Geriatric MM Warriors June 13, 2010

[kater]

Pam - good to hear from you. How are the tiles coming along?

Kathy - we need more pics of the pups!

Lisa - I have been planting plants too!

Robin - I don't know if you know this. Brad and I dated in high school. We didn't see each other for twenty-five years! We have been together four years now and I have never been happier!

Diane - where are you?

 

[Wisteria1956]

I lost 3 lbs. in the first 5 days of Step 1 so far. Tom says he could tell my face is thinner. I resisted the urge to ask him if I had become a fat face. Still really missing fruit and probably eating too much cheese, but doing ok. I'm dusting off some of my good recipes like Halibut Veracruz and mashed cauliflower for tonight. Tom had a similar fish dish for dinner at a resaturant the other night. I can sure make it a lot cheaper, lol!

It's going to rain all weekend. I'm going to clean everything in anticipation of J-P's arrival on Monday. Can't wait!

We went to the Harvest Festival and Christmas Crafts Fair yesterday. Tom is so nice to go to things like that with me. We got some unique gifts for Olivia, my best friend's birthday and J-P's girlfriend and her daughter. I love to buy handmade items that are unique. I got Carly a sea glass ring because she did a lot of beach combing with me when we met over Labor Day at the beach house. I got Adia silver earrings - her first little dangles. Hummingbirds. We bought lots of special dressings I keep for company meals and some gourmet things to stuff J-P's stocking, now that he's starting to cook. I got Olivia a little dress you can tie many ways made from sari materials that two sisters from India hand make. They travel to India each year for new fabrics. I could never describe how gorgeous the fabrics are! I wanted one so bad!!!

I'm embracing the rainy weather finally and trying to be appreciative. I was afraid I would get too depressed this year, but it's not so bad so far. Yeah!

Everyone have a great weekend before Thanksgiving! My sister is cooking for the first time (at my Mom's). She's a great cook, but never has put on a holiday dinner or helped much so I will sit back and be grateful to be off the hook this year. I'm going to make desert and some side dishes. Weird not to have everyone here...They'll be here for Christmas unless Tom is in the depths of chemo and not well. We'll see.

 

[Simpleone]

HellooOOoooo everyone! I'm taking a lunch and a cleaning break so decided to stop for a big hello as well.

I've dismantled my entire downstairs this morning, drywall dust is everywhere! I even called and managed to schedule my formal living furniture cleaned on Monday. I have to finish this all today, so my Christmas stuff can be pulled out and put up tomorrow, yes, I'm crazy!

Lisa, I misunderstood when you said JP was coming in for Thanksgiving, that you were hosting this year. You sit back and enjoy, I like hearing that. Your shopping trip sounds wonderful. I'm always too afraid to buy out of the ordinary gifts for anyone, for fear their taste won't match mine. The dress for Olivia sounds beautiful. It sounds like you picked up some awesome stuff, things I'd love to receive...no, that is not a hint. lol Congrats on the 3lbs lost! Feeling all better and detoxed now? I love the rain that comes with the fall and spring seasons, it's those long spans of dreary, bitter cold, sunless days that really depress me. That's why I hope we get to Mexico for at least a few weeks this winter. I will send you some photos of the remodel along with the tiles as soon as I get things together enough to make them look decent.

Kate the tiles are coming, I have about two dozen finished and I'm still tweaking and hoping to improve on them. She has a couple dozen more poured for me, waiting for me to clean and get done with their first firing. She agreed to let me bring them home to paint before the final firings because I just can't find the time to get down there. I figure even if I get one or two done a day, it will be enough to start installing them.

I got some good news this morning, I'm going to be a grandma, once again! I really thought Millie's would be the last but Abbie phoned this morning to say that she's expecting number three. She has two boys and is really hoping for a girl this time. Ah ha, seven grandkids!!

Robin, you little sneak!! You're really good at keeping mushy lovey dovey stuff to yourself aren't you!? I've been married for over thirty years, don'tcha know that hearing that kind of stuff is extremely exciting for me?
That sound perfectly romantic, even if you don't think so yourself! lol Keep us posted! Oh yeah, new haircut=new profile pic!! How did it go and what did you have done?

OH Diane! Where are youuuu!?

Okay, back to work for me, you all have a nice weekend!

 

[Diane W.]

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted. Honestly, there is absolutely nothing new with me to write about.
I am very excited to hear about Roger & Robin's meeting! Sounds very romantic. We want details!
I'm glad that Tom is recovering so nicely. How wonderful!
I hope everyone has a relaxing week leading up to Thanksgiving Day. I am going to my brother's house. I'm baking a cake and muffins.
Hugs to all - enjoy this beautiful day!

 

[Wisteria1956]

Pam: WhooHoo on the new baby news! 7 is your lucky number!
I can't wait to see the pics of the remodel and the tiles. You are crazy to do all of this right before you decorate for Christmas. You are myself, but on steroids! I'm itching to get my Christmas boxes down. J-P is going to learn how to do the lights this year - and perhaps a bit about how to be the kind of sweetheart about that kind of thing his Dad is. I'm not holding out a lot of hope he'll be able to do the whole project without telling me something doesn't matter, lol! We start by lighting up our back wrought iron fence so all the neighbors can see it down the bike trail. It's a tradition!

I am so with you about loving to hear all the gushy stuff from Robin! 32 years and counting here although we try to keep the romance going.

Diane: It was great to see you. Enjoy your Thanksgiving baking!

 

[Wisteria1956]

Black soy bean chili with ground turkey breast and chopped red pepper for dinner last night. Thanks, Jocelyn! Delish!

 

[Virginiaponygirl]

Hi Ladies, just checking in quickly before I head off to the doc.... the leg began to swell again yesterday and is quite swollen again this morning...it usually swells a bit by end of day, then goes down to normal while I sleep, but not the case today, so not sure what that means or how that can happen while I am on the bloodthinners? Roger is in the car and on the way from Pittsburg as we speak, so go figure this would happen NOW! I can reach him by cell if need be, depending on what the doc decides to do about this....OMG, PLEASE dont let me have to go back tot he hospital!! I have too much to do for Thanksgiving! I will try to post an update later on, but if thats the case and Im back to the hospital, of course I will not be able to post...will try to let someone know by e-mail....

If Im not back by then have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving everyone- Love You!

 

[Wisteria1956]

Robin: I am praying very hard right now that you do not have to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital or miss your reunion with Roger. BUT, you must do what is best for your leg so don't stress about what you think you need to do for Thanksgiving. The biggest blessing you have is your health and the best thing you can give to your family is yourself so forget about cooking and cleaning and just enjoy each other. You can make Thanksgiving any day of the year. I did it once for New Years cause Tom had to work on T'giving. I'm soooo sorry you are having this challenge and I hope it is settling down as I type.

Huge Hugs!

 

[Simpleone]

Hello Everyone!

Robin, ditto to what Lisa just said. I too am so sorry this is happening, but you have to think in terms that it's best to figure out what's going on with it and get it taken care of once and for all. I too hope you're not stranded at the hospital for the holiday, yeah, blah, that wouldn't be fun. Best wishes with it all, I'll be thinking about you.

I got my final head count for Thanksgiving today, 19 adults and 6 children, that's just the right number for me. House is ready, and I will begin my baking first thing in the morning. I may get a head start and do a few dozen cookies tonight while watching the Biggest Loser....seems appropriate somehow. lol

Lisa, I bet JP is excited about being home right now, how long does he get to visit? I will not be staying on plan for the holiday, I'll eat when and how ever much I please. M'hum.

You all have a pleasant evening. Love to all!

 

[Seabreezes]

Aloha All,

I don't know where the time get to, but it passes way too quickly. I have not been spending as much time on the computer - not sure why, but seem to spending more time outside which I love. The weather has been perfect here - sorry for those of you starting real winter. Of course, it doesn't seem like holiday time, either with the warm weather.

I have tried to go back to very low carb and do fine for 2 or 3 days and then we have a dinner party to go to and I try not to eat sweet or carby things, but it just doesn't work. Last night's dinner (an early holiday meal) had stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn, bread and gravy. Nothing green!!!! I tried to just eat the turkey and push the other food around. I fed some of it to her dog!! Of course, she is into low fat and I don't dare say a thing. Everyone wants me to bring my cheese crackers, though. At least I ate those with some good cheese before dinner!!

We are going to friends for Thanksgiving, but I have a turkey in the oven as I write this. It smells wonderful. We are going to have breakfast out on T morning and then go sailing for a while. As I said, not typical holiday activities.

I also thought I would be home until the middle of January, but no....we are flying out on Friday for 11 days of bridge!! The National tournament starts on Thanksgiving day and Bob decided he wanted to go. We have friends from here going as well as our best friends will be there so should be fun. I hope he gets the tree up before we leave as it always takes me several days to get turned around after being gone for a while. Real trees do not last long enough here so we use an artificial one.

Lisa, glad the chili came out. I just love the black soy beans for cooking such things.It sounds as Tom is out doing things. That's great.

Robin, so sorry about your leg. That is very worrisome sounding. You just have everyone take care of you!! How nice to re-connect with old friends, too.

We used to do a lot of re-modeling. The place we live in now took almost 2 years to re-do. We gutted it and started over. The dust and mess can be overwhelming. I don't think we would ever do it again, but there is such satisfaction when all is done.

I tried to get a cute Thanksgiving picture in here, but did something wrong.

Hugs to everyone

 

[Simpleone]

Good day everyone!!

I figure I won't have time for this tomorrow so I'm going to send out a huge HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all today. I want to let you know that as I count my blessings tomorrow you all will be right up there at the top of my list of things I'm grateful for. Have a wonderful day, relax and enjoy your family and friends. ....oh yeah, and eat way too much!!

 

[Diane W.]

Robin - I am worried that we didn't hear anything from you today. I hope you're home resting.

I have an apple crumb cake in the oven - it smells so good. I'm going to my brother's tomorrow for Thanksgiving. My sister is going to sleep over tomorrow night and we're going out for Black Friday. It's turned into more of a tradition than a shopping expedition. Last year we bought really nice things - for ourselves! We're done by lunch and we eat at the Olive Garden. We usually see a holiday movie too, but I don't think any are out this year.

I wish each one of you a wonderful Thanksgiving day! I am very thankful to have you all in my life. Enjoy!

 

[Wisteria1956]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

You all are also very high on my gratitude list. I hope everyone has fun cooking, enjoying the food and the day and loving their families today.

We're hoping to play some games and have some laughs this year. Caleb flew in last night and Olivia drives in today. The kids all recommend Apples to Apples so I bought that game. J-P, Tom and I had a killer Scrabble game over two days ending with J-P beating me by about 18 pts. LOL!

I made pumpkin cheesecake yesterday. Might have a small bit. We're going for Tom's first walk around the neighborhood with Bonnie this morning. That should be a great start to the day.

Let's all pray for Robin today and hope her leg is allowing her to have a good Thanksgiving too.

I am truly grateful my sister is cooking today, lol!

Love you guys!

 

[Wisteria1956]

Dear Sisters,

I got an email from Robin, which I opened last night. She wanted me to pass on the information to all of you that she is in the hospital and there have been further developments. You will want to take a deep breath and read the following. We need to give Robin all of our prayers in the strength only we all know how to give for one another. The next few days will be stressful for her. I know she will be fine and we will support her in every way we can.


Hi Lisa, I hope you had a wonderful day with the family. I ended up back in the hospital, and my friend just brought me her laptop so I could send a few e-mails, so I was hoping you would take whatever you feel is appropriate from this e-mail and share it on the board for me? I dont have any of my funky passwords etc with me that I need to get onto the board, so decided to let you know directly instead. If you choose to share any of the details below PLEASE be sure to let everyone know that I CANNOT have anyone post about this on facebook, as I have not shared the details of the tests to my daughter and family yet, and DO NOT want them to see anything on my Fb page!!! I have shared only that I am hospitalized and getting tests...so PLEASE, no mention on there!!
I had serious swelling in the leg again on Monday, so went to the doc on tuesday and she shipped me straight back here to the hospital where they did another ultrasound scan and found more active clots. of course I am on blood thinners, so that should NOT happen, so they went further and did a CT scan which revealed a lung embolism and also a mass on my pancreas. This of course led to widespread panic, and immediate MRI last night, and now a biopsy scheduled for tomorrow, as they werent able to do it today due to the holiday. We are praying for the tumor to be benign, but if it turns out to be malignant, they feel it is pretty well contained, with no indication it has spread to either liver, lymph nodes, or surrounding tissue...so apparently we have caught it early and if malignant, they feel they would be able to remove part of the pancreas and then also take some of the stomach and small intestine out and reconnect everything so that the smaller pancreas could continue to function with a smaller stomach and intestine. Apparently this surgery is proving pretty successful and since they have no indication of any involvement outisde the pancreas itself, there would probably be only a few chemo sessions and hopefully no radiation at all. so thats the story, I am fine and surrounded here with great friends....so pray for a negative biopsy and hopefully we will have the results by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I will let you know as soon as I can....Love, Robin

 

[Wisteria1956]

Robin wants you all to have her email address as she cannot access the board from the hospital.

virginiaponygirl@yahoo.com

We emailed each other again and I learned that this mass on her pancreas is what is causing the clotting in other areas so when they take care of the mass, the clotting should stop. She's having her biopsy today so let's keep her in our prayers and close to our hearts.

 

[gettinhealthy]

Lisa,
Thank you for the email. Sorry I haven't been here, but Mike's best friend was in the hospital and had surgery yesterday.
I will be emailing Robin in a few minutes and sending prayers out her way for sure!!

Robin, we love you. Get better and stay strong!!

I'll be catching up on the posts in a bit as well

 

[kater]

Robin - if you see this, please know that you are in my thoughts. I carry a little guardian angel in my purse. She has been doing double duty lately and now I am sure she will be happy to do triple duty.

Big hugs to all of my friends here.

Some good news. Brad and I made it "official" and told my family last night that we are getting married. Probably some time in the spring. Maybe fall? Whenever we can get the best rates to go back to Hawaii for our honeymoon.

More good news. Demi started her treatment for Hepatitis C last week and seems to be tolerating the drugs without a lot of side effects. So far, anyway. My guardian angel has been helping her too.

xoxox

 

[Wisteria1956]

CONGRATULATIONS BRAD AND KATE!


That's such great news about Demi, too! You must be very relieved.

Bridal shower instead of Godiva ride everyone??

Love you, Robin!

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Holy cow guys, there is too much going on!

Lisa, I am glad to hear Tom is doing well and will keep you in my thoughts as you wait for the final results from the tumor board.

Kathy, yea puppies!, and I am thrilled things are going so well for your husband.

Kate, how wonderful!, a wedding and that Demi is responding well.

Diane, sorry you didn't get the job. Amazing how they can make us feel good even when we don't get a job.

Pam, congrats on the babies. The medical advances have made cleft lip and palette surgeries very common now with an amazing success rate.

Jocelyn, welcome back and Bon voyage! Have a great tournament.

I hope I didn't miss anyone, if I did, please know it wasn't intentional, and forgive me.

I sent an e-mail to Robin, and told her to call me if she needs to talk. Maybe if we got the number of the hospital, we could call her. It might make her feel better and we could keep each other updated.

Life has been very topsy-turvy here recently. My DS16 has been in two accidents in less than two weeks. The first was mainly his naïveté, by turning left when waved on by someone, and hitting another car. On Wednesday night, he called me at 11 p.m. He had a tire blow out on his dad's expedition while trying to merge onto the highway. It pulled him 180* across 3lanes of traffic and slammed him into the guardrail. It appears that it has totalled the car ('99). So my biggest fear of having to buy a new car while I don't have a job is coming true, so I spent the day car shopping.

Tomorrow I will try to leave the stress behind and attend a football game where our high school plays for the state championship. My DS is playing in the marching band. The temps will be between 30* and 36* during game time, so we will be bundled up. I really am envious of those of you in warm climates now. Of course it was a record high 74* here on Monday, but not tomorrow.

Well, enough of my bellyaching. I decided on Thanksgiving that I had a lot to be thankful for, most of all that my son walked away from his accident without a scratch. Off to bed and I will check in soon.

 

[Wisteria1956]

Bev: Thank God your son wasn't hurt! He must really have a guardian angel watching over him. It sounds bad to have two accidents in such a short time, but he really couldn't have done anything about the second one and many people make the same mistake turning left. Once again, I just have to say, Thank God he wasn't hurt!