Truck hadn’t showed up? Lots of holiday baking?
Jessica and the nurse just left. I did get the dishwasher emptied earlier. I expect the rest of the day to be spent crocheting. Or reading. Something.
Maybe crochet a book cover.
The vacuums could be gifts.
Or it could be somebody who lives in a 2-story home that doesn’t like hauling the vac up and down the stairs.
I had two vacuums at the old house, one for each floor. My son didn’t like one of them, so he hauled the other up and down the stairs anyway.
What shoe said. Pffftttt from me too.
It’s snowy with predictions of more snow here in Western Mitten. Kept the heat on all night, and was definitely not hot’n’sweaty upon awakening.
Peeked out the window: roads look fine, I just hafta unearth my lil’ hatchback from beneath a white blanket.
After I unearth myself from beneath a cozy pile of blankets + one cat.
ETA: ope, gotta pee.
Nope, nope, nope, no everybody you know. I’m 75 next month (eeeek!), still scrabbling for stability after an utterly unexpected divorce and a thoroughly destabilizing brain injury crushed every last piece of my life plans and expectations. I’m only 2/3rds of the way through my mortgage. Just the other day got the notice that my mortgage payment next year was increasing by 7%-I assume that is because of a sharp increase in home owners insurance, which isn’t optional with a mortgage. No idea where that increase is going to come from. I have to go to food banks to be able to have fresh fruit and vegetables as it is. No tv much less cable. All my reading comes from the library. My cat and her food is my major vice.
So no, you are not the only one. We should start our own sorority with cool t-shirts and a secret handshake.
Started Typing: 12:43 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 1:59 PM ET
The house catty-corner to mine is under construction, and this week there’s been a lot of heavy-equipment-digging in the side yard (which faces the street): shortly after 9am I heard approaching sirens, and two fire trucks appeared! One parked in front of my house – visible from my home office window – and the other blocked off the street just past the construction site. Of course, I went to my storm door to see what I could…including whether anyone in turnout gear was going to head my way! Most of the firefighters went and stood around the big hole, and a few entered the structure. A few other FFs knocked on the door of the house next to the one under construction, and went inside for a little bit, but the occupants didn’t evacuate (which I took as a good sign). After a little while I had to head back to my home office for a meeting, but about 30 min after it arrived the truck in front of my house turned its lights off and the FFs started climbing back inside. Phew!! My guess is that the construction crew hit something they shouldn’t have. Of course, my first thought is always “gas line”…which could have been bad. If that house were to blow, the ones next to it and my neighbors – directly facing it – would take the biggest hits but I imagine that my car/driveway and the part of the house with the home office would also be in trouble.
I got migraines for the two years I was going through menopause. They were random (I never identified any triggers), and one migraine would last for multiple days; the longest one lasted for just over two weeks. They didn’t include some of the usual symptoms (no nausea or light sensitivity), so when the first one hit I didn’t know what it was until I stopped being able to sleep and finally took myself to the ER. I felt like an idiot when the doc said “it’s a migraine,” but at least I finally knew why my headache was so bad and not responding to OTC meds. Because of the “lasting several days” part I wound up seeing a neurologist, and getting a prescription for rizatriptan: a combo of that and Aleve would usually do the trick. The neurologist’s best guess about the cause was hormones, but we didn’t know for sure until the migraines – which started about a week after what wound up being my last period – suddenly stopped two years later.
As others (including FCM, who lives less than 100 miles from me) have reported, it is windy out there! Right now it’s 36°F, but feels like 25. There’s a gale warning in effect until 7pm, with gusts of up to 55 mph. My thermostat is set to 72, but despite the gas furnace this house really struggles when the outside temps are below 40 – and wind is an added challenge. Happily, I have warm socks and oil heaters and am comfortably working in pajama pants and a t-shirt. I bundle up whenever Bailey needs to go out.
Speaking of Bailey, lately she’d been doing so well in terms of getting her prednisone every morning and eating a little more regularly, but yesterday she had some tummy upset and now she’s totally off her game. Including having zero interest in the Pill Pockets she’s been obsessed with. I managed to get her to eat both pilled treats yesterday morning, but she hasn’t eaten them yet today…usually she wolfs down a few before breakfast. Sometimes when she has these little hiccups the eating preference changes become permanent, but I’m really hoping she goes back to loving the Pill Pockets soon: they’re the best way to regularly get the prednisone in her, plus I just bought four “economy”-sized bags of them. 
I feel like I slept fine last night, but today I’m weirdly tired and a little headache-y and just kind of “bleh.” I have a voice lesson at 3pm: it’s my first one in a month, and I’m mostly looking forward to it, but part of me simply doesn’t wanna. I know I’ll be glad once it starts. Maybe I can log off work a little early today.
You go sit over there and think about what you’ve done! ( 
)
I have no idea if skin actually works like this, but I wonder if there’s any chance you absorbed 0.8 lb of water/steam…?
Oooooooo I love banana pudding…I haven’t had any in ages.
My mom went from her parents’ house to living with her husband. She and my dad divorced when I was in HS, but she didn’t live alone until my younger brother moved out when he was 25. She was 53 (the same age I am now…woah). And it only lasted four years: after her health got worse, my brother moved back in. I know that later in life she wished she’d been able to live alone for a while before getting married, but in the late '60s/early '70s Italian Catholic girls only went from their father’s house to their husband’s house.
Nice. I’m sure it was stress relieving. Hope you wore merino wool and down.
We have a bird bath; I don’t know if the water was frozen but there were 3 mourning doves in it yesterday afternoon and I saw sparrows or similar birds (not a birder) in it a few days ago when it was below freezing. My friend told me there are such things as warm dog bowls so I will have to investigate. We have a bird feeder and the squirrels sprung the springs. Hubs fixed it and there were dozens of birds that flocked to it after it was fixed on Tuesday.
you probably know this but it’s likely dry skin so next time slather on some lotion or cream. I know this also but sometimes it feels good to scratch, although I end up regretting it as sometimes I draw blood. So after the first time I do this each early winter, I put the lotion close to the bed and put it on immediately and feel relief.
Me three. So sorry to learn the true meaning. Man’s inhumanity to man.
JtC so sorry about the water woes. Hope it can be reconnected soonest (maybe already done since I’m a day behind).
Yesterday daughter woke up to Consumers Power digging a BIG hole in the strip of lawn next to the curb. I was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to use their stove, water heater, furnace but she said it was only off for a short time so impact was small. However, that was a temporary fix and they said they are coming back in 2 weeks. I told her that if she knows in advance, she can come to our house and WFH just as easily. She thanked me and said that would be a good option.
Hubs and I are planning to start baking cookies this afternoon. Although my back is still hurting. I may put off the start of Christmas cookie baking until tomorrow. And I’ve decided I’m not going to Tai Chi this morning. When I just went upstairs to get some Vitamin I, I looked out the window and saw about 2 dozen small birds in the backyard, on the bird feeder, on the ground under the bird feeder and on the fence waiting for their turn at the bird feeder. Enjoyed seeing them all flit about.
I’d rather have snow than rain when the temps around freezing. I’d actually rather have it be low 20’s/high teens when it snows because then the snow is dry rather than wet.
Our temps are supposed to go up this weekend with Sunday being a high of 46 partly cloudy so I asked daughter to help me get out and put up the nativity set on Sunday as it will likely be the warmest day without precipitation before Christmas. I hope I didn’t relate this already; apologies if I did.
sari is definitely right that back when we were coming of age, it seems our generation got by with less. Most didn’t think that we needed everything our parents had right away; we were willing to work hard and save until we had enough in the bank for at least 6 months to a year of expenses before we bought nice to have things/services. Today young people want it all right away and seem to be living paycheck to paycheck and consequently when an unexpected event happens requiring a large amount of $$$, they can’t handle it.
this is part of the reason I regard most nurses as angels. When Hubs is in the hospital, each nurse hears his stories of times in college and what he regards as other notable events. I roll my eyes and thank them for their patience in listening.
The Shepherd’s pie I made on Tuesday was pretty good but I don’t think I’ll mash banana into the sweet potatoes when I make it again. I don’t remember not appreciating the banana the last time I made it but that was a number of years ago and unfortunately I didn’t make any notes on the recipe. I’m going to do that right now. One other thing I put in that isn’t in the recipe is parsley. I had some left over fresh parsley from our garden that had dried so I just crumbled it into the turkey mix.
Ibuprophen (it’s a backpacker term)
What she said!!!
I saw the headline of an article the other day that said if you have frequent UTIs, the problem could be in your refrigerator. I couldn’t read the article because it was behind a paywall. Perhaps ask your Dr.
I feel okay. Its snowing so didn’t want to take the bus.
Its being an elderly woman apparently.
I just got an email that we’re getting a FedEx delivery tomorrow. I didn’t order anything so I looked up the address where it’s coming from - Swiss Colony.
My first thought was my Secret Santa is sending something direct, but it’s addressed to both FCD and me by name and it was sent to an email that isn’t associated with the Dope. Next thought was SIL - but I don’t know if she has that email either, and FCD’s aunt contacts me via a different email.
Is a puzzlement, since the email address is one I use mainly for non-personal contact - like companies I order from and such. Guess it’ll remain a mystery till tomorrow.
Some good news on the FCD front. The dealer went over the car and couldn’t find anything wrong, so maybe FCD was accidentally leaving something on that drained the battery. We’ll see after we get it back. And he heard from the computer guys - they’ve got his super machine running and they’re going to do some additional diagnostics on it just to be sure. These guys are local and we’ve been dealing with them for years. Great to have reliable techs nearby.
I finished another blanket - kinda sorry I haven’t been taking pics as I’ve gone along - some were really neat, but they’re all gone. Plus I expect more than one of you were thinking “Enough already with the blankets!!!” I picked up your vibes. 
I think I shall play on my tablet for a while.
Well, ya see I’ve got this scar on my forehead…
Or, maybe the real story is that I’ve got bad knees and my bed is upstairs. So, now I generally sleep under the stairs in the foyer except for when I’m feeling exceptionally pain free and then I go upstairs and sleep in my bed.
Speaking of, tomorrow I have an appointment with a pain management doctor. I have low expectations, but I figured I’d give her a try. She might at least have a safer alternative to the idea of taking NSAIDs with lithium.
Totally kidding about this, but, #teamdog!!
WOOF
I am so freaking cold right now. That’s the one downside to the GLP-1, it can make you cold. Like, I’m currently sitting here wearing a long sleeve shirt, long sweatpants, a hoodie which I have the hood on and tied tightly and I’m covered with three blankets kind of cold. But there are certainly worse side effects that I could have.
Howdy all. Been to the gym, the scale finally read 199.8lbs (yeah) but when I tried to take a picture of it (with my phone camera), it went up to 200.2lbs…stupid camera… Of more concern is that I must have pulled something while exercising, my belly and groin are hurting and I don’t feel all that good, so no 2nd gym trip and early to bed tonight for the ol’Rat. 28F right now so another cold evening.
Have read all but don’t have the energy to respond, so yeas, boos, cheers and hugs as required. Take care all.
My walk down the berm today:
- 2.57 miles
- 56’ 47"
- 0.95 hours
- 2.72 miles per hour (average)
Still not up to 3 mph, but it was only my second walk after my ‘hiatus’. I saw the guy with the rolly-walker he carries O2 in, and he had his big Bernese mountain dog with him as usual. Haven’t seen them in months, so it was good to see them.
Howdy Y’all! Sloths were we today. This mornin’ was cloudy and drizzly. The afternoon was cloudy and blah. We napped, we day drank, we watched trash teevee and I played games on my tablet. Soup got et. Thus has Thursday been in swampland.
Not a loser. Just someone who had a couple of hiccups doing what you had to do.
QFT. When my late sweetie passed, there was immediate, heartfelt sympathy from friends and family. After a while, they went on with their lives and sometimes, I felt so left out of life. Good on you for keeping that in mind with her widow.
Brrrrrrrrr! Today began much like yesterday ended:~50F and windy. This afternoon, the temps tanked and now it’s 25F. It will be in the teens when I get up tomorrow to take a friend to radiation. I ain’t ready for winter. Whine!
Still working on addressing the Xmas cards, but should finish tomorrow and get them in the mail.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
you two could start a boutique vacation business. One or two people at a time. No kids, just
hanging out. By the ceemint pond in summer, indoors in the winter. Folks could cook, exchange recipes, day drink, even deheathenate for a weekend special stay.
Skin doesn’t work that way.
OTOH, scales can fluctuate depending on the relative humidity and barometric pressure, plus our weigh changes on an hourly basis no matter what we are doing.
I hope she finds something that helps. Bone on bone pain is hard to treat because there is nothing left to absorb damage and impact.
Hurray about your weight, but dang about forgetting you aren’t 50 any more. I’ve caught myself unconsciously trying to keep up with the young folks doing laps in the lanes next to me and my hip always complains about it.
It was finally reconnected about 1700. Laundry has been done and the dishwasher has been filled, emptied and refilled after dinner.
Apparently, our water heater didn’t have a pressure release tank installed when we had it replaced because the plumbers didn’t know we had a pressure regulator and “code” required one now. That added more $ to the bill, which ended up being around 3500. At least they didn’t think we needed to have the entire pipe from meter to house replaced. And we never lost power or internet.
While hubs was paying the bill, poor Jolene was just losing her mind because all of the men were ignoring her, so hubs picked her up so Andrew could give her some ear rubs. Andrew had very cold hands and Jolene changed her mind about being his friend right away, LOL!
nellie - I just had a thought after a conversation with one of my sisters. BIL is in a subsidized senior apartment because of his disability (recurring seizures after a fall some years back) - is that an option anywhere around you? He was on the wait list for about a year, but he got a nice little studio - cozy for one, but his rent is just over $300, utilities included. I don’t know if it’s a state or county subsidy, but maybe you can find something out near you?
{{{JtC}}} - I sure hope you catch a break soon. Dang, woman!
OK, off to write an email I really don’t want to write, but it beats a phone call. Yeah, I’m a coward.
In the Navy we had vitamin M. “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning” has been replaced by “Take two Motrin…”
Church lady brought me 45 rolls of t.p. yesterday.
One down, 44 to go.
I would probably use less if I had Puffs for my nose.
Eating my before-bed chocolate cake.