phyllser

Well, the 24 hr thing started out as a fun thing.. light-hearted, and it did get us all thinking! But it sort of got heavy and a little melancholy! Luggage.... I'm with Lori... don't spend a lot. We usually try to travel as light as possible... so we've sort of switched from big huge suitcases to a couple of small ones. I like the way Janet travels... she keeps it small and does carry-on. TOPS weigh in this morning! Yuck! Last time I lost about 2 1/2 lb. Unfortunately, I might be up about that much today! Afterwards, pool PT. So I better get my butt in gear and get ready!

Yeah, Mom is definitely not as sharp as she used to be. Heck, one day last week she got to the rehab center and started talking to this guy tied in a gerry chair... "Hi, Honey! How are you doing today??" It was NOT Ed. Then she says, "Why are you giving me that stupid look???" My sister says, 'MA, that's NOT Ed!!" She says, "Well, it sure LOOKED like him!" Two of my sisters and one of his daughters visited at different times today and brought things they need... like frozen dinners! Lets hope they can read and follow the directions! At least now she knows how to turn off the smoke alarm! And they have lots of meds to manage between the two of them! I shudder to think of it! Yes, there will be visiting nurses, but probably only a couple of short visits a week. They both need help with showers. And both are shaky on their feet. They're already plotting about when they can start walking down the street to the closest restaurant with their walkers! Oh, my!! Hey! Was it you Montana girls who left me with that expensive bottle of wine??? You should have taken it home with you! Its sitting on the kitchen shelf and I noticed the price tag today! Earl would faint if I spent over $25 on a bottle of wine!!

Our youngest son used to smoke it a lot, so I know what it smells like. He was brazen enough to light up in the back of our house and I could smell if every time he did that. We used to do street ministry in a gay bar district... I smelled it there quite often, too. It would just make me want to pig out!! I'm having enough of a struggle with that at the moment!! Should be getting a fill on Tuesday and that will help. I am hungry 2 hrs after I eat! It's awful! I've gained a few pounds, and DH keeps lecturing me about what I need to do to fix it! UGH!!!

24 hrs to live?? Family, spaghetti and wine!! LOL Maybe some chocolate, maybe some sex!! HAHA! I told the "7's" that ever since I saw "It's Complicated", I put trying some mj on my bucket list!! Never tried it! Then I'd probably choke to death and not get my whole 24 hours!!

I agree.... replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations. When I am in the midst of negative experiences/thoughts/circumstances, I try to remember to thank God for what is going on around me... for how He will use it to strengthen me! I remember one time when Tracy scared the heck out of us... I think it was the day after her 15th birthday and it was one of those "skip school" days... when everyone cuts classes and goes somewhere to party. Well, she and her friends got a hold of a bottle of vodka. Then when she got so drunk she was barfing and passing out... they dumped her in someone's car in the HS parking lot. One of the teachers found her and called us. We quickly realized we needed to take her to ER. I couldn't wake her up... prayed all the way to the hospital.... "thank you, God"... she could have died in that car in the school parking lot! Everything turned out alright, but I remember praying that instead of going in to a panic! It helped me get through it. So, Kaitlin is gone back home. Did you ever get to teach her how to make enchiladas?? I know you enjoyed having her there. You're going to miss her! Very concerned about things with my Mom & Uncle Ed. He was back in cardiac care at the hospital for the last several days. First it was to get 2 units of blood because his RBC's were so low. Then they said they were keeping him until Monday to monitor him because his cardiac enzymes were elevated (indicating possible new heart attack). So today they said they were discharging him back to the rehab center and he refused to go! So now he is home with my Mom.... weak and tired, just off insulin for a couple of days... Apparently diagnosed diabetic after the heart bypass. SO last two days his blood sugar was okay, but don't think there have been any instructions as to monitoring his blood sugar, giving himself insulin if necessary. My Mom is NOT competent to take care of him, in my opinion. Two nights ago my sister gave her some leftovers to put in her fridge including a piece of pizza. Told her to heat it up for 40 seconds! Well, she decides she's going to have it for dinner last night. So.... she told me, since it was COLD, she decided she should heat it for FIVE MINUTES!! Of course, she turned it in to a piece of charcoal, set off the smoke alarm and then went in to a panic because she couldn't figure out how to turn off the smoke alarm and she was EMBARRASSED!! She just isn't thinking that clearly lately. She called here the other day when we were out and got the answering machine. So she calls my sister in OR and tells her that she called me but I told her I was too busy to talk and hung up on her!!! HELLO???? ANSWERING MACHINE!!!

Ok... PJ...I remember now. I was concerned when she said she vomited and had blurry vision... with those symptoms, should definitely see the doc. Leg weights.... how many lbs do you use? PT tech helped me with machines yesterday. Your uncle is about the same age as me. Did you tell him how well I came through the knee replacement last summer?? Nothing to be afraid of, really. But the longer he waits the more strength he will lose in his legs. I'm still trying to get the left one back to par. Sounds like a wonderful trip, Laura!! Love the new picture of Nelson! Loose teeth.... that reminded me, when we had Zoey spayed the other day, they took out three loose baby teeth and gave them to us for her "baby book"! LOL I can get a pedicure for $15, mani for $13, right down the street. Haven't done it since last summer though! Takes an hour for each, and I guess I just haven't had the patience! Yes, therapy outside the pool was a harder workout than I've been getting in the pool. I will be doing once a week pool, once a week gym. Zoey is recovering very nicely from her surgery. In fact, I wonder if we should have given her a sedative today because she's been very active today. She would have produced really cute puppies, but probably not a good idea, especially with her harelip.. which breeder told me is genetic. I did take her for 2 long scooter rides today, so that kept her pretty quiet for a while. She loves it now. Very well behaved, too. She gets excited if someone stops to talk to her or pet her, but usually responds well when I say, "NO, you have to SIT." She gets VERY excited when I get to the Surf Shack for my latte though... She knows she gets to get out of the basket and greet people. But she runs right inside to greet whoever is working! And into the storage shed if the door is open. She knows she gets treats there, too, so that adds to the excitement! And when more customers come, she jumps all over them. She especially "bonded" with a young man who was there with his girl today. He really liked her. I finally found the ball I've been looking for at Safeway today. Good teething ball and easy for her to pick up because its all these little entwined rubbery tubes. She is pretty much completely house trained now. She did poop on the bathroom carpet today but it was my fault. She'd been at the door and barked her little soft bark that says "I need to go outside", but I thought she was just barking at her ball and I ignored it! So she followed me to the bathroom and did her deed there!! First time she's done that inside. She always goes to the door when she needs to go potty. That's why she woke me up at 7 a.m. today, too! I like Grandma... some of the kids call me Grandma H, some Grandma Phyllis, and I think somebody calls me Grandma Phyl. Agree with all your hair comments, but I like mine short. Let my DGS girlfriend leave it too long when she highlighted it last month. So I went the other day and got a "short pixie". I like it better... easier to handle. I'm not good with hair! I like it short and simple! There is a beautician that I LOVE in NY... my youngest sister has been going to her for years. I usually have her do my hair when I am in town, and the timing should be right this time, too. I'll get there towards the end of August, so will be ready for a trim then... and maybe I'll have her redo the highlights, too.

Hi, So you were working out THAT early on a SATURDAY!! Impressive! I did good to be up at 7a.m. on Saturday! But I was tired last night and went to bed earlier than usual! We had a good time with Tracy and Jim last night. Before the waitress brought blankets for Jim and I, I covered myself up with everyone's napkins! Earl and Tracy insisted they weren't cold! Temperature fell about 20 degrees while we were sitting there so we went from hot to shivering! Another nice day today but not as hot. It's in the high 70's now. We are going over to Tracy & Jim's later for BBQ and she said she's making cosmos! She had one at Anthony's last night and really liked it so she went home and looked up the recipe on the internet and bought the ingredients. Zoey is back to normal, so having a hard time trying to keep her quiet. Don't know what we'll do at Tracy's tonight because she loves to play with Gigi and Misty. Don't want to leave her home and don't want to make her stay in her crate.

I lost a big long post here last night and was too tired to redo it! Was up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday to take Zoey to Spay Station. She is doing TOO fine today! Trying to keep her down. She is a little restless tonight, but it's bedtime now so she'll be quiet until morning. She is quiet as a mouse once we put her in her crate for the night. It is right next to our bed and she will occasionally wake us during the night to go outside, but I think that's only happened twice... including this morning...and it was 5;40 and DH was already up so he took her out. Well, it's not even 10pm but I am exhausted and I'm going to bed. Had PT at 9 a.m. so had to be up early to be ready by then.... read paper, etc. And.... floor and table exercises and weight machines today instead of pool, so I am TIRED tonight! One thing I do remember from last night's post.... whoever it was having the headaches.... think you should definitely see your doctor.

Yep... DGD, Alisha's mini doxie, Harley. She's a cutie. Very lovable. Zoey had a great time playing with Harley and Gigi that day, and she was a riot with Misty. She was afraid of Misty and Shadow the first couple of times we had her over there. Now she's leaping in to the air trying to nip at Misty's nose. Shadow is old and bewildered by these little dogs, but Misty loves to play with them and is very gentle. I LOVE hot but I don't like cold! We had an interesting afternoon at Anthony's HomePort... Was HOT when we got there so we sat under one of their umbrellas on the back patio. But after a couple of hours out there, some clouds rolled in and the wind picked up and pretty soon Jim and I were freezing. Tracy and Earl wanted to know... what's the problem??!! I gathered all the napkins on the table to wrap my arms in! Waitress laughed at me and brought blankets for Jim and I! I kept telling Earl we could go inside to get our bill and pay for it, but he just wanted to sit out there and wait for it. So Jim and I finally went inside. We didn't have dinners... drinks and appetizers. Clams were GREAT! They're still out of oysters and said they probably will be for a LONG time.

PT/gym workout was good. They started me on some floor and table exercises, then Jack went upstairs to the machines with me. I showed him which ones I was using, he helped me with technique as well as showing me how to make some height, etc. adjustments that I didn't know about. Then he had me do a few machines I haven't used before. I worked up a good sweat today!! Zoey was upset that I left without her this morning! Earl was watching her from inside... let her wait outside by the door for me. She was so excited when she saw me coming and was quick to jump up on the scooter deck. We had a great ride around the neighborhood... Surf Shack, Target. She gets lots of attention and she loves it. Traumatic trip home, though. We live too close to the fire station!! Must have been big accident somewhere. Heard the first truck coming out of Target, then Aid car... turned around in the parking lot there and headed out with it's lights going and siren wailing. We were far enough away that she didn't freak. But when we got to the main intersection, a big red truck came up behind us and turned the corner in front of us and she almost came unglued. Had to hold her in a strangle hold until it was gone. Then I'm waiting for the light to change and walk light to come on and I hear about 3 more coming from another direction. So I got across the street as fast as I could... did NOT wait for the walk light because I couldn't have gotten across before they got there if I did! They passed behind us but she was so scared! Didn't calm down until we were in the condo parking lot. Very bad timing! Earl is so funny!! He was lying on the floor with her talking baby talk to her last night. This morning he keeps telling me how "AMAZING" she is!! Too rushed yesterday or today to get weighed, but when I got home from Camano.. I was up about 3 lb. Hopefully some of that is gone now. Been behaving myself all week. I bought some smoked salmon at one of the local stores and been having that. Have to go back next week for another fill and I NEED it!! I was so hungry last night!! Jim's son, Michael is up from Temecula CA with his two kids this week. So this is a photo of us with Jim & Tracy's whole clan.... Megan, the oldest girl, with her husband Tony and their two little girls, Michael and his two, Adam and Alisha right in front. So..... those are our four step-GREAT Grandchildren!!

Sorry gals! Very busy couple of days. Then lost a big long post on the mentor thread! Very frustrating! Anyway, beautiful weather since you left!! Spending a lot of time outside. Also, Zoey spayed yesterday at mobile van up in Mt. Vernon.... about 15 miles north of where we were.. I think 40 miles for us maybe... 2 trips up there yesterday... got up at 4;30 a.m. to take her up there.... low cost, first come, first servwed. So we were there at 5:30 ish... first in line. Low income first priority, so no guarantees, but they did take us. Very good service, very low price. Got the works... last vaccine, microchipping, flea treatment, nails clipped, meds, collar she won't wear... all for $120 so I donated $30 and still saved $200 from what my vet was going to charge. They did say we need to get her groomed or she will start to have eye problems. So will make an appt at Petco when they open. She's dong very well. No pain med since last night. Have sedative to give her if she gets too active. Other thing... lots of phone calls with youngest sis yesterday. Uncle Ed... low red blood count. Back to hosp for blood transfusion. Then they admitted him... Mom doesn't know this, but suspect he may havae had another heart attack. She says they admitted for "anemia" but that's not what they told my sis. Well.... gotta run. Pt in 30 minutes. Transitioning to 1x a week pool, 1x gym, so today is my first time for PT-gym. Tech told me I was using too heavy weights, etc... so she will get me on an appropriate program and monitor.

CONGRATS on getting your date!! I remember how excited I was when I got mine! I was out tooling around the neighborhood on my handicap scooter and when I came home, DH had a big note on the screen door... "Surgery Date July 20"!!

Well, we just about always go to Anthony's at Happy Hour time. Usually have a glass of wine, appetizer (oysters if they have them) and enjoy the sun. Tracy wants to go tomorrow, so we might go again. Zoey was so good there last night. They don't allow dogs, so we just sat at the very last table and put her around the corner on the handicap ramp. As soon as she got it that she couldn't come over and sit with us, she went into her little red carrier and went to sleep. Of course, if Zoey has her surgery tomorrow... that could change our Happy Hour plans! Or maybe she'll just sleep in her carrier again. We have 84 degrees and it's not yet noon! Such a nice day. We took the trip down to the lake... Zoey and I ended up cruising around the neighborhood for 2 hrs because we made stops after we split with Earl... Safeway, sports store, Surf Shack and Target where I got her some more treats. Oh, Theresa gave me your SF White Choc powder, but she has to go home and look at her bill to tell me how much. It's as big as a coffee can... 2 1/2 lbs. Hope Karri is having a great time in Vegas. And Candice is home by now. Karri's beans are so good! I had a little for both lunch and dinner the past two days! Guess I'll have to start making my own.

What a GREAT weekend. So good to see all of you and missing you like crazy now! Still working on getting photos on FB! And enjoying the nice weather!! LOL!! Summer got here right after you left and it's supposed to be 89 today, 93 tomorrow! We're going to take Zoey to be spayed tomorrow... mobile van in the area... have to be there at 6 a.m. because first come, first served and they only take so many per day. Will have her microchipped, too. Right now she's scratching on the door because "daddy" took the garbage to the dumpster without her!! Candice.... I have to work on some more tricks, because she definitely has the "sit" and "down"!! Riding in the basket... if she stands up, I just tell her to "sit" and for the most part, unless there are too many distractions, she does it. Bad part is... yesterday when Earl brought out the wine and little stainless steel condiment cups... she knew there was cheese in them. So she was at my feet doing her little bark and when that didn't work, she sat! I still ignored her, so she did the "down" with her head cocked looking at me sweetly! So I think she got about 1/3 of my cheese!! Who can resist that face and she is so proud to do her tricks! Skipping Primetimers again... too nice to go sit inside for 3 hours!! Gotta go... Earl wants to do the "lake loop" walk and then go to Costco! I thought we were just there yesterday! Oh... that was just to fill up the Chevy... We went for a long ride in hte 53 Chevy yesterday with Zoey. In fact, we went to Anthony's Home Port for Happy Hour! No more oysters! They ran out. So I had shot glass shrimip cocktails!

Hi, Cat Lady! Welcome to this thread! I was banded at 63-- 3 yrs ago. In fact, just got back from 3 yr reunion with gals from the July 07 thread.... 8 of us rented a beach house here in WA state for the July 4th weekend. Had a GREAT time! Will post a photo. You won't be sorry! Best decision I ever made! Will..... GREAT metaphors and excellent advice! Good to hear from all of you!

Ellensberg!! Impressive! Should've come on in! You could've crashed here. Candice came in this morning at 11 a.m. We pick up Janet at the airport at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. Then we'll come back to the condo & pick up all our stuff... refrigerator stuff, groceries... and go on up to the beach house. Have to make a costco stop. Didn't get all the stuff yet. Earl got coffee and pork roast.... which he cooked all day today... but he forgot the blueberries and we didn't get the canned chicken Karla wanted yet. Beach house check in is 3 pm, but it might take us that long to get all that done. Do you have gps??? You can just punch in my address and meet us here.... 9210 Market Place, Everett WA, Bldg F 103.

Wait a minute!! WE CAN get sand in our underpants... it's not a ROCK beach!! Lots of driftwood though!!

Great update, Linda!! You and Julie are so good at bringing us all up to date!! I think I really like the FFFF's!! LOL So much looking forward to the next few days with my "7's"!! Candice arrived today.. she and I have gone to my Surf Shack for latte's with the puppy! Zoey loves it now... first trip in the scooter basket freaked her out. Now she welcomes those rides and gets all excited when we get near the Surf Shack because she knows she's going to get treats! And, we walked over to the dollar store and got "stuff"! One of our gals has a birthday tomorrow... so we got some fun things for her birthday party and ordered a cake. It's not a veggie cake, Janet! Get over it!! LOL! Decided she probably hasn't had many real birthday cakes with candles and sing "Happy Birthday", blow out the candles and make a wish!! So we ordered a very special birthday cake and got candles and bubbles, etc.! It'll be fun. So now we're having some wine and then Earl is taking us across the street for prime rib.... Candice and I will split a dinner! Today my wonderful husband has done all this for our "7's" get-together... ground a big bag of coffee that he got at Costco yesterday, cooked a 13 lb pork shoulder roast all day and then pulled all the pork for us, and made a bowl of macaroni salad! He is a winner! We won't have to cook all weekend. Tomorrow... Janet comes in a little after 11 a.m. We'll make a Costco stop for some popcorn, etc before we go to the beach house! We're going to have a GREAT time! Friday DD is going to go with us to LaConner and show us where to get the best salmon burgers in the world!!! She says!! LOL! And I think she says there's a quilting store there for our quilting gals. That would NOT be me!! HAHAHA! We took the puppy to the dollar store with us. She walked all the way there and then she just planted her feet and decided that was enough walking! So I had brought her small carrier bag.. put her in it and put her in a shopping cart and rode her around in the store. When we came out... made her walk again. That made it down about 3-4 stores and she was done again! She is tiny with short little legs, and I guess she was tired. So... back in the bag and slung her over my shoulder until we got to Albertson's. Then back in a shopping cart while we did our thing in there. Then had to carry her home. She was all tuckered out.

Food.... only if there is something in particular that you want. Have some groceries already, Earl is grinding our coffee right now, and he just put a pork shoulder roast in the oven for pulled pork. I think we will stop at Costco on the way back from the airport today and get the popcorn and the blueberries for Karla. Maybe I'll get a big jar of mixed nuts. But there is a Costco and a Walmart, and other grocery stores on the way to Camano. Last little community you go through before you get to Camano is Stanwood and there are all sorts of stores there, too. And a "General Store" as you come in to Camano. I think there are plenty of blankets and linens.

Well... I've been up an hour and a half, but still trying to wake up and get my butt in gear! Have to pack my beach house bag yet. Need to get in the shower. Have to leave to go to the airport to pick up Candice by 10 a.m. Great time at Lake Chelan with Tracy and Jim.

Lost my post last night!! Too tired and frustrated to post again!! We went RVing on the other side of the mountains for a couple of days with DD & SIL. Had a great time, beautiful weather! We were at Lake Chelan State Park. First time we'd ever been there. DD & SIL had camped there many times. Took an all day boat ride to the end of the lake on Monday... Lady of the Lake cruise. We took both dogs in their carriers. About 3 hrs up, 3 hrs back, 1 1/2 hr stop at a resort at the end of the lake. Stehekin I think was the name of that little community. Accessible only by boat. We had lunch there and the dogs had a chance to get some exercise, eat and have potty time. Staying in the RV was very good for the pets! They came to an "understanding" because of being forced to share a small space. Zoey's "come uppance" happened when she got curious about why Candy was curled up under the driver's seat. That is Candy's space and she did not take kindly to Zoey poking around. Not sure exactly what happened as it occurred between the seat and the driver door, but it involved a lot of hissing and puppy squealing. Candy has no claws, but I figure she gave her a pretty good swat and she is respecting Candy's space ever since. Candy learned her lesson in the middle of the night. Zoey was in her crate in our bedroom on my makeup table. There was a crash in the middle of the night and kitty squealing this time. We believe that Candy deliberately knocked the carrier off the shelf, but it apparently clobbered her on the way down. Zoey couldn't have cared less... "oh, well.... I guess I can sleep upside down"!! Candy is still in charge, but she's decided it's okay if Zoey's crate is in our room at night because last night she was sleeping on our bed again... which she has refused to do since the puppy came to live here. I got lots of exercise while we were gone.. lots of walking, lots of STEPS! But didn't necessarily eat all the right things and definitely had too much wine two nights! Quickly breezed through four pages of posts last night... speed reading! Excited so many are going to make it to Vegas! I better get off the computer. First of the "7's" arrives in 3 hours. Have to get in the shower, haven't packed my bag for the beach house yet, and 1 hr drive to the airport. It is a GREAT day, though. It won't be very warm, but it's nice and sunny. Tomorrow may be a little rainy, but should be sunny after that but no warmer than 70 if the weatherman is right.

Blessings to everyone!

Before I forget! Quilt shop: Cotton Pickins 8718 270th St. NW Stanwood, WA 98282 360-629-4771 She's much better walking on the leash now. She is doing really great. We are both very pleased with how well she has adapted to us, to the condo, to the RV... GREAT time at Lake Chelan the last few days. Zoey and Candy have come to an "understanding"!! LOL! Candy had to put puppy in her place on the trip over when she intruded in to her space under Earl's seat. She is now respecting Candy's boundaries! Okay..... 279 Driftwood Shores Camano Island Suzanne says, yes, the beach house has a very nice ironing board and iron in the 2nd bedroom, but.... "Is this person not on no iron island time??" LOL! We have two queen size beds, 2 pull out couches.... air mattress might be a good idea in case someone wants to sleep on the floor.

Congrats on ONEDERLAND!! And the new knee! I had my left one done last summer. I am Very pleased with it. Sorry about your tornado! Yeah... new adventures every hour!! LOL

You tell him!! I'm not going to rock the boat!! LOL! I went and got $400 out of my "mad money" acct this morning. And when I tried to give it to him, "here is some of the money I owe you." He looked real sheepish and wouldn't take it! First he said he didn't want cash. He wanted me to deposit in the American Express acct... I can only get cash out of that savings acct... not a check. AND, I can't "deposit" something to a credit card!! I paid for the dog with my Am Ex cc. He knows that! I told him I'd go get a money order with it and mail it to our checking account. He nixed that idea too! Then hhe told me to put it back in my account! So I told him to take $100 cash and I would take $100 and I'd put the rest back! So that's what I did! At Walmart yesterday he wouldn't let me pick out the dog food! He said I could pick out the treats but HE was picking out the dog food! So he bought the same thing the lady had been feeding her. The lady gave us a zip lock bag full of dry food... which will last forever at the rate she eats (!), and 1 can of something else I can't remember the brand name now. But... she's still eating the first can! She only eats a couple of tablespoons of that twice a day and a little bit of dry food. Tracy and Jim were here with Gigi today. They don't yet play together, but they get along very well. I'm still worried about Candy. First I thought she was just pouting... but now I'm thinking... she's depressed! She and Zoey were staring each other down in the hallway today.. which is probably a good thing! At least Candy came out of her hideaway! Tracy took this picture of the two dogs on my lap... I said, Gigi is smiling for the picture but Zoey is trying to wiggle away!