Judicious January

[Lavande]

Glad you posted your 'real snow' pics papmom & glad you are OK

Cyn, I'm very sorry for your loss :hug:
She sounds like she was a wonderful lady!
Eggs are few & far between right now due to weather conditions & their (molting) natural rest period. Come March they will be back in good form & producing again ~ I'll raise the price.

Dill, if we had actually gotten some real snow I would have kept my granddaughter another day or two. I was running out of things to entertain her with & I hate planting kids in front of the TV all day. I was seriously tired but happy too.

I hear talk of more snow on the way - swell.

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Cyn, I am very sorry for the loss of your friend. Life is precious, and losing someone we care about makes that so clear. Also, it brings up thoughts of what is important....kindness, laughter, being there, sharing, relationship...not stuff as the media tries to push on us all the time. Take care of yourself. How much snow did you get? All water and heat working?

Lav, having grandkids over makes me realize it is not so bad getting older and having time to myself. Lack of sleep is hard enough when young, at this age it is really difficult. I was paying three bucks a dozen for eggs last year, from a farm. They were soooo good. I would have paid more. Enjoy your day.

Dill, I bet your house is so cozy. It makes sense to close off rooms you don't use. Hope you had fun shopping.

Pap, you made it. The pictures remind me of where I lived last year. We had that much snow way too often and it was a pain: shoveling, plowing, the intense cold. However, it is really beautiful too. Wild and kind of scary. Take care. Nice short work week, too!!!

Well, I am beyond excited. Last night after work I stopped by the new digs and put away a few more things. It was peaceful and spacious. I wanted to stay! Tonight after work we have to pack the rest of our stuff, up early on Friday and more packing. The weather looks cold but clear, I couldn't ask for more. Have a good day, and let's start thinking of fun names for February. Fun February, Fab Februrary, Fearless February, Fine February, any more ideas?

[Lavande]

Good morning friends!

Sunny & super chilly here, could be worse, LOL
Some small amount of snow is due here tonight, oh well.

Star, I'm glad you're liking your new place already
I hope moving day goes smoothly for you! Just think, Saturday morning you'll wake up in your very own house - yay!

Greetings Dill, Hope you got out as planned yesterday. I don't like being cooped up, I need to see & interact with people. Working from home over the years has been a bit isolating so getting out often is important to me

Papmom & Cyn, I know the snow is not melting for you two yet but I hope you are both able to get out & about too.

I'm heading to Curves now because I can. Have a great AF Thursday everyone!

Lav

[treegirl]

Hello all -

Thank you for your kind words, her passing is leaving a huge gap in a lot of people's lives.

Wow, Pap, that is a remarkable snow story - I have to laugh when you list the things you've done, and say you could have been more productive...sounds like alot to me!.

Dill - hope you got out and about yesterday. I made it to the PO to mail some packages that have been piling up in my office. That was the first time I was out since storm prep on Monday!

Lav - enjoy Curves. My across the street neighbor goes to a swimming class 2x a week here and wants me to come with, but I'm dragging my feet - probably need to do something, though, I've been doing 'faux agility' with the dogs each night, and that wears me completely out.

Star - the clock is ticking! You sound SO happy - I'm thrilled for you. Enjoy your last packing up - I know you are counting the hours now. Spacious and peaceful...sounds fantastic.

Going to work fast this morning and afternoon, then we're driving to meet some people (about 2 hours away, one way) for dinner. Hope we get home before the snow flies - now is sounds like there will just be flurries for us tomorrow morning.

Take care all - be safe and stay warm!

[Lavande]

Cyn - honestly I think going to Curves 3 or 4X/week has increased my strength & energy levels. I don't think I'd be keeping up with the grandkids otherwise. My weight doesn't change but I feel better & my clothes fit better - that's OK with me
Not expecting anything more than flurries tonight. Be safe out there but enjoy your dinner!

[dill]

Yes Lav and Cyn, I did get out today to meet my friend. We had a wonderful time and shared a few laughs over lunch and while walking. It lifted my spirits for sure.

Lav, the other day when I lost that post I remember one of the things in it was and explanation to you about the birthday party. You said you were still thinking about it because it sounded so odd. Let me explain. My neighbors across the road are Romanian immigrants. They are very dear people and have been in the country, legally I might add, for several years. The husband still has a terrible time speaking english. The wife speaks it well but needs help with some words sometimes. When she came over to this country to join her hb, she was so lonely. She is an extremely social person so she set about making friends where ever she could. She joined a church and met people thru that. She joined ethnic organizations. She is fluent in spanish so she met several spanish speaking friends. When we first got to know them we spent time just the 4 of us and the little ones. I think we filled a void for her and became surrogate parents because her parents were still in Romania. Over the last few years she has gained quite a collection of friends and when she celebrates her daughter's birthday she invites all. So it is quite an interesting, tho disparate group! The one thing we have in common is Lori.

Cyn, I'm sorry for your loss. While I was explaining the party to Lav I realized that Lori is exactly the kind of spirit that your friend was. Some people bring such an intense light in to the world.

Star, I am excited for you! Your house sounds like home already.

Pap, thanks so much for the pics. So glad you weathered the storm of 2015!

[Lavande]

Good morning friends & happy Friday to all

Star - I imagine you are moving in today - good luck with everything today!!!!!

Dill, glad you enjoyed your neighbor's party! Any multicultural experience like that provides good learning opportunities for us & the kids as well. When I was in high school I remember teaching my sister-in-law that we 'roast' a turkey for Thanksgiving not 'fry', ha ha!!!

More snow on the way Papmom & cyn. Do we want or need more snow? I think not
Hope you guys are staying warm & cozy!

Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[treegirl]

Morning all -

Dill, what an interesting story about your neighbor - and how nice it is that you were there for her in those early years. I adore my neighbor, she is a doll, we both are passionate about our dogs, she is a retired reading specialist who now does great pastels - I'm trying to get her to put them on Etsy. But still, we hardly ever get together! We keep saying - yeh, we gotta get the cup of coffee soon, but never do. She's struggling with labile hypertension, so I check in with her everyday, but I'm going to get to that next step - a cup of coffee!

Lav - any inside clues on labile hypertension? The docs have told her it's 'white coat syndrome', but it happens all the time - when she's home alone, etc. She's on Paxil for anxiety, but nothing else seems to be working for her. She's a health nut like us, and eats well, meditates. I feel so bad that she is struggling with this.

Pap - hope your walk to work is OK these days! Almost the weekend!

Star - HAVE A GREAT MOVE-IN DAY! What a terrific destination for this journey that you've been on now for a year. Congrats.

Snowing now - not sure how long that will go on. Lav, I honestly don't mind the snow - I like it better than the rain/ice accumulation. At least now there is enough snow so the ice rink is pretty well covered over! Going to try to make a seed wreath today, as the temps are plunging tonight, and I want my feathery friends to have some food readily available.

Happy AF Friday all -

[Lavande]

Cyn,

I am not a fan of Rx meds because I have witnessed so many people have severe side effects. I have had some myself in the past.
Paxil can cause a lot of problems & may not be the best choice for your friend. Labile hypertension can be caused by other things going on in the body but usually the culprit is anxiety.

If you think your friend may be interested, have her look at this:

http://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/drugs

Personally I am a big fan of the OTC herbal product called Amoryn. I've been taking it for years & it does help keep me cool, calm & collected. Many years ago my doc put me on Lexapro. I didn't like the numb, sedated feeling it gave me.
If your friend decides to stop the Paxil please make sure she gets her doc to give her a weaning schedule. You can hurt yourself badly by suddenly stopping an SSRI.

Did you make your seed wreath? The birdies will thank you

I just told my daughter than we will drive out tomorrow to give them a hand - oh boy!!!

[dill]

Oh boy, Lav! What have you gotten yourself into? LOL! Are you going to be stripping wallpaper and the like? I took Lexapro years ago and went off it too quickly. I paid a price for that! At one point I was having hallucinations. Scary. I didn't feel like lexapro helped my depression and to top it off, it caused weight gain. I didn't tell my doctor at the time how much I drank. I had it in my head that I would quit drinking because the medication would help me deal with my emotions. Well, I didn't quit drinking and the medication amplified the affects of the alcohol. It was a bad experience all the way around!

Cyn, I could relate to your story about not taking the time to have a proper get together with your neighbor. I am the same way. If Lori hadn't initiated little visits, it never would have happened! It is sweet of you to check on your neighbor daily tho. That is probably more than I would do. You are so thoughtful to do it! Is you neighbor single? Is she about your age?

Star, you probably slept in your new home last night. I'm so excited for you!

Hello Papmom, did you have any trouble walking to work after that snow storm?

I like the name "Fearless February" for our thread next month. Can you believe next month is TOMORROW?!! Yet another year is flying by! Is anybody excited about the superbowl this year? I'm not. I guess I'll root for the seahawks bc they are the underdog. I'll probably be more focused on the snacks than on the game!!

[Lavande]

Good morning kids

It's a frosty 12 degrees here - oh my!!!!!

Dill, I'm not sure yet how today is going to unfold. I ended up getting some confusing text messages from my exhausted daughter last evening. She's busy with her classes, working on the house & handling Lily all at the same time.
It's supposed to start snowing here around 4 pm tomorrow so we need to be off the roads early

Star, welcome to your new home

Greetings Cyn & Papmom. I imagine you are dealing with this super frigid air as well!!!

Have a great aF day everyone & I'll see you in Fearless February!!

Lav

[papmom3]

Good Morning Abbers!! Last day of January!! Didn't we just have thanksgiving????

STAR!!!! Welcome to your new home!! How was it waking up to all that sunshine and space this morning??? Do you think you'll be able to post pics at some point?

Cyn-I hope you do initiate the coffee get together with your neighbor-sounds like she could use some face to face. How are the pups dealing with this wind and cold? its 6 degrees here with a windchill of -10! And the wind!! I thought LM was going to blow away this morning!!

Lav-you are such a great mom and grandmom!! Hope they don't work you too hard today at the house!! Please be safe with the impending storm.

Dill-glad you are off the meds AND the AL!! Do you feel better overall? You always sound so upbeat and happy with your life despite the setbacks and sadness that creeps in.

I have yet to work a full week at the new job LOL!! And it looks like a 4 day week coming up as well. We're supposed to get another foot or so Sunday through Monday. It is wreaking havoc with the class schedules that's for sure!! No problem walking to work except for some blocked sidewalks on my street. Luckily it's not a busy street despite being a pass through to the school (most of the traffic is before I start out) so I am safe. My Cabella's long coat is so warm and so are my boots and mittens. The only downside is the wicked hat head if I have to put my hood up! :hahaha:

I finished my friend's baby quilt:
JackEddysQuilt.jpg

Today I'm doing my first demo of the new year and the first one since early December. No idea what the future holds with this job. Need to have a frank talk with my boss. Ugh.

Tomorrow is a trip to TJs, some cleaning and then possibly a small superbowl party at my sisters. Same people minus one couple as 2 weeks ago so will be fun and great food I'm sure. I'll bring my crocheting again (which I'm not happy with BTW-almost ready to start over with a different pattern-lots of mistakes and can't get the edges even to save my life!).

Spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to get LM to eat. The past 2 days he's been ravenous at nite and eats whatever I put in front of him but in the mornings, nothing. I'm beginning to think it might have something to do with the pepcid I've been giving him at nite. I've heard it can cause inappetence. So frustrating. I want to take him in for more blood work but can't really afford it. Other than that he seems pretty happy and is pooping and peeing OK. Last nite he ate half a sardine and some boiled potatoes. Talk about a desperation dinner!! This morning he only ate half of it. Yet he stares at me like he's waiting for some yummy morsel to come his way. Just so depressing.

OK, got to get ready for the demo. brrrrrr. hope my car starts!!

[treegirl]

Bird wreath.jpg
Lav - I did it! I was so concerned about the below-zero temps and the effect on the birds, that I actually got the wreath done. (pic was taken from inside the window - couldn't get very close without scaring all the birds away. Not sure why the pic is so small...) I had a huge chunk of suet in the freezer, so I rendered that fat (first time I ever tried that) and then put it in with the seed that I had. I think they like it! I've had quite the variety of birds today - still hoping for some cardinals...a daddy cardinal came by yesterday, but I didn't have black oil sunflower seeds out yet. Now that I see how easy it is to render suet, I might start making candles...soap...who knows what! I hope you didn't exhaust yourself yesterday, if you went to help; and also hope you didn't encounter snow. Thank you so much for the info that I can pass onto my sweet neighbor...she will be very receptive, I'm sure.

Pap - so sorry about LM - but good that he is eating and doing his jobs. My girl is always famished, no matter how much I give her. I feel your heartbreak on this - good luck. I'm in the snow band with you tomorrow/Monday, though I think here it's just 6 - 10 expected. Enough!

Dill - I had no idea that you have dealt with depression. Do you take anything now? I have had life-long 'dysthymia' - a low level depression. I tried anti-depressants, but they never worked for me, or they made me feel worse. When I started on baclofen, the slight rising of spirits was a great side benefit. Now I take the bac just for that - a tiny amount, 10 mg/day is enough. Lav - I'll check out Amoryn, I know you've spoken about it often.

Star - how is it going? Hope the move was smooth, and that you are having a good time unpacking. Wishing you well!

I love 'Fearless February' as our next name --

Happy AF Saturday all --

[Lavande]

Papmom - love the quilt
I had to look up the word 'inappetance', never heard that before. Honestly, my dogs skip meals from time to time. I think they do it out of boredom but I'm not worrying about it. They will eat if they are hungry - always do!
The snow is supposed to start here tomorrow around 4 pm. The plans with my daughter changed so I didn't have to go today, just as well. I'll probably see them next weekend since they need to borrow the truck. They have a ton of house stuff stored here in my basement since they sold their first house years ago. It's been out of sight & out of mind pretty much but now that they have a house again.....

Cyn, good job on the seed wreath!
I've been using 1/2 cup of coconut oil in mine - easy to melt in the microwave
I hope you don't get so much snow this time around.

Depression is a hard thing to understand & deal with effectively. I know that my father was depressed as far back as I can remember & my aunt (his sister) battled it later in life & was hospitalized a few times. I believe there is a biochemical malfunction going on there as well as a genetic component. I just never realized how much other people's actions or inactions were involved. Maybe it's our inability to tune out other people's BS that finally breaks us down - I don't know.
I do know now that I have to put myself first & do what's best for me. Everything & everyone else can wait - I think they are learning

Greetings Dill & Star - both busy I imagine!
Stay warm everyone - see you in February!

[papmom3]

nice job on the wreath Cyn!! Your birds are going to be fat and happy through this next storm. ugh. I'm done and I don't even have to shovel or drive in it!!

Lav-glad you didn't have to go to the kids' new house to help out. Reno is best left to the young 'uns I say!!

Star-can't wait for an update!!

My demo was fun today. I miss doing this but she hasn't asked me for Feb dates so I'm getting a bad feeling about the company's committment to this program. At the store, the owner suggested a homeopathic detox liquid for LM. It can't hurt him and I've used their products before with great success so I'm giving it a go. He did not finish his breakfast again (only half) but tonite? Everything!! Didn't lick the plate clean like days of old but dove right in. I'm more and more convinced it's the Pepcid. No doubt he truly wasn't feeling well a week ago which is why I started the Pepcid in the first place but I don't think it's doing any good so discontinuing. If he eats tomorrow morning I'll know I'm on the right track.

I spent the afternoon picking up a metal shelving unit off Freecycle doing some decluttering. It's not in great shape and now that I have it home it's pretty rickety. I might have to jury-rig up some braces for it. Its very rusty as well but it was free and is now in the basement to hold my paint cans. The unit they were on is up in my sunroom which I rearranged so it would fit. It is holding all my demo supplies. The plastic small unit they were on is now in my broom closet. The orginal plan was to get a narrow unit on castors to use as a rolling pantry. Didn't work out quite that way but now my Juicer (which I'm selling on Craig's List), my Ninja blender and other odds and ends that were cluttering up my kitchen finally have a home and are out of sight. Still have a long way to go, especially with the dining room which has become a catch all. Trying to come to terms with putting a number of belongings on Freecycle instead of trying to sell on Craigs List. They have some value IMHO but a previous attempt to sell them didn't work out. Cyn, any words of wisdom?
Tomorrow morning I might try to get LM out for a short walk. He seemed to perk up a lot today when I let him into the sun room to explore so he could be bored. It's been off limits because the demo supplies were too easy to get into. Now they are up higher and safe. Maybe a nice short but brisk walk will do him good. He'll be in his fleece jammies, rubber booties to protect his feet and a coat. It will probably take longer to get him dressed than to take the walk LOL!!
Time for tea and my book. I'll see you all tomorrow in Fearless February!!