Best/Worse/what did I learn today? & Santaf Warren Xmas exchange

Me too!!!

Is.a hard subject to broach for sure, is her mom the type that Lorna could broach the subject?
They were lucky at least to get another flight same day, unbelievable..these things take a toll on the elderly. Guess they are at the hotel all snuggled in.could they sense your being upset re Gord?

Don't know who does more travelling, Katie or Karen, hope they enjoy their time away.

Linda was asking if I was upset not going to Florida last month, not in the least, signs of getting old, just not up to it.

Jean I am hooked on Nightwatch on A&E. Those first responders in NO have lots to deal with as does your DH too I'm sure. I think about your DH every time I watch the program.

Oh what a trial for Lorna's parents.That's terrible and a complaint should be filed. One time my parents were coming from Woodstock to here in Kingston. I made all the arrangements with VIA stressing they were elderly and my father was not in good health. They assured me there would be someone there to help them on and off the train plus a wheelchair for dad when they had to switch trains in TO.The most important thing was the transfer in To and wouldn't you know that was the 1 place VIA really went wrong. After a few phone calls and a nasty letter VIA gave me 2 first class tickets (which I had ordered for mom and dad) to be used anytime. So mom and dad got to come for a second visit before my dad was too frail to travel.

Glad everyone is getting their names for Santa Warren's Exchange. I know he is just smiling right now.

Sitting here watching the TO news and the plight of the homeless in TO is terrible. I hadn't been in downtown Kingston at night for a couple of years. I was shocked at the number of homeless and particularly the teens.There is a problem with teens here in Verona but there is nothing for them to do... ya gotta keep them busy or havoc will ensue.Every year I pick a charity to donate to at Christmas - its my present to me. I am going to make some calls and see if there is a program here in Kingston for teens and young adults that I can donate too.

Betty your dinner sounded wonderful. I had cereal for dinner last night - I forget to eat and then the dizzies set in so I needed something quick. Had thought I would cook a prime rib roast but I don't feel like it. I have some frozen chili and that sounds good to me.

Enjoy your evening everyone.
Dianne

Always a lack of things to do in smaller communities, sad because that is when pretend and teens could use activity..what angers me is when they play hockey or ball or skateboard around town people complain..it's an activity and keeps them out of mischief. Great Christmas gift to yourself Dianne, very generous.

Supper was yummy and to think I get to have it again tomorrow night.

Had a call from Judy, always brings my spirit up when we gab, her excitement in everything makes me smile.

I never met Santa Warren but imagine he is smiling up there..this swap has meaning to me.

Although I was heading to bed I fought staying up a little longer r I'd be up all night.

Never watched night watch or have I, is it the New Or,earns police department on watch??

I'm looking forward to the new series starting Tuesday night Dianne, think it's called Agent "x" an agent unto himself working for a female Vice President.

Grinch is on but I turned it off, gee whizz, getting tired of Christmas shows already, wonder why

Here are the one piece oven mitts, tried them with square ends, will keep that one for myself, sure like the 2nd set

How come I get to keep the 2nds. Lol

What a great weekend!
Yep, got my name!
Got to chat with Betty!
...always so good to hear your friendly voice.

M, tight armwraps for you all...take in the love, spread it around...

also got my snowflake from Lind Kay! so pretty.

yaaaaaay got my name!

I got the name from the Thundering Herd, too. They did a stellar job.


As for DH and his Mom.....He does very well as long as he does not know the person involved. Been that way for the 40+ years I have known him. We had that one on one heart to heart when his Dad was hospitalized....discovered then that DH had ostriches in his ancestry...(tongue in cheek)

And yes Betty, I do think most women are better equipped to handle poor health and a crisis than are men. In my experience anyway. With his Mom, he does not think about whether she has socks on, or if her bed is at the right height, or if the head of the bed is at 35degrees to prevent aspiration...he has a hard time seeing her as a patient rather than just as his Mom.

Marilynne, so sorry Lorna's parents had so much grief getting to see you all. Seems more often than not the traveler must ask questions about everything. Even that which we used to take for granted. A friend asked why DH and I chose to fly Qantas when US airlines fly to Brisbane also? Our answer...in over a dozen round trips with Qantas not a single snafu.

There;s still some jealousy of Inky Dink with the older dogs. Dana offered to foster her while I'm gone and I happily accepted. Dana's dogs are smaller and they may play together. At least they can't eat her like a snack! One less worry. With Tony and Anita taking care of the house, garden and the other three dogs I'm feeling very well cared for.

I got a little more gardening done today. Visits from both Maria and Dana. Walked all around the property with Maria. It's fun to take time to reflect on the progress that Tony and I have made here. Maria took four of my gac plants which are growing like weeds and Dana ws pleased to see the use I'm making of the shelves she gave me. Besides taking care of Inky Dink Dana will keep the okra picked.

I can take my time on the trip and i will. If I have trouble getting my immigration stuff done in San Diego I can stay a few extra days. Can't do much more to prepare so I'm playing poker and listening to the Blues Brothers. I even got the refrigerator cleaned so I won't come home to a mold farm.

Not sure about being online but will check in when I can. I'm doing major decompressing from all the stress of the last 25 or so years so I'll be extra careful. Would hate to have a bad accident just as I seem to have survived a lot of bad karma.

hugs, katie

Safe travels Katie.

Katie - glad you feel safe on your trips - I still want you to take care!!

Mailynne - you much have been having "kittens" when you got the call from Lorna's parents! That's awful that they missed their flight because of the wheelchair.....

yes Betty - I'm on pins & needles, not knowing where we'll be living next Sunday. My stomach is all twisted with stress. I'm often feeling on the verge of throwing up...... I just want this over.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to have some of my toenail removed, because I have developed a fungus under it, since last May when I stubbed it during our first move. It started hurting about 2 months ago, and I didn't know why, but it still looks badly bruised and I knew that wasn't right - too long. Dr says he'll have to use a couple of needles to freeze it - with the main meds I'm on, and still feeling pain, it must be pretty bad.

I'm sorry if I missed anyone - I love you all.

Three down Katie....reward yourself with an easy trip and be safe. Will keep you in my thoughts for a good trip and a healing visit with Amma.

Dianne, fortunately DH's EMT work extends only to his plant. He does not have to be on the road all the time. They get called when they are needed within the gates of the plant. His regular job is as a Senior Technician. He also trains for emergency rescue as part of the plant fire rescue team. He did say to thank you for remembering him.

Betty, Emergency Medical Technicians in New Orleans... Night Watch on A&E

http://www.aetv.com/shows/nightwatch

Safe travels Katie.....
In and out quickly this morning. Need to go for blood draw.......

Morning all,

Cold outside, about 34f but promising to be 52 and sunshine today..did check 14 day forecast and if Mother Nature cooperates no snow predicted until at least the 21st..doing happy dance as it will cut almost 1 month of snow/blizzards off the season..

"m" what is in the plans today for Lorna's parents visit?

Thanks Jean, I have watched it several times..great series..you know how much I love NewOrleans..actually girls want to go again on our 2016 Roadtrip.

Susan, know you are not looking forward to your appointment this afternoon, let's hope he puts mega freezing and you don't feel it.

Katie looks like you have everything under control and will be much less stressed and will enjoy your trip..was nice to hear that you plan on taking your time, wouldn't want another accident that is for sure.

Judy, loved speaking with you and especially loved the 'hi' from Steve...did he get all done and won't have to make another trip?

Yaaayyy here as well Liz, was telling Judy that these boxes are extra special not just for this year but for years to come, I opened one tote and there was a beaded Christmas sock Judy had made me in 2007 and then another tote brought out my Mrs Deer, she is sitting looking at me as I type, think she is about 4 or 5 years..the winter globe,then Shirley on behalf of Tubby (so miss him) was the boxed tree box floral arrangement, on and on, they become treasures. Thinking of my box and what to put in it..yes, think we are all excited for this swap.

Need to give 15 light boxes another coat of glass and tile medium
Clean up my mess in the craft room only to decide what I can undertake for yet another mess. Lol

That is my day, how about yours

It's Monday, and, I am up and mobile ..
Just waiting for Lorna to roll out (literally), after she has some breakfast she'll be off to get her Mom and take her for a perm and haircut.
sure hope they slept alright ..

I must have spent much of the night trying to figure out, in my mind, what I was going to wear on our day trip to Toronto .. never know what the weather will be like ..
Mostly it's footwear .. my new Crocs are so comfortable .. and, that's what I'll need .. but, my jeans are a tad too long with them on ,, and, if I wear my 'heeled' shoes, well, walking long distances might get difficult .. so .. as it stands now, it's leggings (not TIGHT ones) and Crocs to match and a light 3/4 length coat .. OH .. and a top of some kind to cover my bra ... hahahah

Betty, the oven mitts are beauties .. I still have 'singles', made from that fire retardant stuff .. they were advertised til you wanted to scream, on TV a couple of Xmases ago .. work well, just that they get bulky after you wash them .. yours are 'spiffy doo' :-)

Katie, sounds as though you have your'fur menagerie' under control while you are gone, makes ya feel better,along with everyone else, I again wish you safe travel, and, god speed.

Susan .. best of luck with the toenail excision .. that'll smart some by cracky !!

Lorna is up .. so, I guess I'll hazard some coffee, then marry the toilet for the day:-(

Re "EMT" .. worked with some awesome ones .. with DH being a firefighter I met quite a few, and, as Jean says .. they can handle other folks in distress .. but, not in their back yard !

BBL

~M~

Here is hoping that now the flight is over with they will relax and enjoy the week..bet they fret about their trip home though..are there card games in the schedule, know they like their cards.

Did get a call though from a lady call Janet, apparently she is painting a sign, would like me to look at it and see if more could be done to enhance it..she wants to come Thursday evening with the gals to sew but would like me to check the sign..told her to come around 6


Sitting here doing nothing, should get a move on, I'll try breakfast 1st then maybe do my Santa Warren box??

Good thoughts for a lovely day and safe travels whether it is around the corner or across the country.

A friend sent me this link. I immediately thought of the Thundering Herd.

https://fetchyourdogabone.com/home-page/

Glad you enjoyed the Nightwatch link Betty. Going to look for the Thread with likes and dislikes from previous Santa Warren exchanges.

this hydromorph med is really giving me grief....... yesterday I felt like I was car sick, constipated, breaking out into sweats, and headachy all at once - I went to sleep for 10 hours, groaning and in pain. I was taking pepto bismal, tums, eating applesauce and drinking ginger ale, to no avail.
I'll talk to the Dr about it today, and see what I can do. I actually need the strength of meds, but not the after affects!! I wish I had a heating pad.
I know I'm stressed about about Sunday, but this is more than that!! My poor system just can't take all this!

Jean, they look good enough for me to eat, never mind Dianne's thundering herd 😊

That is the problem isn't it Susan, you get meds that help with pain but wonder if the side effects are worth taking them..likely nerves has more to do with your not up to par than the meds..so much to contend with.

Susan, I find if I take my Vicodin daily, it makes me feel sick, so sometimes I take half of a tablet.

These aren't tablets - they're capsules, so can't break cuz the liquid would spill

Sounds like the normal side effects of hydromorphone (Dilaudid) Susan. People that take opiates long term can have serious stomach/bowel problems.

http://www.rxlist.com/dilaudid-side-effects-drug-center.htm

Especially the marrow bones, Betty..GRIN

I stopped taking the hydromorph back in August, and started taking it again. I didn't have these side effects before....

I lost a long chatty post this morning when Chaos jumped up and hit the computer. Sigh. Its a good thing he is so darn cute!

Jean your post was perfect timing. When I read it the boys were having their weekly tartar buster bone. I am sure they would like one daily but they are very messy. I make sure I have drop sheets over anything thing they might sit on the chew their bones.

Jean and M you are so right about our DHs being very in charge of situations that don't involve those they love. Warren was a cop in TO for a few years and until the day he passed he could handle intense, stressful situations as long as it didn't include me or the pups.

Susan I am surprised the doc didn't suggest a mild laxative when taking your pain killers.When Warren was on so many pain meds the doc recommended using Lax-a-day ever day. Just the thought of your toe make as me squirm.Ouch!

If you need some hints about what your Santa Warren Exchange name likes and dislikes don't hesitate to Dmail either Betty or I.

We had a little excitement on the deck last night. The boys were all at the garden door to the deck quietly growling. I went to the door and there was a raccoon opening the door of the cat carrier. Warren bought this cat carrier and it is like a Cadillac - its huge with water and food bowls built in. I knocked on the glass and the raccoon looked at me and moseyed off. I had the carrier out there because I had planned to scrub it down. I will definitely scrub it down now.

M don't worry about making a fashion statement in TO. I know you are not ....... just be comfortable you are going to be so stressed. You won't be outside much . I imagine you will take a taxi or Uber once you land on the mainland so wear those clogs and be comfortable.I have always wanted to live on one of the islands there in TO. We considered it but there is such a wait list plus most residents will their home to someone in their family. Sending positive thoughts for you and Gord.Hope Lorna's parents have recovered from their ordeal yesterday.

LK how is the pain level today? Same I bet. Sure hope you get some relief soon.

Pups are antsy so off we go..
BBL
Dianne

I'm off to the Dr's now, re: toe
will talk to him about a laxative. I haven't taken any pain meds since yesterday am, cuz when I was normally going to take another, my tummy troubles kicked in HARD, so I wasn't about to add to it.....
My knees are pretty good still, although I haven't been doing a lot of walking.

I'll let you know how the app't goes, re: toe....... I'm nervous

Imagine Susan is one toenail less about now and feeling pain, ouchies for sure.

Pass some over Jean, I'm back on the chesterfield..Rita came to pick up a few things, I went downstairs and did some ohh/ahh' so got sent back upstairs. Lol

Don't you hate it when you lose a post, mine generally goes poof when I decide to go look at a photo, zap, in cyberspace..you sure do have critters in your neck of the wood. I've something that because I was too lazy to put into the garbage barrel left it on back deck, something likely raccoon taught me a lesson, gave me something to clean.

Never know what germs they may have so a good scrubbing wouldn't hurt

Rita dropped in to pick up a few of her fabric bins, hurrah,,little cleaner, won't take me long to refill the totes..was having trouble getting around so she sent me back upstairs, I'll soon wear out this couch.

Had big meal around 1 instead of later, see if that helps then at supper can have something light..looked to see if I had pudding I could cook up but nope so might take a quick run to foodland, need cereal as well, but to get to foodland one has to get off the couch. 😂

Wonder what the pups would have done if they could have opened the door to get to the raccoon? :) How is your rash doing?

My pain level is the same, thanks for asking. Todd and I are going to the surgeons office Thursday. I too hope for some answers.

Jean, I have to take laxative daily, as I get the same thing with the vicodin I am taking. If I don't take it, my diverticulitis flares up, and that is not fun at all.

Betty have you tried Kozy Shack Rice pudding? I love it and make sure there is always some on hand. Their Tapioca is good too......we used to call it fish eyes and glue..Same with cottage cheese ..... soothes the belly.

Glad you are attempting once again to get answers Lindakay..

Okay shack pudding, is it at foodland and in a box?

Laughing here, we always call it fish eyes, problem is when boys were young the heard us, never ate any since

For me, I would eat a jar of olives a, grandpa asked if I knew what the red filler was, nope, he proceeded to ask if I remember the color of the baboons bums were like, Yep, sliced that up and filled olives..I rarely eat an olive without thinking of that and took years to even try one

What people do to their kids

Off to foodland

Laughing at the color of baboons bottoms!

Guess I was eating too many olives Lindakay...

Took a quick run to foodland, yikes, picked a few grapes and not many and they were $6.79 expensive treat

Stopped at post office to check to see if your snowflake block had arrived, not yet

Hopefully soon.

Kozy Shack is at Foodland in the Dairy counter. Pretty much any grocery store has them. I also like Liberte Black Cherry yogurt.

Didn't look there, maybe take another run tomorrow

Waiting for the girl to come re help with her sign..she is a masseuse and has her own business, maybe we can exchange services

wondering how our Susan is doing ..would imagine they froze her well and she won't be feeling any pain ..... yet ..

Good day here ..Lorna's Mom loves her hairdo .. served dinner at 1pm ..played cards .. and toddled on back with them at about 5pm .. her Dad tires easily ..
Tomorrow Lorna has an appointment at the cancer clinic at 2pm .. so .. I will again serve 'supper after noon ..
Planning on making them a casserole for Wednesday when we are away ..
Getting positively frantic about the logistics of this apt .. guess we'll find our way .. and .. I will wear my Crocs .. just remembered you have to take your shoes off to go through security ..
I feel busy up to and over the brim !!

Betty and LindaK .. hope you both feel better ...

Dianne .. we have few racoons, have skunks though .. EWEWEW ...

WIsh I could stay ..but .. I am exhausted ...........

~M~

Kozy Shack - used to get it in Winnipeg, and now in Calgary - most grocery stores. Really like their tapioca pudding.

Yes, my toe is frozen enough that I can't feel it. It feels like what the Dr said he'd do - cut it off lol
He had to "top the freezing up" by giving me a 4th needle. Usually it only takes 3, but after 5 min I still felt pain. After another needle and 5 minutes he was able to remove part of my nail. It was a piece about 3/4 of an inch long and 1/4 wide - he said it was lodged into my toe. He was happy there was no bleeding or oozing - very 'clean' but very involved fungus. I'll feel the pain tomorrow he said. He's seen worse, but I have the feeling that the fungus was "right up there" with pretty bad. Considering that, he was really happy that there was no bleeding. So am I.
Just feels really weird feeling like that toe isn't there hahahaha

Your going to need an open toe shoe for a few days.

hahahaha we have snow on the ground......... open toed shoes should cold!!!

Well, this new gal Janet thinks I'm terrific, lol, helped her with her Welness Sign, just needed some shading and highlighting. We traded off, I have to go for massage and reiki (?)

Susan, likely hurt like the dickens tomorrow when freezing comes out.. Is he your regular physician.. Ask him about different meds?

"m" am sure Lorna's mom just enjoyed being away from hubby for a bit and doing something for herself..did you say you are flying in with Porter AIrline? Sure will be a long day for you Wednesday, dress as casual as you can, comfy shoes for sure. At least you don't have to contend with snow.

Pain in my butt so calling it a night

Gab in the a.m.

Keep the snow Susan...open toed would keep the freezing in