2017 hot tub - come on in the water's fine!

m

Please move into our pool for summer!! Hope you're having a great summer so far!!

Karen, I will be very interested to hear about your surgery. Have fun with DGD. I use to live bologna sandwiches but haven't had one in a very long time.
Seni, don't blame you.....they sure need to be told.

Sennimo, I don't blame you. They definitely should fix it.

They have really made some big strides on surgery since my last one four years ago. It will be interesting to see how it affects recovery.

I'm babysitting my four year old granddaughter today. I see a lot of Disney in my future. Apparently her favorite lunch is now bologna sandwiches because that's what Goofy eats. Fortunately for her, that's also Mike's favorite lunch so we have bologna on hand. I think I"ll just have a protein shake. :)

The of my diplomas came in the mail today. And it's grammatically incorrect?!?! WTH?? It cost me THOUSANDS of dollars and they can't use proper grammar?? Sigh. I'm making calls first thing tomorrow. This needs to be fixed!!

Karen, this sounds so different from when I had my surgery. I like the idea of not being cut as much, wishing you a speedy recovery. It is also grest that your daughter is coming out to help
You will need it for awhile.

Joint came was interesting. They use computers now during surgery to make sure all the angles, positions, and sizes of everything are precise- supposed to mean less cutting and faster recovery. I'm supposed to go home in two days instead of the four it used to be. We'll see. So this time next week I may be heading back home with my new hardware. I'm dreading it, but will be relieved to have it over with. I'm tired of hurting all the time.

Mike came home last night.Home health is supposed to call today. He's going to have skilled nursing, PT and OT. Maybe I can get the same people and we can do a double session lol. My daughter will be out a week from tomorrow to help me the first week. Today I'm heading to my regular doctor for my surgical clearance from him. I've already had all the labs, x-rays and stuff done. Interesting thing- they no longer tell you not to drink anything after midnight. Anesthesia is now recommending that you drink something carb heavy before surgery like Gatorade or another clear liquid (even soda is okay).

Went out for an hour walk before my morning coffee. That will definitely happen again!

10 am, I'm already in the shop, had my oatmeal for breakfast, watered my plants out front, fielded my first phone call with the new number (automated telemarketing ) and got most of my sparking done! I even finally hit 50k sparkpoints!

Now, on to the rest of the day!

Donna, I dealt with numbers and a computer all day yesterday and went home exhausted. I was wondering how I was going to manage an 10 hour day when I can hardly manage an 8 hour one. I think one reason is I'm just not getting enough sleep. My body is wearing down. I think I'm going to have to call my Dr. and ask if we can up the dosage of the sleeping pill some more, thankfully we can go up quite a bit.

When I got home there was a notice stuck in our door that our lease would be running out soon. We had already gotten that notice once and the lady in the office has been promising me for over a month to get a new one written up. We had to pay the rent so we both went down and took the letter with us. The good news is they are doing some kind of promotion and it said we would get $20.00, I thought that was a one time thing but it's not it's $20.00 off our rent every month, so our rent only went up $40.00. WooHOO! There was a new lady in the office, the other one had transferred, I've never seen such a big turn over. She wrote the new lease up while we waited, I'm so relieved that's done.

We are off in the morning on our trip. Tomorrow is our 6th wedding anniversary, I can't believe it's been 6 years already. Seems like we have been married forever. He's so good to me. So glad we found each other. It's been fun reminiscing about when we were dating. I should get out our wedding pictures and take them along. Looking forward to a long weekend, hoping I can get some good rest.

See you all next week.
Shirley

Karen, that's not good about your hubby. I hope they get it sorted out before you have your surgery. What a mess.......
I know I was the same way before mine. I could not walk very far at all and I was so relieved to have it done.
We will be thinking about you.
Shirley, it's good to have a few things prepared for your long days. I am sure you are very tired when you get home....

Karen, I so hope today goes well for you, what do you do joint camp day? Sounds interesting.
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers that all will go well with your surgery. I'm so glad I had my other knee done when I did. So so sorry to hear about Mike. I hope things get figured out fast and he can go home before you have surgery. How long will you be in the hospital?

It rained here most of the weekend, what a mess. We went to church on Sunday and then out to the movies, it was a good date day!

Yesterday, my dh had to work but he worked from home. All I seemed to do this weekend was cook and do dishes, I'm trying to freeze some food for the start of 10 hour days next week. Just dreading it. I also got some house cleaning done and a few other chores along with laundry. It was a busy weekend, by yesterday afternoon I had to go crash for awhile so I thought I would go read, I fell asleep for a few hours. I felt better afterwards.

Seni sorry about your wash out of a weekend, hoping you are doing okay today.
Have a great one everyone!

Joint camp day! I'm ready to get this done next week. My knee was not happy with the sitting and trekking through the airports Sunday and has been very sore. Mike is in the hospital. He fell Friday and laid on the floor all day. I called my son to check on him Friday evening when I couldn't get a hold of him. My son and step son got him up, but he fell 4 times on Saturday, and again Sunday morning. They think it's from the pain meds he was put on on Wed. for a bladder infection. He got dehydrated and had a small bleed in his head. He's also got a black eye and swollen hand. What a mess. He's doing better but he's got fluid in his lungs and having breathing problems. PT and OT are going to come by and do an eval. to see if he can come home with home health or if he needs to go to rehab for a couple of weeks. I'm not going to be much help to him after this week. I guess we can do PT together.

It didn't look too bad when I left this morning, but by the time I had set up? It rained buckets. Sigh. At least I had plastic sheeting with me to cover things! And I stayed dry in the car until it cleared up and I could load my car. Rain+wet grass +climbing curbs+incline=afternoon with legs elevated, ice packs, and pain meds.

Goal-pain free work days by end of summer.

Shirley, I use to get up everyday around 5 when I was working and looked forward to sleeping in. It didn't happen. I am still an early riser but now I don't have to rush.....
Glad the day was good with Destiny.

Karen, I've heard of essential oils but have never tried them. I might look into it. I took an anxiety pill last night because I usually sleep really well when I take them. I have to be careful because they are addictive, I slept pretty good until 3 am and then I was wide awake as usual so I just got up. It's about the time I eat breakfast every morning so I guess that's what I will do next, throw in another load of laundry and start cooking dinner so it'll be ready. DH wants today to be our date day. Church, lunch out, a movie, and home to eat. I have a list a mile long that I wanted to accomplish this weekend and I'm not getting much done on it. I'm so glad I have tomorrow off. Schools out so the long boring summer days begin soon. One more week of 8 hour days and then we move to 10. We are all dreading it, talked to my boss last week and she said we don't have a lot planned outside of office. A lot of times will go out to school libraries that need help but this year we don't really have anything to do.

We went to my ds and dil's house for a cook-out last night. Destiny is so cute. She was swimming in her kiddie pool when we got there and she kept wanting me to pick her up, she was all wet but I would pick her up anyway. She didn't have a lot to do with us a few weeks ago when we saw her but yesterday was much better. She sat on my lap several times and even went to Grampie couple of times and we got big hug good-bye hugs. I so wish we lived closer to each other.
Anyway, I need to go and get busy.

Hope the day is worthwhile for you

Sales weren't fabulous, but weren't bad, either. It's going to be a while before unloading, setting up, taking down, and loading don't wear me out and cause pain, but I'm working f on it. We'll see in the morning what the weather looks like. If it's yucky, I'm not going to the market. I'll go work in my shop

Shirley, I'm not sure if you are into essential oils or not. I take some capsules called Serenity at night. They are from DoTerra. I took them for a week before they started working. They don't necessarily help me sleep through the night, but when I do wake up I am calmer (my mind is usually racing) and can fall back asleep easier. It's been a godsend for me because I struggle with insomnia.

Shirley, your Dad probably feels a relief from the worry of your step Mom. Now he has lots of people around and it does take the pressure off him, I can imagine he feels better.
Had a very early lab appointment this morning so I was out of the house before 7. That is early for me. Hopefully the results will be the same as last year and I won't have to take any meds. Not bad for a 70+ female!!,
Have a great weekend all!

So... another sleepless night. I'm thinking I'm going to have to ask for another increase in the sleeping pill she gave me recently. I slept a whole 4 hours last night and it wasn't restful at all. I woke up about 2 with a monster of a headache, took some Advil and it did nothing. I'm so glad this is a 3 day weekend, I need it. Going to have a cook-out with my ds, dil and the grandbaby tomorrow. That will help. She always cheers me up. Next Thursday is our 6 year anniversary so we are going to Charlotte, one day for ourselves and then spend a day with his dd, grandson and his ds will be there visiting. We are both looking so forward to it. Then home to start the dreaded 10 hour days on June 5th.

Seni I love those ideas, I don't think I could do the pedal thingy just not enough room but I could see me doing plant roller. Don't overdo it this weekend with all of your markets, I do hope you have great weather and lots of sales. I would love to do that, getting to talk to people and just being outside especially if it's cool and not humid.

Talked to my dad last night, he sounds better and happier since they have gotten settled into assisted living. He's always been a man of very few words, kind of withdrawn, but last night he talked my ear off, we were on the phone for almost 30 mins. I hung up and thought was that really my dad? He's meeting up with a couple of guys he used to work with and the son of my great aunt. He hasn't seen any of these guys in over 20 years. It was good to hear the excitement in his voice.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday. I'm spending Monday doing laundry, cleaning house and packing as much as I can. My dh has to work. I still can't believe he gets Labor Day off but not Memorial Day. He was talking about interviewing people and taking pictures on Monday, I asked him who he thought he was going to catch up with on a holiday? He totally forgot. LOL

Yikes, Shirley, I'm glad everything turned out ok! You may want to look into one of those portable steppers or pedal thingy's to put under your desk. I know someone who put a wheeled plant holder (those little round ones that go on the floor? To make it easier to move your plants around?) under the desk and rolled her feet back and forth while sitting there. It is surprisingly relaxing and helped a lot.

Hope everyone is having a good week. I'm hoping for lots of tourists and sales this weekend. Lots of physical work for me, three days of loading and unloading, plus setting up and taking down. Whew! As long as I keep my intake in line, I'll do great with my weight this summer. Plenty of exercise in store.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend!

Shirley, how scary for you. Yes, with your long days coming up you will have to make sure you move much more. I know it will be a challenge.
Karen yes any time we are looking forward to a surgery we worry how it will turn out. It is very scary.....
Enjoy the spa,,,,it is wonderful.

Shirley, how scary! I'm glad whatever it was resolved itself and there's no blood clot.

Judy, wow, I'm sorry that you are having so much trouble. I hope the new doctor has some better answers for you. That's one of my biggest fears about my upcoming surgery. It's my right knee, and I need for the whole thing to go smoothly so I can return to work in August.

I'm having a wonderful time with my family. Bethany's graduation was last night and it was fun to celebrate it. Yesterday morning my daughter and I went to the hot springs. I'm hoping to go again at least one more time while I'm here. So restful!

So good to hear from you Judy. I'm so sorry to hear you are still having problems. You've been on my mind lately and I was wondering how you were getting along. You sure have been through a lot. I hope the new Dr. has some answers and that it's minor. Thank goodness you are doing a little better. How frustrating for you. I hope you get to go do something fun this summer, you sure deserve it.

Well I had quite the day yesterday. I woke up with pain and swelling in my calf. I came to work hoping it would go away but it didn't so I called the Dr. and they made me come in, she couldn't tell anything so sent me to a vascular center for a scan. When the technician was done he said no blood clot so you're free to leave. I was telling my husband what? I'm not seeing a Dr. for the pain? It was so painful just getting in and out of the car even. They told me they would fax the results over to my Dr. and she would call me, she called me yesterday evening and said she thought it was just a pulled muscle. I felt fine when I went to bed and I hadn't done anything that would have pulled it so I must have done it in bed? LOL! I got up this morning and there was no pain. So bizarre! I'm glad it wasn't a clot the Dr. was telling me either I would be put in the hospital or I would have to give myself shots for several months. My dh was so wonderful, today at noon is his deadline and he had a lot to do yesterday but when I called him and told him what was going on he dropped everything and came home, he got there in time to take me to get a scan. He was way more nervous than I was. My Drs. office staff went way above and beyond, they had been trying to call the center where I was getting a scan and already had all of the orders written up for me. They knew she would send me so they got right on everything. Very impressive.
Anyway this was very frightening and I know I sit way too much at work, and with 10 hour days coming up I need to remember to get up and move around instead of being so sedentary. What a day!
Shirley

15 month update.
I am still having problems with this new knee. Still going to Physical therapy 2x-3x a week.
I can do 25 min. on the elliptical though... Previously I could barely get to 30 sec.

I am getting stronger,... walking is a bit easier, but even after TWO manipulations (bending under anesthesia) I am still not as good as the other knee, and I have pitiful bending ability.

Went to see a new Dr. as the old one has run out of ideas to help. He just says give it more time... 18 to 24 months... Guess I am going to have to live this way, unless the new guy has some answers from all the tests he ordered. Next appointment June 8th.

I AM getting stronger, but my "poor me" attitude has led to massive weight gain, and higher sugar levels. I have to get my act together! Cut down on the carbs and sugars. Summer is coming! Travel plans are in the making...

Edited by: JUDYGREG at: 5/24/2017 (19:38)

That's a lot to think about Seni......I hope it works....
We had quite a wind storm last night so now I have to go out and clean the deck today. I just did that..... But I guess it is better than rain and it is exercise.

I'm really glad my surgery is coming up soon. I'm so tired of the pain. I have to be careful where I sit because getting up is so darned hard anymore.

The flight to Idaho was interesting. I flew over the Grand Canyon, Half Dome (Yosemite), Lake Powell, and the Snake River. What a trip lol. I flew from Indy to Vegas to Oakland to Boise. I got to watch my grandson's last baseball game last night, and while the kids are in school today my daughter and I are heading to the hot springs to soak! I'm so looking forward to it.

I've done a lot of stress eating too, but I'm going to get back on track this summer. I'd hoped to be 20 pounds lighter by my surgery time, but that's not going to happen.

Dislocating a kneecap IS awful. Unfortunately, I've got a lot of experience with it. I was diagnosed at 18 with "chronic bilateral patellar subluxation" and didn't get the replacements until I was 45. I really don't want to have to get back in the habit of pulling or pushing my kneecaps back into alignment, so I'm just going to be careful, work on the weight, pay attention to my foot placement, and start the isometric to get the right muscle groups strengthened to keep it in proper alignment.

Goal-no pain

Laurie, you know you are not alone on this journey. Everyone of us slips and feels like a restart. But you know it definitely is not like starting over. This is just a blip thst needs attention. I have lots of faith in you!
Dislocating a kneecap sounds awful....

I've been wanting to try Tai Chi. Our rec center has classes, but they are on a night when I have something else going on once a month. I might just do it in the Fall, though, if the schedule falls where I only have to blow off my other commitment once.

Seni, I just read your post about dislocating kneecaps--ugh, gave me the shivers. That's what my knee problems started out with at the ripe old age of 16. I don't have to worry about that left one any more--they took the thing out altogether!

Sunday afternoon I finally started our container garden. It wasn't the nicest weekend for that, but I wanted to get our veggies started before the holiday weekend. We are going out of town and I wouldn't have been able to get to it until the following weekend.

My knees feel as bad as they have in years. Summer clothes are too snug, too, so I know that the stress eating I did when I got laid off is catching up with me. Sob. I'm going to have to attack those nasty bad habits that I reacquired when I was feeling so stressed. Back to step one!

I thought about swimming again this morning, but every other day is probably smarter right now. And I found one of my sources of problems. my one foot turns in and makes my leg be out of line. The hardware doesn't like the angle I've been walking on. So, I will be slowing down and paying more attention to how I place my feet until I retrain my body again. When the budget recovers from the Ohio trip, I will look into corrective shoes. I had to wear those for several years when I was young.

Isn't it always something?? Have a great day, Sparkers.

I'd love to try Tai Chi - apparently it helps a lot with balance and strength building too. The nearest class is in the city (45 min of driving) but I'm sure there's lots of videos available. Yoga didn't work so well for me (kept tipping over)

Yes yoga is much harder after a knee replacement but it is so worth it. You do what you can. You will a,so find your body much more flexible the longer you do it. Tai Chi would be easier on the knees...,

Yay Seni, up and gone to the pool already! Good for you!!!! Keep up the good work. Sorry your son is being so difficult. I know you probably want to kick him out the door and then in a few years he will move out and you will miss him. I know I do my boys. I hated the squabbles and not listening and couldn't wait for them to move out and now I miss them or maybe I miss them because of who they are today, a lot better behaved and fun to be around.

It rained here off and on most of the weekend. It's been in the 90s and very humid. UGH!

Sometimes we go to Missouri where my brother lives and my whole family comes from Colorado for Thanksgiving. Well the kids are all growing up and spread out so this year we are all really making an effort to be there. I'm so hoping my ds, dil and dgd can make it. They have a tough time making ends meet. My dil hasn't even met most of the family yet. The girls at work and me were talking about the trip last week and one of them mentioned flying. At first I said no way it will cost too much, but decided to check airfares anyway, I got a reasonably good deal, it's costing us just a little more then it would have for the gas and eating on the road for two days. Plus we won't be putting a lot of miles on my car and skipping that 13 hour drive which we do in one day. I'm just getting too old for those long car rides. It's only a 2 hour flight plus we will get to stay until after lunch on Sat. where we usually were up and gone bright and early. My db lives really close to the airport, so that's good. It's been 6 years since we were there last.

6 more work days and we leave to go out of town. I'm just wiped out, I so need a break.
Shirley

452am. Gym/pool opens at 500...heading out the door as soon as I put shoes on. Oh, and pants. Pants over the bathing suit would probably be good...

Laurie, I'm not supposed to do any lateral movement. For whatever reason, I still get the lovely dislocation of kneecaps if I move hard sideways. I'm really hoping getting the weight down again will fix that. And I haven't been able to get my knees to bend enough to get my feet that close to my tush for years, to do that article lead photo, lol.

Maybe when I get closer to my first goal...

I just took a look at the yoga article and I don't see anything too extreme. Except that pigeon pose. Not exactly sure what she doing, but I'm not even going to try that! I tried a yoga class last year and didn't particularly care for it. Of course tipping over in the middle of the class didn't help! Everyone was kind, but all the getting up and down didn't make the old knees feel very good.

We went to Fresh Thyme yesterday and it's just as good as Sprouts! Too bad it's not closer to home. We'll try to get down there a couple times a month if we can.

Has anyone else read the "curvy yoga" article? I may not be too big to do yoga, but I'm pretty sure my Ortho Dr. would kick me in the butt if I tried putting my knees in most of those positions! Has anyone who had replacements had any experience with yoga? Is it really beneficial with our hardware? Or am I likely to break expensive parts? my ligaments and bones can heal, the hardware can't, lol.

The market today was cold and wet, so it was a bust. And I shouldn't have tried doing that much work again, but it is what it is. I'm probably going to take another dose of nsaids and go to bed shortly. I've been trying to talk my son into helping me go to the pool, but he's being difficult about almost everything right now. So, my plan is to just do what I can on my own, without help, and just not beat myself up over it. My best is good enough.

On the brighter side, not being able to stand for long and having my hands not want to work keeps me from cooking big things and eating a lot

Lynn, I'm so sorry for your loss. My daughter just went through the same thing. She lost her baby (he was over 10 too). He had masses in his stomach attached to his spleen. They did surgery but he didn't pull through. It's so hard to lose a beloved pet.

I got most of my classroom packed up yesterday. It's kind of hard because my kids are in school until Thursday, but tomorrow is my last day. I'm flying out to Idaho on Tuesday! I'm excited to see my daughter and grandkids. It will be a whirlwind few weeks. I come home on Sunday and then have a week and two days before my knee surgery. I have to go have my blood work done this afternoon. I go to joint camp on the 30th. I'm ready to get this done and over with!

Farmer's markets typically open here Memorial weekend. Hopefully I can get in one visit before my surgery. We have a place where we love to buy grass fed beef, so maybe I can stock up.

Packed up and home by 3. The weather turned ugly in a hurry. The whole day was cold, so it wasn't fabulous, but it wasn't horrible, either. The only bad part was son being difficult to the point I fired him. The good part? I did manage to do the whole job by myself, even with the extra work he made for me by being a pain. I'm counting it in the win column.

Laurie, there was a Sprouts store in the Palm Springs area and I love that store too. Trader Joes is great too and it was a lot closer to me so I definitely went there much more.
Love Farmers Markets. I have to control myself around all that fresh produce.

Seni - good luck with the sales today. The farmer's markets are starting to open around here too, although not much local fresh stuff in season yet - rhubarb and asparagus mainly - and of course, lots of bedding plants from those vendors with greenhouses.

Hey Seni, hope you have lots of traffic. Weather isn't so great, but Wisconsonites are eager to get to the markets when they finally open, so you never know. Today the West Bend farmers market opens down here. But we are finally going to explore our newly opened Fresh Thyme. Hoping it's just like the Sprouts store we shopped in Texas.

Setting up for the first festival of the year. Here's hoping sales are up

Same here Donna You've had more than your share of

The Victoria Day long weekend begins here in Canada. This is usually the start of the camping/cottage season, so I'm expecting heavy traffic on the main highway this afternoon heading north to Lake Winnipeg and beyond. Of course, being retired, every weekend is a long one - don't have to wait for the legislated holidays to get a day off. Just have to remember to take it.

We are finally going to,have a nice weekend. Whoohoo....we really need to get out and enjoy it.

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so glad it's Friday, I haven't wanted to come to work at all this week. Not sure if it's the dread of starting 10 hour days on June 5th (we all hate these long days) or if it's because in 7 work days we will be going out of town for a few days. I'm so ready to get away.

At least I'm not as stressed as before with my dad and stepmom. I'm sure my stepbrother is very relieved. Unfortunately even with the pill my Dr. gave me to help with my terrible insomnia I'm still not sleeping well.

I wish they would call me with my test results. I'm so anxious to find out what my A1c is.

Seni I'm sorry you missed your graduation. But as exhausted as you were and trying to deal with difficult people it was probably for the best.

Weight this morning 344.6 not that long ago I had gotten up near (ok, probably over) 360. Time to put me first.

Seni, that is too bad that you are not going to your grad. You so deserve to celebrate your accomplishment but I totally understand thst it is a difficult time for you.
Hope you feel better soon

I'm home safely. Exhausted and choosing to not go to graduation ceremony tonight. If I went, it wold have the potential to be a disaster. I'll blog more of the reasoning, but I think you all understand. Have a great day.

Hi all, Lynn, I am so sorry about your Biscuits. It is very hard to lose a family pet. Sending hugs your way!!!
Shirley, how wonderful you got to spend time with your DGD. Hat would be enough of a Mothers Day for me too. Hope you get some sleep tonight. I do have those nights too but I don't have to go to work which makes a huge difference.
Seni, I am so sorry how things have worked out but like you say it is over. Take care of you now....I am sure you have been very stressed.
Laurie, you have been very busy with family. It sounds like everyone is moving back north.
Charlottes glad to hear you are recovering from your fall. I do understand how happy you are that it wasn't the other side.
I have been really busy the last week since my DH went out of town and got so many things done thst I have been procrastinating about. It feels pretty good. I wanted to get our deck cleaned but it hasn't stopped raining enough to do it. We are suppose to get sunshine Thursday so that is great news especially since the long weekend is coming up..queen Victorias Birthday in case you are interested.

Made it through last night. Mom would be fit to be tied, lol. Not even a dozen people came. She was not as popular as she convinced herself she was. I kept telling her her behavior was offensive and rude and she was convinced people adored her and thought she was funny and cute. Evidently not. It's all good, though. I survived it and now we're done. All i have left is to go home, get back to some semblance of normal, and then inter her at the end of summer/ early fall. I've got this.

We're leaving shortly for mom's visitation and service here. I'll have another later, when we inter her with dad. I was able to find containers I likes for her ashes (the grandkids each want some, which I find creepy beyond words, but if it keeps the peace...).

It's going to be a rocky and rough road for a while, but I can do this...

Charlotte, I've been seeing a lot of the farmers out in the fields here now that things have dried out a little bit.

Karen, I know how hard it is to fit "one more thing" into an already overloaded schedule. I don't have any profound words of wisdom, but it will be worth it if you can do the exercises consistently until surgery.

Aw, Lynn, I'm so sorry about Biscuits. We went through that with my niece and two of her cats last year. You do get attached and grieve.

Shirley, I'm glad to hear that your dad and stepmom are getting settled in.

We spent the weekend up at my sister's. It was a lovely but busy weekend. Mom and Ann and I went out walking at a wetlands preserve on Saturday, fortunately no bugs to bite us yet. Yesterday my brother and SIL came down and my niece and her husband came up and we all had a cook-out. We all had a good visit.

We are moving my sister and her "roommate" up from Georgia next month. When I say "we", though, I mean my sister because she's doing the bulk of the work. Both Shirley and Chuck are disabled, so it's a big production and will be a pretty big commitment that Ann is taking on. They all wish the actual move up here was done!

Lynn, I'm so sorry to hear about your fur baby. It's always hard! Sending you big hugs! I hope you had a nice Mother's Day despite the sadness. My heart goes out to you.

I got an email from my stepbrother, he got my dad and stepmom moved into Assisted Living on Sat. and they were going out to his house for a cook out yesterday, I hope their first night was good. I hope they get settled in fast and like it there. Now to pack up the duplex/apt. they had. Not sure what the plans are for all of it. It's mostly just glassware, junk and knick knacks.

I had a nice Mother's Day, got to see the grandbaby and she let me hold her long enough to get a good picture of the two of us. I got hugs and kisses. I had a blouse on that had lace on the sleeves, she kept coming over and picking at it and start to giggle. I don't know what was so funny but she thought it was. Took her some change for her piggy bank, pretty soon she'll have all of my money from mine. My other son that lives in Florida called and said he's coming through to go up to NC to meet his wife in June - she'll be on break from her summer vet student rotations and he said he was going to spend the day with us! I'm so excited to have him all alone for once. My dh spoiled me rotten yesterday, he's so good to me.

My physical went well, waiting to hear about the bloodwork, hoping my A1c hasn't gone up too much. She gave me something to help me sleep and I'm still not sleeping. She told me I could go up in dose so I think I will try taking two. I've been up and wide awake since 2 AM. It's going to be a long day!
Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day!
Shirley

Well the news about my fur baby is not good.....we had to have him put down yesterday and my heart is broken...in the final analysis they believe it was cancer b/c he had 3 masses in his spleen. Then the swollen lymph glands and all the infection...they felt it was sarcoma. In time it will be better I know...but it is just so hard...He was only 10 y.o....and I'd had him 9 1/2 of those years. Rest in peace sweet Biscuits.....I know some of you may not be animal people but if you are...I know you'll know how I feel.

Karen - those post surgery exercises are so important, Donna's right! Even though they're a pain in more ways than one, you'll be glad you did them consistently.
Shirley - your whole family must be relieved to have the parents in assisted living. Change is never easy for us older folk, but I'm sure your dad especially will be glad they made the move.
Donna - lots of rain out your way... hope it doesn't translate into flooding. Central BC and eastern Canada have been hit hard. Those Manitobans who lived through the flood of the century (Red River 1999) can feel their pain.

Still doing the heat/cold treatment on my bruised knee and hip (from a bad fall last Sat.), but not painful to walk any more. Also the monster cold that hit the next day is just about gone.
and my voice is back. Thank goodness I didn't fall on my operated hip.

Edited by: MINIMOE1 at: 5/13/2017 (10:56)

Karen, lots of excitement in your life right now. I know you will be glad for school,to be done. Do those exercises.....it does make a big difference....

Shirley, good news to have both parents in assisted living! My mom is now in a residential health center. It would be great if she got strong enough to go to assisted living. Then maybe my dad would go too, but he sure doesn't want to leave the home they've shared for over 60 years. It's so hard when your parents get old.

Things at school have been crazy I will be glad to make it through this next week. A week from Monday is our K graduation, and I leave for Idaho a week from Tuesday. I have to pack up my classroom next weekend, but still leave stuff for the kids to do. Fortunately we are doing fun stuff that week- a field day, and rotating classrooms for fun activities. My room will be the "building room" so I can leave out blocks, lego, tinker toys, etc. Easy enough to pick up and store.

I've really got to knuckle down and get serious about doing my knee exercises. I do them on and off- time to make them a regular part of my day so I can get through this replacement with flying colors.

Really nice to hear from you Charlotte.....

everyone. Haven't been posting much on SP lately - life on the farm in the spring is very demanding. Interesting to catch up with all of your news - happy and sad.

Shirley, good,new that your Dad is going to the assisted living with your stepmom. Now you know they will be well taken care of. Have fun with your granddaughter this weekend. The little ones are so much fun.
Got lots of steps in golfing today even though we didn't finish. It rained so hard and got so that thst we finally had to quit. I have never gold in weather like that. It is nice to be home and be dry....

Seni, it will get better with time. Right now just take it moment by moment. It's so hard to lose someone. I will be a real basket case when my parents go. I'm glad Hubs will be joining you soon.

Lynn, so good to hear from you. I'm sorry about your furbaby! I hope you get answers soon. I'm glad it wasn't you that was sick though.

We are having the nice weather here. The temps are creeping up and it feels like summer already. I will try to send some sunshine up north. Please keep your monsoons, a little rain is okay but I don't want the daily rains. We've already been through that.

My dad called me Tuesday night and told me he had decided to go into assisted living with my stepmom. What a relief. He's not happy about it and I don't know what changed his mind, they went to visit the home and he said it's very nice. It's unfortunately a good 30 min. drive probably from my stepbrother. But my stepbrother's mother in law was there before she died and they really liked it. I'm glad they have found a nice place they can trust. They will have a little suite and can take most of their furniture and dad can come and go as he likes without having to load my stepmom up in the car and worry about her. It's just peace of mind for me that they are being looked after. I'm hoping he will grow to like it and get involved in some activities other than sitting and watching TV all day.

Winding down at work, can't believe there's only 10 days left of school. Oh how I wish I had the summers off like I used to. I'm so tired and just dragging. I sleep good some nights and others I don't. Tomorrow is my physical, I've never looked so forward to a physical before. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of some of my problems. Although I can predict what she's going to say. Depression and stress!

Our good news here is the bridge on the major interstate that caught on fire and collapsed is finished! in record time, it's reopening on Monday. Way ahead of schedule. They've been working 24/7 on it. It sure has caused some stress and messed up a lot of people's schedules and lives. My dh hasn't decided yet what he's going to do. Right now he goes to bed at 8 pm, gets up around 2:30 am, out the door by 4, at work by 5 and TRIES to leave by 2 pm and gets home around 4:30 when I walk in the door. We've enjoyed eating dinner together every day which we don't ever do with the old schedule. He's also working from home on Mondays now, he didn't used to do that. We've talked about it some but he hasn't really decided what he wants to do. By Thursday evening he is wiped out!

Going to see Destiny on Saturday and have dinner. I'm excited to see her again. My dil was telling me she's gotten shy and wouldn't even go to her other grandparents the other day. I knew this was coming and it will pass but I will miss my squeals of delight and big hugs hello and good bye that I used to get. We have decided we really need to spend more time together and do fun things. She does fun things with her other grandparents because they live closer and my dil's mom doesn't work. I'm the unfun grandma because I have to work and I live too far away, plus weekends are my only chance to rest and get chores and errands done. So I only see her once or twice a month for a few hours and we never go anywhere, just not time.

Not sure I will be on here tomorrow. I have two appts. tomorrow so taking the day off. I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. Mine is low key, church and then dh takes me out to my favorite Chinese Restaurant, for one thing it's the only place we have found we can get into without a wait. LOL!

Thank you all. It's tough going, but Hubs should be here soon to help, then I can get. I'm afraid to fall apart now, because I'm not sure I can put myself back together without help.

I'm taking the little dog to be groomed tomorrow. They're making an exception for the shot record because of the situation with mom passing. Thank goodness, this little dog stinks! And I've already bathed her once!

We are having a visitation and short service Monday evening. We had mom cremated and I'll take her home with me until fall, when I can make time to inter her with dad.

At least I know I'm not overeating, lol. Too much to do, so it's minimum meals. It gets easier, right??

Laurie, I don't blame you for bringing your dog home. Vet bills today are unbelievable.
It has been raining so much here too that the farmers just cannot get out on their fields. We won't be getting fresh strawberries this spring either. Today is overcast but the rain is starting this afternoon and tomorrow again. We will need web feet soon....
No gym today but a walk will be in order, I good DH to the airport this morning so I have a week on my own. Thst hasn't happened foe a very long time.

Seni - let me add my condolences to you. So sorry to hear of the passing of your mom. May the memories you shared bring you comfort in your sadness.

I know I've been missing again. This time it was not me....it's been my dog!! For those of you who are 'dog lovers' you will understand. My sweet Biscuits has been ill and is right now in the doggie hospital. I am going to go get him this afternoon. They're not totally sure what's wrong with him. We know more of what it's not than what it is....but some of the tests will be coming back in the next week which will hopefully give us some answers. I was kind of insistent that he come home when I talked to them b/c the bill is becoming quite high and now that we are just at the 'waiting point' there's no sense for paying them to board him. Hopefully we'll get some answers soon.

How is everyone else's weather in this very strange May?? We did have a nice day this past Monday - went to Indy to see my grandson and had a wonderful day to only come home to find my dog very ill and having to take him to the ER for animals (also called Purdue veterinary clinic).But we've had rain, rain and more rain. Luckily we are not really in a 'flood area'....but around us it has been flooding the farmland.

Talk again soon

Seni, I'm so so sorry to hear about your mom passing. I'm glad you were able to be with her at the end. Praying for you and your family. May you find peace and comfort in the days to come.
Shirley

Seni, I'm so very sorry. I'm glad that you were there with her when she passed. Sending hugs and prayers to you and your family.

Mom passed at 1030 this morning. I was with her, holding her at the end. She had refused to take the meds to counteract the constipation from the pain meds (We all know how THAT feels after our knees) and ended up having her intestines back up so much that it caused a perforation and air in her abdomin. She wasnt stable enough to operate on her, so we kept her comfortable and let her go. I'm glad I went ahead and stayed. Thanks again for all of the kindness and prayers. I'm sure I'm in for some rough days yet while I process it all.

Seni, so sorry to hear about your Mom. Sending hugs your way.
Shirley. Health concerns with parents is so hard and much more stressful when you are so far away. Yes, it is important that you go to see them this summer. You will feel better too....

Seni, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. I know it's been a rocky road and you've not had the best relationship. I hope you were able to come to some kind of peace with her. Her condition changed that fast? Again, I'm sorry.

Funny how different Drs. do knee replacements differently. My friend Sonia that I met here on SP just had knee replacement, she had one of the worst experiences in the hospital and only in there a few days compared to my four. She had staples and she was able to drive just a few weeks after and started outpatient PT immediately. Totally opposite of my replacements. Good Luck Karen on yours. I know you will be glad to have it over with. At least you have the entire summer to recuperate. I still can't believe I was back at work just 3 weeks later, but you have to do what you have to do sometimes I guess.

My stepbrother called me Friday night. My stepmother has to be put into assisted living ASAP. He was able to secure a room for her at a nice place. It's about a 30 min. drive for him unfortunately. Dad is a different story, he needs to go too, last week when I talked to him he said no way was he going and I couldn't make him go. So I've been stressing and upset the whole weekend. He can't be in the apt. alone. He falls too much and can't get up. My stepbrother told me he was just going to tell them that she was going only but he sent me an email yesterday and said that the Health Care Nurses that came in after she got out of rehab decided on the first day that it's an unsafe environment and dad isn't able to care for her alone, so apparently when he told dad about getting her a room he told him that the nurse said they BOTH need to go and he agreed. I won't believe it until I hear it from him though. I hope so, it would be such a relief. Anyway, my stepbrother thought I was coming up there this summer and I told him I wasn't planning on it, he sounded kind of put out with me, he told me dad had gone downhill even more since I saw him in Oct. so I guess we are going to go up for a few days this summer. Maybe I'll feel better. I am just not ready to deal with this. We went to church yesterday and I just started crying and couldn't stop so we had to leave. This is so hard. Much harder than I thought it would ever be. I get so emotional.
So Karen I guess you and I are in the same boat. I know some of the feelings you are having.

I got my computer glasses on Sat. what a difference it makes. Why didn't I do this sooner? I was in denial I guess.

Tomorrow is our big end of the year meeting. Wish the admins would get everything together so we can finish stuffing packets. They always wait until the very last minute than we are running around here like crazy people.

We are at the end with my mom. I'll blog later. It may be minutes, hours, possibly a few more days. I'm sitting with her until its time. Thank you for all the support through this.

Seni, I am sorry for what you have to deal with as far as your Mom goes. What as waste of a life.
Karen, enjoy your new kitty. It's a good thing your two cats get along......
Just back from the gym and a great ball workout. It makes my body feel happy....
Have a good day all!

Edited by: LYNCHD05 at: 5/8/2017 (12:46)

I'm still in Ohio and made my last visit to my mother last night. No, she's not that sick, she was just that mean and nasty and I am done. There is no medical reason for any of her behavior, all of her medical issues are self inflicted and the result of her choosing to not follow any of the Dr. Advice that she doesn't like.

I'll be in Ohio a few more days until I can get some rest and safely drive. (I was up all night sick with migraine, thanks mom) i'll blog when I have a chance to use my laptop.

Hope everyone else has a good week.

I saw the same report on knees. Same old stuff. Try shots, injections, therapy, etc. Don't people try all of that before getting a replacement? I know I've been doing cortisone shots for 6 years.

Those walking poles sound like fun. I've seen them before and I think they can burn another 30% of calories. Kind of like the difference between an eliptical and treadmill. Definitely let us know how you like them.

Well Derby is over and the world will get back to normal. So of course the rain has stopped and the birds are chirping. This afternoon I'm going to a big Lula Roe thing with my DIL. There are a bunch of consultants having a combined sale. I will have to be strong lol. Lula Roe is my new obsession. They are the most comfortable clothes I've ever worn, and they even look good on bigger people. And since they are all different, you never know what you are going to find. It's like a treasure hunt.

I don't know if I mentioned it on here. I have a new kitten. One of my students actually brought it to class to give to me. It was quite a day trying to teach and hang on to a kitten. He's a mini-me to my orange kitty, Tigger. We're calling him Hank (after Crookshanks, from Harry Potter). I'll have to post a picture. He loves to sit on my chest and purr, so I don't get much done lol. He and Tigger have become good buddies. It's fun to watch them together.

Karen, I hope all goes well wih the surgery. Yes I think riding e bike is a good idea. The better shape our legs are in before surgery the faster we recover.
Laurie, I think the tracking poles are a great idea. I think you need to be fitted for them too. It is a much better workout when you use the poles.
We had some more rain very early this morning. Hopefully it will be nice enough thst I can get out and clean our deck today. This is so much later than I usually to this job but the weather sure has not been cooperating.
Hope everyone has a good Saturdsy!

Karen, it seems they are always refining techniques. I had aspirin for my last replacement and I sure didn't miss that daily Lovinox injection. The aspirin was hard on my stomach, though, even the coated ones and when I took them with food. My doc discontinued them after a few days since I was up and about by then.

That facility sounds very nice for your mom. Hope it works out well for her!

Saw something on our news the other day about knee replacements. The lead-in was saying there are other options to expensive replacement surgery. I thought there was going to be a report on some new therapy, but it was the same old stuff about replacements not being the first treatment of choice. Nothing new or earthshaking.

Mom and I are looking at getting trekking poles for hiking and just for walking around our hilly neighborhood. I'll let you know how those work out for us.

My friend uses one of those balls to watch TV. I had one a long time ago. I'm afraid the critters would pop one. I do have my recumbent bike in the living room. I'm trying to get better about using it so I can get my knees stronger before surgery. My surgery is scheduled for June 6th, which is my birthday lol. They have made some changes since the last one. No more staples. They glue and put a clear dressing on it. And they put some pain meds in the knee. My ortho said most people don't even need IV pain meds anymore. And they put you on aspirin after surgery instead of shots to prevent blood clots.

My mom is being moved to a homehealth care place this week. It sounds like a really nice place. There are 4 patients and three live in care givers (a couple and their adult son). The son exclusively takes care of one patient- an elderly lady with alzheimers. So there are at least two people available at all times. They visited with my mom and gave my sister a list of things to ask the doctor to order. They said she'd get a lot more attention there than she's getting in the nursing home, and they are experienced with dialysis patients. Mom will have her own room with a sliding door to the backyard, plus we can bring pictures, furniture, etc to make it homey.

It's been a crazy week here. Kentucky Derby festivities going on and the weather has gone from hot and sunny to miserable cold and rainy. I feel so bad for all of the people going to the track. We had a derby hat parade and stick horse races at school on Thursday. We were off yesterday for Oaks Day. I made a big pot of chili since it's so cold. I guess we'll be eating it for a while lol. The way I make chili is to keep throwing stuff in until the pot is full.

Have a great weekend!

Donna, I'd have to get a taller ball to use as an office chair, mine is too short.

Shirley, I heard on the news today that you guys got hit with some bad weather and a lot of people didn't have power.

Had a fun day celebrating my niece's birthday today. Out for lunch at a crepe restaurant, then wine tasting. Then shopping at two different spice shops. More wine at a wine bar (that was a unique experience--we had to have a tutorial) then shopping at a co-op store and found some Brown Cow yogurt. Yum. Can't have that too often, the calorie hit is pretty high. We really did have a good time just doing stuff we've been wanting to make time for.

Very scary Shirley waiting for a tornado.
I am having the same battle right now with deciding if I should go to the gym today. I am really quite sore after my long walk in the soggy grass. It was a real workout yesterday. I am thinking my body needs the rest.

Laurie, so sorry you had the stomach bug. They just seem to get worse and worse. Or for me anyway. It was in the 80s here today the high is supposed to be 56.

LOL! So much for the working out this week, I managed 3 days, most weeks I do 4, last week I did 5. This morning my alarm went off and I was grumbling and got up, I stood there for several minutes. I think the devil was on one shoulder and the good healthy person was on the shoulder. They battled with each other and finally the good healthy person won out, so I put on my clothes mumbling the whole time. I go out into the living room and turn the DVD player on and it wouldn't work, I tried turning it off and turning it back on and it just wouldn't work. So I decided it just wasn't meant to be today. Not good when we are having a big Cinco de Mayo lunch at work today. If I lose any weight this week I will be surprised. Every week I start out doing really good and then it seems by the end of the week I fall apart and get off track. I was not counting on this lunch today.

Bad storms yesterday, trees went down on power lines, we had no power at work for over 2 hours! Thankful I had my Kindle. Going to the restroom in the pitch black was a new experience. By the time I got my computer up and going again it was nearly time to go home. Last night we were getting ready for bed and dh's phone starts going off with weather alerts. Turned on the news and there was a suspected tornado heading right for our area. So we both ran and got dressed just in case and sat and watched the news until we were in the clear. Thankfully all we got was heavy rain and strong winds.

Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm glad it's Friday.

Laurie, it is even good to use it as a chair when you are on the computer. It makes you work your core...
Nice to have you back and I am glad you are feeling better....

Sorry I fell off the face of the earth for a while. Last Friday I woke up with a stomach bug--you don't want to know the gory details! Good thing my tooth didn't hurt much because I wouldn't have kept pain meds down.

Yesterday we finally had a sunny day--first day without rain in quite a while. It's still been unseasonably cool, but I'm sure summer will appear sometime. Maybe next month.

Tomorrow Mom and I are going to take my niece out for lunch for her birthday and do some fun shopping. There is a tea and spice shop that we've been wanting to check out. And possibly some wine tasting to be done.

Good for you guys doing some exercise. For some reason I haven't managed any consistent exercising for a while. I'm hoping with the warmer (and drier) weather we'll get out walking when I get home from work in the afternoons. I'll have to check out some of those ball exercises. I have my ball all inflated and ready!

Shirley, good for you for keeping up the exercise. Even 10 minutes makes a difference. I can't believe it has been a year that you have been in your new job. It has been quite a year foe you.
Off to golf in a few minutes. Let's hope my game is better today....

Thanks Donna, not sure what the next step is. I know my stepbrother is trying to keep them in apartment as long as he can. The apt./duplex is less than 5 mins. from his work and his house so he can be there in a matter of minutes anytime of the day. I know he's got to be exhausted though.

The ball, oh now I know what you're talking about. I'd probably roll right off the thing and land on the floor.

A day of rain today! And a big cold front coming in. I dug out lightweight long sleeves to wear to work for two days. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 56! That's 30 degrees colder than it's been. Then a slow warm up. The blouse I put on today is loser so I may not be moving losing pounds as fast as I want but I must be losing inches. That's a good feeling. I so didn't want to get up and workout today but I rolled out of the bed and managed 10 mins. anyway. This is 8 weeks that I've worked out at least 4 days a week. That's amazing for me.

Getting close to the end of the school year and trying to get back all of the materials that teachers have checked out, this is the fun part. LOL! I can't believe this school year is almost over. Seems like school just started. I'm proud to say I've survived my first year of being in this new position. I've had my moments but my boss keeps telling me what a good job I'm doing so I must be doing something right.
Have a good day everyone!
Shirley

Shirley I am sure you have seen those large balls that you can sit on. There are videos here on Spark thst you can look at. Doing all kinds of exercise on the ball is excellent core work. We even do one of our planks on the ball. Talk about a total body strength builder.
So sorry to hear about your stepmom. She sounds like she may need s nursing home more than assisted living. Such a worry.....

I called my dad last night! OMG! He told me stuff that my stepmother had been doing that I didn't know about. She walked out of the house one night and locked the door behind her. Dad finally heard the doorbell and went to see what was going on and there she stood all dressed with a coat on and couldn't get back in the door. The other night at rehab she got out of bed and spilled water on the floor and then got a bottle of lotion and smeared it all over the railings on the bed, I guess she did some wandering into some other rooms and did some other things. I don't know how my stepbrother is handling all of this. He must be so stressed. I know I am and I'm not even there. Again I mentioned assisted living and he's adamant that he's not going and I can't make him. It's going to be one big battle when it comes to that point. She definitely needs to be in assisted living so dad thinks she should go and he will stay in the apartment. I'm just not ready for this.
Thanks for letting me vent! Nothing else going on thank goodness.
Donna, ball class? What is that? You keep so busy. Hope your wrist feels better.
We've had a lot of rain too. I'm just overjoyed to being able to ride to work in the daylight again!
Shirley

Seni, I hope it helps thst you have your Mom figured out. I would think it would help with the stress....
Shirley I checked with your comments about you Moms sayings.
Had my wonderful ball class this morning. I can feel myself getting stronger with just two sessions since I came back. My wrists are a little sore so I hope it goes away or I might have to adjust...
Now I am off to the driving range to see if I can work out the winter kinks.....it still is exercise!!
Have a good day everyone.
By the way it is not raining today but it will be later and all day tomorrow. This is getting crazy....

Donna, my mom has told me a million times "bite your tongue bloody" when you want to say something you shouldn't. One day I was on the phone with her and telling her something and then I said I just bit my tongue bloody and she cracked up laughing and told me she had rubbed off on me. I'm sure she's bit her tongue many many times over the years with all of us kids and now her grandkids. The other saying she has told me a hundred times over the years is "It's not the gift that counts, it's the thought." I say that a lot too.

Seni, congratulations for looking forward to next year and not letting your mom drama get to you too much. I know it's hard. My stepmom is going home tomorrow with home health care for two weeks. The problem is my dad likes to run all over town and apparently Walmart has become his favorite place to go. My stepbrother told me they have to stay home for the next two weeks or insurance won't cover this service. My dad can leave briefly when the nurse is there. I'm so glad I'm not that nurse! My stepmom with her Alzheimer's has gotten even worse to deal with. I need to call my dad tonight and have a serious conversation with him. How I dread this. Wow! this is hard! I'm so glad my mom is in perfect health, she doesn't even take any pills other than a multivitamin. I'm so grateful for her good health.

I'm doing better today. I slept better thank goodness. Got up and did my power walk. Yesterday was horrible. I could barely stay awake at work, it was a very long day!

It's just drama with my mom. My dad's been gone since Dec 22, 2010. Every time my mom comes up on an insurance deadline, she calls a squad and goes to the er and gets admitted, so the clock restarts.

Yeah, it's exhausting. And I figured out today that I will graduate again next year, if my classes all get offered on schedule and don't get cancelled. I'll have an associates in accounting then. Yay me!

This is a new week so new beginnings to look after ourselves. We can do this....
I would say both your exs are very lucky they have children who are able to help them out. I am not saying moving in with the family is best for either of them but at least the kids have the room which is one thing and two have the heart that they care enough even to consider this. It is a really tough thing for families to do....
Shirley, biting our tounges is something we have to learn to do with our adult children.
Off to the gym then we will see what the day brings........I do,have things I need to do around here but we will see...