Shad
Re-The trip is to attend a wedding and yes they do have it down for approximately 65 people to attend. I feel honored that he wanted to invite me but he would understand if I couldn't make it. If I don't go that would give one of their friends a place.

Cejay - If you don't know the couple well then it would be a nice gesture to not attend the wedding breakfast and just go to the ceremony. As you say it gives them a space for a close friend or another family member as they chose. Sometimes weddings guest lists are all about inviting family that we haven't seem for years and don't know at all. I'd rather have someone I could relate to. Not saying that you don't relate. You know what I mean.

hope all is well
 

Hope all of you are doing something that you love very much every day. Life is a precious thing. Blessings to of you and your famlies. Renae

Hi I do hope you are doing so well. That your garden is beautiful and prosperous. I so often think of Mel and how sweetly she treated everyone. Her daily struggles were more then we can know I am sure. I am going to be in Boise, ID and away from my home for about 6 months receiving treatment for breast cancer. I have had surgery and received my first round of chemo. It is full of challenges many wait ahead of me. I am getting good care and staying with my youngest Jesse and his lovely wife Morgann. My dog Little Bear has come with me to keep good watch over me. The winter here has been mild so spring is really just around the corner. Having more time on my hands I thought of you and just thought you might want to know about my journey.
Take good care of yourself,
Renae

Nae,
So sorry to hear that you are having problems too. Please PM me your e-mail address so I can keep up with you while you are away. You are right, I would be interested to know how you go.

I presume you know that Mel passed away just over a year ago?

Susie ~ Yeah I agree my profile pic is a great motivational tool

Michelle & Happy ~ Hi, How have you been doing? I hope you've been doing great

Laura ~ Yeah I agree exercise does help. Yeah I find working out on machines is boring too.

Dee ~ Yeah I know I sometimes dont feel like working out 3 times a day but I just keep telling myself that I'm not gonna get to my goal if I dont work out.

Renae ~ Welcome back to the thread

Claygirl ~ I love the round pottery picture

Ceejay ~ I'm still around here but I just didnt have time to post yesterday.

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Woke up at 6:30 this morning. I went to an appt. at 10:00 a.m which my appt. wasnt until 10:30 a.m. and came back home at noon. I still need to do my 30 min. walking dvd tonight though which I will before I go to bed tonight. I hope everyone is having a great night.

Update----I'm going to Houston. My sister insisted that I purchase tickets tonight. I told her that if I got to Dallas crabby not to fuss at me just put me to bed. And that I wanted a Braum's burger when I got there. I'm dreading the drive to Little Rock but I'm now looking forward to going.

Morning all,

Got up at 5:30 today to see the old boy off. Now I have the whole day to myself :dance: :yay: Sometimes it's good just to have a day on your own.

Got my hair cut yesterday. I showed her some highlights I liked and she misinterpreted what I was saying. Instead of low lights (darker streaks) she added more blonde so my hair is substantially lighter than it was before. I don't notice much of a difference but he did the minute I walked in the door. We weren't home too long before we had to go back out to the eye doctor. What a waste that was. 2 and a half hours in the office - they didn't even take us until an hour after our scheduled appointments. And they even bumped some people in ahead of me who were complaining about the long wait. :mad: My near vision has weakened - no surprise there. He said I have the beginnings of cataracts in both eyes - yet another sad reminder of being old. :( This is why I am having trouble focusing when reading - things just aren't "sharp" and after 15 minutes it gets straining on the eyes. Not bad enough for surgery but it will be in my future one day. This also means I have to rethink all those books I have squirreled away to read one day - especially the older ones with the tiny print. DH will be happy to hear that as he thinks I have too many books laying around for too long that I have not read. The one thing that bugged me is because I have always been on the computer for work and leisure and I wear blended bifocals, I have had "computer" glasses. A mid range prescription that does not cause neck strain trying to look at the bottom of my glasses for the close up vision. I've been wearing these for 15 years and it's actually hard for me to focus on the computer with my regular glasses. This guy gave me a really hard time about computer glasses - said to get a new prescription (for all 3 levels) and I should be ok. He forgot to listen / care about what I was saying about cricking my neck. Said if I wanted this I would have to measure the exact distance between my computer screen and my eyes and they'd have to do all sorts of complex calculations to get the right prescription (think Einstein's chalk board with the theory of relativity math calculation on it ;) ) I know in the past it's been a best guess to the prescription to estimate the mid range distance but it's never really been a problem before. I was not happy. DH was not happy with the guy either and said next time we will just drive the hour to the next town and see the same guy who did his cataract surgery. This guy is a opthamologist and everyone in town I talked to who sees him was very complimentary about him. I saw him in the fall when I had shingles and thought he was ok which is why I made the appointment to see him yesterday. I guess the cataracts are why I see things a bit fuzzy - I thought your eye clouded over but DH said no, you just can't focus well. I thought my vision was just getting really bad and each year I was closer to getting a guide dog.

Ceejay - it's a pity that you have to drive so far to get a flight. Memphis airport has nothing but (long) connections - you are better off at Little Rock. I hope you have a good time even if you don't attend the entire reception. Oh my - what a very scary dream! I picked up the pork all by myself. They put it in nice cardboard trays so I was able to carry it to and from my car - then I transferred it to cooler bags until I could get everything in the freezer.

Terra - that's very true - you will never get to goal if you don't push yourself. Just keep up the good work.

Shad - little Miss S is so very adorable - looks a bit like daddy too. Nice age too - lots of fun and very cute. I'm glad a certain someone found your gifts good enough for her to wear ;) Looks like you get quite a bit of mileage out of your garden. Good idea also to get the fruit in season and freeze it. I am hearing more about the benefits of eating the peels of citrus fruit. I do know that the essential flavorful oils are in the peel / zest. However I do worry about the concentrations of pesticides in the skins also. Not sure I see organic citrus up this way. How was the birthday party? Did you find a gift? I give my Mom candy - at least she eats it right away. Everything else gets stowed away (and forgotten) because "it's too good to use right now" :rolleyes: I think the best gift for them is actually just to be surrounded by people and gushed upon. The elderly tend to get forgotten and rather lonely so company can be the best gift.

Nae - I am very sorry to hear of your cancer woes. Will send some healing prayers your way. I wish you well and a speedy recovery.

Laura - deveining shrimp is not so bad - provided you get the big pricy ones :lol: The shrimp shells make a wonderful and flavorful broth for a nice sauce when cooked with a bit of vegetable broth, onions, carrots and celery and seasonings. I loved the Grumpy Old Men movies - Burgess Meredith totally stole the show - just like Clint Eastwood's mom ? character in Every Which Way But Loose. I will be very interested to hear how the yogalities class works out. I think you are smart going with the park district punch card - gives you lots of variety.

Claygirl - loved your pottery. How pretty! You are right - they make it look so easy on TV - didn't realize it takes talent to get things looking nice. We had some horsehair pottery someone donated to the thrift store - it was decorated with strands of horsehair but if you didn't know that it looked like fine lines of painting. Very different. I thought it was pretty myself. Yikes - that sounds like a disastrous situation with your sister and her partner. I think you are right that if you say anything, it will put her on the defensive. Sometimes you just would like to spare a person some pain but they have to figure that out for themselves. Sorry you have a mean neighbor cat, they tend to give cats a bad name. Any animal who bites unless threatened or backed into a corner is not good.

Michelle - I hope you will not have gallbladder problems now. Given the limitations of your diet you need to get some fats in order for the gallbladder to work properly. I know it's got to be difficult to get everything you need into your body while eating substantially less. Hope you will be ok but at least it's something you can be aware of for now. Always something, right?

Annie - I had to smile at your comments about your hairdresser. Isn't your hairdresser Sissy? :lol: I hope she can work out her issues with C. Relationships are far more complicated than they used to be it seems. It's also a major strain on anyone when money is hard to come by. I hear you on the hairstyles. I was just saying to my sister yesterday, every new cut seems to morph into the standard style I have always had. The only difference is the length of my hair. :lol: I look at girls with thick hair with body and texture and I am always envious - I think they are the only ones who can change styles and always look good.

Dee - what cute and adorable puppies! Sometimes I go to sleep with my iPOD when DH is not using his cpap and snoring up a storm. The music is enough to dull the sound of him but then I start snoring too. I said that was in response to his "singing" :rofl:

I guess this is enough for me - been sitting here a few hours already and I don't want to waste the entire day away. I have to render down the lard I got and there is the usual pesky housework thing to do. Have a good weekend everyone!

Hi ladies,

Quick post for me. I saw the my regular doctor yesterday. She ordered blood tests and a urinalysis to check for gallbladder and kidney problems. Urinalysis showed no signs of infection...blood test results haven't come back yet. She also ordered an ultrasound which I had done last night. I'm not sure if I'll learn the results before Tuesday or Wednesday since this is a holiday weekend.

The pain is at a 1 or 2 (out of 10) right now and was minimal most of the day yesterday...so I told the doc that the pain is really mild except when it isn't. Then it shoots up to a 8 or 9.

Santa and I are going to the dog park this morning, then I'll take him to day care while I go visit Bob...then it will be back to the dog park until dark, and then home to do laundry.

D and I went and saw the movie "Wild" on Thursday night. I thought it was excellent. I thought Reese Witherspoon was really good. The scenery was gorgeous! I checked the book out from the library and have just started it. Two of my cousins want to hike a section of the Pacific Crest Trail this summer. I'd like to join them if it's for a short-ish stretch. I guess I'd better start training. LOL

I'll come back for personals later.

Much love,
Michelle

Morning all,

The party yesterday was great. The 80 year old is probably the most sprightly person I have met - she is great for her age. I tell you what, if I am that good when/ if I get to 80 then I will be a very happy person. For her present, I bought some flowers and a gift card. Between the two of them and the card, it added up to $80 so I think I did okay. It was so hot though. The hall where it was held did not have air conditioning and with all the bodies, it was around 33C which was not quite as hot as in my place yesterday. 38.5 at 11.45 was as hot as it got. For those not into centigrade that is somewhere between 104 and 107F. The aircon ran for most of the day. Today is a bit cloudy and will (apparently) not be as bad. We shall see.

So for today I have to repot some orchids, dust and sweep the house, finish with the limes (only 10 more to do), put all the gardening stuff away and shut up the shed, pack for Melbourne and a few other bits and pieces that we all have to do from time to time. If there is time, I might get to some more painting - but I am not counting on it. If I can get all the other outside stuff done, then that will be next weekends task. Then I need to get a tradie in for a few tasks such as boxing up for some concrete and replacing some of the rotten wood on the pergola.

Ceejay - not sure what a Braums burger is but enjoy it when you get it. Glad you are going to the family do.

Terra - when is your next weigh in?

Happy - I get really grumpy when doctors do that to me. I feel that my time is just as precious as theirs. Especially when I am working away from home and I don't have enough time to do everything I want to do. Hope you go back to the one that you liked and get some sort of satisfaction. Cataracts - oh no!!!!
Not sure of the benefits of eating citrus peel. I tend to wash my citrus (even though it is organic) in fairly warm water - sometimes they seem to put a wax on the skins, no doubt to keep them fresh, and it is hard to zest them. So when I buy them, I scrub them up with the nail brush and take those silly labels off them.
Nothing lonely or forgotten about that 80yearold I can tell you. She is the life and soul of many a party. She was up dancing at once stage until she got too hot.

Nae - Thanks for the blessings. We could sure do with some good news on the thread right about now.

Michelle - Hope the doctor can alleviate the pain for you soon. Even though it is not too bad at the moment, living with pain can be incredibly tiring.

Okay - so I am out of here to get some things done outside before the heat hits again. I'm repotting orchids and tidying up in the yard. Don't think I will get the top of hedge trimmed, but who knows. See you

A quick on for me tonight. I've been spoiling myself with extra sleep in the mornings this week end. I slept till 11 today. I'm going to have trouble getting up in the morning.
Called my sister this morning to wish her a happy birthday. She turned 62.
Still doing my counter height push ups and am beginning to see a difference. Rode my bike for 20 minutes with 10 minutes of light weights.
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Shad
Braums is an eatery that has really good burgers. Thinking about asking my cousin and his wife who are both retired but younger than myself to drive me to Little Rock.

Happy
You shed some light for me today with your visit to the eye doctor and cataracts. I was wondering why my vision wouldn't be as clear except for a certain period of time. I'm hoping that my cataracts won't be ready for removal until I retire.
Where did your hubby go?

Michelle
I'd forgotten about this being a holiday week end. Hope the pain doesn't get to bad.

Terra
Keep up with the exercise. You and Michelle are still motivating me.

Hi ladies,

My pain in the side has eased up. Now just a 1 or 2. I won't have the ultrasound test results back until Tuesday, but the blood tests were normal. The doctor said the pain could just be sore muscles from working out. Which I guess would make sense since I haven't gotten much exercise in the past couple days. But it just didn't feel like sore muscles, which is why I was concerned. We'll see what the ultrasound comes back with and if everything is ok...then I won't worry.

I spent a few hours at the hospital with Bob yesterday. The plan now is for him to be released in a week or so to in-home hospice care. He'll need 24x7 care, and the challenge is to find care that the insurance will pay for. The insurance would pay for him to be in a nursing facility, but he really wants to be at home.

Today, I'm going to watch the Packer playoff game at the bar with my friends. After the game, I will take Santa to the dog park, then come home and do laundry.

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Happy - So sorry to hear about the cataracts, and about the unpleasant eye doctor. Where did your DH go? Yes, it is nice to have a day to ourselves sometimes.

Ceejay - Good for you for sleeping in. Your body must need the rest. Bummer that you have to drive so far to catch your flight to Texas.

Shad - Glad you enjoyed the party, and I'm sure the 80 year old did too. My step-mom is 76 and she's doing better physically than her two sons and me and my sister. She's always busy with sewing and quilting groups, senior groups and traveling. Little Miss S is not so little anymore! She's growing up so fast...and so beautiful!


Terra - Good to hear you're keeping up with the exercises.

Nae - So sorry to hear you have cancer. Good that you can stay with family while receiving your treatments. Sending you good vibes, healing wishes and keeping you in my prayers.


:wave: to Laura, Annie, Dee, Susie and Claygirl!

Much love and many hugs to all,

Day's and time have eluded me...but I have made it back.

Update on the knee and the hip/leg. Ortho confirmed through x-rays that I have a bit of arthritis in my left hip and most likely the knee is throwing off my gait and I have everything on the left side inflamed. He thought the chiropractor was right on the money and told me to keep doing what he told me to do and to get periodic adjustments if they help with the pain and the range of motion.

I am also going to do 6 weeks of physical therapy starting next week. My first appointment is on Tuesday. They will assess me and my goals and we will work towards those. I was talking to my ortho about how out of shape I am in and how much weight I have gained since he told me no more 5 k's and such. He really listened and then had me try some things, push ups, sit up, leg lifts, etc. He saw how limited I was and how much strength I have lost, then he decided on the pt. I actually cried when he suggested it and he thought he had said something to upset me. I told him "no it doesn't upset me, I am crying because someone finally heard me!" I want to move and not be in pain. He said they will help me learn that and get on the path to wellness again.

Michelle: I had my gallbladder out when I was 21 (many, many years ago). I had lost a lot of weight and then started having issues. I have two friends who have had weight-loss surgery and ended up with gallstones as well. I hope they figure out what the issue really is for you as it is not fun to have any pain. I can tell you that a gallbladder attack is the most painful thing I have every had in my life! I still remember it. In fact when I came out of surgery (and it wasn't laparoscopic...that didn't exist when I had mine out--it was just starting to be done in the big cities), they asked me how my pain level was--it was a pretty big incision--my scar looks like I was in a blade fight and lost! and all I could tell them was that the constant pain between my shoulder blades was gone and I felt really good.

:hug::hug::hug: to you and your friend Bob. My heart just breaks for you and for him. You both are in my prayers.

Terra: I see you were not posting for few days but you seem to be back into the swing of things now. Good for you!

Ceejay: I think it will be good for your to go on the trip and just get away from the pace of every day life.
:carrot: Excited that you won a $50 Walmart card...who can't use that!!

Good job on your counter push-ups keep it up.

Happy: it is frustrating when we can't see that well to read. I am dealing with a bit of that as well. I use "cheaters" right now but I feel that some sort of true "reading classes" for the computer and such are in my future. I am just trying to be happy that I can still see things far away.

Annie: I hope your DH is feeling better and will stop eating/drinking the things that bother his stomach. Men, they don't want to listen and they want us to fix it!

Sorry to hear that your daughter and hubby are having issues. All you can do is be her mom...listen, give advice when it is asked for and just love her...and him too....as much as you can. And pray! we both know that prayer and being focused in our faith and showing others how to do that is a powerful tool, especially when we see no hope or no way to fix it.

Shad: your grand-daughter is so adorable!

Claygirl: Your pottery is beautiful! I have made one piece of pottery and it is something that I want to do it again. It is on my "bucket" list.
How are you feeling?

Dee--those puppies are adorable!

Laura: It sounds like you have a great plan with your new exercise regimen.
I finally got the charger for my fitbit from my brother and it is charging now.

I have went back into my fitness pal and updated things and I'm going to reset my fitbit and get back to it.

Happy & Ceejay ~ Thanks, I will keep up with my exercise and diet

Shad ~ I weighed myself this morning, The scale said 283 and I was 286

Michelle ~ Yeah doing my exercises and and staying at or under my calories are the only way I'm gonna get to my goal.

Susie ~ Yeah I havent been posting for a few days but I'm back to posting now.

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Woke up at 6:40 this morning and My mom and I went to church at 7:30 a.m. and church started at 8:15 a.m. and we left church at 9:00 and then we came back home and picked up my brother and then we went to Jimmy's Egg and then we went to Dillions and then we came home and pick everything up and then we went to walmart and then we came home for the rest of the day. At 1:40 p.m. I went outside and walked for over an hour. Tonight I'm gonna do 20 mins of my walking dvd and then I'm gonna go to bed for the night.