Geriatric mm warriors (12/30/09)

[Diane W.]

You were missed when you weren't posting Nell! I love your insight and kind words. Don't go away again!!

 

[gettinhealthy]

Tom's not really jealous any more Kathy, but I do my best to drop things into the conversation to reassure him, just in case. I work around a lot of good looking men in suits, if you know what I mean. I could see how he could worry, if I gave him reason to. I never look at other guys, though, and he knows that. I won't even turn my head if they whistle on the road. He knows that from personal experience, lol! He tried to get my attention once and I ignored him, LOL! Didn't see it was him.

I didn't mean for it to come off sounding as if he was jealous, sorry. Just meant it's nice that even if he may be, he is secure in his love that he knows in his heart there is no reason to be.
It's funny about the whistle. Only when I worked at Lowes did I ever react to whistles. And it came from one of our very dear friends. I can always tell when it's his whistle LOL. To this day I never respond to them except when he does, and I'll turn around and say hi to him LOL.

 

[gettinhealthy]

Not much going on here tonight. Mike went to the Y without me. I'm trying to not catch his cold. Took a little nap and that seemed to help.
Been drinking my nettle tea, and doing my "coffee." I am almost 1/2 way through my book too.
Well, it's just me and Mike's cousin's son right now. The kids are at their mom's and Carrie is at her boyfriend's house. Enjoying the peace and quiet. I only get this once a week, so I try to enjoy it when I can LOL.
Have a great night everyone.

 

[Wisteria1956]

We combined a drive to one of my listings with going to dinner at a Mexican place we like on the river. We resisted the chips, while watching J-P crunch away. Ate a tad of rice and some black beans along with chipolte shrimp. So good! I could try eating 3 chips, but I'm afraid next time would be 6 and so on. Their chips are so good! We're all kind of tired so bath and American Idol sounds good for the night. Work early again tomorrow. I've been working at the office more since I don't want to print large documents at my home office. Time gets away and before I know it, hours have passed. I have to try to do a short sale for my best friend's kids. Sad, but it's better than foreclosure. I see so many sad stories.

 

[Wisteria1956]

Indian food report - EWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Not for me!! I ate a little of it to be polite, but yuk! My son enjoyed it, so it wasn't a total loss.

I went for a walk on the track tonight - the first time in a long time that the weather permitted it!! It felt so nice to be outside walking. I waited a little too long to leave and it got a little too dark, so I only walked 2 times around (1/2 mile). Tomorrow I'll get there earlier. I like later in the season when it starts to get dark and the moon rises over the mountain. You can see it peeking and as you go around each time it's up a little more. Little things entertain me!

What did you have? We love Indian food. Lots of good vegetable and soup dishes, but I guess if you pick the wrong thing you can be sorry. Luckily, my nephew knows it all really well and he's our guide.

I love how poetic you are and how you find the joy in the little things, which really aren't so little after all?!

 

[Wisteria1956]

I'm not sure what edamame is, but I have read that traditional fermented tofu products don't have the same effects on the hormonal system that other soy products have.

It's the green soy beans that look a lot like oval peas. You eat them out of the pod in Japanese restaurants as an appetizer. Soooo good!

 

[Diane W.]

Lisa - I had Chicken Tikka Masala. My son thought I would like it since it's in a creamy tomato sauce. I guess I don't like the seasoning.

 

[Diane W.]

This was on the Women's Health magazine website. The subject was how to stop yo-yo dieting and succeed in losing weight. I thought it was funny because it's exactly what we are all doing.
"Switch eating plans if you get bored," says Michael Dansinger, M.D., weight-loss and nutrition advisor for The Biggest Loser and assistant professor at Tufts School of Medicine in Boston. Research indicates you're more likely to be successful."

 

[kater]

Nell so happy you are here! We missed you.

Robin so frustrating that you can't get here more often! I miss your ability to really and truly make me laugh out loud! Please read my posts yesterday about hypothyroid.

Lisa - how long do get J-P? I am playing hooky tomorrow afternoon and Chloe and I are going into SF. We are going to meet Demi and go to the King Tut exhibit and then maybe some shopping and dinner. Oh, that reminds me! Demi got a job today!!! She went from making donuts to making pastries!

Diane - good for you getting out to the track. I need to do that too.

Kathy - hope you enjoy your quiet time tonight. And that you feel better soon!

Cindy - about that last 10 to 15 pounds, I am just going to start imagining it gone! I read an article yesterday about the power of our imagination. It said that if you can imagine it, you can make it happen. That is how powerful our minds are. So, I am going to work on imagining myself skinny!

 

[kater]

Lisa - I had Chicken Tikka Masala. My son thought I would like it since it's in a creamy tomato sauce. I guess I don't like the seasoning.

Have to say that I LOVE the chicken tikka masala. Yummmmmm!

 

[Wisteria1956]

Lisa - I had Chicken Tikka Masala. My son thought I would like it since it's in a creamy tomato sauce. I guess I don't like the seasoning.

Oh, I googled it. It looks great, lol! Maybe you could make it from an online recipe and tone it down. Those spices are good for your health. Cumin, ginger and paprika. Maybe they made it too strong for you.

 

[Wisteria1956]

Kate: How much fun are you going to have with the girls???!!! I would love to go to the King Tut exhibit. I went to an Egyptian exhibit in New York; it was awe inspiring. Yeah for Demi! She's added multi-layers to her dough making! Most importantly, she landed on her feet. Good job, Demi!!!!!

J-P is home til Thursday night. I won't cry this time because we will see him in Tucson in exactly one month. We are so excited! He's been working at lot, but it is so much fun to just know he's here and have a meal or a bit of time together each day. We're all going out with Mom and Dad tomorrow night.

 

[kater]

J-P is home til Thursday night. I won't cry this time because we will see him in Tucson in exactly one month. We are so excited! He's been working at lot, but it is so much fun to just know he's here and have a meal or a bit of time together each day. We're all going out with Mom and Dad tomorrow night.

Tuscon is going to be so much fun! And Bonnie gets to go on her own little vacation! I won't cry (at least not much) either when Chloe leaves - she will be done with her first year of college by mid-May. It seems like just yesterday that I was boo-hoo-hooing to you ladies about her leaving! Chloe and five (that's right - 5!) other girls just signed a lease for a house next year. They are very excited! Chloe is talking about spending her summer farming in France and Spain. She is going to use miles from her dad's credit card account and WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). WWOOF is an organization that lists organic farms all around the world where the owners of each particular farm provide room and board in exchange for working on the farm. Oh, to be eighteen years old again..... I am already plotting as to how I can meet up with her in Spain at the end of her trip. Did anyone see the movie Vicky, Christina, Barcelona? It made me want to go to Barcelona. I love, love, love France but have never been to Spain. I'm pretty sure my mom would "loan" me some of her miles so it I would just have to figure out how to pay for hotels and food! What's a girl supposed to do? Save money or spend it?

 

[Wisteria1956]

Kate: A girl is supposed to live, live, live and there is nowhere better to do that than Spain! Caleb (our nephew) and Olivia (his sister) spent a month traveling around Europe together after Olivia finished being a foreign exchange student in Norway. Their hands-down favorite was Spain. They really want to go back. Olivia lived with her Mom's Norweigan sister, who is now a mom of 3 and lives in her family home after her parents died. My sister was a foreign exchange student exactly 30 years before Olivia was. They were both 17 and Olivia stayed in my sister's room and read her entries in the journal at their cabin in the woods. How cool is that?? I think it brought them really close to have that parallel experience.

J-P is finally losing some roommates! He lives in a big house (he has the bottom floor to himself of a split level) with I think 5 other people right now. It kind of grew! Soon it will be J-P and two other guys in his profession so much more controlled and CLEAN, lol! It's been great for him to learn how to adapt with so many other people, especially never having been forced to share space with other kids growing up.

HiHo, off to work I go!

 

[Cindycin]

Nell so happy you are here! We missed you.

Robin so frustrating that you can't get here more often! I miss your ability to really and truly make me laugh out loud! Please read my posts yesterday about hypothyroid.

Lisa - how long do get J-P? I am playing hooky tomorrow afternoon and Chloe and I are going into SF. We are going to meet Demi and go to the King Tut exhibit and then maybe some shopping and dinner. Oh, that reminds me! Demi got a job today!!! She went from making donuts to making pastries!

Diane - good for you getting out to the track. I need to do that too.

Kathy - hope you enjoy your quiet time tonight. And that you feel better soon!

Cindy - about that last 10 to 15 pounds, I am just going to start imagining it gone! I read an article yesterday about the power of our imagination. It said that if you can imagine it, you can make it happen. That is how powerful our minds are. So, I am going to work on imagining myself skinny!

Kate - Is Demi a pastry chef? My CayLeigh is going to school for Pastry Arts in the Fall. She's so excited. She wants her own bakery. I'm down 2 today...167 now. I'm going to do it too. Imagine the pounds away! Our smoothy this morning...grapes, orange, quarter of an apple and blackberries. Wow, this one is GOOODDDDD!!

 

[Wisteria1956]

My sister had a friend who imagined her (what am I allowed to say for chest) bigger. It worked!

I think hypnosis could really help with weight loss.

 

[kater]

Kate - Is Demi a pastry chef? My CayLeigh is going to school for Pastry Arts in the Fall. She's so excited. She wants her own bakery. I'm down 2 today...167 now. I'm going to do it too. Imagine the pounds away! Our smoothy this morning...grapes, orange, quarter of an apple and blackberries. Wow, this one is GOOODDDDD!!

No - Demi hasn't had any formal training. When she lost her job last week I gave her some information I found on the internet for a part-time pastry chef program at a cooking school in San Francisco. She said that for now, she is just going to continue to get experience working. She said that if she goes back to school, it will be finish college banana. She has her AA degree from SF City College. I told my ex-husband last fall when she decided to work instead of continuing in school that working for not a lot of money and supporting herself might be just the thing to get her interested in finishing.

I hope CayLeigh enjoys her experience. I just read Julia Childs biography awhile back (just before Julie & Julia came out). I think her niece wrote it? It was very interesting. She was quite a woman. And, I got an inkling of just how exhausting cooking can be. At least when you attend the Cordon Bleu cooking school!

I'm glad you are imagining those pounds away! Your smoothie sounds just amazing.

 

[kater]

My sister had a friend who imagined her (what am I allowed to say for chest) bigger. It worked!

I think hypnosis could really help with weight loss.

I just saw something on KQED (our local public TV station) with Dr. Amen. He has written a number of books on our brains. The most recent is called Change Your Brain, Change Your Body. I bought the book but haven't time to read it. He talks about the power of our brains. It is really quite amazing.

Speaking of amazing, I am so glad that we went to the King Tut exhibit - it will be leaving at the end of the month (I think it has been here since last June?). The artifacts are just incredible. Absolutely beautiful. What is hard for me to fathom is how old they are. The detail on the sculpture and the jewelry is amazing. I can't imagine doing that kind of work now let alone 3,200 years ago. Chloe and I were trying to envision what life was like?

 

[kater]

Kate: A girl is supposed to live, live, live and there is nowhere better to do that than Spain! Caleb (our nephew) and Olivia (his sister) spent a month traveling around Europe together after Olivia finished being a foreign exchange student in Norway. Their hands-down favorite was Spain. They really want to go back. Olivia lived with her Mom's Norweigan sister, who is now a mom of 3 and lives in her family home after her parents died. My sister was a foreign exchange student exactly 30 years before Olivia was. They were both 17 and Olivia stayed in my sister's room and read her entries in the journal at their cabin in the woods. How cool is that?? I think it brought them really close to have that parallel experience.

J-P is finally losing some roommates! He lives in a big house (he has the bottom floor to himself of a split level) with I think 5 other people right now. It kind of grew! Soon it will be J-P and two other guys in his profession so much more controlled and CLEAN, lol! It's been great for him to learn how to adapt with so many other people, especially never having been forced to share space with other kids growing up.

HiHo, off to work I go!

That is such a great story about Olivia and your sister! Chloe is having a lot of fun deciding where to go, what to do. Yesterday she asked - did you know that Amsterdam is only 3 hours from Paris by train? I traveled around Europe by myself when I was 21 or 22. I was there for about 6 weeks. It was fun but I think it would have been better if I had been there with a friend. I have been back several times since then and loved each experience. The last time we were there was 6 or 7 years ago. My mom took the girls and me, her bf and Toby (my adopted brother). We started in Paris and stayed there for 4 days and then we rented a huge van and made our way to Florence & Venice, back to Paris via Nice. Lots of fun, lots of laughs. The girls have been to Greece three times since then with their dad (he is Greek and they have lots of relatives there). Alex and I were married for 17 years and he never wanted to travel - I had to drag him along when we went anywhere (he never went to Europe with me). We get divorced and he goes to Greece 3 times! What is up with that? Anyway, enough rambling....

 

[kater]

Kristi still needs our prayers.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
March 16th
Mark has been giving me a little grief because I have not been very diligent about keeping all of you updated. The truth is these last few weeks have been emotionally draining, very exhausting and its been harder than usual for me to focus on the positives- it has definitely been a whirlwind! Not only does Kristi need full time care but she has 8 therapy appointments a week and at least one doctor appointment.She also started an "adaptive" swim program this week which she loves! It helps her manage her pain while making her strong. It feels like just managing her schedule is a full time job!

She is in intense pain and it is very disabling (we are working on some new strategies for managing)and she often wakes up crying 2 or more times a night. The Doctors tell her that as she gets stronger it should lessen but it may be something that she deals with all of her life. She has more cognitive issues, especially short term memory and attention deficits, than I had previously realized but we remain hopeful that it will improve. When I ask the medical staff what to expect in terms of improvement in this area, they are very vague and not necessarily very positive. (So many unknowns in brain injuries)She still has a great deal of weakness in both her right hand and lower leg and foot but she has a really great brace that helps her walk. Improvement in this area is also about 50/50 but in terms of statistics, Kristi continually beats the odds so I am betting on her!!!

Most of the time her spirits stay positive but she misses her friends and is pretty lonely up here - she doesn't have many relationships in this area as she never lived here. We are working on ways to get her involved in the community and she did go with her therapisttoday to enroll in the handicapped program at our local junior college. Due to budget cuts scheduling classes is very difficult but she will get priority this way. She just wants to take something fun and is very interested in cooking classes. I think that she will take a chocolate making class - maybe she will gain a few pounds too! Speaking of that, we are working hard at getting some weight on her; trying to hit 100 but so far I seem to be the only one feeling the effects of this. OPPS! OH WELL!

I'll try to write sooner - miss seeing all of you!!!
Love Jayme