how about drinking?
Comments
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I quit in 1990. I would never go thru that again. Just stay quit.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Monday Monkey Day! I've got a new addition to the regular wildlife visitors--turkeys. The puppers have been getting agitated mid-ayems, but I haven't seen any reason for the agitation until the other day. It looked like a small flock, either that or I missed several before I caught the movement. I've known there were turkeys around here, I've seen them in the roadway and heard neighbors talking about them, but haven't had them so close to my house, probably because of the ruckus the dogs make when they see them. I know they have a habit of making rounds in a regular pattern, so I guess I need to get used to the mid-ayem agitation session with the puppers!
mOmmy--good idea to keep the pupper on the leash! I've heard that Ancestry site can be really informative. Good for you for becoming a historical detective!
Miriandra--the episode with my cousins was a long time ago, her oldest, the daughter, had just started high school, the 2 boys are younger. They are all grown with school age children of their own now. It was a pretty terrible time for everyone involved.
Mary9999--Welcome to the HTL! I'm sorry to hear the expander plan didn't work out for you. I don't blame you for not wanting to have another surgery, especially one with a drain. Those drains are not fun to manage. I have heard that plastic surgeons in particular are adamant about stopping smoking to prevent the interference with circulation and healing it causes. I used a prosthesis for a year after mastectomy to give myself time to recover and really research what I wanted to do about reconstruction. You don't have to have recon done immediately, you can have it done later, so going with a prosthesis for a while is a really workable option.
Ok, new discovery here: the turkeys' daily route goes around my house! The puppers just went balistic at the kitchen door, and low and behold, turkeys are pecking along between my and my neighbor's house, heading toward the back. In a little while it will be time for them to be pecking along the other side of the house, along the driveway, toward the road, and the puppers will have another "we want to GET them!" session. So the new routine will be kitchen door agitation right around 8 ayem, sun porch agitation right around 10 ayem every day. Nothing like telling time in the country, no clocks needed!
Teka--you are indeed blessed to be NED!
Minus--good for you for staying off the smoking!
Wren--congratulations on quitting and staying quit.
Wild Turkey
Ingredients
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 1/2 ounces bourbon whiskey
• Lemon peel twist garnishInstructions
• In a cocktail shaker, add the bourbon, lemon juice, and simple syrup.
• Add ice to the shaker and shake vigorously for 25 to 30 seconds.
• Place larger ice cubes in your serving glass.
• Strain the cocktail mixture over the ice in the prepared glass.
• Enjoy your Wild Turkey Cocktail!From
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Hi Mary9999! I hope you eventually get the silhouette you want; but if you decide to stay flat, it's not the worst option. I've been comfortably single-breasted for over 6 years now. I went straight to aesthetic flat closure, and my surgeon did a great job. If I ever decide to get any more work done, it will probably be to have the other side flat as well. But I've got no real reason to go that route yet.
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the plastic surgeon said he could also do autologous grafting, taking fat from my abdomen and putting it into the skin remaining from my breast. but he said he could only get me to a small B cup and the remaining breast is a D. Plus 20% of the fat would probably dissipate. so I'd be left with less than a B. might have to have him do it again - another surgery. and would need to reduce the other side. I don't think a small B would be proportionate for me. I see some women (Kristen Dunst in a recent pic) who look fine with small breasts. But I'm not very slender like her.
Also worried about cardiologist wanting to prescribe hormone blockers. this has been quite a journey and I wish it was over.
thanks for your reply and for the beautiful pics
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Mary, the journey is over when we're dead from something else, LOL…focus on the journey and not the destination. I know it is easy to say and hard to do. I still remember how god-awful I felt 18 years ago, with that icky news. I also opted for bmx because I was also D cup and did not want to deal with more surgery and filling and prosthesis, blah, blah. My DH said I looked 10 years younger without the boobs. 🤣
And back to drinking, LOL….I opened a costco boxed wine…a cabernet and it also is not horrible. I read that Gallo is the winery but not sure if that is fact or not. Also ordered a case of the Bogle Petite Sirah and hope they call. Wine, the elixir of the gods.
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I asked my surgeon about taking both off. She said NO. She felt that would be too much for me after what I'd already gone through. I had the lumpectomy, then she didn't get it all and after lumpectomy I had an infection.
After seeing how difficult the single mastectomy was, I can see why double would have been pretty bad as far as recovery.
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Mary, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. Everyone is so unique and different. My surgeon also said lumpectomy but I refused rads (read about too many side effects and issues) and came in with a picture of a 10 year old boy…I said…"THIS. This is what I want." He finally agreed. I healed with zero issues, no pain meds, blah, blah….but I opted out of reconstruction because I wanted this done and done. I had the initial lumpectomy and there was no more cancer they could find, so he finally relented. It is your body. You get to choose what you want done to it.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Hump Day! Trying to get Mom's RealID yesterday didn't work out. She was a bit slower than usual getting dressed and organized, so we didn't get to the DMV office until noon. Our ticket number was 157. They were currently serving 62. An hour and a half later they were serving number 82. Mom figured we wouldn't even get it at that rate, so we gave up. Tomrrow we are going to be there when the place opens at 8:30 ayem, see if we can get a somewhat lower number and a bit shorter wait. I'd have made an appointment, but the next available appointments are in December, and we need the ID for next month!
Jazzy--looks like you had a great time on your weekend trip! Beautiful pictures.
Morning, Miriandra!
Teka--We're happy that the kids have done well, too.
Mary--that sounds like a pretty complicated process your plastic surgeon described. Why is the cardiologist wanting to prescribe hormone blockers? Cardiologists usually want to prescribe hormone replacement.
Wally--wine is the elixir of the gods, indeed!
Mary--I can see where a double mastectomy would be pretty rugged to get through. I had one mastectomy, then a year later had a second mastectomy with bilateral DIEP reconstruction, which was a pretty rugged recovery process, more so than I expected, but the results for me are very worth it. I got nice symmetry and a breast reduction and fat taken of my tummy all in one go. Fortunately I was teaching at the time and could have the recon in June and bepretty much fully healed by the time school started in September. Have you explored a mastecomy and bilateral reconstruction with the surgeon now that you have had time to heal? As Wally says, in the long run it's your choice what to have done and when.
Wally--I was pushed into lumpectomy, too. I wanted a mastectomy and immediate recon with size reduction on the other side, but there wasn't a plastic surgeon who could do the recon I wanted (DIEP Flap), and since it had taken 2 months to get the mammo read and then 3 monre months to see the surgeon and get biopsies, I was too scared to wait the "few months" it would take to get it organized out of state. It was a very difficult time. I can relate to the wanting things to be done and done.
The Chosen One
Ingredients
• 2 fl oz Soda Water
• 1.5 fl oz Gin
• 0.75 fl oz Sweet Vermouth
• 0.75 fl oz Prickly Pear Syrup
• 0.5 fl oz Campari
• 0.25 fl oz Heering Cherry Liqueur
• 1 dashes Smoke & Salt Bitters
• 1 CherryMethod
1. Add gin, sweet vermouth, prickly pear syrup, Campari, cherry liqueur, bitters, and cubed ice to a mixing glass.
2. Stir for 30-45 seconds.
3. Strain into a highball glass over fresh cracked ice.
4. Top with soda water.
5. Stir gently for 3-5 seconds.
6. Garnish with cherry.From
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The weather is starting to cool a little, especially at night. Inara is willing to tolerate the boys for the sake of a cozy lap. 😆
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😍 I miss my cats.
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It's been raining part of every day. It started raining when we were walking after dinner but only for a couple minutes, so we got our walk in. Rained lots last night. Nice weather during the day.
My daughter has picked out her wedding dress. It's the one she like a couple weeks ago and is gorgeous. She will be a beautiful bride. She sent pictures to her 2 BFF who live in America and I'm sure to her roommate who is getting 5 weeks before her. We were talking wedding stuff in general, not specific to her wedding. I asked her if we were supposed to get her a wedding present. The sweetie said no, that we were paying for the wedding (along with her fiance's parents) and that is their wedding present. She needs to taking him shopping to get his suit. My dress has shipped - now I need to find flats. I have a new pair of heals but I'm not sure I want to wear them.
WE are over staffed at work so I won't have a school for a while. I just got assigned two more evaluation cases. I had my beginning of the year conversation today. All good.
I need to stop snacking at night - need to shed at least 5# and really 10#. I have skirts that I bought when my weight was done and they don't fit now.
They have to find an apartment and a few other things. But everything is moving along on track. The wedding is in 3 months and 2 weeks - not that I'm counting.
Kim - hope you can get your mother's id tomorrow.
Sandy - what a nightmare with the house. Hope everything is settled before long.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Saturday! Welp, the saga of getting Mom a Real ID is almost over. Thursday we went to the DMV at the stated opening time of 8:30 ayem, and were number 63 in line. The office actually opened at 8 ayem. After a couple of hours they opened a widow where people could get paperwork reviewed if their number was more than 10 away. I jumped at the chance to get the paperwork reviewed, discovered the website didn't mention that married women needed to show a marriage license as proof of name change. So we head back to Mom's place, and go through file draws of paperwork looking for a copy of her marriage license. No luck. She had an appointment in the afternoon, so we didn't have time to drive to town office where she got married and get one, so we set out yesterday first thing to do that. It was an hour's drive to the town where we got the marriage license copy, and hour and twenty minutes to drive back to the DMV office. We got number 57, they were serving number 29. Only half the windows open due to a staffing shortage. We hung out there, got the paperwork done, paid the fee and the extra for expedited processing. Next Tuesday we get to drive to the main office in Augusta, about an hour and a half drive, to pick up the ID. We're not going to depend on the mail getting it the 80 miles from Augusta to Mom's before we leave next month!
Miriandra--adorable kitties! I bet they help keep the lap warm!
Morning, Wally!
Karen--the wedding plans seem to be coming along smoothly. It's so exciting to hear about them.
Wedding Bells
Ingredients:
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
3⁄4 oz Dubonnet, Byrrh etc. rouge light quinquina
1⁄4 oz Heering Cherry Liqueur
3⁄4 oz Orange juice (freshly squeezed)How to make:
1. Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
2. Prepare garnish of a pair of skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherries.
3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.From
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What a lot of effort to get an ID! Glad you were successful.
Summer in MN officially ends on Monday, the first day of fall. We've had several rainy, drippy days but the weather turns nice next week when we'll be focusing on getting ready to head south at the end of the month.
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I've quit smoking but hard to quit the alcohol as my DH likes to go to the local pub often. so I've restricted myself to light beer rather than wine or vodka. Less alcohol I think. I will occasionally have a glass of wine with dinner.
The first time I had breast cancer (in situ with just lumpectomy) the oncologist said if you want to drink you can have a glass of wine on your birthday. that wasn't happening.
this time around the doctors all said drinking and smoking increase your risk. except the plastic surgeon who said stop smoking immediately.
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Been a it busy here. My aunt let me raid her garden for more tomatoes. So I have been canning. So far I have put up 4 quart jars and two pints on top of what i froze previous and still have more to do. And at the rate its going, i may be getting more yet!
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Sunday Funday! I think I've got to give in and admit that summer is over here. We had our first frost warning for overnight last night. I don't see any frost this ayem, but it's only 34 degrees outside, 53 inside. I'm tempted to turn the heat on for a few minutes, but then keep reminding myself that I'll be turning on the fans later as the day warms up. Until then I can deal with a sweater and the puppers as leg warmers. It must have gotten rather chilly last night, at one point I woke up because Zoe was working her way under the covers! So much for the husky love of the cold!
Mary--my plastic surgeon explained that he did not do reconstructions on someone who smoked because nicotine causes the blood vessels to constrict, limiting blood flow and making many recons fail. Sounded really scary at the time. Good for you for quitting!
mOmmy--wow, what a tomato harvest you've got put up for winter!
Tomato Martini
Ingredients
• Ice cubes
• 2 ounces gin
• 1/4 ounce dry vermouth
• 2 ounces tomato water
• Kosher salt, for rim
• Lemon twist or cherry tomato, for garnish (optional)Directions
In a cocktail shaker fillled with ice, add gin, vermouth and tomato water. Shake vigorously until well-chilled, about 20 seconds. Dip the edge of a martini glass into salt to rim the glass. Strain cocktail into glass; garnish with lemon twist or cherry tomato.From
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Tomorrow is officially the first day of fall in MN. Maybe elsewhere? Almost overnight the leaves starting turning colors. Different shades of yellow and gold with occasional reds. It's gorgeous.
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I forgot to mention the relevant information! We met some people for dinner at a nearby restaurant last night and I had a Cosmo. It was very good. And pretty.
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I got two batches of prickly pear jelly jarred up, and the excess juice was turned into syrup. I need to get more packs of sure-gel to finish processing last year's fruits, just as this year's prickly pears are ripening up. I also picked a slew of choke cherries that I want to try turning into jellies too. Choke cherries are interesting, because the entire plant is incredibly poisonous, except for the berries. (Just be sure to remove the pits.)
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Two weeks ago, the Aspens were already turning colors.
Carole - it's the first day of fall everywhere according to the calendar. Tuesday will be chilly and possibly rainy in Denver then warming back up to low 80s.
Spent the day baking today - 1 batch of challah - made rolls - sweet top with cinnamon and sugar, marble cake, mandel bread to bring to a friend (similar to biscotti) - I make my great aunt's recipe - the best ever and an apple kugel. I"m going to work from home tomorrow as I have 3 zoom meetings/training and the last one ends at 4. Rosh Hashanna starts tomorrow night and is Tuesday and Wednesday. Tomorrow night I grilling a turkey breast, smoked turkey necks from the freezer for DH, purple sweet potatoes, carrots and the apple kugel. We are going to friends for lunch after synagogue on Wednesday. Tuesday meals are at home.
My DD#1 and granddaughter arrive in 2 weeks for 11 days. The wedding is in 3 months and 10 days - not that I'm counting.
Kim - it's a tad chilly by you, both inside and outside. Carole - when do you head back to LA?
Sandy - how's the house coming along? Do you have a move in date yet.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Monday Monkey Day! First day of Autumn here, and the temps at night are certainly in line with that even if the trees aren't really showing a lot of color yet. Not sure this is going to be a good foliage year, lots of leaves coming off the trees already but only a few really deep-rooted trees are showing color.
Carole--glad you are getting some good color! Cosmos are good drinks.
Miriandra--I didn't know Choke Cherry plants were so poisonous!
Karen--it is an advantage that technology allows us to attend meetings from home nowadays. The meals you have planned sound really yummy. It's definitely a tad chilly again in the house this ayem--59 degrees right now, but the sun is getting high enough now that things will start warming up pretty quickly.
Apple Cider Mimosas
Ingredients
• 1 bottle of extra dry Prosecco
• 6 cups of apple ciderInstructions
• Pour Prosecco into champagne flutes or wine glasses till half full after bubbles go down.
• Fill till three quarters full with apple cider.From
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Karen, we plan to depart next Monday, but it's not written in stone. Your baking sounds interesting.
It's in the 40's this morning. We used the heat pump to warm things up.
Happy Monday!
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I heard on the news this evening that Kimmel will be back on Tuesday. I don't watch late night TV so I didn't know about Colbert. I up late enough but don't want the TV noise on that late.
DD#2 told me the wedding is in 100 days - after I told her yesterday was 3 months and 10 days. Now I can start the count down! We just need to finalize our accommodations for our first week and reserve the rental car and then DH and I are done with our travel plans.
Rain and 50s tomorrow - will make walking to synagogue miserable.
I'll be offline till Wednesday after dinner time. Have a good couple of days.
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Good morning, friends!
It's a crazy time now 10 days out from the hospital opening and a lot going on. That being said I have been trying to enjoy my favorite time of the year with buying mums and planting them in the gardens and in pots, putting little decorative pumpkins everywhere, etc. Sept is my favorite month here and been enjoying some weekend get aways to detach from all chaos. I am looking forward to getting on the other side of this change and then working to evaluate my readiness to retire the beginning of 2026.
As part of the Sept fun, I went to Ruidoso with a couple of friends a few weekends ago. This area is a resort town very popular with TX but has had a series of bad wildfires for years down there. I had not been since I worked for another organization here who has a hospital there and did a project in 2009. So many burns and some very fresh scars from two fires last year. You might hear about the flooding we have had here and that is the location it's been happening. I saw the aftermath, and nothing looks started for clean up (just happened a few months ago) but many things boarded up. We did our best to put some money into the local economy but just felt like Ruidoso is a posterchild for climate change. I also noticed half of the unburned forests there have dead trees and that is related to our heavy drought here this past year. We are one of many having challenges with fires and floods these days.
This past weekend I did a little short weekend trip to Santa Fe to see one of my favorite jazz vocalists, Dianne Reeves. Some of you may know her (I expect MinusTwo does) and been a fan since the early 1990s. I have seen her once before here during an earlier NM Jazz Festival but this time was just the best. Great band. Sounds like they are going on the road again soon for a longer tour and if you love jazz, this will be one to not miss! Enjoyed some good eats and shopping up there too.
Balloon fiesta starts too (the weekend we open, eek) and not sure what the schedule is for us or if I will get to sit on my patio (or both). The traffic is more now with out of state visitors as there are lots of cars with those other place license plates around. This is the time of the year to stay out of restaurants, popular places like Old Town, etc. with the influx of people. Many millions are made during the 10 day run in a state that depends a lot on tourism! I am not going to the field (all things considered) but they will be flying around my house too and therefore, you will get pictures!
Read up on what I could and just want to say hello to all of you and wishing you a good start to autumn and all that goes with that. Best time of the year!
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Hi Jazzy - yes of course I know Dianne Reeves. I have tickets for the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and for the grand opera's production of "Porgy & Bess". No jazz this fall.
Also I'm familiar with Ruidoso. Very sad.
I lived in Albuquerque where my son was born. My brother in law worked at Los Alamos and now lives in Espanola. One of my BFF's now lives in Bernallilo. A dear friend & her husband retired in Santa Fe and my nephew went to college at New Mexico State. So yes, I try to keep track of what's going on in NM.
Wishing you the best in your transition to "end of project" and whatever comes next.
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We stayed in Ruidoso rv parks some years ago. We arrived without a reservation since there were so many parks listed in the rv manual we used. On arrival we learned no reservation was a big mistake. We had to move around from one to another. It's a charming little town, but crowded with vacationing west Texans. We especially enjoyed the quarter horse race track. The problem the town faced back then was shortage of water. I was sad to read about the fires.
Meanwhile we've been enjoying perfect weather our final days in MN this summer. Warm during the day and cool at night.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Thirsty Thursday! This week is flying by really fast. Tuesday Mom and I drove to August to pick up her Real ID, so that's taken care of (as long as she doesn't lose it between now and the trip!). The next challenge is getting Mom packed, starting with finding her suitcase . . . On a hopeful note, Mom has an appointment to look at an apartment that is opening up in the facility she wants to get into next week. It's a 2 bedroom, and the rent is $1k per month more than a one bedroom, but if she can get it I would be very happy. People on the "priority waiting list" (people who paid $2,500 to get put on the waiting list) have until Oct 9th to express interest. I'm not sure how they decide who gets the apartment after they get a list of interested potential residents, but I guess we'll find out.
I had a CPR renewal class yesterday, was supposed to have 6 students, only had 2. It's become a pattern that an office will say they have 4, 5, or 6 people needing recertification but only 1 or 2 show up. I've been charging per recertification, but I’m going to switch over to a block time approach, since I need 3 recertifications to make it worth my while to lug all my gear and drive to the offices. I know from working in health care that things come up and not everyone can always make it to something like this and I am willing to work with people to get the recertifications done, but sitting in a room doing nothing for 3 hours is boring and not really what I got into this for.
Teka--that desert looks amazing! I had a salted caramel bread pudding a la mode for dessert recently that was as incredibly yummy as that picture looks!
Karen--I live the way you and DD are counting days to the wedding! Enjoy your holiday!
Jazzy--I imagine the opening chaos is at the peak right about now. It sounds like the Ruidoso area is struggling through a really rough time. Glad you enjoyed the Dianne Reeves concert, too. I bet the balloon fiesta is both hated and loved, if it's anything like how the locals feel about the summer tourism in Bar Harbor. Love the money, hate the crowds. Can’t wait to see the pictures.
Morning, Minus!
Carole--warm days and cool nights here, too, which means the trees will start changing color soon. Not sure how much color we'll get this year due to the drought conditions.
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Good morning, lounge friends. We've been enjoying an incredible stretch of lovely weather and today is another great day. We depart tomorrow for Louisiana. Most years the weather has turned blustery by the time we leave. We could stay here comfortably for another week but it's time to go home and resume Louisiana home ownership.
I have to finish packing up my clothes today and pack my suitcase. The biggest job yet to be done is empty the refrigerator and clean it. We have a large cooler to transfer the items that have to be kept iced on the trip.
Cheers!
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Safe travels, Carole! Hope the weather is equally good back home.
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