Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[bobbiwoz]

Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze
Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mama
Take me home, country roads

John Denver!
West Virginia has some of the best State Parks.
Most recently, ( pre Covid, so not that recently)we have enjoyed Berkeley Springs and Cacapon State Parks.

 

[lynxstch]

We have had pouring rain for the last 2 hours. That leaves Lowes off my list for today. I don't want soaking wet bags of stuff in the car, plus being wet makes them even heavier for me to lift. So it's just the discount grocery store. They have Wagyu beef on sale again, though their price has gone up to 4.59 instead of 3.99..but it's still a heck of a lot cheaper than the grocery stores for their run of the mill ground beef. We love the taste of the Wagyu much more. Have a few other things on my list for there. If they have them,,I will cross them off tomorrows grocery list
Rain has finally stopped,,sun trying hard, but not out yet. I will be able to hear the grass growing again as soon as it does, lol

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Good Tuesday morning

Carol, thanks for sharing those lyrics. I hope you have a wonderful trip all-around!

Just extra to all and feel better prayers to all in need as well.

It's a little cooler this morning and overcast. Dad is out doing laundry. This afternoon we will look carefully at Ikea's website to better plan his trip there tomorrow.

Thank you all, always, for your love and shares, trust in each other. Each of you are indeed special to me and I thank you.

Have a great day. I'll look in later.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Good afternoon! The open MRI on my shoulder is over! I see the doctor next week to learn what needs to be done.

I continue with radiation on my face, that’s going well.

Thank you to everyone who encouraged me as I found the closed MRI too difficult to stay in. I was concerned about this too as the person who does my skin cancer treatment basically said the open MRI was not much different! That threw me a curve, but I continued to ask people and I did decide I would take the one anxiety pill I had left and read up on suggestions. The suggestions I followed was wear an eye mask, concentrate on breathing and count.


My Mom passed at 97, in 2016 and this morning in my prayer/quiet time I thought of her bravery and her attitude to do what needs to be done. I wanted to be like her. She was with me, I know.

I counted very slowly to 500! Then it was over.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Good afternoon! The open MRI on my shoulder is over! I see the doctor next week to learn what needs to be done.

I continue with radiation on my face, that’s going well.

Thank you to everyone who encouraged me as I found the closed MRI too difficult to stay in. I was concerned about this too as the person who does my skin cancer treatment basically said the open MRI was not much different! That threw me a curve, but I continued to ask people and I did decide I would take the one anxiety pill I had left and read up on suggestions. The suggestions I followed was wear an eye mask, concentrate on breathing and count.


My Mom passed at 97, in 2016 and this morning in my prayer/quiet time I thought of her bravery and her attitude to do what needs to be done. I wanted to be like her. She was with me, I know.

I counted very slowly to 500! Then it was over.

I’m so glad you got through it, Bobbiwoz!

 

[Snowysmom]

Bobbiwoz Glad you were able to get through the MRI.

West Virginia must be beautiful. Have fun.

It is raining here so my walk was shortened quite a bit. I did go look at Home Sense to see what they had but I am so not a decorating person. I lasted about 5 minutes and had to leave. Not my kind of store. I will have the rugs, curtain rod, and just sent some possible curtain selections to my DDIL and DS to critique and see if they are fine. Then I will be all set for moving in. The woman who owns the condo now is leaving the 2 bedroom curtains and shades so I am all set there until I decide to change them. I am not in a hurry. I do need bathroom mats for getting out of the shower but that is a quick trip to Target to just grab something. I am not fussy. I just want to bare minimum to get by and then down the road see when and if I have the energy to change anything. I do need to buy a new TV for my sons to put on the wall and phones as my phones at the house are ancient. I do like to have a landline and can do that with the cable company. Too many things to do so I am trying to do it a bit at a time.

Have a nice evening.

 

[bobbiwoz]

When I said my prayers this morning, this sentence stood out, and it helped me too.

”The only way to keep your balance is to fix your eyes on Me, the one who never changes. If you gaze too long at your circumstances, you will become dizzy and confused.” That thought came to me again in the machine.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

BigBobiwoz, I am so glad the MRI is behind you. Thank you for sharing with us about your mom. She raised a lovely and courageous daughter! She was indeed with you this morning and always as is God! Amen that indeed He is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He loves you. All of us care, too

Extrato you as well, Snowysmom. One day at a time, my friend.

 

[tazdev3225]

Good evening.

I have been reading but honestly other than Bobbiwoz I can't remember anything. I am glad that you were able to handle the MRI. I have had quite a few in my life and found the music they played and going to a happy spot in my mind always worked. That and for some reason the noise always lulls me to sleep.

It has been an up and down week for me. Saturday my grandson Mikey turned 16. I still find it hard that the happy little guy who called me Memo (rhymes with Nemo) since he couldn't say grandmom is old enough to drive. Thankfully my daughter is not letting him get his permit yet. The boy gets lost going for the bus that is around the corner.

Sunday my oldest granddaughter decided she wanted to start going to church again. We went on a nature walk afterwards and took some pictures. I was so happy to spend the time with her. She is such an amazing young woman, and I am immensely proud of her.

Yesterday my Dad turned 86! I am so blessed to still have him with me at my age. I told him I wished him a happy birthday on Facebook and quite a few of his cousins responded with well wishes. He said he was famous.

Today my husband saw the foot doctor again and I was NOT prepared to hear what he said. I was hoping that the toe was all better and we could get him measured for his shoes. Instead, my husband will be going into the hospital on Monday for surgery to have a partial toe amputation. He has an infection in the bone. After I absorbed it all I was OK. I am looking at the positive side of this. If he had not injured the toe last week the infection could have gone undetected until it was too late to save his foot, and possibly his life. I am looking at as a positive thing. It will be one joint off the toe, he will heal from it, and there was definitely someone watching over him. I kept seeing butterflies on the walk so I think my Grandmother was letting me know we would be OK.

I did get some nice pics on Sunday. This one definitely makes me think of my Gram. I planted it in her memory a few years ago and every year I just feel her presence when it blooms. She loved Bleeding Hearts

While my granddaughter and I were in one park there was this really cute little bird but I could not get my camera to focus quickly enough. We went to a second park. This one was the country home of a wealthy banker. It's called Glen Foerd Mansion,. My granddaughter's art shows with school were always held here and she had never been there in the daytime. It sits on the banks of the Delaware River not to far from my home. I discovered it by accident a few years ago and it really is a peaceful spot. This is the mansion. I have toured it and it is really amazing inside. The venue is also used for weddings and formal pictures.


As we walked around we noticed a couple of little birds just like the one we saw in the previous park. I managed to get a couple of pictures this time. This is a Chipping Sparrow. My granddaughter googled



I hope you all have a nice evening.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

dear Taz and a whole lot of love and prayer, I 'loved" your courageous post for so many reasons. I admire your spirit, as well, my friend. God absolutely is shining extra Grace upon you and your husband. He will be with both of you all the extra on Monday. By His call and connection, all of us, your Quacker family, will be praying for you both and with you in spirit, too. Praise God all the extra that your granddaughter returned to church, extra blessing that you two went together and had such a lovely day afterwards. God Bless you, and Mikey and your dad, too. Cherish this time with him!

Have a good night's rest everyone.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Just checking in so you don't all think I've disappeared. It was a crazy busy day here, so I'll try to go back and type individual answers tomorrow, but for now I have to do a couple of quick evening chores and then I'm off to bed. Hugs to all!

 

[Canadisney Fly]

Fun little fact about MRIs - when I was collaborating with some physicists at Stanford, they showed me how you can place a quarter in the centre of the magnet and it will remain suspended in midair. If you position it perfectly, you can tap it so it will spin in space. Don't try this at home, Mouseketeersbecause metal objects and MRIs should never come together, but it was a bit of Disney magic, courtesy of physics (and VERY strong magnets).

Bobbiwoz, I'm glad you were able to have the option for an open MRI - they can be a pretty challenging experience at the best of times, but when you're carrying the burden of worry and concern over a treatment schedule, it doesn't seem fair that part of the diagnostics is such a stress-inducing event.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

When my DD was a teen and in the hospital, she had to have an MRI on her leg. The tech, a young guy himself, sort of embarrassingly asked DD if she was wearing a bra with a wire. DD said she didn’t think so. So they get her in the machine and turn it on, and immediately she starts to get sucked up to the top of it! She was like, “Whoaaa”! So they shut it down and she had to go take it off, lol. I had MRIs every year for many years after cancer, face down, and I hated every one.

The four of us went out to dinner (more like a late lunch) tonight and it was nice, since it’s rare we get to do that. Driving home we took the scenic route and got caught in a ferocious rainstorm, but it was just in one area so we drove through it pretty quickly. Forgot to say earlier that Monday night we made raviolis with sauce and a really good salad that everyone liked. I put the dressing on the salad before serving and I think that made a difference. I wanted to throw a few sunflower seeds on it and DH shot me the look, lol. He is a a bit of a purist and doesn’t like things like fruit or seeds in his salad, whereas I do. It wasn’t a battle I felt like fighting.

Taz, I’m sorry to hear about your husband’s need for surgery. That is a tough pill to swallow. However, if it keeps him healthy, I know you’ll all do what you have to do and get through it. My DH has a cyst on his toe, he had an MRI and will have to have surgery on it, too. I worry about infection and all that, plus he works on his feet. He was supposed to have a surgical consult but doctor had to cancel, so he has to reschedule. DD works with this type of thing so glad to have her on board with it.

I spoke with the rescue‘s adoption coordinator today and we had a nice conversation. He reminded me of one of my patients - retired, and got involved in rescue for the love of it. Our roots are similar. He put me in touch with the foster mom and we talked. She was in TN with a strong southern accent! (She must’ve said the same thing about me, lol.) Connection wasn’t great but we were able to chat for a bit. Tomorrow she is going to send me some videos of the dog. Sounds like the dog had a decent life up until his owner passed away and the family brought him to a shelter. We’ll see how it goes.

A good friend of mine told me she’s going to the dinner tomorrow night so I’m going to go. Will pick up a cake on the way as we needed to celebrate something with her anyway. Looking forward to that.

Have a good Wednesday, everyone!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Today was laundry and packing. We leave tomorrow for 4 nights in West Virginia. First two night going to Grafton and staying in the lodge at Tygart Lake State Park. Going to try to fin my grandparents graves. I haven't been to Grafton in 60 years. Will also try to find my Uncle's grave. Have been talking to cousins to gain more info. Then we are going to Blackwater Falls State Park for two nights in the lodge there. Plans to hike and sightsee. And hit a brewery or two,

Hope you have a great trip!

Lou Lou has had a runny nose and cough, Lil Joe has had ear drainage and a cough since last week. DD took the kids to Primacare and both have an ear infection.

DS (up at school) had his ears looked at the other day, too, but they said it was just allergies for him. Hope the little ones both feel better soon!

I am finding looking for stuff for the condo to be daunting by myself so I am abdicating the chore to others. I now will ask for help with curtains. Anything else will have to wait for when I am there. It is a day at a time kind of thing. I did buy a curtain rod that has birds on each end. It is really cute and I really like it. I gave myself a treat and bought it.

I agree with taking it slow, and I love that are letting people do things for you!

I'm taking a week off in a couple of weeks so that I can pain my kitchen cabinets and fireplace.

Bless you! I watch those shows that make it look easy, but then I don't actually do it.

I watched Idol last nite, am no longer happy with it as my favorite got sent home.

DH and I watch, but not "live". We still have Monday's in the DVR. (I have about three I'd be happy to see win, though!)

Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River...

Love that song!

Mary Catherine Nivert was born 25 October 1944 in Washington, D.C. She received her nickname Taffy from her elder brother who, unable to pronounce her middle name as a young child, would call her Mary Tafferine.

That's a sweet story! Thanks for looking up the details about the song for us.

I love that song. I saw John Denver perform three weeks before he died. I was heavily pregnant with twins at the time, so I always tell my kids they may not have seen him, but they did get to hear him! For a college History of Country Music paper, DS chose that song to examine.

I would love to take that class!

After I finish my coffee I am going to try out my new treadmill. DH and DS set it up over the weekend and they tried it out last night after dinner. (I wasn’t about to start with a full belly!) You put your iPad on it and using the App, you can ’walk anywhere’. They have all different places to walk on video along with celebrities, apparently. So last night they had on Scotland with Graham McTavish, from Outlander.

Our treadmill has made such a huge difference for me! I generally watch shows or YouTube videos while I walk, but maybe I'll check those out.

Rain has finally stopped,,sun trying hard, but not out yet. I will be able to hear the grass growing again as soon as it does, lol

Our lawn guy came for the first time this season yesterday. (I felt bad because I didn't know he was coming and had just dumped a huge pile of wet leaves off the pool cover onto the grass, but he said not to worry and just weed-wacked around that spot.)

Good afternoon! The open MRI on my shoulder is over!

Yay!!! Glad you made it through, and I hope it leads to effective help for your shoulder.

...my husband will be going into the hospital on Monday for surgery to have a partial toe amputation. He has an infection in the bone. After I absorbed it all I was OK. I am looking at the positive side of this. If he had not injured the toe last week the infection could have gone undetected until it was too late to save his foot, and possibly his life.

Wow! Sorry to hear about the infection. But glad it was caught in time. You have a great attitude!

P.S. - Your photos are beautiful!

Fun little fact about MRIs - when I was collaborating with some physicists at Stanford, they showed me how you can place a quarter in the centre of the magnet and it will remain suspended in midair. If you position it perfectly, you can tap it so it will spin in space. Don't try this at home, Mouseketeersbecause metal objects and MRIs should never come together, but it was a bit of Disney magic, courtesy of physics (and VERY strong magnets).

That's so cool!

I spoke with the rescue‘s adoption coordinator today and we had a nice conversation. He reminded me of one of my patients - retired, and got involved in rescue for the love of it. Our roots are similar. He put me in touch with the foster mom and we talked. She was in TN with a strong southern accent! (She must’ve said the same thing about me, lol.) Connection wasn’t great but we were able to chat for a bit. Tomorrow she is going to send me some videos of the dog. Sounds like the dog had a decent life up until his owner passed away and the family brought him to a shelter. We’ll see how it goes.

Best of luck with this one!

P.S. - The one I PM'd you about had found his new home as well. My friend forwarded me a video that the new owner sent her, and he has a big yard, two "siblings" to play with, and seemed very happy.



I was running around most of yesterday putting raffle baskets together for a charity event DH's lodge is hosting this weekend, when I get a call from DS. - One of his roommates had just been taken to the hospital with appendicitis!!

DS went to be with him, but they wouldn't let him stay because he wasn't family. (I get that, in a way, but I wish they could make an exception for people you actually live with when blood relatives are far away.) Anyway, he had emergency surgery and was doing OK late yesterday afternoon. Now DS is just waiting to hear today about the plan moving forward, and when he will need to pick him up. (And of course, this is all happening with only a couple weeks left of the semester. - Yikes!)

 

[footballmouse]

Good Wednesday morning all!

Went out and walked after work yesterday. I listed to a Disney podcast and then the sounds of Disney. One was of the Pirates ride and the other was the Coronado Resort music. It was definitely different from what I usually listen to on my walks. The podcast was a first for me, thought maybe I could try it out.

Pea-n-Me - Good luck with the dog, I hope you get this one. It seems like he needs a loving home. Makes me sad that he had to go to a shelter after his owner passed away. Poor guy.

Bobbiwoz - Congrats on getting through the MRI, those are tough. I had a little panic attack at the one and only that I've ever had. We figured out that she had my head propped up too high so that was making me feel a little trapped b/c my head was so close to the top.

Tazdev - Happy birthday to your dad! It sounds like you had a nice day with your granddaughter, I'm sure that will be something she will always remember. The mansion looks beautiful, definitely something that I would love to tour. I can't imagine how pretty wedding pictures would be there.

Tonight is my Survivor night so I'll park my butt on the couch and watch. I have a taste test to do after work today. I'm tasting and comparing a plant-based burger. I figured for $12 I could force myself to eat a few bites. I've actually wanted to taste one of these so I was happy when they called. With that $12 and the $12 I received last week for tasting pickles, I'll stop and get myself a Powerball ticket for tonight's drawing. Fingers crossed that I can retire in the morning!

Well it's Administrative Professional Day today, let's see if anyone in my office remembers me . I'm helping to pass out cookies during lunch today.

Time to start getting my day started, hope everyone has a great day!

 

[lynxstch]

Good sunny, but cool morning. Got down to 39 last nite, the high today will only be 51. But at least there's no rain in sight for a few days. Trash is out, cats and birds are fed, and we are off to do errands in a bit. Aldi's, Walmart, Lowes, and CVS.
Nothing new around here except the grass is growing yet again and will need mowing tomorrow or Friday.

Have a nice morning everyone~~

 

[Judique]

I always try to buy a lottery ticket in another state while I'm on vacation. This month I bought in Georgia and Virginia on my trip to Florida.

You reminded me to check the numbers. No winner here, but maybe I'll be out today and buy a powerball ticket. I think there is enough for us to share the winnings.
271.9m cash out. I'll be the one spending $3.

With that $12 and the $12 I received last week for tasting pickles, I'll stop and get myself a Powerball ticket for tonight's drawing. Fingers crossed that I can retire in the morning!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Kitty is enjoying the outdoors this morning.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Good morning all. I'm back (at least a little bit) from my self-imposed exile. I needed a timeout, I think, from all social media, as I was getting a bit mean. Again, my apologies for being such a crankypants.
((huggles)) to those who need them; Taz, sorry about your spouse's toe; Bobbi, I hope you're doing better; Pea, good luck with the puppy search. Snowy, we don't use mats in the bathrooms, because I swear they never dry out in the FL humidity, and mold so easily. I have some old towels that we use instead; much easier to wash, lol.

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DS is thriving, living with DD#2 in Cali. Both are working at Legoland CA (DS does whatever they need, food service or ride wrangler or builder or whatever; DD is a VIP tour guide). DSoIL#2 tested C+ yesterday, so he is isolating at home with the cats, and DS/DGS#2/DD are staying at the LL hotel (at a very discounted rate...I'm sure that's a hardship ). DD/DS/SoIL have their first booster, so aren't too concerned about it. DD#1 fell and broke her arm at work, back in March; the parking lot was icy, and unsalted, and she went down hard. At least 4 others from her work fell in the same place on the same day, so workmans comp kicked in. All the other grandkids are doing well; DGS#3 is having some testing done, to see where he falls on the spectrum + is doing speech therapy; DGS#4 is sporting 3 teeth at 7 months, and is eating real solids now, not just purees.

We got our second boosters over the last few weeks (DH did his first, then I did mine a few weeks later). DH had the ache across his shoulder blades again, for a few days; I was ok with just a mild constant headache across the back of my head for a few days. DH had to get a test done (that involves cameras, sleepy juice, Miralax and lots of bathroom cleaning for me), and came out mostly good, so he's done for another 5 years. He says he appreciates what we women go through a little more, though.

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(I haven't posted here in a while, so pardon me if you think I'm blabbering, lol)

We've been doing some different meal kit places, just to try out (and they really like to throw those discounts out for the first few uses, lol). I was stagnating in my cooking, and we were spending way too much on eating out because of it. Sunbasket is at the bottom of our list, along with Dinnerly, Butcher Box, and EveryPlate; we weren't impressed with them, for various reasons (I did get full refunds from BB and SB, as the food they sent was not good at all, we ended up tossing both boxes right away. EP and Dinnerly weren't just what I was looking for, quality wise.) Hello Fresh is surprisingly at the top so far; and we have a discount from Green Chef to try in a few weeks. I want to try the Martha Stewart one, but that has to wait a few weeks, to clear out what we have coming already.
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DH has decided to start trying some different alcohol drinks, so a couple of nights a week, he gets his mixology on. He made one the other day, with Aviation gin, ginger beer, lemon (or lime juice, I can't remember) and some other things and it went down wayyy too easy; so tasty, though, and would be good on a hot summer day. Sometime this week, we're trying one with fresh muddled blackberries, bourbon and fresh mint, among other things. He had to get all new bar tools, so I picked up some new drinking glasses at Belk:
In Double Old Fashioned, Stemless wine, and Rocks glasses. $75 total for a set of 4 of each.

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I bought some new pots and pans. Sams Club had a sale on these: https://www.samsclub.com/p/ninja-fo...c-cookware-set/prod26130953?xid=plp_product_9

I paid $150 for the set, so got a great deal. Will move the old pots to our camping gear, as they are almost all in good condition, and will get rid of the $20 set we bought at Walmart almost 30 years ago, lol.

I also ordered these from Kohls, both in smoked paprika:
https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-5... Pot&search=5675000&submit-search=web-regular

https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-5...bdrecsId=ead10744-8199-433b-beea-dd26bf4ea395

I paid $200 total for them + three Yankee Candles; got $40 in KC.

And...I don't know if I posted these before I went into exile, but the new living room (couch/chair/rug/tables/lamps) and dining room table/chairs:


I'm still looking for something for the walls there in the living room area. (The front door is just to the side of the end table here, and the brown wood you see is the tv stand).

Wow, that's a long post. Sorry, it's just been awhile, lol.
Hope everyone has a great day.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

B&B, so nice to see you back! I love the furniture pieces! I can just picture what will look nice on the walls - a large picture that pulls all those colors in! Do you have a Home Goods?