to be more work for my brother and SIL as they'll have to run his errands and everything now.

Allison, glad your dad is okay and that nobody else was hurt! I remember we got my grandma to stop driving after she had a couple minor accidents in a row of, "I was stepping on the brake but the car just kept going faster."

Becky, good to hear your renovations are going well!

Just as a general update, Carter is still doing great with being gated away from the babies. DH's mom was over yesterday and Carter didn't even mind that he couldn't beg his grandma for snuggles while she was in the play room. This morning I was getting ready to leave for work and I started looking around for Carter because I always give him some scratches before I go, and I realized I hadn't heard a peep from him all morning -- he was asleep on the couch!

There was an accident here this past fall where an 80ish year old man hit the accelerator instead of the brake and plowed into the fence of an elementary school where the children were out playing in the yard. One 10 year old boy was airlifted to Loma Linda hospital where they had to amputate his leg. The man claimed his brand new car (bought it the day before) had malfunctioned. The authorities could find nothing wrong with the car and now they're planning on charging the guy with a DUI as he had a slight amount of alcohol in his system (said it was from a glass of wine the night before).

When I get old I'd like to live in an apartment/condo complex that is within walking distance to a grocery store and perhaps a couple restaurants and a theater. There are plenty of places just like that here. I wish my Dad weren't so damn stubborn. Why he feels he "needs" to stay in his five bedroom, three bathroom house is beyond my comprehension.

Oh, and he claims my brother went to his house a few weeks ago and turned off the water to one of the bathroom sinks and was going to install a new faucet for him. My brother did no such thing. Now we're wondering who it was that offered to fix the leaky faucet.

That's great news on the financial front Becky! Should help with your house renovations.

Allison-- Sorry to hear about your dad but it may be a blessing in disguise. I'm also hoping that my MIL's shoulder surgery may put an end to her driving. She isn't terrible but I don't really want her on the road. And I agree with you-- I'd love to live somewhere within walking distance to everything.

When I'm old, I want to live in one of those cool senior communities that are designed to be navigated by golf cart. I'm going to paint flames on the sides and put a lift kit on it. Plus a suicide knob on the steering wheel for good measure.

Allison, I'm glad there is no tragedy with your story. None of my grandparents stopped driving without an accident being involved.

DH's 95 year old father refuses to stop driving. Shortly before Xmas he apparently went into a spin during a a snow storm. He finally told DH about it shortly into January.
He hasn't driven since.

DH takes him shopping once per week. This week they went in during a snow storm and DH said that his Dad started seriously freaking out. Must be that spin really scared him bad.

We wonder if he will want to drive once the warm weather returns....

My dad continued to drive in Estonia until he was in an accident and they suspended his license over there. He had a brain scan done and they felt he'd had a small stroke and shouldn't be driving. He claimed his "brain had pulled a trick" and that he was fine.

Over here we found out he was driving WITHOUT insurance. I tried to take his keys but he physically tried to beat me up when I was doing so. I held his wrists and watched him twist and shout (sorry Beatles fans) and finally wet his pants.

Then I took the keys. I had to start driving him to the store and running his errands. I put him in touch with a seniors organization that charged a tiny fee for driving folks to appointments but he refused to use them. He also refused to give up his car, even though he couldn't drive it.

I plan to retire in a much smaller city (can't afford a condo in downtown Toronto) and have been there for a look see. I think I can manage to get a small 2 bedroom house within walking distance of all that we will need, plus have a bit of money left over. We will need to keep one car as the bus service there is mostly non-existent. I tried to take the bus twice and it was faster to walk to where I was going.

I imagine DH and I will have to work part time until we die as DH's and my Canada pensions will be miniscule. I was speaking with a guy at Home Depot who is 74 and works there on the weekend to keep his mind occupied and for some social contact. I expect DH and I will go the same route - work the shifts no one else wants and then have the week off.

SIGH. Better than the alternative I guess.

Dagmar

Morning, Dagmar!