how about drinking?
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Thirsty Thursday!
I took Mom to get her new hearing aids yesterday. Took her, wearing the hearing aids and the bag with the charger and storage box and instructions as such in with her, showed them to the staff, and then Mom took them to her room. After dinner, during our evening good night call, she kept asking me to be sure to bring the charger and storage box and bag of papers out of the car next time I visit. Her short-term memory is really becoming almost non-existent! But the hearing aids must be working for her, because she is barely more than whispering when she talks since putting them in. She says it sounds like she's shouting when she talks. I really hope being able to hear better will make things easier for Mom.
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NM, your mom is definitely in a good place for her. Living alone was becoming dangerous.
I plan to have my hearing tested. I don't think I need hearing aids yet but I'm aware of some hearing loss. It helps if I know the subject. LOL. DH is quite deaf without his hearing aids. Communication gets frustrating, at times.
The traffic is unbelievable in this period before Christmas. I'm happy to stay home as much as possible.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy TGIF day! Big weather change today, this ayem's temp is 43 degrees with significant melting going on and a high wind advisory for this afternoon into this evening. The electric company has sent out its usual before a storm email warning of potential outages and how to report them and what they are doing to prepare for the expected outages. Right now it looks like our white Christmas will be more of a dirty white Christmas!
Carole--yup, Mom is in a good place for her. Getting your hearing tested is actually pretty interesting. I should get mine tested again. Last time was a few years ago and I was on the borderline of benefiting from hearing aids. I'm sure I've crossed that line by now, but the expense is frightening.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Saturday!
Well, winter has come back. temp of 25, real feel of 16 degrees this ayem. Still breezy but not as windy as yesterday. The gusts brought a lot of branches down yesterday, it was quite wild!
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Winter stopped in for a couple of days here and now summer is coming back. Our forecast is for 70's for a string of days, including Christmas Day. The sun is shining outside. Hi to everyone.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! First warmth and rain to melt all the snow. Now cold and snowing again. Ah, winter in Maine!
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Lol on Maine poem! It's 64 degrees here this morning, overcast and humid.
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The 1st day of winter.
The shortest day of the year.
My poor balance now keeps me from climbing up and/or reaching up while X-mas decorating.
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NM - great poem. It was 79 yesterday in Houston and supposed to be 80 the rest of the week.
Taco - I can't reach or climb anymore either.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Monday Monkey Day! We've got a really pretty sunrise here this ayem. Lots of pink clouds in a light blue sky. Supposed to be sunny all day today, which would be really nice for a change. Driving home from visiting Mom yesterday I drove into a couple of snow squalls and lots of dark clouds, with the temp dropping fast from 45 to 25 degrees. Brr. Yesterday's warmth melted the last of the snow off, so no white Christmas this year, I guess. At least the ground is thoroughly frozen so we aren't dealing with a lot of mud when it warms up briefly!
Carole--this poem makes the rounds every winter. This is the most PG version. Some of the less-fit-for-mixed-company versions are hilarious, if inappropriate!
Teka--Now starts the long stretch of getting a minute or two more of daylight every day. This phase always seems to me to be so much longer than the phase of daylight getting shorter for some reason. I hear you about balance and reaching up, I've noticed I'm avoiding doing things that require a ladder or step stool because I just don't feel as secure any more. Thank goodness for long handled tools that allow dusting pictures and the tops of walls whilst standing on the floor!
Minus--Maybe we need to start a club for women experiencing reaching and climbing limitations?
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Good morning friends!
Hope you are all surviving the holidays. This is my first year in a while without endless end of the year deadlines and it's allowing me to have more space to enjoy the season. I have been to some great jazz events this month, enjoyed some get togethers with friends, some fun work get togethers, been hosting more at home with people, etc. I have some cookie dough in the fridge and going to make some cut out cookies tonight, and maybe some biscotti too!
Can't remember if I shared this but I think some of you know I have been planning to retire maybe at the end of the year. The good news is I am financially ready, but decided to power on one more year for several reasons. There is a new project that is a good fit for me and we are getting the conversations started on that. Decision feels right and onward we go.
NM- your mom has sounded to me for a while that she has some progressing cognitive issues and as shared above, it's good she is in a place where she will be safer. I agree taking her to Walmart could have been a real fiasco (I know you have shared before the stories of shopping with mom). I have an older friend back east who always tried to get me to take her shopping when I visited and did it once and it was nothing but complaining about, they didn't have what she wanted. I would helping her to get some things ordered and shipped on line would be the way to go? I hope the hearing aids help!
Teka- outside of a short step stool to reach some things on the top of cabinets a few times a year for cleaning, no ladders for me either. I have to get a handyman in for those types of things so all my decorations need to be easy. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season
MinusTwo- it's been unsually warm here in New Mexico late fall into early winter. December is usually our coldest month and it warmed up again and has been in the upper 60s for weeks. No moisture either again and super dry here. Last winter we had no moisture and need that snowpack for our water supply. This year it's way too warm and feels more like late March to early April right now. We are worried out here about our warming climate and lack of moisture…
We have a couple days off for the holidays this week and heading to the hot springs for my annual yearly trek for holiday self care. Wishing all of you who celebrate Xmas (or maybe other things) this week and peaceful holiday season. Back again around New Years!
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Jazzy - interesting that you decided to continue another year. That says something for the way your management treats everyone.
NM - so far I've liked the Eight Maids a Milking recipe best. It actually reminded me to buy some eggnog for the season. Sounds like Mom is adjusting very well. Now we just have to get YOU to ditch the guilt feelings.
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Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Twofer Tuesday! Now it's looking like we may have a white Christmas after all. A winter storm warning is place for this evening into tomorrow with 3 to 6 inches predicted. That should make things very pretty.
Jazzy--I'm glad to hear you are able to enjoy the season more than usual this year. Also glad to hear that you have positive choices for the future. Mom does have progressing cognitive issues, that has become clearer to me since the move to Assisted Living. As hard as that is to deal with she is in a much safer place and is overall happier now. The hearing aids are taking some getting used to, but I think we've finally found a place to keep them where everyone knows where they are. Hope you have a good time at the hot springs!
Minus--I got some eggnog the other day too. I am working on the guilt feelings, and some days are better than others. I just never expected I would have to do so much adjusting around all this!
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NM- I went through a lot early with my parents and eldercare and as I aged, more was needed from me. We do the best we can and it's easy to get LOST in all of this too and still need to take care of ourselves. Plus you are doing this alone, which is not easy. There is no way to fix the aging process and what comes with it. You are doing a great job with your mom and think it's just easy to feel guilt when in reality, we can't make some things okay. I am glad your mom is in the right place for good care and give yourself permission to exhale for a bit about that. Time to relax and enjoy the holidays and snow coming too!
Minus 2- I don't really like my management that much, although my direct boss is pretty good. My decision is really more about finances and putting myself in to maybe an even better place to go. Funny/not funny story about our management, one of our exec directors has a way of trying to make me feel "small" whenever he has a group audience. We are fine one on one, but see him as someone who doesn't really like smart women. He said something to me on Friday on my way out in front of a group again and it made me think he could be the reason I might opt out earlier. Anyways, onward we go and focusing on the extra time off to enjoy life before the new stuff hits in 2026.
See you on the other side of Xmas. Be safe if you are traveling and enjoy the holidays as best you can too!
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Jazzy - thanks for the update. Sounds like you are in a good place since you can make the decision to just ignore this pig or quit early. Let's hear it for smart women!!!!
NM - My thought about hearing aids…. I HATE mine. I bought a set over two years ago because my son says he's tired of yelling when he comes to visit (twice a year). Took them back. Then bought another set last year. So far I've been through four different "domes" (the end that goes in your ear). They've been calibrated 6+ times. I put them in when my son comes to town, when I go to a play or performance, and occasionally when I go out to dinner depending on who I'm eating with. I hear most people well enough. Since I read instead of watching TV, and don't have a new car with a screen or a "smart" phone, I didn't order all the remote functions, but they still cost a pretty penny. But 90% of the time they sit in the charger. (yes, I ordered rechargeable because with the neuropathy in my fingers - thank you breast cancer - I couldn't possibly change a battery). Anyway, sorry to be Debbie Downer. Good luck with your Mom adjusting.
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Good Moring, Loungettes! Happy Christmas Eve! Our winter storm came through overnight, after the predicted start time got moved from 6 peeyem to 8 peeyem, it actually started around 9 peeyem. Waking up to about 1 inch of very fine snow, still coming down gently and lazily. Lots of businesses and places closed today, the snow is supposed to keep coming until noon time or so, and I imagine many people are very happy to have the time off. I'm certainly glad I don't have to go anywhere today.
I find I am actually looking forward to my personal Christmas Eve tradition of listening to the Santa BOLOs on the police scanner this evening and checking the NORAD Santa Tracker today. It's at Official NORAD Tracks Santa and is up and running,. Currently Santa is headed for Noemea, New Caledonia.
Jazzy--You are right, it easy to get lost in an eldercare situation, and there is no way anyone can fix the aging process. Not even me. I'm working on focusing on the good reports I'm getting from the facility staff, and the good things that Mom talks about. I have learned that she is confabulating much more than I realized, and many of the things she complains about are happening only in her mind.
Minus--I'm sorry to hear that hearing aids aren't being helpful for you. I'm fortunate in that Mom likes her hearing aids. Our challenge right now is getting into a routine so Mom and the staff know where the charging case is and she gets help taking them out and putting them in. When I visited yesterday she didn't have one in, and one was missing. I spent most of the visit turning her room upside down trying to find the thing, unsuccessfully. Mom did call me later in the evening to say the lost one had been found and put in her ear, and Mom felt less "lopsided". Mom's hearing aid person mentioned that she could get ear molds for the hearing aids that might be easier for her to put them in herself and is more comfortable for some people, is that something you've looked into? Or maybe you really just don't need them to do any more that they are now and it fits your lifestyle, in which case leave them in the charger as much as you want, the technology is supposed to serve us, not the other way around!
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I don't think I need hearing aids, but I intend to have my hearing checked. Probably at Costco. I also want a new pair of glasses. I had a new pair made about three years ago with red frames that I liked, but I couldn't see well with them and have not worn them. I had them made at Sam's Club using the prescription my eye dr. (annual checkup) had given me. I don't know if the prescription was off the mark or what the problem was. Once again, I'm thinking I will try Costco. We have a new store that opened about a year ago. It's not far from Sam's Club. The war of the big box stores. LOL.
My current glasses are good as far as the correction, but the frames got damaged when I had a bicycle fall last summer. A woman at Walmart's vision dept. repaired them as best she could.
I have original Medicare and BCBS federal, so no coverage for vision.
Today will be some kitchen work in preparation for bringing dishes to my sister's house for Christmas dinner tomorrow. Our Christmas Eve celebration will be next door at a neighbor's house.
Your white landscape must be beautiful, NM.
Merry Christmas!
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Happy Holidays for those celebrating.
DH and I spent an hour with the radiation oncologist, yesterday, (sweet woman, originally from the midwest) to figure out what the game plan is for the shocking news that DH's metastatic prostate cancer moved from bones to brain. Horror show in my psyche is as well as I can put words to feelings.
LOTS of red wine…I don't care how good it is or what it is….just that it is.
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Wally - holding you close in my thoughts.
NM - I currently have the ear molds. Annoying but at least they don't fall out when I turn my head.
Carole - I gave up on prescription glasses after I had my cataract surgery some years ago. Now all I use are Costco readers. I have a pair in each room. And truly, glasses and 'over the ear' hearing aids together are yet another challenge.
Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate today.
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Wally,
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Wishing one and all a Christmas Eve filled with peace and unexpected gifts of kindness Christmas Day!
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Teka - love the "hugs".
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Wally… We heard the same, just a bit, over a year ago. He is still here.
Same with the red wine. Just finished a bottle and thinking of opening another.
Big Hugs.2 -
For Wally—
Big Hug
- 1 oz Irish cream
- 1 oz creme de cacao
- 1 cup hot chocolate
- 1/2 oz whipped cream
To craft this exquisite cocktail, begin by carefully combining the following ingredients: 1 oz Irish cream, 1 oz creme de cacao, 1 cup hot chocolate, 1/2 oz whipped cream. Once blended to perfection, pour into the irish coffee cup and enjoy. The process is as enjoyable as savoring the drink itself.
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Thank you, ladies. DH has been with metastatic prostate cancer since 2019; The brain stuff is brand new to us. I may need to start a GoFundMe for wine.
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Let me know when the GoundMe is up, I'll donate!
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Kat333, I sent you a PM…
NM, LOL. I may actually do it!
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Wally- I am sorry to hear the news of the cancer spreading for your DH. I hope there is some treatment options or whatever else DH feels he wishes to do for next steps. Sending much love to you and your family.
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Had my first official White Christmas here since we moved here! Went to my aunt's for both Thanksgiving and Christmas again this year for dinner! Had a blast being around my family. At least there I can breathe and feel like I belong unlike when it was in regard to hubby's family.
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NM, your comment made me smile. I thought DH would get a kick out if it, so I created a gofundme page!!
Early results seem to show only the 4 lesions (spent the afternoon waiting for an MRI) . I'm hopeful, grateful, angry, sad, blah, blah.
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