It's October! Leaves Turning, Pumpkin Picking and Trick or Treating!2017-10-02T09:59:57-04:00

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    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Good Morning Everyone,
      What a sad start to this month. May I express my deepest condolences to everyone impacted by the shootings in Las Vegas. My prayers go out to them and also to the people of Puerto Rico who are suffering and need much assistance. What a crazy world that we are living in. It makes you afraid to walk out the door in the morning.
      On a side note. When we were in Las Vegas we stayed at Mandalay Bay. This was probably twelve years ago or so and if I remember correctly there was a wall of windows at the end of your room and they did not open so the shooter must have cut a hole in the window or maybe shot it out. There are so many sad sad things happening-it just makes me heartsick.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      I’m back from visiting my sister. Here’s some pictures to start out the month.

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    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Everyone,
      DD, Years ago I had gifted Greg with a beer of the month present and some of the beer for October was a pumpkin beer and he didn’t like it either. Your legs being like that could well be from the sciatica. Greg has numbness in his feet and legs caused by his back. So it is a good idea to get it checked out. Unfortunately, right now there is not a lot that they can do for Greg. I hope they can find some way to help you. Your decorations look really pretty. When I clicked on them they did turn right side up.
      Sue, you are so lucky to have no macular degeneration or cataracts-I have both unfortunately. Also, I’m glad that you get your glasses paid for with a copay. Our insurance only covers the cost of the exam. The glasses are out of pocket for us and they are so expensive-especially for my prescription. How nice to get those potatoes. You will have to make some potato dishes that you can maybe freeze to use some of them up. I wonder where the excess potatoes came from?
      Colleen, what is a hoover round? Whatever it is I’m glad that Ron is enjoying your gift. lol I’ve had Greg give me gifts that he really wanted too-I can’t think of an example right now but I know that he has done it. Hmmm! I wonder if Greg would like a new pair of earrings. lol You will have fun making cookies with Aliza-good idea to use the premixed cookies as she is still kind of small to do the whole mixing of ingredients thing. I agree with what you said about Adele’s Mom. It would be a good idea to talk her into going to the doctor just to be checked out. Her whooziness could be a simple fix like adding or changing a medication. It doesn’t hurt to check into it if she is willing to go.
      Barbara, of course all of our grandchildren are as clever as rocket scientists-that is just a given for all grandparents. You think they should have benches in WalMart and I think that they should have step stools throughout the store in case I need to reach something from the top shelf. We have two Kincades-they are numbered prints sold on the Q. One is an Americana scene on a front porch and I have it in the bedroom/bathroom suite in the basement as they are decorated in an Americana theme. The other I have in the dining room and it is of a home with it’s gardens. They are both very pretty. Talking about buying things while traveling we did buy some paintings in Santa Fe when we visited there. Our house was only a few years old then and we were still working on decorating it and we saw an artist’s work in a Santa Fe gallery and we just fell in love with it and we bought two of his paintings and had them shipped back to us and I still love seeing those paintings-one over the fireplace in the family room and one over the piano in the living room. Ironically, the artist ended up being from Illinois in the Chicagoland area. Whenever I look at them it reminds me of that trip which is probably my favorite trip of everywhere that we have been. I also discovered the miniature Russian boxes that I now collect in a gallery on that trip. I bought two of the My Pillows once and neither of us liked them and I think I ended up giving them to Jenny. But Colleen says she and Ron like them so I guess what you like in a pillow is a very individual preference-also Greg is very fussy about his pillow-he kind of drives me nuts with that. Speaking of that- a few nights ago I woke up in the morning and Greg’s whole pillowcase was off his pillow and laying on the floor behind the bed. I wonder what kind of wresting match he had going on that night! lol I’m wondering what Joey uses to mow the ten acres as that is a lot of ground to cover. We leave some of our property with the grass tall and just mow paths thru it.
      Adele, Jenny is thrilled with the Wal Mart shopping for her deal. That means she doesn’t have to give up any time on her weekend to do that-plus she doesn’t have to take any kids with her as we all know what that is like-it takes twice as long to do the shopping with the kids along. We haven’t seen the grands yet as we were out of town when they got home. I’m glad that Gary likes the new nephrologist and you got rid of the bad guy. Yeah! It’s time to start wearing the Halloween shirts. We haven’t gotten flu shots yet either. Actually, Greg gets one but I can’t as I am allergic to them. Speaking of shots did anyone get the shingles shot? My SIL just came down with shingles and my sister had them a few years ago so I’m thinking we should consider getting that now too. My poor SIL just had her dog die the other week and now this while she is trying to prepare for her wedding in November. I never heard of putting potatoes in the fridge-isn’t it too humid in there for potatoes. I agree with Colleen-maybe you should convince Tillie to go in for a wellness check up.
      We just went to Indianapolis to visit my sister for the weekend. We had a great time and next time we need to take more days off to stay there a bit longer. We have to stay in a hotel when we go as she has a cat and last time we stayed in her house Greg had a bad time as he is allergic to cats so he feels better if we don’t sleep at her house. We went to a historical society museum on Saturday which was really interesting as it was interactive and they had people who were pretending to be from the eras of the various displays who you could talk to about what was going on in their lives. One room was the Cole Porter room and the guy gives you his talk when you go in there and then says he has all these Cole Porter tunes on the player piano and he gives you a menu where you can pick one that you want him to have the piano play-so when you chose one he starts the piano and then he bursts into song and he has this fabulous voice and surprises the heck out you. We made him sing three songs as he was so good we didn’t want to quit. We also went to see a musical La Cage Aux Foilles-it was a lot of fun and had a lot of talented people. The theater was pretty small so all the seats were good and you could see everything. All in all it was a great trip and it’s always good to see my sister and catch up. The weather was also beautiful-mid 70’s no humidity.
      Gail

    • Anonymous
      Inactive
      Post count: 643

      Gail I had the shingles shot a couple of years ago. I know you cannot get a flu shot but I get mine every year. My doctors office has a flu shot clinic after hours 7 to 9PM on certain days and you make an appointment & they give it to you & you are on your way. I like that when we use to get them at work we had to hang around a while to be sure we did not have a reaction. My arm usually gets sore for a couple of days but that is all.

      None of our stores offer the service you are talking about. I checked for it when I was laid up with my knee replacement.

      I was very surprised my glasses were partially covered. She had told me probably not much more than the exam. I was not surprised about the frames as I think I read they were covered if you got them from the Davis Vision collection. Even some of the others were just a $15 co pay. I hope they are right what they charged me,but she had called to check I think. I will believe it after insurance pays. Hope it is for real.

      I was glad Jenny & her husband posted photos from their trip. The kids looked like they were having a lot of fun. I am ready to go on another cruise as I sleep so much better on the ship. I would fall asleep right away & sleep through the night. I don’t do that at home. Usually takes me an hour or two to fall asleep & then I wake up every couple of hours. I guess it was the gentle rocking. I think Jenny had some rough water left from the hurricanes. They usually try to go around the worst weather.

      Barbara’s chocolate pie made me hungry so I saw a pie at the store & bought it. It is peanut butter & chocolate. Chocolate crust a layer of PB filling & a layer of chocolate with whipped cream on top and sprinkled with PB & Choc chips. It is really good. But I hate to think about the calories.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      Tillie has her annual next month. She feels better today. that is how it seems to go lately, she has a bad day, and then she is ok again. She does have blockages in her carotid arteries, but she is not a candidate for surgery due to her age. She also has some leakage in her heart valves. We have known both those things for years. her doctor says it is all consistent with her age.
      I feel the same way about Linda on Blue bloods. Gary and I think she wanted out of the show. Such a shame. I think they added the story about the helicopter to kill her off, as none if us seem to remember that one.
      I went to lunch with Nancy today, and the restaurant had one other table full,besides ours. It looked like people were staying home today. We talked about the awful attack in Las Vegas. It makes you sick.
      I hope you have a great time with Aliza. I bet she will love your cookies. You and Ron will have such a great time with her. Hug the stuffing out of her!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gailster!
      Love the October pics.
      It is so hard to get Tillie out for extra doctor appointments. It has to get real bad for her to go. She knows they will not do anything because of her age, and she says we just need to leave her alone. i am able to get her to her annual, as I remind her the doctor will not renew her prescriptions if she does not go. She has blockages in her carotid arteries, and leaky heart valves- consistent with her age, they say. It is hard, as she thinks she is close to the end, due to her age. I then remind her she is in pretty good shape for someone her age. So many are in nursing homes. She is adamant she does no want to be in one. Her annual is next month.
      I am glad Jenny loves the Walmart shopping. i wonder when they will have it here. I bet they are glad they are back, and are exhausted. Did they have any funny Piper stories?
      That is awful about your SIL and her dog. It really stinks when pets get old, and die. Just awful.
      I have not had that shot yet, either. I will get my flu shot when Tillie gets hers at her annual. Tillie and Gary have their annuals together. they have the same doctor.
      Sounds like you two had a great weekend away. you did get in a lot of good sight seeing/performances. That was a great trip, with a lot packed in there.
      I am devastated by the events in Las Vegas. Just awful that these shootings continue. You added a nice piece on your feelings, and it was well said. You captured all our feelings. Go Gail! such awful times our grands are growing up in. I worry for all of them, and all the children in this country.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Sue
      I am so happy that you got your glasses at such a great cost. Every once in a while, we get a nice surprise. hey, after all you have been through, you deserve it.
      Tillie, Gary and I will get our shots together at their annual appointments. I hope we do not get any flu before November.
      DWTS is on tonight, as we all need a pleasant distraction. My heart goes out to all the people who cannot get a distraction from their pain. When I think of all those people who will never be the same again, it is heart wrenching. Even the people who did not get hurt will be affected for the rest of their lives. So many lives are forever changed.
      I hope you will smile watching DWTS tonight. I think the ball player will be next to go, but who knows what will happen.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Just a little note to say Gail said it best. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is affected by these awful events in the hurricane torn areas, and in Las Vegas.
      So much sadness for our country. So many lives gone, or forever changed. I hope the Angels will help them all heal.
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hello Ladies,
      There are no words for what happened last night in LV. It was breaking news as I was getting ready to go to sleep. At that point it wasn’t nearly as bad as it turned out to be this morning. It must’ve been on all night. I still can’t believe it.
      Gail, sounds like you had a wonderful time with your sister. It’s always a wonderful feeling when you come home from a wonderful trip. Good to hear my pics came out right side up. I put in a complaint about it, so maybe somebody took care of it.

      I went to the Dr, today. It wasn’t my doctor as he is out of town. this was a adorable young guy. he referred me to a vascular surgeon for an ultrasound to find out what’s going on with the blood vessels in my legs. And he referred me back to PT for my left shoulder.
      I had to re sign in again. Probably since it’s a new month.
      the weather is nice this week, but chilly at night. The trees are starting to turn. Speaking of trees, my friend is going out to the gorge tomorrow, so I’ll get some pics of the damage done by the fire. I’m taking my camera & not use the phone as you’ve seen it doesn’t take the best of pics of scenery. She’s going to go over to the WA. side so we can really see the damage across the river.
      Sending prayers & hugs to everyone. Take care.
      dd

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      i love the pretty pictures of beautiful settings, and the owls. All happy scenes to make us smile.
      I hope you have a good time with your friend on your outing today. The fires have caused so much damage for all of you out here. I hope you will not have drought next summer.
      i hope they figure out what’s happening with your legs. I went through a lot of testing for my legs after my last spine surgery, as they were swelling by end of day. Well, the final answer was not so nice. After all the ultrasounds, etc, they could not find a reason. so it was blamed on my weight. They tried a fluid pill, but, I could not tolerate it- made me sick. So, I try to handle it more naturally. The herbal teas and fruit make me pee like crazy, and then the legs do not swell as much. Plus I have to stay away from salt. If we have Chinese food,it is a guarantee for lots of swelling the next day. So, I add 2 cups of tea in the afternoon. That is the best I can do. I hope you have much Bette results. I will add another prayer for you.

      Hey everyone….forgo to say. With the potatoes in the fridge, make sure the bag is open and not closed. that way, there is no moisture that accumulate sin the bag and that is actually what makes them rot. Actually, that is true for all veggies, I have found. Never let me sit in a closed bag inside the fridge- they need the air to circulate.
      Hope that helps, as my potatoes last for months in there, as we do not have them that much, especially in the summer.
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Sue,
      That pie sounds delicious! Don’t you know it doesn’t have any calories? lol
      You must be feeling really good after the knee replacement if you are ready to cruise again. Too bad they didn’t make a bed that would gently rock a person. You should invent one! If you did go on another cruise where would you like to go. I always look at those European river cruises and think they sound so interesting. Although I doubt Greg would ever go. They also have Mississippi River cruises and the same company also offers some cruises up the east coast and some around Puget sound out west. They seem interesting too. I like the cruises that include historical content. Once again, I’m a nerd! lol
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi DD,
      One thing about taking pictures with the camera instead of the phone sometimes this site won’t let you post them if the resolution is too high-at least not on the discussion page. I can post from my phone to the discussion page but if the picture is on my camera I have to post it on my personal page. That’s another bad thing that happened when they changed the site. Anyway, I hope you and your friend have a nice, safe trip and maybe you will get a chance to go out to lunch or dinner.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      Well it’s good that Tillie has her annual exam next month. Do you go in with her? Perhaps you can mention the way she has been feeling and they can add or adjust meds to make her feel better.
      Have you seen DWTS yet? What’s up with another week without an elimination? It seems like maybe the length of their season is a bit fluid and they have to adjust accordingly. It was curious that Max was not there but both Peta and Val were so it must have not been a family issue. Alan did very well with Vanessa anyway-it must be hard to step in like that-you have to give him lots of credit. I’m glad they’ll be doing the Halloween show this year. Can’t wait to see what Mark cooks up for that one if they are still on by then-they better be!
      I finally just had to turn off the news and watch something more escapist. I found myself being overcome with grief.
      I can’t wait to visit the kids on Friday and just be around the laughter of children for a bit. It’s so life affirming and I need that. We are supposed to cool down and get some rain tomorrow. We really need the rain it is very very dry here.
      We did pack a lot of stuff into our visit with Susan. She is one of these people who is always doing something. She’s 73-five years older than me and she is a million times more active. She goes to three different gyms-she does ballroom dancing, tap dancing, choreography,she just dropped flamenco-she does belly dancing and takes online courses-has breakfast with a group of friends each Saturday and is in a book club-and those are only the things I know about. Just looking at her wears me out. She never sits down-she is what is affectionately known in our family as “a fart in a bottle.” lol By comparison I am like a snail crossed with a turtle. Of course she is still tiny like I used to be so all that activity keeps you slim.
      Here is a picture of the poster for the upcoming Choirboys fundraiser for a local food pantry.
      Gail

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      OMG GAil….
      a fart in a bottle??? Where and who came up with that one? I think it is hysterical, and everyone needs a laugh today. your sister sound slike a scream. Too bad she lives so far away from you.
      I had to turn off the news this am too. i just could not hear it anymore. I am sick over all these people losing their lives, and nobody can even find a reason. I even woke up from having a nightmare. At least I can wake up form mine. All those families cannot.
      I am also thrilled they are doing the Halloween show. It is so much fin to watch. You know how much I love Halloween.
      How have the Choir Boys been doing without the one man who is so sick? I am hoping he is better. You have not mentioned him in a while. I remember the guys were going to see him.
      I do go with Tillie, and I am always in the room when he examines her too. She would get too scared if I were not there. I always rat her out to her doctor, and then she gets mad at me….LOL
      I hope you have some good Piper stories to tell us after your Friday visit.. We need a good Piper story.
      Hope your day is goign well. It is sunny here, but chilly. That is ok with me.
      Oh……I also do not like the drag it out DWTS- just do the elimination every week, and not the 2 shows.
      Adele

    • Anonymous
      Inactive
      Post count: 643

      I see where you were wondering about Maks on DWTS. I had read speculation but then tonight I read an article that said he & Vanessa had a fight & he was thinking of not returning but now I guess he will be back next week. I could tell he & Vanessa did not get along. I was hoping he was professional enough to do his job. To me he seems arrogant & everything must be his way.

      I heard on the news a coach from here in Pa. was killed in Las Vegas & they were wondering how to explain to the children when it is difficult for grownups to understand.

      Also on the new was another story that really upset me. It seems Children services gave a 13 yr old boy to a man that had been convicted twice on sexual abuse and he has aids. How could this happen? Don’t they check before placing children in a home?

      If I lived closer Gail I would come to the dinner & Chiorboys concert. It would be good to have a distraction from the real world.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      OMG Sue!
      How did that record get by people???? We had to have people pass a CORI beofre a child could be placed with them, even if they were related. We did grant waivers, as it seemed everyone had something on their CORI- moving violation, or some dumb kid thing, like trespassing. Absolutely no waiver was granted on any violation against a child, no matter how long ago it was. Something must have happened- did he use an alias? You will have to let me know. as the story unravels, as I am curious.
      You are amazing- you hear the best news, and keep us in the loop- go Sue!!!!
      I hate the dragged on shows too. Let;s just get on with it.
      I am going to the ortho foot doctor tomorrow, so he can review the progress I made at PT with the ankle. I hope the ankle will measure some gains.
      Talk tomorrow, after the doctor, I hope. Unless I am too pooped.
      This is Us is on tonight….yahoo!!
      Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      A hoover round is a chair that is battery operated and you sit in it and it takes you all over the place. It is like a wheel chair. If you fall a lot like I was for awhile they send you all kinds of info in the mail on how to get a new one. Did not feel like I really needed one so never called them so Ron found one at a sale that he went to. I guess he feels like he needs one now.
      Baking cookies with Aliza was not a good idea. She kept trying to eat the raw cookie dough. We would put it on the sheet and she would take it off and right to the mouth she would go. So had to watch her so much that I told her that I would finish I think that she was glad. She did not understand why I would not let her eat the dough. She had this look on her face like I thought these were supposed to be cookies. lol
      The wal mart shopping is a good idea. You do not have to go in with the kids or when you are really tired when you get off work. Does she have them pick out fruit and produce for her? I just wondered if they do a good job of if she does that herself. That is the only thing that I would worry about. I have not idea if they do that here or not. They may in St. Louis. I have never heard anyone say.
      Have you seen the kids yet since they got back from their trip? Can’t wait to hear all the Piper stories and how the other kids enjoyed the trip. That is so nice that they all got to go.
      Sounds like you had a lot of fun with your sister. The museum sounded interesting. I love to go to museums but Ron does not. I do not know how we ever got married but something must be working because we have been together for a long time.lol Do your kids like to go to museums and things like that also? Danyielle likes to go so when I go she goes with me. The other two girls are more like their dad. They would rather got to a park and things like that.
      I thought that maybe they did not have an elimination this week because of the tragedy in Las Vegas. The news cut in on the beginning of the show which I thought took away some of their time. It seems like they were all getting ready to stand on the stage to see who went home. Maybe they will say something next week and explain what happened.
      Well that is about all from here. I probably missed a lot because of not being on here yesterday. That was so sad about all those poor people and their families. What a terrible way to have your life end.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      I know what you mean about your mom and surgery. They will not do anything for my mom either. That has to be so aggravating for them. My mom is always telling me to get things done while we are young because after you get a certain age they will not do anything for you. She has a really good heart doctor. He does more tests then any other doctor that she goes to.
      I hope that Tillie will be fine. At least her annual physical is next month and not longer. I hope that you go in with her and talk to the doctor about what has been going on with her. I know she probably does not like it but sometimes we have to do what we think is best. My mom is the same way. She tells us that we do not need to come in there. We just do not listen.lol I will be saying a prayer for you and your mom. I know that this is really hard on you.
      Read what I posted to Gail. It tells all about the cookie baking experience.
      That was terrible about what happened in Vegas. I do not understand how a person can just start shooting people. What is the point. I have not been listening to the news all they want to do is talk about that. That just encourages these crazy people to do more things like that. What good did it do him. He did all of that and killed himself and did not gain anything from it. Just hurt a lot of people and their families and his family also.
      That is strange for a restaurant to be that empty. It is just so sad. I am glad that you and Nancy had a nice lunch. It is good to get out with a friend once in awhile and just get away from things at home.
      What was so cute today when Aliza came in the house. She ran over to me and gave me a hug and a kiss and wanted to sit in my lap. That just makes you feel so good when they do that.
      Well that is about all from here. Have to get to bed,. Little bit will be up early in the morning.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      I love the pictures that you posted. You always find such pretty pictures. You and Gail both wish that I had your talent at posting like you two do. The only pictures that I have ever posted were done by my grands.
      It is terrible about those poor people in Las Vegas. All we can do is pray that their families come thru this okay and all the injured have a speedy recovery.
      That is nice that you liked that young doctor that you had. I think that the younger doctors are better sometimes. They are still fresh out of medical school and know all the new techniques. It seems like all the doctors that I go to here lately are young though. They are all younger then I am. When did all of this happen? lol
      We thought that fall was here but hot weather came back. It is hot and humid. We had to turn the air back on again. If you get tired of your weather just send it our way. Are all the fires out now? Hope that they are people have lost a lot from these fires.
      That will be sad to see all that damage that was done by the fires. Be careful driving around in that area.
      Well that is all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      That was funny about Aliza and the cookie dough. Of course she probably couldn’t figure out why you needed to cook that stuff when it tasted pretty good to begin with. I can picture you putting the pieces on the cookie sheet and her taking them right back off and trying to eat them. It would have made a good comedy movie. lol
      I asked Jenny about the produce too and I think she said that they will show you a picture of what they picked out and if you don’t like it you can tell them to get something different so that’s pretty good. I was worried about that part too as I know when Greg goes to the store he is not fussy enough about picking out the produce and sometimes comes home with something that i would never bring home. Like I don’t know how many times I have asked him not to bring home green potatoes and either he forgets or doesn’t bother to look and I always check for that. However, if i complain his feelings get hurt or he thinks I am not being grateful for him shopping so sometimes I have to bite my tongue-but it is irritating as I have to write the list and try to be so specific. I just tell him when in doubt use the cell phone and call me but he doesn’t always do that.
      We haven’t seen the kids since their vacation-will probably see them Friday. Eager to hear all about it.
      I like museums too. My sister would probably actually rather be out hiking or something but we did that as i am not nearly as physically fit as she is. She goes on these different hiking vacations with her friends that I could never do-and even if I could I don’t think I’d be that interested. I’m just not that much of an outdoorsman. (woman) lol
      You know I just think the people that murder all those others and then turn the gun on themselves are such cowards. If you are going to kill yourself anyway just do it and leave all those innocent people out of it. I think besides the horror of all those innocent people losing their lives-the horror is also that we as average citizens cannot comprehend what could cause someone to perform such a heinous crime. There is absolutely no way of understanding the mind of an evil madman. It is just all so senseless. God help us all to heal.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Sue,
      Since you mentioned that about Maks i saw something on the Yahoo page about it too-that he and Vanessa ( is that right?) are two strong personalities and have bumped heads. Well Maks-that is just too bad-you are supposed to be the professional and are getting paid to figure it out. That sounds like spoiled brat behavior to me. I used to love Maks but over time i really have come to prefer Val-he seems kinder to me.
      I am sorry to hear of the loss of that coach in those shootings. All those people out for a night of fun and it ends in such tragedy. I don’t know how you explain it to the kids-there is no way to understand why these things happen.
      As to the child molester who was given custody of the child-I am with Adele-there has to be more to the story as I know people are checked out thoroughly. First I know this as an adoptive parent and secondly my sister worked for many many years in child protective services. So I too am interested if you hear anymore about how this could have possibly happened. At least they have found out about it now-hopefully before anything bad happened.
      I wish we really had that helicopter i would pick you all up for The Choirboys concert. I would love if you all could hear them in person sometime. Plus they have added a new member and even i haven’t heard the four of them together. And the concert is for a local food pantry so it’s for a great cause. And the next night is the ONP concert which was cancelled last year because Bill was sick-so hopefully that night many people will show up and adopt kids to buy gifts for. It will be a very charity oriented weekend.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      I knew you would appreciate the “fart in a bottle”visual. Known for short as fiab. lol You know I don’t think I ever heard that outside my family so I’m thinking that my Dad must have made it up. It’s basically the same as someone being so energetic that they are bouncing off the walls but this is just a more-perhaps whimsical- way of saying the same thing-and it does give a funny visual too.
      Bill, from The Choirboys is doing much better. He is pretty closed mouthed about his diagnosis and treatment but he is traveling again and seems to be doing fine so that’s all we can go by.
      I hope your visit to the doctor gives you a clean bill of health. I just got a note that my ortho doctor that i went to for my ankle is retiring so I guess if i have future problems i will have to find a new one. He didn’t seem that old to me but who knows.
      We were supposed to get cooler and have rain but right now it is warm and sunny so who knows. i guess the best way to know what the weather is is to look out the window. lol I don’t like it hot hot hot-but at least you can go indoors and turn on the AC-it’s much better than winter when it is cold and dark. I would prefer spring and fall all year round. lol
      Gail
      I do want to ask for prayers from all of you. There is a young man that the kids grew up with who had an ATV accident on Sunday. Right now I think he is in an induced coma. I’ve known him since he was a little boy-he was in the same grade as Jenny. Very very nice young man with a wife and three children. If you have a minute during your day please pray for him and his family-his name is Steve. Thank you. This is very scary.

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      everyone. It has turned hot here again, per Jerry, but it is not bad to me. It is only around 75; and that is so Fall to me; but he just insists on turning the AC back on. We are supposed to have rain coming in the weekend and it will definitely cool off then. Our electric bills are always so expensive; so I am always so happy to throw open the windows and smell that fresh air blowing in. I bet the trees are just beautiful in some of your home areas. Take a look at them for me please This is such a wonderful time of year for me.
      Hope all the doctor visits come out good this week. It is such a relief to get them done and an even better relief if we get a good report. I know you must be so glad that your surgery is behind you, Sue; and that you are doing so good. You’ve worked hard. Do you have something special planned to “reward” yourself for all your hard work? You surely deserve a “treat”.
      That is a cute story, Colleen about the baby running into your arms and giving you such sweet love. I remember just the wonderful smell of our baby, and how even though my arms would start aching from carrying him around so much that I wouldn’t let him go unless I just had to. Jerry and I find ourselves replaying videos that Neal has sent to us of the baby over and over again. It’s like we can almost feel he is right here with us by seeing the sweet video. I miss our sons so much; but I just didn’t know it was possible to miss Colin as much as I do. They skyped us a while ago. He had gotten the little bear that sings his abc’s and counts that I got from the Q. Gosh, better change the subject.
      This has been such a sad week, hasn’t it? I pray for all the people who are suffering and have lost loved ones. We were beside ourselves but our son called us from there early the next morning. He had to be at work at 4 am; so he said he and his wife were in bed at 8 that night. They are country music fans, so we were worried. We didn’t hear until the next morning because we were in bed early that night too. Joey and Lisa had come up for dinner Sunday night and visited for several hours. He and Jerry grilled out. His wife is a manager in an ER there; so she was very busy. But thank God they are okay.
      DD. our son in CA. said they are having some pretty hot weather out where he is. He said he thinks it is unusual for this time of year. Are you a lot cooler now? Your kitty probably loves to snuggle if it is cooler now.
      Jerry is calling me; so better see what he is up to. LOL Good luck on all the doctor visits. Have fun this weekend Gail. It is so sweet of your husband to do so much good charity work. I know you are really proud. Bye for now, Barbara

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      I agree with you about the hiking. Inside things are so much nicer that you do not get really hot. Never have been an outside person either. My idea of a good camping trip is a night in a Holiday Inn or any motel that has running water and food. If I want to look at the stars I can look out the window or step outside on the deck and look.
      Aliza went home tonight. They came over for dinner and then they took her home. It was good to see Owen. We do not get to see him as much since he is getting older and has to spend half his time with his dad. That is one bad thing about divorce.
      That is good that they send a picture of the produce that you want. I just cannot get use to this buying on the internet and they deliver. We always go to the store that is getting to be our big day out.lol It is good for a busy mom who does not have that much time. Ron shops like that also. He does not like to call and makes fun of the guys that are in the store calling their wives. You know those men that are always bringing the right thing home. Ron likes to go for cheap. I never ask him to buy bananas. He gets the cheapest kind he can get like that ones that have started to turn brown and he thinks that he is getting a good deal. So I gave up on that. Nobody likes a banana that is too ripe.
      That man that shot all those people in Las Vegas was a coward. He should have faced what he did if he thought that he was right in doing it. What pain he cause for so many people.
      I read an article about Max and that woman not getting along. It must be hard to try and teach someone to dance and have them not want to listen. I don’t know I just hope that they get it all worked out.
      Well that is about all from here. Greg is really going to be busy with concerts this month. They are such a good group of men to do that.
      Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      It is hot here and humid. We have had our air on for a couple of days. We are supposed to get some rain and cool things down but that has not happened yet. Hope it happens soon. Hope you weather cools down also. Melissa said that she is ready to wear her fall clothes and has not been able to wear them yet. I think that she has decided that Tennessee is really hot.
      Ron took videos of Aliza eating breakfast. So know how you feel about seeing the videos over and over. I just wish that they lived closer so we could see more of them. With their schedule they do not get to come down that often. Glad that Colin got the bear. I bet her just loved it. How nice that they skyped so you could see it.
      That is really good news that you son and dil are okay. That is such a worry when they live so far away. That was a good thing that they did not decide to go to the concert. It must have been rough on your dil having to work the next day with all the injured people. That is such a hard job to have to work with people that are injured like that. It takes special people like you to do that job.
      Your dinner sounds really good. It was nice that Lisa and Joey were there.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      God Bless all of the people in this country and all over the world. Hope that all this craziness stops soon.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen
      I read the post to Gail. Is this new about not letting the kids have the dough? I still let Aizen have some. The kids here have always licked the bowl. Does Aliza have a food allergy? She must have wondered why you did not let her have any,as that is the best part of cookie making….LOL
      I always go in with Tillie because she never tells the doctor anything, and her hearing is so bad, I wonder if she hears what he says to her. God help us! I guess they decide they are too old to risk surgery because of their ages due to the heart,fragile veins, and the risk of causing dementia when putting them under. that is what I remember form some discussion on the subject. Not sure if they changed any of that thinking or not. Things change so much.
      It is goign to be humid here again, and I bet the air will be on by the afternoon again.
      The foot doctor said the ankles are a little stronger, and I am to continue the exercises to keep the muscles form getting weaker. if I feel they are getting worst, just call them, and they will order more PT. So, that was good news. I was pooped when I came home- no idea why, as I was not gone too long.
      The more we hear about that monster n Las Vegas, the sicker it makes you. i don’t want anyone here going anywhere there is a large crowd. I have always felt that way, and it is just getting worst. this was worst than the Marathon Bombing. But, we had a lot of people who lost either one or both legs. Who can say what was worst, as they were all awful. I am glad no child was skilled in Las Vegas. A child harmed makes me even sicker. When will this all stop? They need to limit ammunition purchased, and these automatic guns, and gadgets.
      How is your weather? I hate this humidity.
      how has Ron been? How are your eyes doing?
      hope your day is bright and good.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Gail and Colleen
      What are these green potatoes you speak of?
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail!
      Read my post to Colleen for all the info on the doctors- good reports, so that is good.
      that is awful about your friend Steve. Of course i will say a prayer for him and his family. Has there been any improvement? I hope there is some, even a little is good. Will he be able to walk, if he recovers?
      I am happy to hear your Choir Boy friend is doing better. That is great news.
      Nancy had her annual, and she lost 5 pounds. She has been looking thinner lately. She is very scared the cancer is back. She had breast cancer many, many years ago. Please say a prayer it is not back. She has been through enough loss.
      How has your hair been growing? Is the patch all grown in yet? How about your eye? I hope all is moving along in a positive direction.
      The humidity is back again. Completely gross. So, I am losing my Fall baking mode. I guess I have to wait a week or so.
      Any plans for the weekend? Gary has been very tired this week, so we are laying low. he does want to get the outside furniture put away, and we will hire Frankie for the day to do that with him. Plus, I want to purge some outside furniture that has not been used in years.
      Hope your day is good!!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Barbara
      OMG- it must have been your son I was thinking of when I thought Gail’s son was in Las Vegas. I am so happy they are safe, and were not there. You must have been beside yourself. I am so glad they are safe. Your DIL must have been out straight at the hospital, and seen things nobody should ever see. That level of evil is too difficult to find words to describe. They are now saying he spiraled down to a low level. One wonders if there was something wrong in his brain. I think we all need a reason for what he did, so we can move on.
      How has Jerry’s Mom been doing? I hope good.
      My doctor appointment went well, and the best part is I did not have to make another appointment with him. I just have to continue the exercises for my ankles.
      Have you been doing any Fall baking, or are you on hold like me for now? I just hate the baking in the humidity, unless I have the air on. Then it seems counter productive….LOL Some how the smell of apples baking does not go with humidity.
      I hope your weather is cooling off!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Well said, Colleen.

      Let us all send a blessing to all the victims of violence all over the world. Amen to that.

      Looking at the video Ron did of Aliza takes your mind off all the awful in the world. Thank God for the grands.

      Love and pryaers
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Barbara,
      The trees haven’t really turned here yet. I think peak color will be in about a week and a half. I don’t know if there will be good color or not as everything has been so dry the last half of the summer. We might just get all brown leaves.
      I was thinking about your son in Vegas and am glad to hear that they are okay. What did he decide to do after he retired from the Air Force? I think it’s neat that you can retire so early and still be young enough to have a whole other career.
      I’m so glad that you have the videos of Colin to watch. I know that you must miss him so much. I do understand-it’s hard enough when your kids live far away but when the grands do too it’s an entirely different story. I hope he loves his new toy that you sent him-I saw the presentation and thought it was really cute. They have such neat learning toys for the little ones.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      I’m with you on the camping thing. I always say if God had intended for us to sleep on the ground in a tent he never would have invented motels. The same for indoor plumbing vs. porta potties-and we all know I am porta potty challenged. lol
      I forgot that with shared custody Owen wouldn’t be at Danyielle’s all the time. That is the bad part about divorce. But at least his Dad wants to see him. I have an old girl friend whose ex adopted his new wife’s kids but never found the time to seek out or send his biological daughter even a birthday or Christmas card or gift for many many years. Now he had an accident and is feeling his mortality and wants to reconnect but I’m afraid it’s too late after all those years of neglect. It’s so sad that he let the lines of communication with his own daughter disappear but that was his choice way back when. You cant turn your back on someone and expect that 25 years later they will welcome you back with open arms. There have been too many hurt feelings in between.
      You made me laugh out loud with the remark about the husbands who are calling their wives are the ones bringing home the right items. That was a good chuckle!
      Yup- overripe bananas are only good for banana bread. In fact if i am making a fruit salad I like the bananas a little greener as they turn when you add them to the salad so the ones that are a little green last better. I usually sprinkle them with a little lemon juice too as that keeps them from turning for a bit longer.
      Where in Tennessee did Melissa and Stephen end up living now. Are they east or west in the state?
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      No plans for the weekend that I know of right now. Greg should think about pulling the boat out of the water soon. What a waste of the 600 dollars that it costs to dock it there all summer. He used it once this summer and once last summer. I could have bought a nice piece of jewelry that I would wear every day with that 1200 dollars. lol Somehow, I don’t think he will see it that way though but really I am trying to think of a way to address this situation without him getting all huffy about it. I know he hates to put the boat in and out of the water as it is a pain in the butt-however to put it in and let it sit makes no sense either. Oh well-I’ll think about that tomorrow-just like Scarlett.
      I’m glad that you had a good doctors report. Keep up the good work! The fewer times we see the doctor the better.
      I don’t know how Steve is doing. I will get the details from Jenny on Friday. I am just continuing to pray. I will also say a prayer for Nancy. Hopefully the weight loss was caused by her stressful year and not anything else.
      It will be a long time before all my hair grows back-fortunately I have a layer that I can mostly cover it up with now. The eye is doing good-knock on wood.
      The green potatoes are when the potatoes look green on the surface and the peel looks kind of green. I had always heard that it was poison and could make you sick when it was like that. I shall have to research it now to see if that is fact or fiction.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Barbara and Gail
      forgot to say, our trees have not turned yet either. Way up in northern NH is the only place to see full color right now.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      hey Gail
      now that you mention it, we get an occasional green one in the batch. I never heard they were poison either. It will be interesting to see what you find out.
      thank you for the good health wishes. It is great to eliminate any appointment we can.
      the boat discussion will need to be delicate, for sure. we will all be waiting to hear how you pulled it off, without having potato soup for dinner for the next month….LOL
      So, tomorrow Frankie will be here working with us to get the outside furniture covered up, and away in the shed and under the deck- covered. This is it- the official end of outside. We will leave the furnish on top of the deck un-covered for now, until it gets colder. We can still sit out….when the dam humidity is over. LOL I have the air on again.
      Tonight is Scandal…..whooohaaaa!!
      Ok. I just went a little crazy. It has been all over the news up here that that animal rented a room in a hotel that overlooks Fenway Park. the play offs start Sunday, and my Panda is working. They are saying they feel he had an accomplice. So, I called my Panda and read her the riot act….be aware of your surroundings at all times, watch people and if you see anything odd call 911, and if you run into someone who makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, listen to your body and call the police. Amanda said they always have a police officer when there is a game there. She promised to listen to me. I will be a wreck until she is back home Sunday. God help me!
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Adele,
      Who is Panda? I’m confused, but that doesn’t take much, lol. This will be short. Weather is sunny & warm, 70s for now, rain this weekend. Not downpours.
      I’ll be writing about my day trip thru the Gorge with my friend later on. Gotta put down notes so I don’t forget something. lol. Not as bad as I had envisioned in my mind. thank goodness.
      talk more later.
      dd

      Attachments:
    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      They do not want little ones to have the raw dough because of the raw eggs in it. That is the only reason. They do make some with safe eggs. Do not understand why but they do make it. I do not think that it will really hurt them but do not want something to happen and it be my fault. I always let my kids and the older grands eat the cookie dough. Never seemed to hurt them at all.
      You really did get good news from the doctor this time. Sounds like you have been doing a good job on strengthening your ankles. It is hard to keep doing the exercises. Just keep up the good work.
      It still makes me feel bad to hear my mom say that they do not care if she lives or dies. We keep telling her that we care and do not want anything to happen to her. You would think with all the new medicine and treatments they could still help people our mom’s age. It really gets to me.
      I do not know what the answer is to all this violence. There has to be to put an end to it. It is terrible that happened at the Boston Marathon also. Kids were hurt in that one. You never know if there will be kids at a country western concert. Some people will take their kids with them. Those concerts are usually pretty tame.
      It is hot and humid here also. I do not know when this weather will ever break. I am ready for fall and winter. I just hope that this heat does not stop and the cold come right in and we do not have fall at all. I do like to still get the veggies out of the garden though. Ron brought in 90 tomatoes tonight and put them out on the table. They were not all ripe. He had to start watering the garden again to make sure that we would get more.
      Ron is okay and my eyes are doing really good. I am so glad that I had the surgery. Well that is about all from here. Have a good night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      That is so right. We have perfectly good houses and motels to stay in and they do not have dirt or bugs in them. It is funny how different sisters can be. We all grew up the same way just had different interests though I guess.
      That is terrible that man did not want to have anything to do with his own daughter. At least she has a good mom who wanted her and gave her a good life. I do not blame that girl for not wanting to see him now since he did not want to see her for so long. It is hard to have Owen going between two houses. He does not know where his home is. We keep telling him that he has a home with his mom and his dad. He is starting to think that his home is with his mom since he goes to school close to where he lives with her. I think that having a little sister has changed his thinking too. He still loves her a lot and is really good to her.
      We buy or bananas a little green also. They sure do taste better. I will have to use the lemon juice to keep the bananas from turning brown when I make my next fruit salad. I never thought of that.
      Our trees are not turning either. Ours will probably be like yours Gail. We have not had enough rain for them to get much color. That is really a shame it is always to drive around and look at the leaves and all the different colors.
      They live in Cooksville Tennessee. I hope that I got the name right. It sounds like a really nice town. We will go and see them soon just have not figured when exactly.
      We are praying for your friend Steve. That is terrible that it happened to such a young man with a family. Please let us know how he is doing.
      Well that is all from here have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      Well as long as Owen is happy and doing well in life I wouldn’t worry. I’m glad that he is loving his little sister-that probably makes Danyielle’s house feel more like his real home. Does he get along with her boyfriend? I look at it from the point that the more people who love a child the better off they are. I don’t think anyone can be loved too much.
      That will be fun to go visit Melissa and see what their new town is like. I wonder if they are close to Pigeon Forge. if we ever go back there i want to stay in this hotel there that is decorated for Christmas all year round. It is called The Inn of Christmas Place. I didn’t know about it when we were there before. Plus we rented a cabin then because the kids were with us and that gives us more room.
      It’s supposed to rain today-we’ll see.
      I will know more about Steve’s condition when I talk to Jenny today. Everyone please keep praying.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      They say Mr. Crazy rented rooms over looking Lalapalooza in Chicago in August but never showed up there. I know they are increasing security for the Chicago marathon this weekend. I swear-I don’t know what this world is coming to. There’s more and more crazies everyday.
      Well, Greg is golfing and I just got a call from the Marina that they are taking down the piers so they are pulling the boat out. Hmmm-I’m still trying to figure this one out.
      So the potatoes turn green when exposed to light and that green is chlorophyll-along with that something called solanine also develops and that is a toxin although they say you would have to eat an awful lot of it for it to have adverse effects.
      I will keep Amanda in my prayers that she makes lots of tips that night and comes home safely. It’s a new age and we all have to be diligent and keep our eyes and ears open when we are out and about.
      I hope you get the deck all cleared off and get that checked off your list. We just leave everything out all winter as part of the deck has a trellis top and we just put the table and chairs under there rather then lug them back and forth to the barn.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey DD!
      Panda is my nickname for Amanda the Panda….LOL I should have made that clear. Sometimes I call her the Panda, and some time Amanda.
      I am glad the sight seeing was not as bad as you thought. Fire is so awful for everyone and everything.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      It does sounds awful when our moms say that. they feel they are not worth their time to fix any health issue they have. I wish they would explain to them that their veins and organs are too fragile, and the risks too high.
      I am glad about the foot doctor- one less person to see.
      I did hear that, now that you say it. but, like you, none of our kids for generations have been harmed from the cookie dough. But, who knows, better to err on the safe side.
      Blue Bloods is on tonight yahoo!
      I have the air on- this is crazy in October. Gary and Frankie moved and covered all the outdoor furniture, accept the ones on the deck. We are hoping we may still be able to sit out there a few more times. Winter is coming….LOL
      We are having a pot pie for dinner- nice and easy.
      Hope your day is going well!
      Adele
      PS….I guess you will be making more gravy with the tomatoes.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gailster
      Thank you for the info on the potatoes. Wow. Where did you hear about the issue to begin with?
      Our deck furniture stays up there- we just put this big cover over all of it- fits the table and chairs aorund it. downstairs, we just move the furniture under the deck, and they get covered too. I get these heavy duty outside furniture covers, and they work great- even for the chairs that stack. There are some winters we get a lot of snow, so we cannot leave them on the patio, or there would be no room for the snow and a path- need a path to get the trash out, and for the oil deliveries. Like you, we went with leaving them as close to where they go, so it is not too much work. All the pool toys and filter, etc, have to go in the shed, or they would crack.
      Gary had me looking for a small shed to out the snowblower into, so it will be more protected than with just a cover. We can get it under the deck, between the supports, so it will be easily accessible. Under the deck has those rocks that are not sharp, so the kids can walk on them, so the shed would work there. They are pricey.
      Thank you for the prayers for Amanda’s safety. Chocolate will be the food provided for Sunday for my nerves. That SOB looks like he had an accomplice. I hope they get the person as fast as possible. It makes every outdoor gathering scary. There is so much evil in this world. We need more Angels.
      Pretty soon I will be washing all the crystal for the holidays….LOL I still never finished my big needlepoint picture. that would be a good thing to work on for Sunday, when I am nervous.
      Hope Greg and you do not have a disagreement over the boat. A boat is always an issue, nobody who has one is thrilled with the care, or cost, and they never use it enough to make it worthwhile.
      Blue Bloods on tonight- yahoo!!
      Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      Owen and Kevin get along really well. They do things together and have a good time. It is nice that when Aliza decides to hit Owen they make her stop and tell her not to be mean to her brother. They do the same if he starts to tease Aliza. It makes him feel like they are fair to both of them and not letting Aliza get away with things. Kevin is the same way about it. He does not like for Aliza to bother Owens things if he does not want her to play with them.
      They are close to Nashville. I have not idea how fare they are from Pigeon Forge. I will have to ask her. I would like to stay at that hotel that is decorated for Christmas all the time. That would be really cool.
      It was supposed to rain here today also. We did not get any. So now they are saying that it will rain on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if it does. Our weather has been so crazy.
      How are the cubs doing this year? Are they in the play offs? Ron has quit watching baseball for now. The cardinals did not do anything this year. They really have a bad team. Hope that they do better next year. Ron is not happy with the new rules that they have now. So it may not be long and he will quit watching as much.
      I pray that there will be no trouble at the marathon in Chicago. Why can’t people just leave other people alone. These people are just out there to have fun and run. They should be able to do that without be afraid.
      Well that is about all from here. Steve will be in our prayers.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      You will have to tell me what happened on Blue Bloods tonight. We missed it. Ron was watching something cannot remember what. I was recording it but he stopped it from recording . I think that it was interfering in his games that he watched.
      My mom is worried about all of us. She said that by the time we get her age they will not treat us at all. Do you remember that movie that they had on years and years ago about the young people taking over the world. They locked up all the older people so they could run the country. I cannot remember who played in it but this reminds me of that movie. It is scary to think that it could actually happen.
      Ron turned our air off but I may turn it back on. It is really hot in here. I hope that we get the rain that we are supposed to get tomorrow. It is so dry here. I am tired of the hot and humid weather.
      Amanda is a smart girl. She will be careful and not let anyone get near her. If they have a policeman patrolling all the time she should be okay. I imagine that they have more then one around now. Will say a prayer for her and that she will be safe. I know that you worry about her. I would be the same way. You have a lot to do on Sunday and that should help keep it off your mind until she gets home. Hope that she calls you when she gets home so you know that she is okay.
      Your pot pie sounds really good. Hope that everyone likes it. You always make such good food and sweets. Most of the tomatoes that he picked are really little. Probable will not be enough to make more gravy. They look more like cherry tomatoes.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      This pot pie was a store bought one….LOL Real simple, and quick. In the winter/Fall I always have one in the freezer for those nights you just do not feel like it. It is just enough for me, Tillie and Gary. I add a can of peas to it, for more veggies, and do those Grands Biscuits. They all love it. Cannot argue with that one.
      I owuld feel better if they found that person of interest – the woman the monster was hanging around with. Gary thinks it may be just be a “lady of the night”, but, frankly don’t they get licensed down there? So, if it were, they would know who it was- that is what I told Gary.
      Amanda is smart. But, she is very trusting. That scares me in these situations. Thank you for the prayers for tomorrow.
      I recorded Blue Bloods too, as I watched the 20/20 special on the Las Vegas tragedy. I will tell you what happened.
      I do vaguely remember that movie about the young ones taking over. Not good to watch now…LOL
      I also hope there is no incident in Chicago this weekend- I hope there is none, anywhere.
      It is very muggy up here, and supposed to rain tomorrow. today is very sunny, so that is always nice.
      Hope your day is going well, and Ron is happy.
      Adele

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      It is cloudy and threatening rain here today from that storm coming in below us. I turned off the AC early this morning; because it got down to 50 something last night, but I fear it will become all humid again today, and back on. Jerry cannot take the heat, and I can’t sleep if I am too warm. My darn feet will be so cold they are blue but the rest of me will be too hot. I think I am just messed up in general. LOL But I am so glad that you all are doing good health wise. I do pray for Nancy and for Steve; as I know you all are worried and them too. It seems to me when we are going through an illness crisis that everything else in life just seems to be surreal and even though things continue to go on their normal pace; nothing seems normal. It is worry and thinking of all the “what if’s” that consume me in times like that. Jerry is so positive; and I admire him so much for being that way. He was so much help to me in my times of “need” that I guess when I really think about it that he could pretty much do anything (not that I plan to tell him this) and I would forgive him. When someone stands by you in your darkest hour you just can’t forget it. Sorry for preaching on about something I know you all already understand.
      Adele, try not to worry too much about your “Panda” and the crowd. I bet they have added so much more security since this latest horrific tragedy that she will be even safer than before. And she is smart and will be on her toes and will be careful. I know how we never quit worrying, but I also know that we all have raised some VERY intelligent children and grandchildren. Gail, our son in Nevada works as a civilian contractor for the government now at the big base there that trains all the top gun pilots. We were hoping when he retired from the military that they would move closer to us, but he was fortunate in that several jobs were trying to get him to go with them, and he chose this one since he would continue doing what he loves. He is a trainer of some kind; too technical for my little mind. ha ha His wife has been very busy. They are so happy together.
      No, my baking has not been as often these days with all this humidity. I did do some blueberry muffins a few days ago; and Joey took most of them home with him. I really miss the Fall smell of baking, but it is just too hot for it. With all the rain that is supposed to be coming our way; I will probably bake some apples or do a pumpkin pie if it turns cooler. I cannot believe we are such a short time away from Christmas. Next Saturday will be Neal and Sarahs third wedding anniversary. Time has flown by.
      I agree with you Colleen that it looks like more could be done with the elderly in the medical field. I do know that it is one of the rising areas that doctors are beginning to practice in. There will only, God willing, be more and more of us as days go by. Hope she and Tillie are doing good. Maw Maw is doing pretty good. She was upset with one of the ladies out there when Jerry and I went to pick her up; and was so mad at everyone that they said mabey that day was not a good day for us to take a little outing. So we stayed and had dinner with her and she just stayed mad the whole visit. She has those days sometimes and it really upsets Jerry.
      Take care everyone. I do hope you all have a good rest of your weekend. I think like you, Gail, why not something pretty I can look at and enjoy for years than to pay for a boat to sit at a dock? but Jerry just refuses to let me try to sell a perfectly brand new used once, duck boat that sits in our shop. Go figure? LOL Barbara

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      Our moms can get really stubborn sometimes. They do not want people to do things that they do not like and they get mad if they do. It is a shame that you did not get to take Jerry’s mom out but she probably would not have had fun and made it worse on Jerry. That is hard on Jerry wish that he could understand that it is nothing to worry about. The next time that you go she will be happy again and you will have a really good visit.
      We finally got some rain here. It was enough to get the grass wet and the deck. The chairs were all wet so this evening when we went outside to sit we couldn’t. Will have to sit outside tomorrow. It is always nice to sit outside in the evenings and just relax.
      We all like to talk about our husbands when they do something that makes us feel good. That would make me feel good also and make me feel glad that I was married to that person. Men can really surprise sometimes. Just brag on Jerry all you want. I agree never let him know that you will forgive him for anything. You will have more truck beds in your back yard. Maybe even a train car.
      Baking here has stopped for a little while here also. It has been really hot and humid for the last few days. After we had that little bit of rain today it did cool down again. I am hoping that it stays that way from now on but you know how the weather is. I need to bake more zucchini bread.
      It is hard to believe that Neal and Sarah have been married for three years. It seems not that long ago you were talking about going to the wedding. Time sure does fly. Hope that they have a good anniversary.,
      Well that is about all from here. Have a good night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      The store bought pot pies are always the best kind. We get the chicken all the time. In the winter I eat a lot of them poor Ron gets sick of them so have to fix him something else. I have to find some good tv dinners.
      I thought that they had found that woman. I guess that I heard wrong. If she was a lady of the night wonder how involved in all of this she was. It seems like all she want is to do her thing and get her money. I do not know though. I thought that I read that there was a man that helped him to set all of that up. Do not know if that is true either. I do not think that they have figured all of this out yet or not. All of this gets so aggravating. It is a shame that these monsters cannot just all get together and shoot each other. They could leave the rest of us alone.
      I think that Barbara is right that security will be really tight down there since this last shooting. It seems like whenever they have a shooting like that they really get careful. It would be nice if they would escort Amanda to her car after she gets off work. Then everyone would be safe.
      It rained a little here and cooled the weather down a little. It was really nice here. Hope that it is like this for the rest of the fall. The last time I said that it got really hot again.
      How is Tillie doing? Hope that she is feeling a lot better. You are lucky to have her living with you. Wish that my mom would move in with someone in the family. She has at least three of us she could stay with. We would all love to have her at our homes. She could even move around and stay with different ones for a month and then move to the other. It would be her choice. She will never do that though.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Barbara
      I feel the same way about the Fall baking. We are losing so much valuable time, and those great smells. But, it is way too hot to do it. Gross. I am DYING to do the things we love this time of year- apple crisp, pumpkin muffins, date nut bread, etc.I went over the Thanksgiving recipes I have, and I just hate to pick form all the ones I like. You just cannot do 4 casserole style veggies on one oven, and it is way too much to serve. As is, we have mashed, cheesy, and sweet potatoes, and at least 3 other veggies that are standard- corn, butternut squash, and broccoli/cauliflower bake. I have the double oven stove, but I can only put 2 9×13’s in the top over at a time. The cheesy and broccoli ones i fit in the top oven, and Heather does the sweet ones. I have so many other interesting ones I would love to do- got some from The Chew. Thanksgiving should be done as a 2 day meal…..LOL LOL

      I hope we all get good news form our friends who are dealing with illness, or possible illness. I hope DD is ok, as I do no remember a post in a day or so. Maybe I missed one.

      I am sorry Jerry’s Mom was all out of sorts the other day, and hope she mended the rift between herself and the other lady there. Poor Jerry must have left worried.

      Well, the Panda is at work, an didn’t she tell someone she would cover their late afternoon sift? I think she is trying to make me crazy. She may get out at 7 tonight, and she promised to call me when she is out, and then again when she is home. They do have more police and SWAT there- on the roof tops, and in plain clothes. The game is about to start. I really hate that we have to be so on edge for things as simple as a ballgame.

      So, Bobby and I am joining forces on dinner. I mix, he cooks. we are having crepes, with spinach (Italian style) inside the crepes. Of course, Gary will have his with maple syrup. I love to have crepes with spinach inside, or a little bit of jelly or jam. Wrap them, and then slice and eat. I do not like maple syrup on my crepes.
      In case you are wondering- this is Italian Spinach:
      Get 2 bags of baby spinach
      Saute chopped garlic in olive oil for couple of minutes, add the spinach, a little salt, and some red pepper flakes. Saute until done- only takes a few minutes. Quite yummy.

      OMG- QVC went off the air- all colored lines are on the TV. I was watching ITKWD.
      I do not believe it has been 2 years since you traveled for their wedding. Wow. time really flies.

      I am going to call Tillie’s doctor for a home PT again. She fell- or, as she says it, dropped. she was walking to another room, and her legs gave way. She has no bruises, or pain anywhere. She was able to get herself back up. I freaked, and called all the kids and grands. Again told her she is supposed to have her cordless phone in her walker basket. She then says she should not have told me. i would not let her go back downstairs, without Bobby in front of her last night. Coming up is one thing, but going down i am now scared. She is annoyed with me. told her again, she needs to wear her leg braces and sneakers- she hates them. She wears her Isotoner slippers all the time, and the dropped foot, is worst because of it. I could scream.

      I also looked into those chair lifts- not cheap- about 10,000, as we have a landing, so ti has to go around the corner, and then add we need one for “ample” residents….LOL i left a message for one of them to call tomorrow, after researching the different ones on line, and the ratings and stars. god help us all.

      Well, tat is it form humid Massachusetts, with very little Fall colors on the trees….LOL
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen
      Read my post to Barbara for all the updated info on Tillie and all. Even with Tillie downstairs, she still manages to get into trouble.
      I forgot to say that Amanda said she parked as close to the restaurant as she could today, so that is good. She was in there so early, she is near the corner of the street.
      I am amazed at the different reporting of the Vegas incident in different parts of the country. This is what they are saying up here. They did talk to his girlfriend, and have not totally ruled her out of all responsibility. He did see ladies of the night in his room, and did some heavy gambling days before. They are looking for one woman, who they say is a person of interest- they did not find her yet. They are also saying he had some mental health issues, and nobody noticed, because he was a loner. There still may be someone who helped him, as they feel nobody could have done all of that alone.
      We always have a pot pie int he freezer all year long, accept in the summer. I do make a homemade chicken and dumplings, but that is a lot of work,as you have to cook the chicken ahead of time. It is very yummy, and they do love it. I do it when ti is a lot colder. Do you a can of peas to your store bought pot pie? We do, as there is so little veggie sin them. We have this place near us that makes pot pies, and boy, are they good. Lots of veggies, and chunks of white meat in them- they are 22.00 a pie….LOL We do no get those much, as someone has to go fetch them, plus they are pricey too.
      It is very gloomy here, and humid. Rain on the way- lots of it, later tomorrow. Makes everyone so sore.
      Hope your day is good!
      Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      It is scary when our mom’s fall. You may have to put a nanny cam up in Tillie’s living area. Just to make sure that she tells you when she falls. They will probably send pt there right away to help her. It is hard with her living downstairs. I did not realize that those chair lifts were that expensive. It seems like they could come up with a price that would be for older people. There are all types of people that cannot walk the stairs and they are not all our mom’s age. I hope that you find one that is not as expensive.
      That was great that Amanda found a parking space close to the building. With all the security that they have she should be able to get to her car okay. I hope that someone from inside the restaurant would walk the women to their cars. They need to be careful with their employees. It will just be a relief when Amanda gets home and calls you to let you know that she is safe and sound in the house.
      Your spinach crepe sounds really good. How nice that Bobby was helping you do the cooking. Poor Gary he just does not like anything. Is Jewish food really bland? I wondered if he was use to eating plain food and not a lot of spices. I have not eat any Jewish food so do not know what the taste is like. Unless I have had it and did not know that was what I was eating.
      We have bought pot pies at Costco before and they are really good. I like the Marie Collanders pot pies and they are really good. They have a lot of meat and veggies in it so that is how we started buying them.
      It was nice here today but now it seems a little hot. We turned the air off so it would not be running all the time. I feel like we may have to turn it back on again. We will see.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a good night.
      Colleen

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Sorry I’ve been so long getting back to you. I hope everyone is okay. I heard the latest storm is heading thru your areas of the country. Hopefully you’ll get mostly rain & little or no damage. From what I gather it sounds like a typical Oregon storm in Nov. or Dec. Not a hurricane just lots of wind & rain.
      Today is fashion day & 6 easy pay on everything, & QF is too.
      Sorry to hear you’re having more hot weather. It does spoil it for baking. I made an apple cobbler today. I used a mixture of different apples, & used crescent roll dough for the top. Yummy.
      Did you watch ITKWD today? I broke down & I got the Temptations Christmas square tray, in the fireplace pattern. I wanted all 3 of them but couldn’t. I imagine you guys would get the baker pattern. It’ll go with the set of bowls of Christmas fetti pattern I have.
      My TV did the same thing today. I was just coming in when it went black. I thought I did it somehow.. lol.
      Our leaves are starting to turn on the tree tops, but that’s all. It’s just getting down to the low 40s now. It has to get colder before they really start turning.

      As for the trip out to the Gorge, it was eye opening. there were burned areas, but also areas of green trees, I think the worst is outta sight from the highway. Down in the canyons. I did spot a some smoke coming up from the canyon. It wasn’t a lot, just like you’d see from a campfire. I took a lot of pics. I expected to see hills of burned trees & nothing else, but that wasn’t the case. I hear nature is already replenishing itself. New growth is already popping up. The fire won’t be totally out till the heavier rains come in. Then we have mudslides, rock slides to worry about. It won’t affect me, as it’s more than 20 miles from here. But it would affect a lot of others, esp the highway.

      Adele, take a deeeeeep breath, exhale, take more deeeeeeeeeeep breaths, & calm down, girl. Your Panda will be just fine. We CANNOT let these evil morons run our lives. All that does is let them win. We can’t allow that!!! I watched the 20/20 special too. I also watched Anderson Cooper special tribute Friday night on CNN. It was on an hour, commercial free. He showed each victim, & talked about each one’s life. It was very sad & touching at the same time.
      I have an appointment for an ultrasound later this week & more PT for my shoulder, left one this time. and of course it’s gonna rain those days. lol
      Have a great week girls, & enjoy the fashion day.
      dd

      Attachments:
    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      I’m gonna try again sending pics.
      dd

      Attachments:
    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Everyone,
      DD-I like the poster with the lady saying the dust and cobwebs are part of the Halloween decorations. I think I’ll subscribe to that idea too. lol I saw those Christmas trays and they were very cute. I liked the one with the tree and sleigh best. I probably would have gotten one except about a month ago I bought a Christmas tray from Polish Stoneware. Since I am Polish I collect some of those pieces and they are quite beautiful and very well made and durable. They are like temptations in that you can bake and refrigerate and freeze in them-although i never use them in the freezer as they are too pretty to hide away like that.
      Barbara, I can’t believe it is Neal and Sarah’s third anniversary already. It seems like last year when you were down on the beach in Florida for their wedding.
      I’m glad Buddy found a job doing something that he loves after retirement from the service. I guess they were already used to the hot dry weather after being in NM all those years.
      Tell Jerry not to take it so hard-his Mom will have good and bad days and none of that is under his control or his fault. It’s just all part of the aging process, I think.
      I think Jerry probably feels that someday either he or one of the kids will have use for that duckboat. We still have the previous fishing boat that we sold to friends but then they changed their minds and it has been sitting next to the barn for the last three years now. I’m about ready to give it away. However, there is also the Bobcat that Greg decided to finally get rid of so it’s a step in the right direction. There’s a guy that has done some work out here who is a landscaper and he expressed an interest in it so yesterday he came and took it in exchange for laying some pavers out by the pond. So at least one piece of “yard art” is gone.
      Adele, I hope Amanda was home safe and sound last night and that she made lots of tips.
      I don’t know where I heard that about the green potatoes-all I can say is Greg performed well at the grocery store and came home with a new bag that wasn’t green after i explicitly stated it on the list. lol
      I hope Tillie is okay. Sometimes the bruises from a fall don’t show up until the next day. I am so surprised she was able to get up by herself. That is how we discovered that Greg’s Mom could no longer be left alone. We went to a concert and when we got home she had fallen and somehow gotten herself up but she had hit her head and cracked some ribs. We always left the phone with our cell numbers right next to her but she actually couldn’t figure out how to use the phone and dial the numbers so at that point we realized that she couldn’t be left alone anymore if we wanted to go out. Does Tilly ordinarily use the phone-if she doesn’t you might want to check and make sure she still remembers how to use it-I know it seems so basic but it was something we never even thought about. Just a suggestion from my own experience.
      I had to chuckle when we are referring to the ladies of the night-what are we in Victorian England? And speaking of that recent tragedy instead of plastering his face all over the internet, papers and magazines i wish every time someone writes an article about him they would put a picture of one of his victims instead. I am tired of looking at his disgusting face. I am with Colleen on this one I think all these crazy shooters should just shoot each other.
      So far the discussion about the boat has gone well. After the guy at the marina called the other morning i just mentioned casually in passing that he must like us as we give him the money and don’t bother him all summer and Greg said he knows that’s stupid and he won’t be doing that again but doesn’t know what he will do next year. So the conversation is opened at least. It’s a shame and I really feel bad. When Brent lived here they probably went fishing every other weekend so it was worth keeping it at a marina. Plus i think Greg envisioned that Jenny and Adam and the kids would use it for tubing or something but so far there hasn’t been a lot of interest from them. So we’ll see.
      Colleen, It’s good to know that Owen and Kevin get along. That makes things easier. Kevin sounds like a good guy.
      The Cubs are in the first round of playoffs against the Nationals-right now it’s tied 1 game to 1 game-the third game is today. Plus the Bears who have pretty much sucked so far are going to let their rookie quarterback start tonight and so many of the fans have high hopes for him.
      We have eaten those Costco pot pies too and they are good. Next time we buy one of those i will cut it in half and freeze half for another dinner as they are so big. I also recommend their stuffed peppers and their chicken enchiladas-they are so chock full of chicken. I am really into the convenience of buying these ready made dinners if they are good.
      Last night I made a pot roast and as it was roasting in the oven the whole house smelled so good.
      Thank you so much for your prayers everyone. Steve is out of the coma and has no brain damage or isn’t paralyzed. He has some broken ribs and a punctured lung and facial lacerations but is doing much better. Prayers work!
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      The Panda stayed in Boston at her girlfriend’s apartment last night. She said there were police everywhere. She is not working today, but, is tomorrow. the girls were going out to brunch when I spoke with them this morning- Amanda and her friends.
      It is so humid up here, all my windows were all fogged up this morning, and we have the ones with the gas in between the panes for insulation. The humidity was 99% and the dew point was higher than the temperature of 70. This is so gross. It is supposed to pour like crazy this afternoon, and Gary is hoping the Red Sox game will be done before the rain starts.
      I am doing a meatloaf tonight, with the potatoes in the pan with it, so they get nice and tasty. also doing a roasted spaghetti squash. I am really goign to heat up the kitchen….LOL We love corn bread, and I have not made one in a whirl, as it has been too hot to do extra baking.
      Everything is closed today, so I have no more news on the stair lifts, or PT for Bad Little Tillie.
      I watched Blue Bloods. Frank and the Mayor got into it avian on his marching in a parade for a guy who was out of jail who had previously assaulted police. All Frank’s staff were very upset. Danny and his partner worked on an old case- the neighbor had a young girl who disappeared 14 years ago, and some prostitute posed as her, and said she was her daughter. The prostitute was hired by the woman’s son, and it ended up he killed his sister and hid her body all those years ago. Jamie and his partner saved an immigrant who was being used by a politician to further his career, and he was treating her badly- did not pay her, or help bring her kids to the US, as he had promised. I think that is about all the plots I can remember.
      I hope it is cooler for you. We need some Fall weather.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD!
      You are so right, my dear. We cannot let them make us nuts. Amanda told me there were police everywhere. there is another game today, and it will be the same. She is not working today, she is on tomorrow. I ate chocolate yesterday….LOL
      I hope you can load some pics on the gorge you went to see. Wow- i did not realize there were still some fires going. I hope you get some good rain to stop it all.
      I missed some of the Temptations- I will have to look on line. The show was off and on, so I think I missed a lot. I have the tray from last year- I got the one with the fireplace.
      The crepes from yesterday came out good, and so did the spinach. I made 2 big bags, and it cooked down to about 2 cups of spinach. I have a little spinach left over for tonight’s dinner, so that is good as Tillie and I love it.
      The pics of your pretty decorations are on the site- very pretty! you know how much I love pumpkins.
      I hope you are having a nice Columbus Day.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail!
      that is great news about Steve. he was incredibly lucky. I love good news. It gives us all reminders that prayer works.
      Tillie has a land line, so using the phone is easy for her. She could never do a cell phone. She has those set of 3 cordless ones, so one is in each room. Still, i gnat her to carry one in her walker, just in case. So, today she must have listened to me about carrying the phone, became her line is busy. I ahve to remind her not to hit the on button when she takes it off the hanger. God help us all!
      Read my posts to the girls for the other current news- gross humidity, etc.
      I totally agree. The sight of his face makes me sick. I did not see the show DD saw with Anderson Cooper. I wish i had recorded it. Did you see 20/20 last night? I had no idea the police officers who breached the room were just regular old police officers,and not SWAT. I have always said you have to cut the them some slack, as every time someone moves, or gets something out of their pocket, they could get killed. They never know, and the one time they do not react, they could get killed. It is a very difficult job in this violent world, and there are no good solutions to any police stop. On the other hand, it is also an awful tragedy when someone is killed and has no weapon. I have no solution, just grateful they are there to protect us, at our most dangerous, and vulnerable moments. I will say this, though. there is no reason for automatic weapons in the hands of any citizen, nor a need for hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The legislature has to take a stand n this, and we all need to call to say our peace. this cannot be allowed to continue. It just can’t.
      Sorry for the rant.
      I am glad Greg is also looking at the boat issue. I wonder why Jenny and the kids are not interested in the boat. Have you ever asked her why? It can be scary with kid son a boat- maybe that is why they do not use it.
      I have to check the Q website to see what I missed….
      Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      I clicked on your pictures and they all were right side up. You did a really good job decorating I really think that it was pretty. You can come to my house and decorate anytime that you want.
      That was nice that the woods were not burnt as bad as you thought that it would be. Maybe down in the gorge is not as bad either. That was a really bad fire though. They were lucky that there is any green patches at all. I guess that God is showing us that he will take care of us if we believe. That is a shame that the fire is not all out.
      I agree with you DD. We cannot let the crazys win. We have to keep on going and not let anyone stop us. We are all going to have to be more aware of our surroundings and just be careful.
      Which channel are you watching all of the shows on. I thought.It was all fashion today. I did not watch much of anything today so do not know what is on. Will have to get on the site and see what they have on there. I have a bottom cabinet full of platters and bowls that are Christmas. We had a store here called Mikasa and they sold all kinds of that. My mom bought a lot and gave me some of hers also. So do not need to buy any Christmas platters. The one thing that I need is Thanksgiving platters. I have one that we put the meat on all the time.
      I hope that things go well for you at pt and when you have the ultra sound.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      I am so glad to hear that Steve is doing okay. That had to be scary for his whole family. Glad that he came out of the coma and is going to be okay. I know that is always a worry.
      We finally got my mom to get one of those things that all she has to do is push a button and someone comes. If you want you can have it set up where they will call you first and let you know before they come. That is a good way to do things if they are living at home. That must have been hard on you and Greg when you mil lost her ability to use the phone.
      I cannot remember who called them Ladies of the evening. If I am around my mom for very long I talk like that. She is very careful about what she says and what words that she will use. So then I am like that for awhile after I get home. The kids say they can always tell when I have been around my mom.
      It seems like whenever something like that happens they do put the pictures of the people at fault all over the place. They should not talk about it that much. Just talk about the people that were hurt and how they are doing and leave like that. Do not release all this information until they have all the answers that they are going to get. All the different stations give out different info. It all just drives me crazy. What happened to the days when they use to have something on the news every night that was good news.
      That is a shame that Jenny and her family do not use the boat. It would be nice if they did. Maybe they think the kids are too young to go out on the boat right now. I agree with Adele.
      Well I hope that the Cubs do good again this year. I have not paid attention to which team was doing what this year. I kind of hope that Cleveland wins this year because they have not won in a long time. I think that it was almost as long for them as it was for the Cubs.
      We are going to have to try the enchiladas and the stuffed peppers. We really like them though. Next time we go will have to look and see if they have them and get them to have in the freezer. We cannot eat the whole pot pie either. If we go by Danyielle’s on the way home we usually split it with her. That we neither one will have to fix a big meal that night.
      Well that is about all from here.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      That is nice that Panda stayed the night at a friends. They all probably had a good day going out to brunch. I thought that there would be a lot of police around. They usually do that after a shooting. At least she is safe and has a day off today.
      It is supposed to rain here tomorrow. I hope that they are right. We really need the rain. It has not been real humid here today but may be tomorrow. Are you close to where some of the hurricane is going to hit? They were talking about how it is going up the east coast. I know that you do not have to live close to the ocean to get the storms and all the rain.
      I tried that meat loaf with the potatoes cooked with the meat. It is really good cooked that way. We may have to have that again soon. Your squash dish sounds really good also. I found a recipe for red beans and rice and think that I may fix that tomorrow. Will have to go to the store to pick up the things I need. I renewed my subscription to Southern Living so they sent me this mini cook book. I am going to try a couple of recipes from that book. I had no idea that they were going to send that cook book.
      Blue Bloods sounds really good. I am going to have to remember to watch it this week. Are they showing the kids that much this year? I wondered what will happen with them since the mom is gone. Maybe they will all move in with their dad and grandpa. So Danny will not have to worry about his boys. It should be interesting to see what happens.
      I wrote to Gail about your mom again. You can get those medical alerts and if you talk to the right one they will call you first before they send help. It just depends on how you set it up. We do not have that with my mom because she lives alone. She has hit the button by mistake and they talked to her to see what the problem was and she told them she hit it by mistake. They are really understanding about that. Which makes it nice.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      I’m glad that Steve is doing better too. I’ve known him since he was a little boy-he was always a bit of a rascal. lol His wife is a coach with Jenny on the tball team.
      I see the Q has Christmas on again today and it’s not even the 25th. I guess it will be pretty much Christmas now until Dec. 25th. However, they have had trees up since the first of Oct. and that really is a bit over the top. I wish they still had more Halloween and harvest shows like they had in years past. Plus I hate that the day after Christmas the trees are gone already. Geesh-it’s still the holidays at least until Jan. 1st. and for me even longer until the Epiphany.
      I don’t think one of those buttons would have worked for my MIL she had dementia and I am not sure if she would have remembered to use it. But that might be a good solution for Tillie. Your mother does amazingly well being able to live on her own. However, I know that you worry about that situation too as when people are older they could fall and hurt themselves. It’s hard to know what to do when they don’t want to come and live with you.
      We’ll see what happens with baseball. So far the Cubs are leading the Nationals 2-1 but it’s only a five game series so anything could happen. I think they play again today at Wrigley so it would be nice if they could win there in order to move on.
      I think the Red Sox-Adele’s team-is already out of it. Anything can happen in the wild and wooly post season. I think Cleveland has the best record in their league though.
      My mother used to make red beans and rice when they lived in Louisiana-I’m not sure if I ever had it though. I know there are lots of recipes for it going from easy to very hard.
      We are having some of those Costco stuffed peppers for dinner tonight.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      I’m glad Amanda stayed with her friends. That was a good idea.
      I can’t believe that even the chair lift place was closed for Columbus day. Around here everything is open but government offices and school. Poor Tillie-I can sympathize with not wanting to wear the brace. None of those things are comfortable and I can understand that if you are just around the house you kind of feel like “why bother.” Even if you know you should. I know you will figure something out to keep her safe-although I know from having my MIL that a fall happens in a split second and there’s often nothing that could have been done to prevent it-no matter how careful you have been. Tillie sounds more independent than my MIL-after about the first year she was here I had to help her shower and help her dress as she could’t do those things without a possibility of falling. It’s hard on both the parent and the child-it’s kind of a role reversal.
      Jenny has wanted to go out in the boat but we just never got around to it and the kids weren’t that enthusiastic although I think they would have liked it once they got out there. The kids would have to wear life jackets in the boat anyway and Greg is a safe driver so they would have been safe.
      I agree about the automatic weapons. When the constitution was written they didn’t even exist so I would say that the right to bear them shouldn’t be considered as a given. Sometimes I think we haven’t progressed past the days of the wild west-and that isn’t the world that we live in anymore. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be anyway to keep guns out of the hands of the crazies the way the laws are set up now.
      How did the meatloaf turn out-what do you do-put potato quarters right in the bottom of the loaf pan and cook them in the drippings from the meatloaf-It isn’t too greasy that way? I have a loaf pan with an inset that the grease drips through so if I wanted to do that I would have to take the inset out. I may try that sometime.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Good Morning everyone,
      I just received a message from Barbara asking for prayers for Neal and his family. They are right in the line of those California fires. She said that Neal’s air tower is closed and on top of that Sarah and the baby are sick. So we will be praying for another member of our extended Quacker family. Hopefully our prayers will keep them safe. God bless them.
      Gail

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      I really miss the Halloween shows and the fall shows on qvc. They are just in too big a hurry to push Christmas. I agree with them taking everything down too soon. We keep our tree and decorations up until The 6th of January also. I can remember my mom and grandma always did. It seems like when you say that it is little Christmas no one knows what we are talking about. They probably would not know what the Epiphany is either. Oh well we can just keep the tradition and maybe our kids will do the same.
      We have been really lucky with our mom. She can still get around and do a lot of things. She just does not drive anymore. They will not let her because of have trouble with the cataracts. She could have got her license back if she would have gone again after the surgery but she did not want to. I think it really bothered her when they told her that she could not drive anymore. At least we did not have to take her car away from her like we did my dad. She has a mustang and it is sitting in the garage. She needs to get the antique car license for it but hasn’t yet. I guess it does not matter she can’t drive anyway.
      That button thing probably would not have worked for your mil. That is sad when they get where they cannot remember to do things for themselves. It was so good that you were there to take her in and care for her. That is hard to do.
      It will be interesting to see who wins the series this year. They have some good teams this year playing. I do not think that the Cardinals will be playing for a long time.
      Thanks for the info on Barbara’s kids. We will be praying for them.
      I have to tell you about this dumb cardinal that we had at our house the other day. We were sitting watching tv when we heard a loud bang and when we went to look this dumb bird flew right into our front door. Ron said he is not sure if the bird was dead or if it got up and flew off later. We just moved it so the dogs would not bother it. It was loud when it hit the door. Crazy bird. When I saw that it was a cardinal I thought of you and your cardinal that has been running into your windows for a couple of years now. Is he still around?
      well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen
      Well, our Red Six lost. today they fired the coach and Gary and Nancy are thrilled, because they did not like him. I liked the old coach.
      We did get the remnants of the hurricane- it was so humid the windows were all fogged up. We had sun yesterday,and it is gloomy here again today. But, the windows are open,a s the humidity is gone and the temp will only be in the 60’s. I have my beef crock pot dinner going, and I am making cookies later- snicker doodles- got the recipe from King Arthur site- love that site for recipes!
      Tillie is better, but I called the doctor for the PT at home. they may not be able to authorize it, until they see her next month- they will let me know. She is not going to be happy about it…LOL
      Things do not look good for Nancy’s nephew- they found cancer on the spine and now in the liver too. they are putting Hospice in. this came on so fast, as he just had the brain tumor removed. they are devastated.
      The spaghetti squash is real simple. you cut off the ends, cut it in half, and get the seeds out- place it cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Scoop it out, slat and pepper, and either some butter or olive oil. Simple, and very yummy.
      I hope you are having a good day, and your weather is ok.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gailster
      You are definitely not eliminating the fat form a meal, when you cook the potatoes in with the meatloaf. Surprisingly, there is still a lot of the grease/juices left in the pan. You could put the potatoes on a paper towel to get any excess off. It is also the ketchup ( I put a good layer on it) on the top of the meatloaf and the sides that give them more flavor too. I cut them s the potatoes are about 1 1/2 inches long, as I love them getting crispy on the edges.
      Our red Sox lost so they are out. they also fired the manager this am- that was all over the TV, and I missed most of the View because of it.
      Tillie is more independent, but she gets tired doing simple things. Like last night- she took a shower int he afternoon, and was too tired to come up the stairs, so we sent dinner down in a lock n lock. I hate when we do that, as it feels like she is no part of the family. Gary keeps telling me we are getting to that point, sooner or later, and i need to deal with my feelings on it. I do no think it would be good for her emotionally, and it will isolate her more.
      The stair lift company has yet to call. I guess they do not need the business….LOL I may call again. On the other hand, if people do not respond to a sales call, will they if you have a problem with the product??
      I hate all these disabled/elderly changes in our lives.
      Of course Greg would be a fabulous boater with his most precious cargo in tow….LOL Sometimes things you want to do all summer long, just do no work out. Like me going to the Farm for a cider donut, and fresh goodies.
      Hope your day is going well, and your weather is good.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Barbara, and everyone….
      Prayers sent to Neal and the family. I will be praying their home is spared form the fires. I hope California gets some well needed rain,and a lot of it.
      this is awful.
      I wonder how DD is doing, and if they are in any more danger too.
      Prayers sent!!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen and Gail
      So, did the cardinal move to Colleen’s house?
      Colleen, you never said if the bird ever got up and flew away???? I hope he did, or he was so tired form the flight from Gail’s that he finally left this earth.
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      I’m so far behind I’ll never get caught up, lol. No, I’m in no danger from the fires in CA. Or the one in the Gorge. It should be almost out, but I haven’t heard. There’s no more smoke in the air. We’re having some rain this week & snow in the mts, ski resorts, 4,000 ft & higher. that should help a lot with the fire, what’s left anyway.
      The Ca. fires make the Gorge fire look like a camp fire. I haven’t heard how they got started in the first place. It wasn’t lightning for sure. I was thinking of Neal & his family when I heard it was in the Napa Valley. My sister & nephew are in San Jose area, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with them. It’s really terrible. Soooo scary!!!
      I was wondering what happened to the fall & Halloween shows on the Q. I was thinking just yesterday, what happened to the Halloween decorations, the blow up balloon like decorations, the spider, etc they’ve had on before. Did I miss them? The only one that had anything Halloween was QF. I don’t remember seeing the leaf blowers, the brooms that you can use to sweep away the dirt, etc off the sidewalk. Anything fall at all.
      Know how dumb I am? I didn’t realize Monday was Columbus day holiday. To me Columbus day is Oct. 12th, not the 9th. I’ll always remember Columbus day for the bad wind storm we had that day in 1962. I wasn’t here in Portland back then, I was living further south of here. There was a lot of damage from it all over the state.
      I got a chuckle out of the cardinal showing up at Colleen’s house. lol.
      Tara has a set of mugs with two of the Christmas designs that were on the platters.
      Well, I guess that’s all from here.
      Take care & will be praying those fires will be put out soon!!!
      dd

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      I love the great pumpkin sweatshirt.
      So glad you are ok, one less person to worry about tonight.
      I will look at those mugs, before I close the laptop for the night.

      I have bad news, and need prayers. My friend Maxine, recently broke her pelvis. She was finally home, recovering, and having services in home. We email each other at east 3 times a day. I did not hear from her last evening, nor today. So, after I tried to email her again, I called her cell. I figured her internet was out. Her daughter answered, and said things are not good. She is in the ICU in Boston. She had a brain bleed after her son left for work, and was not found until he returned from work- 9 hours later. They are saying her vitals are good, but the news on the brain scans are not good. I am sick to my stomach. I have been praying so hard, as I do believe in miracles.
      Please say a prayer for my friend Maxine.
      I hope I will have better news tomorrow.

      I also hope we hear good news on Barbara’s son and family. Miracles do happen.

      Love, Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Adele,
      Got your post & will be sending up prayers for your friend. We just had a shower here & what should I see as I read your post was a full rainbow in the sky. I tried to get pics of it but couldn’t get it all in one shot. And guess who is on my chest(shelf) right now. She sends her love as well.
      dd & Jewell,

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      HI Adele,
      I’m gonna try to send my pics of the rainbow.
      dd

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Adele,
      They came out all UPSIDE DOWN so I deleted them, so sorry.
      dd

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      another try

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      I am sorry that your Red Sox lost. We were hoping that Cleveland would win but I think that the Yankees beat them. I am rooting for the teams that have not won the world series in a long time. It looks like Cleveland is out so now do not know who to root for.
      We make snicker doodles here a lot. My mom use to make them for us when we were kids. So have the recipe that has been passed down thru the family. If we are talking about the same kind. They are made with cinnamon. All of the kids like them. Have you ever made a cake where you put a candy bar in the middle of the dough and then let it bake? I saw them do that on tv and wondered if anyone else had tried it. It looked interesting to me.
      I am sorry that they cannot do PT for Tillie until she comes in to see the doctor. You would think with what has been going on with her and the leg brace that they would be happy to send someone out to evaluate her and then start pt. The new rules drive me crazy.
      I am sorry to hear about Nancy’s nephew. Once cancer starts it is hard to stop it. It is really sad that it has to happen to younger people. Is it Nancy’s son that had cancer also? I think that I am getting people mixed up now. I believe in Miracles also. We see them happen all the time. I will be praying for Nancy’s nephew and for the family. It is so sad.
      I will have to try spaghetti squash. Have you ever had squash soup? I got the recipe off the chew and it is really good. I am thinking about making that again and having it Friday when the kids are here. Danyielle will eat it so I will not have to eat it all alone.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Adele, I will also pray for Maxine. I do not know if the bird got up and flew away or not. Will have to ask Ron. We had to move it so the dogs would not get it.

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      My oldest sister use to live in San Jose. My nephew just moved from there and went to Washington state. That is funny I have never heard of anyone having family that live or lived in San Jose. My sister moved a long time ago though. When her and her husband got a divorce. She moved back to Missouri.
      I am glad that the fires in Cal. will not effect you where you live. Fires are so scary. I hope that everyone will be safe and get out of their homes before the fire reaches them. That would be a hard decision to figure out what to take with you that you wanted to save from the fire. Especially when you have to think that quickly. I cannot imagine losing everything.
      It is just sad that they do not do those Halloween shows anymore. They use to have such cute things. I remember the guy that use to come on with the scary masks. That was so much fun to watch. They are not selling anything for the fall this year. Maybe if we all write in and ask that they bring it back they will.
      It is hard to remember when they move all of the holidays. They moved most of them where they will be on a Monday and people that get the day off will have three days. It never bothered we never got off work for any of the those days.
      I like the pictures that you posted. The one with the big house was really pretty. Can you imagine having to clean a house that big. You would have to have maid or some type of help to keep that clean. I guess if I was younger it would not be that bad but now that I am older it takes me twice as long to clean the house. So I would never be done if I lived in a big house like that.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen
      p.s. glad that you do not have to worry about this fire.

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Adele.
      OMG-I will definitely be saying lots of prayers for Maxine. Do they think the brain bleed is linked to when she fell and broke her pelvis? That falling is some scary stuff. I will also pray for Nancy’s nephew.
      I hope that we hear from Barbara soon about how her son is faring with the fires in California.
      I made a crock pot recipe last night too. A new one with cube steaks and onions and gravy. It was pretty good.
      I hate when the insurance companies tell the doctors what they can order. That whole thing seems backwards to me. How can patient care be first under those circumstances? I don’t know what the solution is for getting Tillie upstairs. As long as Bobby is home maybe he can go up and down the stairs with her. Maybe you will have to call a different chair lift place and see what they say about coming out.
      Well the Cubs are still in it. They love to make things dramatic and drag it out until the 5th game. I was so hoping they could win yesterday after the game was cancelled Tuesday because of rain. But now they will have to go back to Washington. There’s still hope.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi DD,
      I hope that you hear from your sister soon. That is very scary.
      I saw those temptations mugs. They were cute but I have plenty of Christmas mugs already.
      I like that Snoopy shirt. Snoopy and Woodstock are my favorite Peanuts characters.
      I think we all agree that the Q just kind of skips over all the fall stuff anymore. Geeze fall decorations are out for three months. Christmas stuff is out for a little over a month.
      I wouldn’t mind if the Q is selling stuff geared towards Christmas but maybe they could wait until after Halloween to put out the darn trees. We will be sick of looking at them by Christmas and they just don’t feel magical to me when it’s not the Christmas season.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      Our cardinal has not been around recently but he usually is quiet in the late summer and fall and then will start up again sometime during the winter. It’s so peaceful when he is not banging on the window constantly. I wonder why your cardinal flew into the door. Is it a glass storm door or something? I hope he was okay and got up and flew away.
      Jenny usually takes her tree down after New Years Day-she doesn’t wait until Epiphany. For her though I think it’s a matter of wanting to get it down while she has the time off to do it.
      Unfortunately we had to take my MIL’s car away after the day she left to go to the beauty parlor at 9 in the morning and drove around all day until she turned herself into a police station at 9 at night and told them she was lost. Thank goodness she had the presence of mind to do that. My poor SIL was frantic trying to find her as that’s when she still lived in the city. Shortly after that was when she came to live with us as there was no one always available to take her places and get her groceries etc. as my SIL and her husband both still worked.
      I wonder what the year of the Mustang is. We had either a 65 or 66 that I drove in high school. I loved that car and wish I still had it.
      I guess your Mom just likes knowing it’s there and it makes her feel like no one actually took it away from her. It’s good that she has children living by her close enough to take her places. Do they take her grocery shopping or does she give them a list and they do it for her?
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      OMG DD!
      Does that mean god was sending a sign? I hope so. the news today is they are doing an MRI this afternoon, and then they will meet with her family. I am praying for the best.
      Please keep the prayers coming. Both she and her family need them.
      I hope everyone is ok.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      DD
      I hope your pretty Jewell brings my friend good luck too.
      Sending a pic of Gary in he is new Halloween pj’s from Kohls. doesn’t he look thrilled???
      Adele

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      You have to click on Gary’s pic to see all of him….LOL
      It is Nancy’s son who has the caner- in his thyroid. He is so far ok, as refused to have the whole thyroid out- they took only part. Her nephew keeps getting more news of more tumors. this is awful
      I am praying there will be positive news form the MRI they are doing on Maxine this afternoon. This is all so terrible. I wish I had some good news.
      the snicker doodle cookies have the cinnamon on the outside. I bet they are the same as yours. I love squash soup. I made it once, but the recipe I had was with heavy cream- it was so rich, I did not make it again.
      You will love the spaghetti squash- it also re-heats well. A lot of veggies do not.
      Did you see the new show Kevin Saves the World? I love it, as it is an uplifting show, and we all need that now.
      Hope your day is good. Amanda just came by for a visit. She made 500 in tips on Sunday for the play off game. That is the end of the Red Sox, so it is the end of the big tips for Amanda…LOL I am trying to convince her to move to this side of town. I hate that she is in Boston. I keep telling her she has to subtract the tolls, parking and gas, and then she may as well work over here.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen
      I hope the birdie lived….LOL
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail
      thank you for all the prayers. I am praying I will have good news for all of you to hear.
      I ma such a wreck, I just ordered the Halloween pajamas for everyone int h e family accpet me and Tillie. We two have enough Halloween tops to last a century. I love the new “jammies for the family” that Kohls has- you get every size from infant to 3X. I bet I will be tempted to get everyone a Christmas one too.
      Tillie is really freaking out over PT. She says she does not need it, and will not let them in the house. God help me.
      I hope we hear from Barbara too. Those fires are so scary, and those poor people have lost everything. It prompted me to tell Gary what I would grab if we had to leave: my jewelry, a pic of my Dad, and his parents and brother, the important papers in the house, the checkbooks, and credit cards.
      I hope Greg liked the new dinner- did you like it too? We did the tried and true one I have been making forever. I got the Martha Stewart crock pot cookbook from the Q- some good recipes in there.
      I also would love some Halloween shows on the Q!!!
      hope your day is goign well.
      Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      Our cardinal died. We have a glass storm door and that is what he ran into. I guess that he broke his neck. He really hit hard. I feel so bad for that bird. We have never had one fly into the door like that. Guess that we need to put something on there so they cannot see themselves in there. Maybe your cardinal will not come back this year. You will miss him if he doesn’t. lol
      I can understand why Jenny has to take her tree down right after New Years. She does not have that much time to deal with it. Melissa will leave hers up but she is not working now so she does not have to worry about time. I am not sure about Danyielle or Mandy. Use to Danyielle would because she had a dog and a cat but now she does not have either. So do not know what she will do this time around.
      You were really lucky that your mil had enough sense to go to the police. She may not have cared about you taking her car away. That would have been really scary. I am sure that it was for all of you. It was just so nice that you were able to take her in and care for her. You had the room and the time to care for her. Did she eventually go into a nursing home? That is a hard thing to do.
      I just wish that one of us lived closer. It takes all of us at least an hour to get to her. I live the farthest away. For groceries and things like that we are not that far but when she gets hurt or sick it takes us all a little while to get to her. It is scary sometimes. My brother and I are the only ones that still drive at night. My oldest sister does not drive at night anymore and my sister that is 2 years older then me will not come all the time. So it is hard to know what to do. I know that your mil lived farther away from you then mine did from me. I guess that I am just worried about her and I need to get over it. She is not going to move anywhere soon. When she needs to go to the store whoever is there takes her. She likes to go to the store. I will have to ask here what year the mustang is. Ron said an 89 but I know that it is older then that. Just have to ask her.
      Well that is about all from here. How is Steve doing. We are still praying for him.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      Gary does not look to happy about wearing his pjs on camera. I had to laugh at the face he is making. Ron would have never put them on. Gary is a good sport and wore them.
      I am praying that you will get good news about Maxine and all the others that are sick. You have a long list of people right now. I can see why you are so worried. How is Winnie and Al? Still have them on the prayer list until you tell me that they are okay. Julia also I think that is her name. Enzos sister. Please keep us posted. I know that all of us are praying for them all.
      The recipe for squash soup uses coconut milk. They sell the cans at of it at Wal mart if not there I will go to Schnucks. If you want that recipe I will send it to you or just look on the Chew site. That is where I got it. I will send it to you though if you do not want to have to go thru all those recipes.
      I did not see that Kevin save the world show. What channel is it on? Will have to watch it. We need all the uplifting shows we can watch. It would be nice if we got a good comedy show on again.
      Wow good for Amanda. That is a lot of tips. She must be a good waitress. What sports do they have during the winter? I hope that they have some where she can make some good tips. They sure do not pay waitresses that much and they have to do a lot of work. It is hard just trying to please all the people that come into the restaurant.
      Hope that Tillie will cooperate with the pt person that comes to the house. You may have to have someone come to the door and answer it so she cannot do anything. Does she have a door downstairs or will they have to come to the door at the front of the house? Good luck with all of that.
      That is about all from here have a good night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      I think Steve is doing better. I will probably get more details from Jenny tonight. I appreciate all the prayers.
      It sure sounds like your Mom does really well on her own. I hope that if she ever really needs help she will agree to stay with one of her kids. In my MIL’s case she was a danger to herself and there was no question that she had to stay with someone. I know no one ever wants to leave their home and lose their independence but sometimes the decision has to be taken out of their hands for their own good. My MIL lived with us for about six years. She was in a nursing home at the very end for about three months. When it got to the point where I could no longer get her up and down as she had to be lifted it was time to let the professionals take over. She was right in the town that we lived in so we could go over at any time. I think Greg stopped in most mornings before work. Also I could take her favorite dog, Rocky, to visit her. He loved that as I always brought a bag with small treats so those patients who wanted to give him a treat could visit with him too. Spoiled doggie! lol Anyway, I think she went in in November and died in January and towards the end she wasn’t very responsive at all. We were lucky as she knew all of us until maybe the last couple of weeks. I know it is a lot worse for other patients.
      Greg is out golfing today. He wanted to know if he should wear shorts but I said it’s only going to be in the upper 60’s. He said that doesn’t make any difference since I can’t feel my legs and feet anyway. I keep telling him he needs to go back to the pain specialist and try the Nueronton again but he just doesn’t take the time to do it and I can’t help him if he won’t help himself.
      Sometimes the birds will fly into a window like that thinking it’s open air. I feel so bad when that happens.
      Well the Cubs beat the Nationals so they will be moving on. It sure wasn’t pretty but somehow they managed it. I fell asleep in the middle of the game and woke up for the last inning. I think it lasted 4 and a half hours.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      Tell Gary I think he looks hot in his new pajamas! He looks like he’s mad at you for making him pose for a picture. lol
      Well 500 dollars in tips is nothing to sneeze at. It’s hard to walk away from that. I imagine the place is not as jumping during the winter months although if it is anything like here a lot of tourists come just to see Wrigley and will go to the bar that is just outside it all year round. Years ago we used to get really good Cubs and Sox (white not red) tickets from vendors of Greg’s. But they just don’t do that kind of stuff anymore as those seats are so expensive now.
      Why is Tillie so against doing the PT? I’m picturing her now standing inside the door when they come over and pretending she is not there. Just like I used to hide in the closet and under the bed to keep from going to kindergarten.
      Greg liked the new crock pot dinner. Of course he’s pretty easy to feed. It’s funny this week we have all kinds of leftovers in the house because I cooked big meals all week and last week we had hardly anything since we had been out of town the previous weekend. Next week will be like that as Greg won’t be home for several dinners and then Friday and Saturday the Choirboys have concerts so I won’t be cooking much.
      We are going to a local theater to see Little Shop of Horrors tomorrow night. We’ll probably go out to dinner before hand. That’s a good musical for the Halloween season.
      I saw that Martha Stewart cookbook but didn’t get it as i was afraid her stuff would be too complicated and when i cook crock pot I want easy.
      Gail

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      First; Neal, Sarah, and baby are good, thank God. His tower is still closed and the fires are still all around but they have been blessed and have been able to stay in their apt. during all of this. We have been glued to the news and he has been skyping us at least once a day giving us an update. Sarah is slowly getting better; she was dx. with pneumonia. Neal has sprayed Lysol on everything he could and is full time baby sitter for itty bitty through all this; so closing his tower has been a blessing at this time. The smoke has been so dense that the planes couldn’t safely fly. He has sent us some pictures of smoke and fire on the hills and he said it is so dry there he just hasn’t ever seen anything like it before. We can’t thank you all enough for all your continued prayers and after reading some of your notes on here I can surely see where you all have had so much on your plates as well; so my prayers will be extra long today.
      I am so sorry to hear of the young man who has been placed on hospice and of your friend, Adele, who is in the ICU now after all she had already endured with her fall. And poor Tillie not wanting to have PT there. I know you are so worried and I pray that she will find comfort with whomever they send to help her; and that it will be a good experience so she and you can rest easier. Gail. you are such a good person to take care of your MIL as you did until her health declined. I know how exhausted we became so quickly after Jerrys Mom took her fall. We just tried so hard to get her back to her self; but just couldn’t. And Jerry still has these times of guilt of our not having her here with us; and to be honest; I don’t know what things may come to. There is only so much money, and it is so expensive where she lives. When we went in this week to speak to our insurance and Medicare advisor we spent a lot of time going over her coverage and options; and he looked at us and just put his hand on Jerrys knee and said, “have you and Ms. Smith really thought about yourselves and YOUR future? Have to admit; it was sort of scary and like being hit in the face with cold water. He said you two are doing so much but I hear very little about your thoughts for the future. He of course reminded us of my stroke; and Jerry of his physical limitations, and wee both walked out not really saying a word. So we went into the Hallmark store next door to get the baby a Halloween card, and I found a cute little sippy cup that says Tennessee on it, and we bought that for him.
      Just wanted to finally check in. I knew in my heart you all were praying for our family. Happy to hear of the big week of tips for Jenny. I know she worked hard for that. Please take care everyone. I will write more later. Hugs and grateful heart in Tenn. Barbara

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Well, I hope everyone is well. That’s wonderful news, Barbara. I’m glad to hear your family is safe from the fires. They are very scary. I’m glad they are skyping you so often so you don’t fret. I know how it is with so much smoke in the air. Portland had the worst!!! air quality in the country during that fire. It was even worse than China. IT’s HORRIBLE!!
      We’ve had quite a wild few days of weather out here this week. Thunderstorms, heavy downpours, snow in the mts, even tornadoes touched down. They weren’t close to me, one was 25 miles away, turning small airplanes upside down, & damaging some green houses. It was reminiscent of the Columbus day storm of 1962. I don’t know what it is about 10/12, & wild weather out here!!! A couple of the ski resorts are opening this weekend. That rarely happens this early in the yr. They usually don’t open till Nov., but they’ve had 2 ft of snow the last couple days..
      Adele, I;m sorry but I couldn’t help chuckling at the pic of Gary in his Pj’s. lol How is your friend Maxine? How did her MRI come out? I hope everything turned out okay.
      My visit to the vascular Dr. was interesting. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. The technician wrapped both my legs with cuffs like they use to take you blood pressure. then he hooked me up to the machine. When he started it I could hear what sounded like my heart beat. What it was, was the blood going thru my vessels. When it was all over, he said I came within the good range. He wasn’t the Dr. but I have an appt. with him next month. The tech wasn’t specific but gave me an idea of where I stood. Then today, I went to PT with my cutie of a physical therapist.
      I cooked a pot roast this week in my new Copper Chef & it came out so tender it fell apart. and this was a tough piece of meat. I love the copper chef.
      I had a question about cooking & of course I can’t remember what it was. lol.
      Oh I got the Temptations Christmas platter this week. I spotted 3 spots that look like bubbles that popped & left little holes. Of course I had to spot them. I’m not gonna send it back, too much trouble. You can’t spot them from a distance.
      Well, I guess that’s all for now,
      We’re gonna have the coldest night since last spring. Time to turn on the blanket.
      Have a great weekend, girls.
      dd

      Attachments:
    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hey Adele,
      I tried sending the rainbow again, but it still wants to be upside down. Just think if it as a smile.
      dd

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      Enzo’s sister is doing better, but her kidney issues will be a lifelong problem. For now she is stale again.
      Winnie gets very tired. her knee healed nicely. She has to go to a hospital every 3 months to get iron via and IV. Al has dialysis 3 times a week. So far, it has been working, accpet he is very disgusted that he has to go. We are seeing them for dinner tomorrow at Applebee’s.
      Maxine is more complicated. She had the MRI, and her daughter said the news was not good, but, they are not giving up on her. As of today, she is still un-responsive. I am sick over this, absolutely sick. I started a Novena on line. I googled novena to St Jude, and this site came up. It said i will get the prayer tomorrow.
      Gary has to go for an ultrasound on his liver again. His triglyceride number was high, as well as his A1C-8.3. he uses a half stick of butter on his bagel every am, and I keep telling him that is way too much fat. I am also saying to eat more veggies and meat, and he goes for the potatoes all the time. i can only do so much. So, today he had no butter on the bagel.
      Tonight I am making pizza. I did not even feel like doing the dough. I think the wind has been knocked out of my sails.
      Kevin saves the world is on NBC. I love that show. i hope they keep it on.
      I hope your Mom continues to do well. It is very hard for you that she is so far away.
      Tillie is adamant about not doing any PT. It is what it is. I cannot fight with all of them here every day to do what they are supposed to do. They are exhausting….LOL
      It is raining here again today. believe it or not, it is supposed to get humid today and tonight again…yuck.
      hope your day is goign well!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Colleen
      Forgot to say ….Amanda works next to the Red Sox. There are no other teams that play there. they do get some concerts, but, it is usually summer thing.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Omg Gail
      I just lost the entire email to you.
      Read my post to Colleen for all the up-dates.
      I hope yo had a good time at the play- that sound slike a great Halloween one to me!
      Tillie hates PT because she says they just watch her exercise, do nothing, but write on their lap tops, and look at the clock. i have given up on the PT issue. there will be a day she can no longer make the stairs, but, I have to accept it. i am getting tired of trying to make everyone do what they need to do every day. they need to accept the consequences for their foolishness. Can you see I am a little down today? There is no improvement with Maxine- non responsive. That phrase makes me sick.
      I am doing pizza tonight. Gary is having cereal, instead of a nice piece of hot dough, with tomatoes on it, and egg salad. (I am limited as to what I can present for a sandwich, as I have been told there is not enough bologna for a full sandwich for him tonight…hence the egg salad.)
      We are going to dinner with Al and Winnie tomorrow at Applebee’s. I have not been there in a while and suggested it.
      Gary does like his pj’s as they are snuggly. You are right- he did not like the pic taken. Everyone else did….LOL
      hope your day is going well. It is raining here,and will get muggy again. Seriously??
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      Thank you for sending the rainbow- I thought it was a sign from above that she will be ok. Maybe it still was. I do not mind that it is upside down, as her whole life is that way right now. She continues to be unresponsive- God, do I hate that word. her daughter said the MRI did not show any good news. I am not giving up on my prayers. I even found a site on line that does Novenas together, and joined it. It said I will get the first prayer tomorrow.
      I am so glad your test went well. That is fabulous news. You can read my post to Gail and Colleen for the up-dated medical info an all my people.
      everyone is chuckling about Gary and his Halloween pj’s….LOL he is a good, but, reluctant sport about them. he does like them as the bottoms are fleece, and very snuggly.
      I am so glad that awful weather did not do anything to you and your friends. Glad you are getting rain as you need it. I sincerely hope you never have any more fires in your area. those are just awful.
      Hope you are having a good day!
      hey….call the Q. you are a good customer, and if you tell them you have trouble returning things, I bet they will send you another one- you can take a pic of the damage, and send it to them. I hope you do, and you get a new one.
      Adele

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Hello friends. We are sitting here just counting our blessings. So very sorry to hear of your friends MRI results, Adele. But let me reassure you, if I can, that the word that they are using that is distressing you so much, is a very serious word to use; BUT, just for me to hear from what you are saying that no brain wave test has been done, is of some comfort. There are many reasons for a person to be “that word” including swelling from within the brain that in many cases does get better; thus helping the patient get better. I won’t give false hope; because I feel people deserve to know the truth; as painful as I know it is. When Lisa had that terrible wreck; she was described the same way many times. Do you happen to know if she moves any of her body, or ever opens her eyes? So sorry if I am hurting you by asking. I pray she will improve very very soon. Poor Tillie. She sounds just tired of being “messed with” and she is right; a lot of the folks sent do just sit and type of their computer. I couldn’t help but giggle when I read she said that. When my Mom was in rehab after breaking her hip; she was so mad at PT. It was all I could do to keep from laughing when she would be telling me in no uncertain terms, how ridiculous it was for her to have to sit and roll around a big rubber ball for an hour, but “I will kick it out the d…… door if it will get them to leave me alone!” I am not trying to “lecture” you, Adele, I just know you are so worried about so many people you love right now that you will make yourself sick. So please take care for us all. After all, who would be Garys stylist is you get down? LOL
      Here;s a Baby story. Neal took him to the pumpkin patch right before all this with the fires started, and he was sitting in the wagon riding just pretty as you please, and Neal said he turned his head for ONE SECOND, and out of the wagon he fell, had a mouthful of dirt, big scrape all across his little forehead and nose. Neal said it scared him so badly, but he scoped him up and dusted him all off, and one of the helpers in the patch ran over and gave the baby a balloon and he stopped crying, and by then Neal said he had caught his breath and seen he was okay. His little face looked bad, but it didn’t seen like it was hurting him. Neal said he won’t ever take him anywhere again without taking this carrier we got them before he was born that looks kind of like a back pack with these big wide straps on both sides and the baby just slides down in it and his legs and arms stick out through some openings on the side and the parent can wear it on their front side or on their back and the baby just rides along on them sitting straight up looking around. He loves it. We had one when Neal was a baby and Jerry loved it since it leaves the Daddys arms free to do anything he needs.
      It has turned hot here again and humid. I really miss that little time we had of really cool days and nights. We had to get out our sweaters. Colleen, you and I are really missing the Irish shows that seems like they used to show around this time of year. I bought one of their sweaters years ago (about ten) and it really does still look good. They had quality knit items. We sure enjoyed those shows.
      Take care all and enjoy your weekend. Hope you all get some good news. Hugs and prayers, Barbara

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Barbara
      thank you so much for the prayers and kind wishes. So many people have major health issues, it is scary.
      I am so glad your son and his family are ok. we see these fires on TV, and it is heart breaking. Who can say there is no global warming? God help our grands who will inherit this world.
      I can only imagine how you and Jerry felt when yo left the office. I bet you could have dropped a pin on your ride home. We forget we have needs and plans to make, because we are so worried about everyone else all the time.
      Please try to do something nice for you and Jerry,, so you will smile. You need to smile!
      Of course I have been praying for you too.
      i am exhausted, but, i wanted to answer you before tomorrow. Please have a good time tomorrow with Jerry- eat some chocolate!!
      ‘Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      OMG, Barbara
      I just read your other post. Poor Neal must have been so upset. the first time a baby falls on your watch, it is devastating. however, the way you wrote the story, you made me laugh, as I can picture him , a strong, grown man, who rescues other people so upset about his Itty Bitty. thank you for the chuckle , at your Itty Bitty’s expense.
      I have not seen her yet. I am frankly, afraid to go, as I will break down in front of her girls. But, I am pretty sure there is no open eyes, or anything, form the way the girls are talking. I felt the same way about that word. I have been praying her brain gets better over the next few days. they did an MRI, and they said it was not good. My heart is broken. She has been a good friend, for a very long time- generations. She is the last connection of mine, who knew my Dad. Our parents knew each other, and so did our grandparents.
      Thank you for the prayers, and kind words- please keep praying. I started on a prayer site- a Novena site- I am supposed to get my first prayer tomorrow.
      Thank you, Missy Barbara!
      Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      You are right we are lucky with my mom. My dad not so much we had to put him in a nursing home. That just about killed all of us. It was the right thing to do though and he did okay there. He was not there that long before he died. I do not think that my mom could handle it if he would have been at home.
      I hope that Greg takes your advice and goes back to the doctor. That is not good that he cannot feel his legs. He needs to feel if he is hot or cold. Isn’t it something that we can wear shorts in the middle of October. It was hot here today also. Why is it that the people that we try so hard to take care of do not listen to us. They should know by now that we would not suggest it if we did not think that it was a real problem.
      I hope that you enjoyed the play that you went to see. It sounds like it would be really good. Our granddaughter Brook will be in a play on the 28th and 29th of October. We will go one night because the others are going on the other night. Thought it would be nice to have someone there for both performances.
      We have had a busy week-end. We had a bonfire on Friday and the kids came over. We did not do the hay ride this year. Probably will do it next year. Today we went to my sil and bil’s 60th wedding anniversary. He surprised her by renewing their wedding vows. He stood up in front of the whole group and asked her to marry him again. He had a nice ring for her and everything. She was so surprised. Then afterward they had Ron sing Just Look At Us by Vince Gill. Ron did not have the music to the song so he had to sing it without his guitar. You could tell that he was nervous. It was just a really nice afternoon.
      On the way home the car broke down and we sat in the heat until the tow truck came and got us. The guy is a friend of Ron’s so he took us to his garage. It is right up they street from where we live. So he worked with it a little and got it started again and we drove it home without anymore trouble. They are not sure what was wrong with it just glad that we made it home.
      Aliza was here Friday night for the bonfire and she decided that she was not going home. She was supposed to give us a hug and kiss good bye and she would not do it. So I told her that she would just have to stay here with us then. She laid down on the floor and took her shoes and socks off again. She was ready to stay. It was funny. They got her to leave because they were going to the pumpkin patch today so she wanted to go to that. She got excited about it because Owen was excited about it. So we may take her next Saturday and keep her over night.
      That was a long game. I saw that they were playing tonight. Cannot remember who they were playing though. Hope they won. Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      That is such good news that Neal and he family are doing fine. Those fires are scary. It is hard to believe that it gets so dry there like it does. That is so nice that Neal is skyping you all the time so you know how he is doing. It is nice that he was off work while Sarah was sick he really needed to be there for the baby and her.
      When you have so many others to think about it is hard to think about yourself. Nursing homes do get expensive and that is such a shame that they are. Jerry should not feel bad about his mom being in there. There is no way that you and Jerry could take care of her. You two really tried and it just did not work out. She is lucky that you saw that you could not do it and did not take her into your home and then find out it would not work. It is hard to take someone from your home and put them in a nursing home. This is the input that I have heard from a lot of families that tried that and it did not work. Jerry has nothing to worry about he is a good son. She should be able to get help from somewhere. They had talked to my mom about putting my dad on Medicaid. They said that way she would not be spending all of her money and then not have anything to live on if something happened to him. They had given her a plan to go by but that would not be a problem with Jerry’s mom she is not married now. I do not know what they do in Tennessee but that is one thing to look into.
      We are so lucky to have you here to explain some of the medical things to us. The doctors are scary sometimes and they do not mean to be. Thank you for being there and explaining things for us.
      Poor Neal and Colin. That experience was a scary one. I am glad that Colin was okay and Neal was also. That is scary when they fall for the first time. It is easy for them to take a tumble like that. They are so quick. How nice that the woman brought him a balloon. She knew how to make him smile again. I bet that was not the first time that happened there.
      Well that is about all from here. All of you are in my prayers.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      I like the picture of the smiling rainbow. That made me smile when you said that. That is what it looked like though.We all could use a smile from heaven.
      Your weather has really been wild there. I am so glad that the tornadoes were not near where you live. Those storms are really scary. We sure could use the rain here. If you get tired of the rain not the storms just send them our way. I hope that all the rain finally put the fires out and everyone is safe now.
      The results of the test sounded good to me. If they said that it was in the good range that has to be good news. If it wasn’t your doctor would have called you by now and wanted you to come in and see him. It was nice that the technician told you that much. They will not tell us anything around here. You have to wait and hear from the doctor.
      I agree with Adele. I would call qvc and tell them about the problem with the platter. They usually are really nice about it. They will tell you how to send it back and they will send you a label to put on the package. They should pay for the postage since there is a flaw in the platter. That is a shame that it has flaws.
      Your pot roast sounds really good. Wish it would cool down here so we would feel like eating things like that. Sounds like the copper chef pans are really good. We do not have any by maybe we will try them.
      Well enjoy your cool nights. Having the electric blanket sound so comfortable. It will be nice when it get that cold here again. Well that is about all from here have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      It sounds like no one is getting any worse but Maxine. I am so sorry this is happening to such a good friend. Will be praying for her as well as all the others. I will have to look that Novena up and will pray it with you. That was a good idea.
      Poor Gary he has to go thru so many tests. It is hard to go thru that but you are right eating that much butter is not good for anyone. That is hard when you keep trying to do what is right for your family and they do not listen. Sometimes don’t you feel like just screaming. You may have to quit fixing potatoes for Gary and just have the other veggies. I do not know how you do it. You fix all these good meals and some of them will eat it and others will not. It makes it really hard on you. I think that you need to go on strike again.
      Read what I wrote to Gail about all the things we did this week-end. I am glad that tomorrow we are not going anywhere and do not have anything going on. Will have to talk to the grands and see if they had a fun time at the pumpkin patch. They went there today.
      We still have not had any rain. It just keeps going all around us. We are just hoping that it comes our way tonight or tomorrow cause we really need it. It is so dry here. I would not want to have to plant any bulbs for the spring right now.
      Well that is about all from here. Just hang in there my friend things will get better.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen
      You had a great fun filled weekend. I can picture you all having so much fun. too bad you did not go to the pumpkin patch. But, i do not think I owuld have made it either, after all that fun the day before. We get toot tired.
      Did you figure out what was wrong with the Jeep? I hope nothing serious.
      Your Aliza certainly loves it at your house. I bet that made you feel real good. She must be so cute.
      I have not text’d Maxine’s daughter yet today, for the up-date. I am afraid to ask at this point. Sitting there, and watching her not improve at all, must be heart wrenching.
      I caught bobby’s cold, so we will not be going out today. Al and Winnie are dealing with enough, and do not need a cold. So, we will go next weekend. I hope it goes away without needing an antibiotic. Also hope Gary does not get it.
      Marissa stopped by yesterday, and brought me a Halloween light up owl. It is so cute. Amanda will stop by after her shift today- around 4:00. Bobby is going to grill the last couple of pieces of meat form the freezer, as you never know when you no longer can grill out here….LOL
      I will jump in the shower shortly, and the hot water should clear out my head a bit.
      So, yesterday I cleaned out Gary’s side of the closet. What a mess. i threw out a huge bag of clothes. he had all his new work shirts and pants that fell behind all his piles of ratty looking clothes. So, he has all new t shirts and the jersey knot pants he likes to wear for work. you had to hear him crying about his old, misshapen and stained shirts. I had to slit the necks of the old shirts, so he would not get them out of the trash. His side of the closet looks so nice, with everything folded neatly and stacked in order of what you use them for. He has a rack on the closet for his work clothes and pj’s. Of course, hung above them are all my Quacker dream jeans in every imaginable color….LOL LOL
      I hope you are having a good day.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Gailster……..what is wrong with Greg’s legs????

      I must have missed something in the posts.

      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon so I thought I’d write a few lines. I have one of my Halloween videos of Disney shows I taped several yrs ago playing as I write. Nothing else on today. It’s a lovely day here today, but that’s going to change in a couple of days. Sounds like a soaker storm is coming in. We need it tho. On the news last night they showed people are making their way out to the Gorge & some of the hiking trails that were in the fire. They were saying they were happy to see there was a lot of trees left that didn’t get burned. I think allot of the damage was down in the canyons of the Gorge where there aren’t many trails. that’s my assumption anyway. I could see there were lots of trees left from that day trip. With the rain we’ve had lately the fire should/better be out by now.
      I hear several towns in Oregon have sent their firefighters down to Ca. to help out. Someone posted on my FB page she saw a caravan of fire trucks heading out Friday or Saturday.
      Adele, please tell your friend’s daughter/family to keep talking to her. Even if she’s in a comatose state I believe she’ll hear them. I’m a firm believer that a patient in that state can hear everything. Read to her, carry on a conversation as tho she was in on it too. Maybe it sounds crazy but I believe it’s true.
      I got both my flu & pneumonia shots the other day & so now both upper arms are sore. At least I got it done.
      You’re all gonna think I’m off my trolley but I may start putting up my Christmas things after Halloween. But if it’s any indicator, it’s gonna take me a while to figure out where I’m gonna put my tree,& everything else. lol
      Barbara, I hope itty bitty is doing okay. That can be traumatizing for the parent as well as him. I hope they’re still out of danger from the fires. I hear rain will be coming in next week, but not soon enough.
      Well, I guess that’s all from here. Have a great week & stay safe.
      dd

      Attachments:
    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      I was just shutting off the laptop and saw your post. i am so glad you will be getting the much needed rain.
      I had to put the air back on this afternoon, as the humidity was getting to me. It is supposed to get real cool, and possible frost warnings by tomorrow, so I hope this is the last time I had to put it on.
      I watched some of the sit coms today that I had recorded. I still have 3 to watch.
      Did you see Blue Bloods this week? I wonder where the actress who played Danny’s wife went?? I might google that.
      Today, we took out some left over meats from the freezer to BBQ. Bobby got some sausages to go with them, so we had enough for the 4 of us.This will probably be the last weekend for that. Tillie did not want to eat supper tonight. She is not a huge fan of BBQ meats, so that is ok. Amanda the Panda stopped by after work, and she ate with us. We always enjoy a visit from the kids…..any of them…..LOL
      I caught Bobby’s cold. It is making me very tired today. I hope it will go away quick.
      I am almost 100% sure Maxine’s daughters are talking to her. i will tr to find a way to mention it avian, so they will not get insulted. thank you for reminding me to tell them, as sometimes people just get so overwhelmed while sitting there all day long. As of tonight, still no change. i am goign to try to get in there. Gary and Bobby think I will not be able to do the walk from the parking garage to the hospital, nor the inside walk. I will call to see if they have valet parking- you cannot pull up close to the hospital in a regular car.
      I love your pictures- they are always so cheery. Hey- you can decorate any time you want! it is so cheery and sparkly to have the Christmas decorations up- go for it!!
      Adeel

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Barbara
      I hope you were not offended by my chuckle about Neal and the baby. the way you described it just made me laugh. i meant no disrespect, or to show no concern for the baby’s fall. I hope you understood that, as sometimes the written word does not give the right inflections.
      I was so happy to smile, and you gave that gift to me. you have such a nice way of telling stories.
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      HI Adele,
      I hope your still on here. Why don’t you ask at the front desk of the hospital if you could use a wheelchair, since you’re unable to walk that far. Maybe they’ll accommodate you with one. Can’t hurt to ask. I’m surprised you can’t be dropped off at the front door of the hospital. I’m pretty sure you can be dropped off or picked up at the front door at the hospitals here. The emergency entrance is on another part of the hospital.

      I meant to tell you guys that Halloween Wars is on the Food Network tonight. Most likely on right now since it’s 3 hrs later out there.
      Have a good week

      dd

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    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      We could not go with the kids to the pumpkin patch we had to go to the anniversary party. We had a full week-end this week-end. The kids were going to go on rides and everything and have a really good time and they did not need grandma along. lol
      We are not sure what is wrong with the jeep. We are going to have to figure that out. Ron is going to put some 90 proof alcohol in it to see if that will help. He thinks that there may be water in the tank. He is also going to get a new gas cap. I hope that those two things will fix the dumb thing. We are going to have to trade it in for another car. Ours is getting to be too much work and it would be cheaper to get another car.
      It did make us feel really good when she laid on the floor and started taking her shoes off. Aliza is our little baby that is for sure. Well I guess she is not our little baby but she likes being here. I may try to get her next week-end for the chicken and dumpling dinner. I think that she would enjoy going with us. We have such a good time with her.
      It does make it hard when you do not know if your friend is any better or not. It might make her daughter feel better that you are asking about her. She may need someone to talk to and get some of her feelings out. Does she have any brothers or sisters? It is hard if you have to sit there alone.
      Your Halloween owl sounds really cute. That was so sweet of Marissa to buy it for you. That was nice that you had both grands come and visit you today. Amanda came at the right time, time for dinner. The bbq sounds really good.
      That is not a fun job cleaning out our husbands side of the closets. They have more junk on their side then we ever thought of keeping on our side. Ron is like that also he likes to keep his old clothes and I have no idea why. We still have not gone thru the closets and we really need to. I have a lot of clothes in there that I have not worn in years. It is just a job that I dread.
      I saw Blue Bloods it was really good. I am not sure if I like the part that Whoopi is playing though. She is not one of my favorites. I wonder why they are getting all these new players and getting rid of the players that have been on there for awhile. Hope that this does not mean that there ratings are going down and they are trying to bring them up.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Barbara,
      Jerry should never feel guilty about not being able to have his Mom with you guys. Greg’s Mom came to stay with us over 17 years ago. We were a lot younger then-I honestly don’t think I could do that now either physically or mentally. We all can only do what we are able to do and then we have to figure out an alternative. I’m glad that your planner emphasized that you guys need to think of yourselves too. You are such good people putting everyone else’s needs before yours and we all have to start thinking about our own futures at this stage in our lives. I’m sure with your planners help you will figure out how to continue to pay for your MIL’s care.
      As to poor little Colin’s mishap-haven’t we all had that experience as parents where you turn away for a split second and they topple right over-sometimes it even happens right before our eyes and we are just not near enough to catch them. Fortunately most of the time we can pick them up, dust them off, kiss away their tears and tell them they are okay-and they are.
      You have such good advice for Adele about her friend. It made me feel better just reading it so I know it helped her a lot.
      We are chilly here now-we actually had the heat on for the first time this morning. However it’s supposed to be 70 by the end of the week-beautiful fall weather.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey DD
      Once I am in, I can get a wheelchair. The entrance to the hospital goes up an incline form the parking lot, and inclines are very hard for me to walk. Gary says they changed it, and no cars can get close to the entrance anymore. I bet it is for security reasons, but, I am not sure. This is an old building where the entrance is, and back in the day, there were no accessibility issues. It is also huge.
      I always ask the police/security when I get somewhere, if there is another way. there has to be, according to today’s regulations, maybe we just do not know it.
      The while thing is just awful. I wake up every morning with a heavy heart. Last night I kept having nightmares, and when I woke up my heart was racing like crazy. It took a while to get back to sleep, and then it happened again. I am feeling very tired today. But, i am still not non-responsive, so I am good. It is all in your perspective.
      I hope your day is going well. I am making chicken soup today- Bobby has a bad cold, and I have it too.Mine is a little different- thorat sore and ears are popping. Bobby is sneezing all over the house. I am not sneezing as much, but, I take a Claritin D every day.
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi DD,
      Heck you can decorate whenever you want. I know it takes me longer and longer to finish every year so i should probably start earlier than I do.
      I’m glad your fires have stopped-now if only they could get the ones in California stopped too.
      Being in the good range on your test sounds promising. I figure if there’s something wrong the doctor calls right away so the fact that you won’t see him for another few weeks is a good thing in this case.
      I like the pictures of the fall and the pumpkins. We drove by a pumpkin patch place the other day and boy was it crowded. It was a nice day and they have all sorts of kids activities and they were really piling them in there.
      I hope your PT goes well. It’s too bad the platter wasn’t perfect. I know it is kind of a hassle to repackage things and send them back though.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi colleen
      I know what you mean. I liked the old Mayor. I hate this new one. I wonder if they will be having Whoopie on every once in a while to play the part of the city counselor. I did google why Linda is no longer on the show. They said her contract was up, and she wanted to do other things. A lot of times when they do that, you never see them on TV again.
      You did have a fun filled weekend. I hope you figure out what is wrong with the Jeep. How old is yours? Ours was a 2005. the new ones are very fancy, with all kinds of safety gadgets, whihc i think are great. I love the back up camera, and the lane assist. It makes backing up very simple. the lane assist keeps Gary in the lane, as he always drifts too far to one side or the other, and I am yelling at him- no need anymore, as the car puts him back in the lane….LOL
      Quacker Factory is on today at 2, so we can all get more stuff to crowd into pour closets….LOL LOL
      Read my post to Dd for the up-dates on how I feel today. I would say rather worn out. But, still better than my poor friend. I check in with them close to noontime every day. I figure by them, the doctor has come by.
      I am making chicken soup today. It is chilly and dreary here today.
      Hope the sun is shining for you and Ron!
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      I hope that you are feeling okay and the cold hasn’t gotten worse.
      I am praying that you will have some good news about your friend Maxine and I hope that you can figure out someway to visit. I don’t know where everyone lives in reference to where you are and where the hospital is but is it possible for one of the grands to drop you off and pick you up? Just a thought.
      I understand that you have given up on forcing Tillie to do the PT. We really do have to pick our battles-just like you have to do with kids.
      I can’t imagine Greg ever preferring to eat cereal for dinner over anything else. In fact i doubt he’s ever eaten cereal for dinner-he doesn’t even eat it for breakfast.
      You were brave to clean out Gary’s closet. I would never attempt to know what Greg would want to keep or what fits him and what doesn’t. Fortunately we have separate closets. Actually when we built this house there were two closets lining the hallway between the master bedroom and master bathroom. At the time the laundry room was situated downstairs. Then we decided that it is really more sensible to have the laundry room on the second floor since that’s where most of the laundry originates-with clothes and bedding and towels and such. So Greg was generous enough to offer up half of his closet to put a laundry room up there. So his closet is half laundry room half closet.
      I’m sure you have probably just forgotten about Greg’s legs as it is nothing new. The sciatica causes his feet and legs from the knees down to be numb all the time like they are asleep. As it is not bad enough to do surgery he has just lived with it-but i keep on encouraging him to go back to the pain doctor and try to find the right dosage of nueronton that helps him but doesn’t make him feel goofy but he just has not done it. Once again as you know-you can suggest things but if someone doesn’t listen and do after awhile you just have to let them live with the consequences until they figure it out for themselves.
      At least the sun is shining today after a rainy weekend.
      The other day I happened to mention that it would be nice to just go away for about a month to somewhere warmer during the winter and boy now Greg is all over that. Of course he wouldn’t be free to go for another couple of years-but now he’s already saying that’s a good idea but we should go for two months. And I’m saying I don’t want to leave the grands or our house for that long-so now I’ve created a monster and I’ve got to stamp down his enthusiasm a bit. lol I just know anymore by the end of winter my bones ache and I start to get flares of my RA so I thought if I could break it up a bit I would feel better.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      It sounds like you guys had a really fun weekend with the bonfire and anniversary party. I hope Aliza can come back and stay with you since she obviously wanted to. I think the anniversary party was so sweet and romantic. It would have been nice if he had called Ron ahead of time so that he could have practiced the song and brought his guitar. I think it makes it easier if you can kind of hide behind the guitar if you get nervous. That’s kind of funny because Greg’s sister is having him sing The Wedding Song by Peter Paul and Mary for her wedding in November. So our husbands are wedding singers. lol Gosh he has sung that at so many weddings and personally i am not that crazy about that song but I guess a lot of people request it because of the name-then Wedding Song.
      I hope you get your car working again so you don’t have anymore breakdowns.
      What play is Booklyn going to be in? I noticed that you called her Brook-so i wondered if that’s what she goes by now. I think it’s a good idea to have someone be there for her both nights.
      I asked Jenny about Steve and he is out of the hospital and into a rehab facility now so that sounds good-although he doesn’t remember about the accident but I guess that is pretty normal.
      Well the Cubs are down two games now and will be coming to Chicago now on Tuesday. It’s funny because they played the same team last year to get into the world series-we’ll see what happens this year.
      The play was lots of fun and the cast all had good singing voices so that is always a plus when you see a musical. We went out to dinner at a new place and when we drove up it said they had free valet parking so it was drizzling a little bit and a said to Greg why don’t you use the valet ( he doesn’t usually) and he did and boy was he glad later as when we were leaving the restaurant it was pouring rain so the young kid had to run through the rain to get the car. Plus before we left I took the umbrella from the back seat of my car and threw it into his. He was glad as when we got over to the theater it wasn’t raining as hard but it was still raining so he dropped me off (he is a gentleman-plus I had tickets to pick up at will call) and then he at least had the umbrella to use to walk over from the lot to the theater. I must have been psychic that night. Or else I am just like a Boy Scout-well prepared. Greg would never think of these things-he has enough trouble keeping track of his glasses and his phone. I tell him he needs a purse so he can keep the glasses, reading glasses, sunglasses and phone with him all the time. He always has to go back into the house for one of those things-or else he comes out to the car with the wrong keys. Oye! He drives me nuts! But I love him anyway.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gailster!
      Tillie and I have Quacker on. I got the grey holiday cardigan. I got it from an email, so Tillie has not seen it yet….LOL
      Still no good news on my friend Maxine.
      I have the pot of chicken soup on the stove- even the smell makes you feel better.My ears are bothering me, so I hope it does not end up an ear infection. Bobby said he feels better today.
      I did forget about Greg’s legs as you have not mentioned them in a while. Have you noticed, as soon as Fall come,s things start to ache? I still do not want to leave New England, as the weather everywhere else seems to be getting dangerous.
      That is funny about Greg and his closet. Over here, Gary has no idea what works and what does not. he would wear the ugliest, worn out things, if I let him. He was freaking out about the shirts I was getting rid of, so I had to cut the collars, thus eliminating the trash picking. you have no idea how many shirts and pants I found, in the plastic bags. I bought him quite a few pairs of pants, only to realize he still had all the new ones tucked away. I could scream.
      My friend Winnie is stopping by after work today. She said she has a surprise for me. She is so funny. I told her to bring hand sanitizer. She is a nurse, so she says she does not care. She is retired, but still works 2 days at the hospital. She is the one hwo just had her knee done.
      Hope your day is going well!
      Adele
      PS it is gloomy here.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail and Colleen
      We have not heard from Sue in a bit. I hope all is good with her.
      that is fabulous that brook is in a play, Colleen. Keep us in the loop on that one.
      Gail- you were very lucky you used the valet service for the dinner after the play. You owuld have both been soaked. Sounds like you had a real nice time at the play and dinner. Fall is such a great time to get out.
      My SIL just called. today is her birthday, and we set some flowers with a box of chocolates. She was thrilled because the chocolates came from a well known candy store in her town, so that was a nice surprise. I just figured it was her first birthday after Don is gone, and she needed something. I am thrilled the chocolates made her so happy. If you can make a sad person smile, that makes life worthwhile. She is going out to dinner with ehr family, and that is nice too.
      Hope all of you are doing well, and all the grands, and pets are good too!
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Another gorgeous fall day here, but it’s gonna change real soon. I hope all of you caught the QF show earlier today. I wanted the t-shirt with the kitties on it but I don’t like gray & I couldn’t afford it. sigh.
      I finally remembered what it was I forgot about cooking, & you’ll get a good laugh from it. I wanted to ask you, what apples do you use for pies, & cobblers? I’ve heard Granny Smith are very good. I’ve used various kinds of apples over the yrs. What triggered my memory was from watching my Halloween tape I was running yesterday. It was a clip from Snow White the 7 Dwarfs, when the evil queen was making a poison apple to give SW. It clicked, that’s it!! Apples. LOL NO, not poisoned apples, either.
      As for the platter, I’m gonna put something over the flaw since I don’t plan to use it for serving food, just decoration. Several yr ago I ordered a set of cake pans from Temptations, & they had sharp pieces of the clay or whatever in the pans, so I had to send em back. They weren’t part of the pattern either.
      Adele, I’m sorry you can’t get to the hospital to see your friend. Do they have elevators in the parking garage? Just trying to put out suggestions for ya.
      I’ll be sending some pics of her nibs that I took this afternoon. That should cheer ya up.
      Gotta go get supper now.
      Have a great week.
      dd & Jewell (belly rub)!!

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    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      She may go on Broadway. That is what a lot of them do and they do really well in live plays. She will be missed on the show that is for sure. It seems funny when they are all at the dinner table and she is not there. I hope that non of the rest of them leave.
      Ron worked on the jeep today and says he thinks that it will be okay. I do not plan to go very far from home until he gets a different car. I do not trust that things. We may not get another jeep. It has not been the vehicle that we have owned. As far as the air breaking and the windows falling down and he has had to fix them a couple of times. It is the same window. That is not good. The new jeep that you got sounds really nice.
      That is not good that you had such bad night mares last night. Hope that they do not come back tonight. Maybe some good news will come about Maxine. You just have to think of all the good times with her. Maybe that will get rid of the night mares. It is good that you call at noon and talk to them about how their mom is doing. They probably appreciate it.
      That is a mess that you cannot just be dropped off at the door of the hospital. They have to have another way for you to get in there without having to walk up that hill. Just be careful and do not try anything that will cause you a problem.
      I have not watched the quacker show yet. I have it on the dvr and will watch it later. I know my closet is so full now we are going to have to build another closet. lol Hope that you and Tillie found all kinds of cute things to wear.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a good night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      I do not remember the wedding song by Peter Paul and Mary. That is nice that Greg is going to sing it for his sister. I do not know why Ron’s bil waited so long to ask him. Maybe he just thought of the name of the song. It was funny because he stood in a corner and sang and did not do it in front of everybody. I was just glad that he made it thru the whole song. That is funny we are both married to wedding singers.
      Your birthday is on my brother’s birthday. I may have told you that before but I just noticed it when looking thru the birthdays tonight. I cannot believe that it is that late in the month already. Where is the time going.
      I am going to have to ask Brook again about what she is going to be. I keep forgetting. She is having fun doing this so that is a good thing. She was so scared to start high school and she is doing so well there. We all just started calling her Brook and not her full name I am not sure why.
      That is great news that Steve is out of the hospital and in rehab. He really came thru that. Prayers really do work. Hope that the rehab goes as well as the hospital stay. He will be home with his family really soon.
      Maybe they will beat that team again this time. It takes so long for them to play these series. Which the play offs were shorter then the games they play to win the world series. It takes so long now for them to get to the main event.
      The play sounds really good. It was smart of you and Greg to use the valet parking. It kept Greg from getting soaked. That was nice that you got to go to dinner and then to the play. That was a really nice evening. I am waiting for Danyielle to call me and tell me she got tickets for us to go see a play again. I love to go to plays.
      This coming week-end we are going to the chicken and dumpling dinner. That is always really good. Owen will not get to come with because he has to go to his dad’s. He was a little disappointed but he told me maybe next year he could come with us. I may try and get Aliza and take her with us. She would love going. Will just have to bring her booster seat so she will be able to sit at the table. They have a high chair there but she does not like to sit in them anymore. She is a big girl. lol
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      Well we all have those times when our brains go on a mini vacation. I use whatever apples that they have at the store. I do not think that I have ever used a certain kind. Apples just taste really good no matter what kind they are.
      I have not watched the quacker show yet. I have it on the dvr and will watch it later. That kitty shirt if it is the one that I am thinking of is really cute. Maybe later on in the year you will be able to get one of them. Maybe they will have them on easy pay or something. That is the best time to buy them.
      That is such a cute picture of Jewel. She must have been really tired she made such a big yawn. She is such a pretty cat. How long have you had her? She must be a lot of company.
      It is a shame that the tray had flaws on it. I do not buy that much temptation so do not have any problems with what I have bought. I do have one set of baking dishes from them. But it is really old.
      It has been cold here but is suppose to warm up later. That would be really nice. I am afraid that we are going to go right into winter and not have much of a fall. It is either really hot or cold. Crazy weather. Glad that you are having such nice weather. You needed to have nice weather with what you have had all summer.
      I like all of your fall pictures that you posted. You always find the cutest ones. I really liked the water fall. Well that is about all from here have a great night.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      Those pics are so cute- they did make me smile. Thank you for posting them!
      I use a combination of apples- a sweet one and a tart one- I never us the same apples in the whole pie. Plus, I usually get the ones that are on sale. The granny smith ones hold up well, and do not get mushy.
      I ended up changing my mind on the cardigan, as I could nor see myself in grey on the holidays. So, I ended up with nothing from the show. that is fine, as I really just like to watch the happy people having fun. I am like you, I would love some Halloween shows.
      My friend is still in the Neurological ICU. No change. The parking garage and hospital have elevators. When you walk from the garage to the hospital entrance, it goes up a small hill. Most people would not be bothered by the incline. I have a very hard time with any inclines- up or down. I will try to google the hospital, and see if I can get a pic of what I am taking about.
      It is sunny and pretty here today- but chilly. A very typical Fall day. I had to put the heat on as it was only 59 in here….LOL I had to give in, and not wait until I bake something. Not sure what I will be making today. Maybe a corn bread, as I forgot to get zucchini for a zucchini bread. I love those in the Fall. Or, I could do a Date Nut Bread. I always have dates store din the fridge.
      I hope your day is sunny. but, you still need some rain, according to the TV as the fires are still goign out your way. I am glad they have been able to get more of a hold on them. It looks like California was bombed to the ground. I saw on TV that one person found their dog, and that was so good to see.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      We will have to watch to see if we see her on an advertisement for a play on Broadway. I hate when they change aorund the characters you like.
      Wow- we never had that much trouble with any of our Jeeps. One had constant issues with brakes, and we ended up trading that one in pretty quick. I found out later that it was some defect in the brakes that year. Apparently, they had one part of the brake made in one country, and the other in another country, and they did not match up well.
      I did not have any nightmares last night, so that is good. that scared the be Jesus out of me, as my heart was racing so fast. I tried to calm it down with breathing slowly.
      They only had one new top on the show. I really wish they did more for Halloween. Everyone seems to go right to Christmas. I hate that Hallmark starts the holiday movies a weekend before Halloween. We never get to enjoy the Halloween season…LOL
      I did not get any complaints on the soup last night- hallelujah! Bobby even had some before I cooked the noodles, as he wanted the broth for his cold.
      I hope your sun is shining- it is bright over here for a change. Always makes you feel better when the sun is shining.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail
      How are your SIL’s wedding plans coming? Weddings are such happy occasions. What will you be wearing? What is Greg singing?
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Adele,
      Just wondering how your friend is doing. Sorry to hear you can’t get to her. that’s a shame. Still sending prayers for her.
      We’re bracing for some heavy rain Thurs. First real fall storm of the yr. The leaves are still on the trees so that will present problems.
      Not much going on right now.
      dd

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    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      I hope that she really does well in some other series or on Broadway. She may not even go to broadway but it just seems like a lot of the stars that leave tv go there. Will be watching for her.
      Our jeep just does not do well. I think that we got a lemon. Ours is a 2006 so it was a little older then yours was. We will get another used car as Ron thinks that as soon as you drive a new car off the lot it is a used car. I keep telling him that every time we buy a used car we buy someone elses troubles. Can’t win with him. Found another soup that he does not like so will have to start fixing it when he does not listen to me. It is the squash soup. lol
      I am so glad that you have not had anymore nightmares. That must have been really bad if your heart was pounding like that. Hope that you do not have anymore.
      They use to have so many cute Halloween shows. I like the one about the headless horseman. I cannot remember the name of it though. Those stupid Friday the 13th movies are not good Halloween shows. They just scare the kids and they do not want to go to bed after they see them. I also like that one about the witches. Bette Midler plays in it. I cannot think of who all plays in it but it is cute and the one Ernst Scared Stupid is another good one. When our kids were younger they played those movies all the time and we all liked to watch them.
      That was good that you had no complaints. That was good that Bobby drank some of the broth that will really help with his cold . Hope that you did the same and it helped your cold. I am going to make some squash soup this week-end. I have not had any since Melissa was here. We are going to have Aliza here this week-end. She is coming Saturday and staying until Sunday. We are taking her to the chicken and dumpling dinner. She will really enjoy that. We always have such a good time with her. It will be nice because she wanted to stay the last time that she was here.
      Well that is about all from here. Maxine is still in my prayers and all of your family is also. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      I hope your cold is feeling better today. What was Winnie’s surprise for you?
      That was so kind of you to remember your SIL on her birthday. I’m sure this first one without her husband was tough. I’m glad she was able to go out to dinner with family. All those “first” milestones are always very hard.
      You could have worn the cardigan over a red t-shirt or something. I just figure the color doesn’t matter that much as it is the embellishment that makes it look festive. I jumped on that tee with the dogs and the sled. I missed it last year so I was glad to get it this year.
      I had the guy here to clean and check the furnaces yesterday and one of them needs a bunch of stuff done to it so it is totally shut down until he gets the parts and comes back to fix it. Fortunately we have two furnaces and besides that it’s 70 again so we only need it at night anyway. The one he’s repairing is almost 15 years old so hopefully it will last another few years before it has to be replaced.
      My SIL is having a busy week-yesterday she went out to lunch with her fiancee’s daughter and granddaughters and today her best friend from grade school is taking her out to the casino. It’s a good thing she’s feeling better after having the shingles.
      Greg is singing the Wedding Song by Peter Paul and Mary-if you don’t remember it I’m sure it’s on YouTube-you can check it out there. He has sung it at countless weddings. I’m not positive what I am wearing yet. Right now I’m thinking Bob Mackie black flowy pants and a Bob Mackie royal blue and black embellished top-however-I need to try them on to make sure they still fit. lol Sometimes those outfits shrink in the closet. lol I will need to find some sort of flat dressy shoe to wear though-that’s why summer weddings are easier as you can wear sandals. We will go in that weekend on Friday as Greg’s brother from Minnesota and his wife will arrive that day too. We have already arranged to stay at the same hotel as them on Friday and Saturday night so we can visit with them too as we haven’t seen them in awhile either.
      Greg is in Chicago the next couple of days rehearsing for the concerts on Friday and Saturday. So no cooking!
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi DD,
      Jewell looks so happy and comfortable. Is that her picture looking out the window from the cat tree too?
      I have no recommendation for apples as i have never made an apple pie. I am not a big pie baker plus I know it’s unAmerican but I am actually not a big fan of apple pie. I will eat it especially if it’s warm and a la Mode but it is never my first choice. My favorite is strawberry pie but they are hard to find without rhubarb in them. My second favorite is peach pie.
      Gail

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Colleen,
      Tell your brother Happy Birthday-now you can’t ever forget my birthday as it is the same as his. lol I think he’s the baby so he must be younger than me. (if he’s younger than 39 lol)
      If you don’t remember The Wedding Song you can probably find it on You Tube if you want to refresh your memory.
      I’m glad Brook is enjoying high school. I think we were all afraid going to high school. I can remember I was as I was going from the small Catholic school to the bigger public high school and having a locker and changing classes for the first time. But once you do it it’s not so bad and then it just becomes second nature.
      Well it’s do or die tonight for the Cubbies as they have lost the last three games to the Dodgers and if they lose tonight the Dodgers will go to the series. They just can’t seem to score. They start the games so late-at eight- that I fall asleep before it’s over. I know it’s because of the time difference between here and California but it makes the game end so late here.
      I want to come to the chicken and dumpling dinner. It always sounds so good to me. I hope Aliza can come and go with you and Ron. Is this the place where they have the auction that you make the potato salad for-or is it a different church? Or am I totally confused? it wouldn’t be the first or the last time. lol
      I am looking forward to the two Choirboys concerts this weekend. This will be the first time I will have heard them together since they added the fourth person. It should be fun. Plus I don’t even think I will have to sell CD’s during intermission as there are no new ones to sell.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD!
      thank you for asking and praying. She is not good. her brother said yesterday that she is deteriorating. Today, no change, but they moved her to a regular room. My friend Winnie, who is a nurse, said they do that when the end is close. quieter, and more private for the family, and patient.
      I am still praying for a miracle, as well as her family. I intend to get there end of week, or over the weekend, as one of the Minnions will be available to go with.
      I feel like taking down all my Halloween decorations. Maxine loved Halloween, or should I say loves Halloween.
      Your kitty looks so different with her haircut. She is still adorable. What pretty colors in her fur.
      Hope the rain has a positive affect on all remaining fires.
      hope your day is going well. Did you see Kevin Saves the World? I love that show.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      OMG….I want to go to the chicken and dumpling dinner. I just told Gary the mid west has some cool Fall events. I still have not made it to the farm for apples. LOL
      I hope you win, and you get a new car. they come with great warranties, and Ron would not have to fix anything.
      The Bette Midler movie is The Witches of Eastwick. The headless horseman one has Ichabod Crane as the main character. The name is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
      Did you see Madea’s Halloween movie form last year? I ought it the wrong way from Amazon, and have to watch it on my laptop…LOL
      My friend is deteriorating, according to the family. I am trying to get there the end of the week, or on the weekend. Read my post to Dd for what Winnie said. I am still praying for a miracle.
      I hope you have a great time with Aliza this weekend. I know you will!
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Colleen,
      The movie with Bette Midler is Hocus Pocus I think-it has two other actresses with her. It’s going to be on all day on Halloween on Dish channel 180. Plus I think that’s also the channel that they are playing Halloween movies on starting tomorrow.
      Hope there’s some cute ones. I like to watch the one about Spookly the pumpkin who saves Halloween with the grandkids. I think it may be on Disney channel or may Nick Jr.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Gail
      You must be so proud of Greg for his singing at the weddings, and with the Choir Boys. That is such a fun thing. Takes a lot of work on the boys’ parts, though.
      That was a good idea to stay with them at the hotel. you can spend more quality time with them and that is always good. I bet Greg is excited. Are Jenny and the kids going too?
      My cold seems to have disappeared. No more fever, and my ears do not feel funky. So, that is good.
      Winnie brought me a gorgeous Fall wreath that is hand made. You would not believe how pretty it is. Someone made it for her. She soad they make Christmas ones too. She is such a good friend. Thoughtful too.
      I am attaching a pic of one of the coyotes- Bobby took it last night.
      Amanda came by this am, before work. So did Marissa. Marissa had an interview today for a promotion. her manager said it went very well. She will hear in the next day or so, if she gets the promotion. I hope she does, as she would be devastated if she does not. It was nice to see both of them for a few minutes, before they started their shifts.
      I forgot to ask…which weekend is the wedding? you know, my friend Maxine is a Justice of the Peace. She was supposed to do the ceremony in November for her nephew’s wedding. This is such a shame.

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    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      The other two in the movie are Sarah Jessica Parker and is it Kathy Najimy.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      OMG….did I miss the Gailster’s birthday???????
      Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you…….
      I forgot about the Hocus Pocus movie.

      Gail….hope they fix the boiler, and that it does not give you anymore problems over the winter, or future winters. They do not make things like they used to. remember when you bought a house that had the original boiler in it? Not anymore!
      I totally agree with the first being the worst. That is exactly why we did it. She is such a lovely person, and I hope we do nto lose ocntactover the years. We call her once a week to see how she is doing.
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      Thank you for the birthday wishes. I had a nice visit with Jenny and the kids and we had pizza and birthday cake and the kids drew me cards so it was a good night. Greg was in the city rehearsing for yesterday and today and will be home tonight. You are right they do put in a lot of work as they are perfectionists. It comes from all those years of training under Father O’Malley. Many times at the concerts they publicly thank their wives for giving up all the time to let them rehearse. This time it will be just me and Nan again as Bill’s wife has something else going on and Larry’s wife was scheduled to come but they had an emergency come up at home with their new home so she had to stay back and take care of it. It is worth it for them though as they love that their singing is able to be used to earn money for worthy causes.
      I am glad that you are feeling better. That was so nice of Winnie to bring the wreath. I would love to see it. You shouldn’t take down your Halloween decorations-Maxine would never want you to do that-she would want you to look at them and enjoy them and think of her and her love of Halloween.
      How sweet of Marissa and Amanda to stop by and see you before their shifts. I wonder if there is an ulterior motive in case there are any goodies in the house that they can sneak off with before work. lol They know grandma usually has something good cooking. lol
      Interesting to see the picture of the coyote. I know they are out running around here but you don’t really see them at night-however I’m sure the pond attracts all sorts of wildlife to stop and take a drink also. We don’t see the coyotes much but we do see their droppings.
      It’s funny to hear the furnace called a boiler. That’s back from the days of steam heat. I know you use oil and we use propane. We had oil in our old house. By the way, I was under the impression that they were supposed to be back with the parts to fix the furnace today and so far no one has called or showed up so as soon as I get off here I need to call them as we are under some time constraints to get this done.
      My SIL’s wedding is Nov. 11th-Veterans’s Day. I remember my Dad was buried on that day back in 1982-along time ago now-both kids were babies then. It makes me sad that they never knew their grandpa-he would have loved them so and had so much fun with them. Anyway, this will be something happy on that day now. She decided not to invite her nieces and nephews as they live all around the country and many have little kids and she knows it’s kind of a hardship for those that would have to fly in to pay for the plane tickets for themselves and their kids. It’s a small wedding with about 35-40 people invited and there will be the ceremony and a dinner following but no dance floor or DJ or anything so it would be kind of boring for young kids. My big problem is what in the heck to get them for a wedding gift. I’m hoping for a lightning bolt of inspiration to hit me very soon. An older couple certainly does not have a registry and I’m not giving them money so I’m thinking it needs to be something personalized. I need some divine inspiration.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gailster
      Sorry I missed the date of your birthday.
      That is a really small wedding. Sometimes the small ones are a lot of fun, even without music. Greg could sing….LOL
      How about a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant, and or breast place? That way it is definitely something they will use, and think of you and Greg every time they eat out.
      I will try to get a pic of the wreath, and post it here.
      It is a disaster here. the electric company is outside. they were supposed to just connect the new underground lines, and they found out we had an issue on our property. So, they began digging up our driveway, and 2 places in the lawn. One electric guy got zapped- I think that is when they noticed we had a problem. he was no hurt enough for medical attention- lucky! Gary had to move vehicles twice- the first time we were still in bed.
      So tomorrow they say we will have no electricity for a few hours. I am not telling Tillie as she will freak out. Gary is taking her for her hair cut tomorrow. I hope this mess does not prevent her going. She is taking her shower later today, so she really should not be affected by no electricity.
      No change with Maxine today. I have trouble sleeping at night. I think of her in the hospital bed, and not being able to communicate with anyone. I wonder if she can process what she hears, and feels trapped in her body. I know they said the scans showed no activity, but, who really knows what a person can hear and process?
      I hope Barbara and Sue are ok. Sue liked something I posted on Facebook, so I hope she is ok.
      My neighbor is calling the police today about the coyotes. We are hoping they will realize they are a threat, as they are not supposed to be out in the daytime with people all around.
      Amanda tries to stop by at least once a week. She had 2 cups of coffee here yesterday, and I told her she was gong to be flying out of here….LOL She didn’t want anything to eat- did not even take a cookie. What was up with that??
      Marissa ran in to give me my order from Clinique she picked up- also did not take any cookies. Very weird. I tell you, if they were chocolate chip cookies, they wound not live to the next day.
      I am off to try to get a pic of the wreath next……
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      I hope this is the wreath….LOL
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Don’t know how to see this.
      Adele, you suggested to get my SIL a certificate to their favorite restaurant or breast place. I know it’s a typo and i can usually figure it out but this one has me stumped. A gift certificate to a strip club? A plastic surgeon? a mammogram? Please explain as my mind is churning with all the possibilities.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Gailster…
      LOL LOL LOL

      OMG- a breakfast place. This auto correct is getting me in a lot of trouble. On the other hand, it is giving us a lot of laughs!
      Adele

      I have no idea why those pics loaded so weird- Ill tyr again….did not work.

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Colleen, I’ll hop on my broom & be right out for that chicken & dumpling dinner!!!! Sounds yummy. Somebody else’s cooking always tastes better than your own. I hope you get a new Jeep or new car. You’re right about getting someone else’s problems with a used car. Altho nowadays you can take a used car to another mechanic you trust to go over it & see what he has to say about the car. I learned the HARD WAY with used cars. With computers now you can check out the car too. I would do my homework before leaping into it. Be careful.

      Oh Adele, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. LOL. Once I read your explanation it made sense. Any news on Maxine?

      Gail, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!! Sorry I’m late. the pic of Jewell looking out the window was probably taken last yr. Not sure. We have a flock of crows here & they head for downtown as it’s getting dark. She was watching them as they flew away. I think she’s grown bored with watching them now. When I see them flying around I try to get her to watch, but she isn’t interested. Her fur is coming in thick from the haircut. Sounds like we’re in for another wet winter again. Hopefully not as cold tho.
      It’s a dreary, wet, miserable day today. was glad my Dr. appt. was yesterday & not today. My Dr. said my vascular test came out fine. There’s good blood flow in my legs. And I don’t have to go back to the vascular Dr.. I can save myself a trip & copay. My Dr. was on vacation when the Ca. fires broke out. Him & his wife were camping down in the area where the fires broke out & they had to get out in a hurry. He said the winds were so bad the trees were coming down, which knocked down power lines, most likely starting the fires. Sure glad they were able to get out!!!
      With all the rain that’s coming this weekend, it better put out the rest of the fires!!! I cannot believe they’re not out completely by now.
      I’ve never watched Hocus Pocus, but I hear it’s cute. Not scary. There’s another Disney movie about a Haunted Mansion that was on today on Freeform channel. It used to be The Family channel.
      For just a second I thought I’d lost my post. I better go before I do & have to start over.
      Have a good day tomorrow
      dd

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    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Everybody,
      Well we are having electrical problems. The electric is off on one whole side of the house. Well not all of the house it is the dinning room an half of the kitchen. It is weird. We do not know what will work and what won’t. Ron tried fixing it today but nothing he tried worked. So we will have to find an electrician. This is such a bad time for this to be happening.
      Adele I am so sorry to hear about Maxine. I agree with Gail though. Maxine would be so upset with you if she knew that you were going to take down all of your Halloween decorations. She would not want you to do that because of her. I would keep them up in her honor. What a fun way to keep her in your memories. That was funny that you were sending Gail’s sil to a breast place. That would be hard for her new husband to enjoy. lol. My kids would never turn down a cookie. Maybe Marissa was a little nervous since she was going for an interview for a permotion. I hope that she gets it. We will say a prayer for her and are still praying for Maxine. I believe in miracles also. I hope that you can post a picture of the wreath Winnie gave you. She sounds like such a nice lady.
      Gail that is nice that you got to spend some time with Jenny and the kids. Home made cards are so much better then the store bought ones. Kids can make some really cute cards if they want to. They seem to mean a lot. That will be a nice wedding and it is nice that Greg is going to sing. That will mean so much to his sister. It is just so nice that the Choir Boys sing at all these concerts and donate the money to different charities.
      Well that is about all from here. If I am not here for a day or two that means that the electric is off completely and they are working on it. Hope that it is something simple. To get on here I have to get an extension cord and plug it into the out let in the bedroom. Now if we just remember it is there and do not trip over it. .lol
      Have a great night.
      Colleen.
      p.s. You are both welcome to come to the dinner with us. Yes it is with the same church that has the auction.

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      Just hop on over. We would be glad to have you go with us. The ladies at the church always make such good chicken and dumplings. We have gone to this for a lot of years. If they ever stopped doing it we will really miss it.
      I like your scary pumpkins. They are so cute. Will have to show Aliza she likes pictures like that.
      Well that is about all. The rest of the news about our electricity is on the other post. We are just having all types of bad luck today.
      Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Colleen,
      I hope you checked the circuit breaker before anything else. From the way you talked just part of the house sounds like a circuit overload shutting off the circuit breaker. If that isn’t it, I wonder if an animal, like a squirrel chewed thru some wires somewhere. They’ve been known to spark transformers cutting off electricity to homes out here. I hope it’s an easy fix.
      dd

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey everyone
      Just a quick up date. First the good news. Marissa got the promotion. I am thrilled, and we will be doing some celebration soon.
      Maxine died today. A few hours ago. I can’t believe I am even writing that sentence- Maxine died today.
      I am a little raw. Lat night, Tillie told me she had a big black spot in her eye and could not see. Off to the ER as they thought it could be a stroke the retina separated. We were sent from our local hospital, to Tufts in Boston, as Mass Eye and Ear was not accepting more patients last night. Very long, emotional night. The good news here is, it is a bleed in the back of her retina. She came home with us, and this eye needs to be monitored by a retina specialist, to make sure her body absorbs the blood, and it does not get worst.
      Tillie was refusing to go to the hospital, and I ended up saying that she can’t do this to e. Should something happen in the middle of the night, it is on my watch, and I would never forgive myself. So, off we went in our Quacker Halloween finest, to the joy of all whom we encountered.
      As Gary and I left our local hospital, we encountered a man who had coded, and his wife and daughter who walked in after the stretcher ( they were on top of him trying to keep him alive), and who reminded me of me and my Mom, when my Dad went south. As luck would have it, we were goign to the very hospital in Boston that killed my Dad, as I often say. I Have hated big hospitals since 1988. I do admit, they have changed. they were very attentive, and treated her like a person- the doctor even called today to follow up.
      Please say a prayer for Maxine’s good soul, and her family’s awful loss.
      Every day s a gift. Every dam second of every dam minute. To be cherished, in our sparkly Quacker finest. We can’t ever forget that, not for one second.
      Gary and I are exhausted. But, we are alive, and tired bones recover. I am blessed for all the people I have in my life, and the ones I no longer have. I have friends who I see, and friends who I write to. Many people do not have that. Thank you for being my friends.
      Love, and prayers Adele
      Here is a pic of (from the left) Nancy, Gerald, me and Maxine.

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    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Hello everyone. Hope you all are doing okay. Sorry to hear about your electrical problems, Colleen. I am with everyone else; we could all use a big bowl of those chicken and dumplings. It seems you have been going for quite a few years to this event. Don’t you usually buy a little something from the auction? Hope you all have a great time.
      Happy belated birthday, Gail. I know you are just a young whiper snapper compared to my “extended” years. All you girls are younger than me I think. I earned all these gray hairs, and here recently I know I have earned some more. But thankfully the fires are dying down and they expect rain this weekend; but Neal is now very sick. He has the same thing Sarah had. He went to the Dr. yesterday; and they gave him strong medicine; and he had to miss work today. We are worried so much about him and the baby; since he is right there with Neal, and Sarah went to work. I know how hard it is to keep up with a little one when you are so sick. And the baby had those dark circles under his little eyes when we skyped a few days ago. He was able to help Sarah when she was so sick because of them shutting down his tower due to the fires; but now, well, I don’t know what to say so I guess I won’t say anything. I know he is grown; and he will do whatever he has to do; but he just never calls in and misses work; and so because he had to then we know he is really really sick. So prayers please.
      Adele, we have coyotes here too. I used to be studying about two or three in the morning when I was in nursing school, and a pack would come through, and they would be howling and yipping up a storm, and I kept thinking, what if someone was getting out of their car or something, would the coyote run away or what? You all be careful. Most of the ones I have ever heard of try to avoid people and run when they see or hear you. Hope Tillie is doing well, and your Mom too Colleen. I must say that I feel like the other ladies, that your dear friend Maxine would want you to honor her by leaving your decorations up. Just think of how much joy it brings to all those who see it. She must be a good lady for you to care so much. Will continue to pray for her and her family and you.
      How is Greggs’ friend that was sick, Gail? Or do I have this mixed up? It is so hard for me to keep up with names and well, let’s face it, just about everything these days. Jerry is doing pretty good with his back. The change in the temp. always makes his back ache late in the evening; but I have really been keeping a close eye on him and everytime he goes to pull a vine or try to bend over too much I fuss. He said to me one day that he truly does think I have eyes in the back of my head. LOL I said well as loud as you play that TV fussing at the news; I KNOW I can hear better than you ha ha.
      We have been “doggie sitting” this week too on top of everything going on. Joey and Lisa are in Fla for the week. We have the bulldog. She is an inside puppy and so sweet and gentle to us, but has to be on a leash outside. She is short and very stout, and loves to be close to us. I really feel sorry for her; since she spends a lot of time alone, not because no one is home with Joey a night nurse, and Lisa a day ortho tech, but because she has to adjust to both of them being asleep during most of her days and nights. But she loves them, and gets along really well with all the other puppy dogs, and our kitty just bosses her around. They lay right next to each other, and play together. So we don’t have to worry about that. Joey called us last night, and he said he just can’t believe that his week is almost over. I said son, that is always how it goes with vacations. He was so sweet though, he said he wanted us to come with them sometime, so we could all just sit and relax. I know you all are wondering how they are doing relationship wise, and honestly, I stay as far away from asking anything. I am probably wrong, but we just don’t know what to say or do about them. Jerry did talk to Joey, and told him that all we want for them is happiness and love for each other, and NOT to waste their life and wake up one day and ask why?
      Better close for now. Your pictures are surely cute, DD. Our kitty needs a haircut, but do you not have to give him some sort of sedative or something for them to cut his hair? I know our Auto Kitty would not be happy but he surely does shed. But he is our baby, and he knows he rules the roost at this house ha ha. Take care to all. Your pal down South, Barbara

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Adele, so sorry about Maxine. Just read this as I was waiting for my chatter to post. Gosh, I can’t believe that this was going on as I was writing to you all. She certainly was a beautiful lady; just like you. And you are so so right, every second, every minute is a gift from God, and we are on this beautiful earth he created for us for as many days as he has reason for us to be. My heart aches for you and all those who loved her and will miss her. God bless you, Adele, and your beautiful loving heart. She had a wonderful friend in you. Hugs and love from Barbara

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen
      I hope you got your electricity repaired. That can be scary.
      There is a great pic of Gail on Facebook that Jenny posted with her little cutie Piper. Go Gail!
      I am trying to read all the posts, so I hope I get through them tonight- if not, I will tomorrow.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey DD
      Please read my sad post on today and last night. My friend has gone on to a different life.
      I am so happy your vein tests came out ok. I love good news.
      I am glad you are getting the much needed rain. We are in a drought- can you imagine? With all the rain we had, we have had none in a couple of weeks.
      Love your Halloween pics!!! love your pretty kitty!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Barbara
      Thank you for all your kind words about Maxine. She was a wonderful person. she brought a lot of joy to people’s lives- her friends, and family.
      I hope the fires will end in California. I will say a prayer for Neal to get better. Bobby has that awful cold, and I think i now have it. I thought I had it last week, and it disappeared. It came back last night.
      It sounds like Joey and Lisa have been getting along well. I hope it stays that way. I also pray for you and Jerry to have a good relationship with Lisa. It is so hard to be a MIL.
      It sounds like you are having fun with their puppy. I have heard bull dogs are a great family pet. They do look kind of amusing though.
      I have not baked, as they have been working on our outside electricity. they were replacing the old underground lines. they finished today. We got home at 6:00 am, and they shut off the electricity at 8:30 am. Let me tell you what that means. It means my smoke alarms go off, and say….danger, carbon monoxide warning”, until the electricity is back on. I got out of bed, opened 2 bedroom windows, and laid back down. I think the Sky Boss is testing my endurance today. I say…”uncle, I give up”. then add that the kitchen TV automatically came on, when the electricity was put back on- had to shut that off too. I just gave up, and got out of bed around 11:00. There was no sleeping in this house today. god bless Tillie, she slept through the whole thing, as she is very hard of hearing.
      Hope you and everyone else in your family are ok, and nobody else got, or gets sick.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      PS, Missy Barbara…
      My heart is too tired today to be loving…LOL It feels like it is getting cranky. I always told Maxine we are allowed one day for a pity party. I think tomorrow will be my day.’
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      My dear Adele, I’m soooo very sorry to hear of Maxine’s passing. You go ahead & have a pity party to your heart’s content. You deserve one, or two or three with all you’ve been thru this week! I’m with the others about keeping your décor up in honor of her. Keep it up & remember the good times you had with her. And do it all yr long with all your other décor. I’m sorry about Tillie & her eye. that must’ve been scary for all of you. Sending lots of love & hugs your way!!
      Barbara, I heard they’re gonna be having rain in the next few days. We’re in for a doozy of a storm this weekend! Its gonna be a sloppy one for sure. They’re talking inches of rain coming in. We’ll find out just how bad the fire scarred the Gorge this weekend, with landslides/mudslides, etc.
      If you ever encounter a coyote, make as much noise as possible, bang two pans together, or something like that. Just make a lot of noise. Don’t turn your back to any wild animal as that’s their que to give chase.
      As for Jewell, I have a groomer that makes “house calls”. And they have two people to do the grooming, one to hold, one to groom. If she gets nasty they have a cone to put around her neck separating her head from them. It isn’t cruel, you’ve seen them on pets that have had some kind of surgery & they put the cone on so the animal can’t get to the incision.
      I was able to get out today, go to the store. The rain stopped this afternoon giving me a window of opportunity to go. It’s pretty bad when you look forward to getting out to go to a store.
      Say, I may have come upon a way to ease the pain in my legs, without pills. I ordered that Home Medics massager they sell on the q. they’re clearing it out so I got it on 6 easy pay. I’ve used it on my legs & they feel a lot better. I had it on my lower back tonight as I wrote this. It feels soooo good!! I’m hoping it’ll work so I won’t have to go on meds.
      Well, I guess that’s all for tonight. I may have to build an ark before the weekend is over. lol. One good thing is, most of next week we dry out with sunny weather, & warm temps. They’re calling it an atmospheric river headed our way. It reaches all the way out to Japan!!!
      Take care.
      dd

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    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      I am so sorry to hear about Maxine. That is just so sad. I will be praying for her family and for you. I know that this is hard on you. You had a really good friend in her and you were a good friend also.
      That was good that you got Tillie to go to the emergency room. At least she knows that this can go away and is not permanent. It is hard when we have to fight with our moms to get them to do what we know is best for them. My mom is the same way. Tillie is in my prayers also.
      Maxine looks like such a sweet person. All of you do. Did you and Maxine work together also? You are such a good friend that is why you have so many good friends around you.
      How exciting for Marissa. I bet she was so happy she was on cloud nine. Is Marissa the one that is going to college and working? She must stay busy all the time. At least you had some good news today.
      we do have to cherish every moment we are still on this earth. We are lucky that we are as healthy as we are. We have our families and friends around us to keep us company. Even if it is just chatting on here.
      We are in the process of trying to find an electrician. We want to get a couple of estimates and then check them out at the better business bureau. Then we can choose. It will be hard to find one that will not charge us an arm and a leg.
      Well that is about all from here my friend. God watch over you tonight and always.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      We have checked everything out. We have changed the breaker thinking that maybe that was it and checked all the plug ins but that was not it. So it has to be a wire that has been chewed in half or something like that. We have the electric off on that side of the room so we will be okay until we find an electrician.
      I love the pictures that you put on here. The shirts that you posted were really cute. I like the pictures of all the Snoppy’s stacked on top of each other. That looked like a really nice top.
      I really hope that all the rain will stop the fires. That has lasted a long time. That has been burning all summer hasn’t it? Fires are so scary because you can never save everything and once it burns there is nothing you can do. The way they are talking the fires in California are slowing down also. I hope that they get the rain that they are supposed to get.
      We have a lot of wild life out here. We even get turkey buzzards that try to get our guineas. We only have two left now and they are both males. We are not going to try and raise anymore of them. Every time that you get them started something will get them and eat the eggs that the females lay. It is really sad. What is bad about the coyotes they look like dogs so you have to be careful with little kids when they are around.
      I wondered about that massager. I may have to order one also. That may really help my back. Have you tried it on your shoulder? That may help it also.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a good night.
      Colleen.
      p.s, If you build an ark you will not have to fly on your broom to get her for chicken and dumplings you can just float down here. lol

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      The auction and the chicken dumpling dinner is at different times. We missed the auction this year it was right after we had Aliza for a couple of days and we were both really tired. Wish all of you could come down and eat chicken and dumplings with us. That would be a lot of fun. I quit making potato salad for the auction last year. It was just getting to be too much. I think that they just buy it now. No one likes to make it for that many people.
      My mom is doing great. If I live to be her age I hope that I get around as good as she does. The only thing is she is so skinny now and she has shrunk. She use to be as tall as me and now I am a lot taller. It just really surprises you when you first notice it. I know that it happens to all of us but it is a shock when it is your mom.
      Bull dogs are so cute when they are puppies. That is nice that you and Jerry are watching the dog for Lisa and Joey. You are better not knowing what is going on between the two of them. It just will make you worry and there is nothing you can do about what they decide to do. It does sound like they are just about back to where they were. All you can do is pray. Hope that they have a good time on vacation.
      Not much else going on here. Hope you have a good night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Adele,
      I am so sorry that you lost your friend Maxine. You have every right to have a pity party. Your tribute to her and to enjoying life to it’s fullest was very eloquent. I will be praying for her family. I will also be praying that Tillie recovers from the retinal bleed. I hope next time she needs to go to the hospital she won’t be so reluctant. The worry is exhausting enough without making a battle out of it.
      I hope you now get a good rest.
      Hugs from your friend,
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      I love the beautiful butterfly picture. i bet Gail will love it too. I did keep the decorations up. The King Richard’s Faire is today, and it is the last weekend for it. Maxine’s son is the King, and has been for years. I hope he went today, in her honor. But, I think that would be very hard to do. My Amanda is going to the Faire today, with her friends, and she will look for him.
      Marissa came by this morning, before she went to work, with pastures for all of us here. She sad she knew I was sad, and also wanted her Oma (that is what they call Tillie, it is Nana in German) to have one. She went downstairs to see her too, before she left.
      I am really blessed with my grandkids. Marine’s are the same way with her. I cannot imagine the hole in their hearts today, as I knwo how bad these kids would feel if something happened to me or my Mom.
      I took another pic of the wreath, and hope it attaches this time.’I hope you stay dry. I also hope all these awful fires will stop with all the rian the west coast is getting today.
      Love you!
      Adele

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      Electricians and plumbers are very expensive. But, their services are needed. Yuck. There are websites that give you service people in your area, and rate them. They stand behind them too. Home Adviser is one. That is where we got the carpenter who repaired our deck.
      Read my post to DD for all the news of the day.
      Gary is off at the dealership becalms one tire keeps losing air. plus, there are a couple of more things to checkout. We cannot sync his phone to the Jeep, so I hoe they do it and show him how….LOL I know the salesperson did it, but we cannot get it to sync. Either we are doing something wrong or it was not sync’d right.
      It is hard getting our Moms to do what they need to do. Tillie feels she should have died instead of Maxine. I told her not to say that. She has known Maxine and her family for generations. I knew Maxine form my neighborhood. We did a lot of political campaign work together in East Boston, as well as Girl Scouts, etc. We did a lot of volunteering for the city.
      I hope they fix your electricity fast, and all is back to normal. I also hope yo have a great time at the chicken and dumpling dinner!!!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Dd
      I forgot to say I hope the massager you got works on your back, and shoulders to make you feel betetr.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail
      Thank you for the kind words. I am watching all the comedy sit coms today. I want to watch funny things today. that will be my coping mechanism for today….LOL
      It is very exhausting to get Tillie to do what she needs to do. W e waited for over an hour to get her out of here. It made the night longer, but, I am glad she finally agreed to go, without having to call the EMT’s.
      Thank you for the prayers- we will be needing them for Tillie, for sure.
      Hope you have a good time this weekend. didn’t you have a concert? I hope you have sometime fun on the schedule. Loved your pic with the Piper!!
      Adele
      PS…..I have a miserable cold.

    • Anonymous
      Inactive
      Post count: 643

      Adele I am sorry to hear about your friend. I hope your Mom’s eye heals well. I don’t think anyone wants to go to the hospital but it is necessary sometimes. It was always a battle with my mom too & she held it against me until the day she died.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Sue
      So glad to hear from you. Thank you for the kind words. I seem to be saying that a lot lately.
      Why do our parents become so difficult when they need to do something? Tillie keeps saying she is almost 92, and I need to let her go. Can you imagine, she would prefer to die than go to the ER? God help us all.
      You did the right thing with your Mom, and she knows that. I know she appreciated all you did for her, even if she did not say it.
      Prayers for all of us today.
      Love, Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      I have heard of home advisors and will give them a try. I hope that we find one that will not charge us an arm and a leg. You are right about plumbers and electricians. They usually charge by the hour and that can get really expensive.
      If Gary is like Ron he will have a hard time figuring it out even if they fix it for him. Ron always says that he can use my phone. He keeps wanting to get rid of things on my phone and I keep telling him no. That is how he messed his phone up. Men are so stubborn.
      That is one of the hardest things to hear our mom’s say, why her or him and not me. God is not ready for them and he wants us to have them with us for a little longer. So that is why it is not them. I am so glad that you got her to go to the doctor. She really needed to go.
      How did Gary’s liver test come out? I hope that it was okay and he does not need another one for awhile. I am trying something new for my kidney health. It is that Azo they have been advertising. With the diabetes you get so many infections that I thought it could not hurt to try it. It might help Gary also. It has cranberry in the pill and cannot remember what else. I will let you know if it helps me or not.
      You have such loving grands. They are always thinking of you and coming over to see you. It was nice that she went down to see Tillie also. That may make Tillie feel a little better.
      I feel bad for Maxines family. They are all in our prayers. I hope that they can think of just the happy time with Maxine and not just the time when she was sick.
      That is a good idea to watch all the comedy’s today and tonight.That will help. I missed Blue Bloods again this week. Did anything interesting happen?
      I like your wreath it is really pretty. That looks nice where it is hanging right now. It really brightens up the room. I was going to tell you about Aliza. She calls me grand pa pa. She calls Ron pa pa. No matter what we try she will not call me grand ma or even grand ma ma. She had everyone laughing at the dinner today. She is a character.
      Well that is about all from here. You and your family are in my prayers also.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      it is hard to listen to, especially when you have people who just died, and nobody wanted them to die. I hope we never say that to our kids when we get older.
      Gary did not go for the liver test, as it was at 7:30 the morning we got in at 6:00 with Tilliie. there was no way he could have done it. he had to re-schedule it. It is on for Friday of next week.
      How did the chicken dumpling dinner go? I hope you took some pics for us to see.
      that is hysterical about Aliza. so, shall we call you Grand pa pa? OMG- that is just too funny. You know that name is now going to stick with her. I had an Aunt whose name I could not pronounce when I was little, so I called her Honey. That name stuck, and everybody called her Honey.
      Gary is no longer allowed near any electrical anything. When we had to up-grade the electricity form 100 to 200 amps, the electrician was beside himself with what he saw that Gary had done. so, he is not allowed to touch anything down there. I do not want an electrical fire….LOL
      Bobby is cooking short ribs today. He has wanted to do them for a while, and it should be cool enough for the oven on for hours. It is supposed to be near 70, but, we are supposed to get a cooler breeze this afternoon.
      Nothing very different happened don Blue Bloods. Both Erin and Danny solved a case. nothing much personally happened with any of the characters, that I can remember.
      Hope you have a good day. The wake is Tuesday, and the funeral Wednesday. I still have to get an appointment for Tillie to be monitored by a retina specialist. Did not get a date- called the 2 in the area, and have to call back tomorrow to see what I can do.
      Adele

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hello Everybody,
      Adele, I’m sorry it has been such a sad weekend for you. I hope that you at least got some rest.
      The wreath is quite beautiful.
      I hope things are going well with Tillie’s eye and there will be no complications and no fights about going back for a recheck.
      Tell Marissa congrats on the promo-Refresh my memory-does she work at Yankee candle?
      That was a picture of me and Piper and our matching Kirk’s Folly Halloween necklaces.
      I had to look up King Richards Faire but now I see it is a Renaissance Faire. We have one around here called The Bristol Faire named after the town of Bristol, WI that hosts it. We have been a few times over the years but I remember the last time i was totally grossed out by their privies-a huge square section of porta potties all of which were gross. Does anyone sense a recurring theme of me and the porta potties. I guess when I was young I didn’t mind so much but now they are mostly disgusting. I guess when I was young I never thought about germs and now I catch things easier so it is in the back of my head all the time.
      DD I’m glad that your vascular tests came out well. It sounds like the massager is really working well for you. How nice to have a mobile groomer. sometimes the animals are so stressed by having to go to a strange place to get groomed. Our animals liked going to the groomer as there were often other dogs that they knew there and she just kind of had them all out together and free flowing. I have the cutest picture that she took of our three sitting in the large crate together waiting to be groomed. I have very few of all three together as it was not easy to get them all still in the same place. I sure miss my pups.
      Colleen, it is weird that only half of your electricity is off. All plumbers and electricians and heating and AC people are expensive. By the same token we don’t want a “discount” electrician as they might not do a good job. So we just have to ” bite the bullet” and pay the price to hire the experts. I know that used to bug Greg but as he gets older he is more willing to hire people too do the work.
      That is funny that Aliza calls you grand pa pa. Our grands have it easy as I am Gigi. I like it and it’s easy for them.
      Barbara, I hope that Neal is feeling better and that Joey and Lisa had a fun vacation. I swear between them and you there must be a menagerie out there. I think you have a few dogs and Auto Kitty-do you still have Ellie? I thought she was Neal’s dog but maybe he didn’t take her with him. Plus I thought Lisa had Ruby who was a pit bull and I thought they had a bloodhound and maybe a coonhound and now a Bull Dog. Lisa sounds like the little kid who brings home every abandoned puppy that she finds. I would guess that things are okay between her and Joey as they are still together. I guess there’s really nothing you can do about it but sit back and watch and pray for the best for both of them.
      Barbara, I am now 69 so I think I am the elder of the group. I am wondering how this happened as it seems like yesterday I was turning twenty and celebrating with my friends from college.
      We did have concerts both Friday and Saturday nights. The one Friday night was tough as it was a banquet/fundraiser for the local farmers market and their program to help people on food stamps to be able to get fresh fruits and vegetables from the Farmer’s Market. It was a farm to table dinner and The Choirboys sang afterwards. The stage was not in a very good spot and the room was noisy but they got through the performance-some people enjoyed it and some who were just there to support the FArmer’s market could have cared less. The performance Saturday was a much better venue and many people were there to support ONP and to listen. Many kids were already adopted before the event even started and by the end of the night most of them were adopted so it was very successful. We usually adopt a child to buy gifts for but this year we have other things we will be doing and I can’t shop for the gifts and get them in by the needed date so we will just donate money. I always liked adopting and child and it was fun buying the gifts but maybe next year we can do it again.
      Gail

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Well, the rain is gone & we’re drying out. The coast got hammered & there’s flooding along the Oregon coast. I don’t know about around here. I haven’t seen or heard about any. Trees are down around the area. Now we’re set to dry out the rest of the week they say. There were alerts about landslides in the Gorge, but I haven’t heard if any happened. They could come later down the road.
      Adele, I hope you’re feeling better now. I lost a good friend of mine earlier this yr. It takes time to accept the loss. I’m starting to get my Christmas décor out to go thru. No, I haven’t put the tree up just yet, lol. I’ll wait till after Halloween. The wreath is beautiful. I couldn’t make one like that!! it takes a lot of talent to do that. I wish I could.
      Colleen, I hope you find an honest person to do the work on your house. I’m convinced it’s an animal that’s chewed thru the wiring somewhere. Since it’s in a specific area & not the whole house. Several yrs ago I was having trouble with my TV cable & couldn’t figure out what the problem was. they’d come out & check the connections & said everything looked fine. It wasn’t until they went up into the attic of the apt & found the wiring was chewed thru by an animal, a squirrel they said. He fixed the wiring & that fixed the problem. They love to chew thru wires. Even in cars!!!
      Well, I guess that’s about it from here.
      Have a great week.
      dd

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gailster!
      Do not feel ad about donating money instead of adopting a child for gifts. that way, they will have money for any child who is not taken care of, or a late comer. That is always a huge need.
      It sounds like you had a fun filled weekend of Fall fun. Greg and the Choir Boys must be very popular in your state. they seem to be a good group of men, who do so much for the community. They are blessed to have them.
      Marissa is stopping by before she goes to work, and I will tell her you are congratulating her, as well as the rest of my Quacker buddies. I am quite blessed to have all of you, your heartfelt words of support, and prayers.
      My poor friend Nancy is waiting for her nephew to leave this earth. They gave him hours to a week. So sad. The cancer spread to his spine, liver, and somewhere else. Nothing they can do, accpet make him comfortable.
      There are so many people sick, it is just awful. I started to pray on a Saint Jude novena site. they send you one prayer a day, to join on the needs of everyone. I find that comforting.
      The sun is shining. It will be leaving us tomorrow,and not returning until late Wednesday.
      I finally got the appointment for tillie’s eye with the retina specialist. I will not be able to make the funeral on Wednesday, unless a miracle happens. the funeral is at 11, and Tillie’s appointment at 1:15. Time and distance will not allow me to be at both. I know I have to take care of Tillie, as if I did not take that appointment, way too much time will have gone by to check the retina bleed.
      I hope your weather is a perfect Fall day!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD!
      I am glad you all go t the needed rain. I hope it does not cause any mud slides, as your area has had enough.
      I does take time to adjust to a friend being gone. I will fill up the Maxine time with needlepoint. She would like that. I already started a smaller 4 inch picture. i did one last spring, and I need to do 3 more small ones to surround a pic over my bed. I have a swag around that pic now, and it seems to collect dust. So, i will out 2 pics on top of each other, on either side of the big one in the middle. i still have not finished the really biog one for the other room….LOL
      You are so right- squirrels do a lot of damage to electrical lines. Bobby is always saying you never want one of them in an attic.
      I hope your day is good, and you are enjoying the Fall weather. Christmas decorations are happy, and we all need some happy.
      Adele

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Hope everyone is doing well today. How is your cold Adele? Glad you were able to get your Mom an appt. with the eye doctor. Really am hoping her dr. appt goes good. Has she ever had this problem before? Sorry for all the questions. Really glad about Marissa’s promotion. That is wonderful news. She must really be working hard, and it shows. Good for her.
      How are you grand pa pa Colleen? That is so funny. Little ones have their own reason for doing or saying the things they do; and it makes perfect sense to them. I love their innocence. How much difference in age is she and Piper? They are both so smart. I meant to ask how your little grandson is doing in school in Tn? I am so happy they like living there. It is a beautiful area where they are.
      The kids made the trip home good yesterday. It rained on them the whole way home; some of it stormy, but Joey said they just stopped and got lunch or drove slower since the traffic would get worse during the storms. He has a lot more patience than his Dad with other drivers. Jerry gets frustrated and starts fussing at the other people and I get nervous. I have seen so many people who have been badly hurt that I think it kind of scarred me and I guess that is one reason I get so nervous. Most of the time I just take a book to read to take my mind off the people speeding or texting or whatever.
      Yes Gail, we do have a housefull of puppy and kitty family. Neal and Sarah left Ellie, and yes there is a Blue Tic Hound, a bloodhound, Scrappy, Ruby and Auto Kitty. Our little beagle is gone on. That really hurt. I remember how you and Greg would take your puppy to the doctor. I know you really miss them. THey are our little precious friends.
      I love Kirks Folly jewelry too. I have several pieces. Do you know when they will have a show?
      Better go for now. Jerry is hungry. He went to see his Mom today. She is better. Take care all. Prayers and well wishes for all. Hugs, Barbara

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      It is hard when we lose someone and then to have our mother’s wondering why it was not them. There have been 4 of our cousins die in the last five years and my mom thinks that every time. We will have to remember to never say that to our kids just remember how it made us feel.
      That is good that he got it rescheduled again so soon. That was something that could not be helped. Taking care of Tillie’s eye was really important. Hope that the recheck goes well. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel.
      The chicken and dumpling dinner went really well. Aliza ate a lot of them and she really like them. She even ate some slaw. I think that they put a lot of sugar in it and that made it more appealing to her. They also had green beans with it and that made it even better. She is such a little character cannot wait until she comes back.
      Ron figured out what was wrong with the electric. We have electric all thru the house again. We had another outlet that had burnt. So he changed that one and everything came back on. I still think that we need to have an electrician here to check the electric out. That should not happen as often as it has. We are getting close to having all the outlets changed. Our roof was leaking yesterday so he had to fix that today to. We finally got some rain some good rain. It rained all day yesterday and last night. It was a slow steady rain and it really did the ground a lot of good. Hope we get some more soon.
      Everyone will understand why you cannot go to the funeral. You have to take care of Tillie. If you go to the visitation that will be the best thing that you can do. That will be a really hard time for all of them.
      How nice of Bobby to fix the short ribs the other night. He is such a good son. Even if he won’t eat everything that you cook. lol
      We will have Nancy in our prayers. She is going thru a rough time also.
      Colleen
      p.s. Your family and Maxines are in our prayers.

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Gail,
      It is hard to figure out why Aliza thinks that it is easier to say Grand pa pa the it is to say grand ma. Maybe one day she will get it right and we will have to give her a treat.
      Ron fixed the electric. He found another plug in that was burnt. We never thought of that one we very seldom use it. So we now have a new one there also. We do need to get an electrician and find out why they keep burning out like that. It really is a pain and worries me sometimes.
      We are all pretty close to the same age. I am 67 and I think that Adele is also. I am not sure how old Barbara is. I know that she has told us before but that is long out of my memory. Time does go fast. We were all just kids and had our whole life in front of us and now it is all done. Our kids are raised and some of our grand kids are also. We are lucky to be grand parents though.
      The choir boys really do a lot of good work for the community. It is a shame that the people did not listen to them at the farmers market. They should have had everyone sit down and listen.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      Ron found the problem and fixed it. We had a plug in that burnt. He had to replace it and then all the electric came back on in both rooms. We still need to have an electrician come over and figure out why this is happening.
      We finally got some rain. It was so nice to see it raining again. It rained all day yesterday and last night. It was a good soaking rain and that is what we needed. I am glad that you got the rain that you needed to put out the fires. They were really out of control for awhile there. Have not heard if California has gotten any rain to put out their fires yet. Sure hope that they have.
      We find squirrels nests in our car once in awhile. We have to get in there and pull it all out. We live in a bad area for that. Some years are worse then others with the squirrels. We have the two dogs that will run them off some times. They could have been chewing thru the wires we were just lucky this time that they weren’t.
      I love the pictures that you posted. The trees are so pretty. I like the old church also. What beautiful scenery.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      I cannot remember how much age difference there is between Piper and Aliza. I think that they is a couple of years or more. Aliza will be 2 in January but not sure how old Piper will be on her next birthday. They are both really cute though.lol
      The kids love school in Tennessee. Our grandson has three girls that like him and my granddaughter just really likes her teacher. It was a lot different then they thought it would be. The kids accepted them right away and did not give them any trouble. So it sounds like a really nice area. At least the kids have been taught to accept new people.
      Glad that Joey and Lisa got home okay. I know that you were glad to see them. Hope that they had a really good time while they were there. How is Neal and Sarah and Colin. Is Neal feeling better? I hope that the fires are out and all is well where they are.
      We do have our electric back on again. Ron fixed it. It was a plug in that had burnt. Still need to find an electrician to check all of this out. This house is wired really weird.
      I am glad to hear that Jerry’s mom is doing better. Just take care of yourselves.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Barbara, and everyone

      Maxine’s funeral was today. We stayed at the wake until almost 8:00 pm, and the line was still way out the door to get in. It was a wonderful tribute to a wonderful woman. i was not able to make the funeral as Tillie’s doctor appointment was too close to the Mass time. i know they did a great eulogy, and I hope they have it on paper, so I can read it. Tillie felt terrible about the eye appointment being at the same time. I told her Maxine would have insisted i take her, and not to feel bad about it.
      Tillie’s appointment was not quite as expected. She has macular degeneration. They are doing a shot in her eye, once a month, to see if it helps clear out the spot, so she can see, and hopefully lessen the loss of vision. She got the first shot today.
      What was extremely stressful was, I could not get a space at the hospital. they had 2 handy ones in the section she was to enter by, and both were full. So, I had Amanda take her up in a wheelchair, and I circled. The other parking lots were not close to the hospital, and that entrance you had o walk down a hill to get into the hospital. the spaces were way too far away for me to walk, so back to the other side I went. I even had to drive to my ortho doctors office, twice to pee, during the crazy time. I ended up talking by phone to Amanda on what to do, and never made it in. I felt awful leaving them alone for the shot. I was so mad at myself for being so unable to walk distances, and mad at the hospital for the lack of accessibility. Everyone says they are handicap accessible….if you are driven to the hospital door by a mobile person.
      You had to hear the discussion I had with a security guard who asked me to move the Jeep. My first sentence was….”you do not really want to ask me what I think you are goign to ask.” I gave him the whole spiel, and my utter disgust at their parking situation. People really have no idea that you cannot use a regular space, as you do not have enough room to open a door and get out without injury. He had me move a couple of feet, and told me nobody would ever bother me again while I was still there.
      i knwo what you are going to ask- no, I could not wheel Tillie in the wheelchair, to where she needed to go, so Amanda had to take her in. I had no idea those spaces would never empty out. I felt defeated by the universe. Not able to go to Maxine’s funeral, and then not able to get into the hospital for Tillie. Then add, that if she ends up being completely blind, how in the world will I be able to take care of her every day?
      We will have to re-work the doctor appointments, so i have one additional person to drive the Jeep aorund. I have to see what can be done to help in the home, if she goes blind. This sucks. The end of my Mom’s life should not be with no sight. She loves to watch her TV, and read her magazines. Dam.
      Hope everyone else is ok. I think the Sky Boss is testing me again. I guess he is not tired of making me jump through hoops. I, on the other hand, am tired of crawling through them….LOL this is my official, One Day Pity Party. I’ll be ok tomorrow.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      Please read the post to Barbara, for all the “pity party” news.
      I ca see little Aliza eating the dumplings. It must have been so cute. She brings you so much joy. All the little ones bring us joy. We are blessed to have them.
      I m glad Ron figured out the electricity. I would feel the same way as you, and want the electric checked out, as there are so many fires with an electrical or gas shortage. It is scary. I hoe you get someone to check it out quick.
      I am not sure I mentioned this- Bobby had to park 6 blocks away from the wake, due to all the people there. It was good to see how much she was loved by all.
      I am kind of tired, so I will sign off for now. I still have a couple more posts to read.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey girls…..I will be 68 in January.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Colleen and Barbara
      I am also glad Joey and Lisa are back safe and sound!!
      Adele

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      I am so sorry about Tillie’s eye. I was hoping that with what they said that it would be good news when you went. Maybe the shots will take care of it. We will be praying for her. I am glad that you made it to the wake. What a wonderful tribute to a wonderful friend. Did Tillie go to the wake with you? You are right Maxine would have told you to take Tillie to the eye doctor and not worry about it.
      I know that you felt really bad that you could not go in with Tillie. It is better that you stayed in the jeep and did not try to walk and hurt yourself. That would have really been a mess. It was good that Amanda was with you and could go in with her. I understand about parking lots at the doctors offices. That does not make sense that they are all so close together. It makes it hard on a person when they cannot get in and out of the car easily. Sounds like they needed a lot more handicap spaces. That was nice that the security guard let you park and made sure that no one bothered you. It is a shame that he did not let you park there and go in with your mom.
      You deserve to have a pity party. Things have been rough on you here lately. Now you need a couple of clam days where you can just sit and relax and not think about anything. I know that it is hard to do but that is what you need.
      I can understand why your are so tired. It was good that Bobby was with you and could drive around and find a place to park. That would have been too far to walk for you and Tillie. You have such a good family. They worry and take care of you and Gary and Tillie when you need them. That makes it really nice.
      Aliza is a joy to have around. She still is discovering a lot of things and is fun to watch. She is the only one that we have that is not in school and can spend time with us. We really do enjoy it. I know that you love being around all of your grands also. They sure do have a way of cheering us up.
      Well that is all from here. You are all in our prayers my friend and Maxine’s family is also.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      Thank you for the words of encouragement, and prayers.
      I went on line to find the Novena prayer to St Jude, and found an on line prayer site for the Novenas. Every day, they send you the prayer, with a new intention. I have found that comforting.
      I do not feel like cooking anything today. I know I should for Tillie, but I just do not feel like it. I do have honey roasted turkey breast, and we can have it with a salad for today. Tomorrow, i will do a pizza, if we do not end up going to the wake for Nancy’s nephew. She keeps telling me not to go, because it is hard to park there. I just feel like we should go.
      It is still raining here. that makes it harder to get out of a funky mood….LOL Heather is supposed to visit us today. I hope she does, as it would be a nice diversion to the gloomy day.
      On Sunday or Monday, i am goign to make the Meringue Ghost cookies I did last Halloween. I am looking forward to that.
      It is our anniversary on Sunday, and I am just not in the mood to celebrate anything. I have a call into Tillie’s doctor from yesterday, as i want to know how progressed the macular degeneration is- will it be months or years, that she will lose the sight, if the shots do not work?
      I hope the sun is shining for you, and that you get to see cutie Aliza again this week.
      Adele

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Oh Adele, I am so very sorry to hear what a difficult time you have had with the parking and so much sadness and worry. The hospital should have helped you more. Can I make a suggestion that might help you? Please contact your states Dept. on Aging, and explain some of the problems you are going through, like you are taking care of your Mom and about her living downstairs and is now having difficulty climbing the stairs and your concerns for her AND your safety (because we are not spring chickens ourselves), the problems you experienced with transporting and parking at the hospital, and how you couldn’t even go in with her to the appt. BECAUSE of the parking problems, of your concern for her eyesight; everything. They should help you by making suggestions and providing equipment (like the stair lift) and should also speak with her doctors social worker/nurse about providing a handicap van to transport your Mom and you to and from her appts, if that might help you. Please forgive me if I am butting in but I am worried about you all and know from what we are going through how hard it is to take care of your Mom, even though you love her so much it is just exhausting for you and for her. So if there is anything they can do please let them, and the least they should do is give you names and phone numbers of agencies that can do things to help you all. I know you are doing everything in your power to help her and everyone, but you just can’t do it all.
      How loved your friend must have been. Your sorrow has just flooded your life in these last few weeks. I know you must feel like crawling in bed and covering your head. So hope you did have some family drop by today. Young ones always seem to take my mind off worries. I have meant to ask how your grandson’s tree is doing? Sure hope it looks better since last time I asked it was drooping a little. Young ones’s love to plant something and watch it grow. I remember as a child in elementary school putting a bean in a paper cup of dirt and each of us would check and water ours every day and it would finally sprout out. We were so excited. We have quite a few trees that each of our boys planted as little boys that are now big and tall trees. Time has flown.
      Speaking of time, I turned 69 in Sept. So I think I am the senior of our group. LOL We are a good group of ladies. I enjoy each and every one. You all help me when I am down and encourage me so much.
      Two is such a cute age Colleen. I bet she really enjoyed those dumplings. It was the church social wasn’t it? Boy, you can really get some good food at those. I know they wanted to cry when you stopped bringing your deliscious potato salad; but gosh, that was a lot of work you had to go through. When I make it just for us it really takes time. Our boys love potato salad. Does anyone have a good fruit salad recipe? Need one for this Thanksgiving. Well, should say, I am hungry for one LOL
      It is chilly here now. The leaves are really starting to turn. We had to turn on some heat on the little space heater in the bathroom last night. It warms our bedroom too. Jerry put on shorts today. But it had warmed up quite a bit from this morning.
      Neal took Colin to the doctor Tuesday afternoon for gurgling in his chest at night and coughing. They did a chest xray, but wouldn’t give any thing but this inhaler thing to do several times a day on him. It looks like a face mask and the medicine is in a little can that sprays into his nose as he breaths in. You all have probably seen it with the little ones you have, but I asked Neal what it looked like. We used nebulizers in the ICU; but they were part of their ventilator tubing. Neal is better, thank God, but I know he is worried about Colin. He said the baby has been sick like this for over three weeks now; and with he and Sarah both being so sick he said when he hears him at night that he goes in and sits him up and pats on his little back to loosen up that congestion in his chest and get him to cough. I am so glad he has medical in his background too. I have just given up on getting close to Sarah. We just cannot seem to get on the same page. We never heard anything from her parents after we took them to dinner. So I have just said that is not going to work either. I don’t know where the baby stays when they are at work. I just can’t bring myself to ask; after finding out he was cared for by two ladies my age here instead of us while Neal was away. There is a big hole in my heart over that.
      Gail, how are your eyes? I am so happy that you and Colleen have done so well. Hope all is going good.
      I ordered some fudge from the Q yesterday that comes from Scotland. I just couldn’t resist. I want to see how different it is from what I have always made. It comes in three tins with two pkgs. in each tin; so I thought if it tastes good then I could use the other pkgs. for gifts. It said it would stay good for several months. I also got the Harry and David pears. We got those last year, and they were so sweet and juicy. Hope they are this year too. Also ordered the 4 side dishes. I know they are made in Memphis, but they are cheaper on the Q. I got those for the Dec. ship date. So I must have been hungry when all the food was on. LOL
      Take care everyone. Praying for you all; and for Maxine’s family and the other young man and his family. Hope Tillie is doing better too. She is such a blessing in your life and you are to her, Adele. Hope you all have a good evening. Hugs, Barbara

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Oh Adele, I’m so sorry for the pain you’re going thru right now. I wish I could be there to give you a big hug & pray with you. It seems like the universe is against you right now, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. It may not seem like it right now, but you’ll come thru this. I don’t understand the hospital not being more accessible. I know all too well about the parking spaces being soooo close you can’t get out. Been there done that.
      Barbara has a GREAT IDEA about getting in touch with the dept of Aging. Here it’s called Aging & Disabilities. that’s how I got here where i’m at. It took awhile, but I got here. I could be living on the street otherwise. They can put you in touch with other agencies that can help you out. They got me signed up for SSD, food stamps, housing, transportation to & from appts. I had no income for almost a yr before my SSD kicked in, so I was glad to get the food stamps at that time. It was thru my Dr’s office that I was able to get in touch with them in the beginning.

      Barbara, have you seen those humidifiers on the Q? the ones that put out cool moist air? I would suggest your family get one for the itty bitty. It would make breathing a lot easier for him at night. The air is too dry & that’s what causes distress in little ones. We haven’t had a lot of cold weather here yet but I can already tell my nasal passages, etc are dry. I should get one myself. You would think that with all the rain we get I wouldn’t have trouble, but with the windows closed now I do.
      Nothing much going on around here. I’ll be sending pics I took of the leaves in the neighborhood. The streets are lined with these HUGE trees that are turning a gorgeous red. I took em from the laundry room yesterday, so I was above them. The bldg. is a church. I’m surrounded by churches. an Episcopal, Jewish temple, Catholic church a few blocks away.
      Our weather is gorgeous for this late in October. Sunny, warm, low to mid 70s (YES that’s right)! And will be that way thru Halloween. Usually by now it’s pouring rain, or foggy, & down right cold. But the rain is coming back in Nov. We’re savoring every moment while it lasts. We know the cold weather is coming.
      Oh by the way, I turn 68 in Jan. too. My how time flies!!
      I’ll try to send some eye candy for you girls too along with the leaves.
      dd

      Attachments:
    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      HI again,
      I see the pics of the trees came out upside down again!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

      One more try

      dd

      Attachments:
    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      I am so sorry to hear about Nancy’s nephew. That poor woman has been going thru a lot. I hope that you are doing okay. You have been going thru a lot also. It seems like you cannot find any time to just relax.
      I agree with what Barbara said. You should check into getting all the help that you can get for Tillie. That would be nice if they would figure out a way to get you and Tillie up and down those steps. You should get all the help that you can. You will need it and we for that with our taxes so it needs to be used.
      Prayer is usually a comfort for me. I need to start praying the rosary again. I use to pray the rosary every night. Do not remember why I stopped. The Lord is there for us all the time and we need to talk to him more.
      Try to do something fun on Sunday. Even if it is just going to get an ice cream. You need to do things to make you feel better. It is not going to do you any good to stay in a funk for very long. So try and do things that make you smile or give you pleasure. Like your baking or you sewing. You usually like to do that. Call one of the grands and have them go to lunch with you or come to your house for lunch. Do not go to a lot of trouble cooking just have sandwiches. I do not want to see you down for very long. You and Gary may need to just get out for a day or for even a couple of hours. That may cheer you up also.
      Well that is about all from here. I will be praying for you and all of your friends that need prayers right now.
      Colleen

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Just dropping by to say “hello” to everyone. Thank you DD for the eye candy. He has aged SO well, just like all of us. (at least I can dream, right?) I don’t really know that lady who looks back at me from the mirror, but I know she still feels like a young girl on the inside, and thats all that matters. Hope you are doing better, Adele. Just hold your chin up as much as you can; and if you need to cry; just cry. Sometimes I feel better when I just let it out. Praying for you.
      I got into a cooking mood on this cold rainy day here and fried chicken; did a the brocolli salad that Sue sent me the recipe for (delicious); baked a few potatoes (Joey and Lisa to stop by later) and a pan of brownies. Jerry is over in the kitchen eating a chicken leg right now. He must be hungry too; since he is saying how good it tastes. What is it about cold weather that just makes us want to cook? Wish Neal and his little family could be here and our oldest son. But, will be grateful for my blessings right now.
      You have a busy weekend don’t you Gail with all the Choirboy activities. They are such a wonderfully talented group who do such good things. Hope you enjoy your weekend.
      Adele, I think Colleen had a great suggestion for you and Gary to try and do something to help you feel happy this weekend. Please find some way to bring a smile to your faces, as hard as I know it is for you. Praying for everyone and knowing that God will comfort you and help. Take care of yourself, Gary, and Tillie. You all need each other.
      Colleen, you have tried those frozen side dishes, haven’t you? Were they good? I know some restaurants here use them as their buffet side dishes. I am anxious to try that fudge. I know I will have to pace myself. LOL
      Great pictures DD. THe trees are just beautiful. Take care everyone. Will talk soon. Everyone please take care of themselves. We need each other. Hugs from the South, Barbara oh, yes, Sue how is your knee doing?

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      I was in a cooking mood today also. I made a big pot of Butter Nut Squash soup. It is so good but Ron does not like it so had to make him some chili. When I started my soup I did not know that it took 8 to 10 hours to cook in the slow cooker so started it kind of late and it did not get done until 10pm. So I will have a lot of it tomorrow. lol Your fried chicken sounds really good. We have not had any for awhile. May have to make some next week.
      I have tried the frozen side dishes from the Q. They are really good. My grands love the mac and cheese and so do the adults. The dressing is good but the sweet potato casserole is really sweet. It is too sweet for us. You and Jerry and you family may really like it though. Since I cannot have the sugar and I cut down on dishes that we have to have sugar in we cannot eat anything really sweet any more. I am not letting Ron have that much sugar either.
      I have bought a lot of candy from the q and it is really good. The ones that we really like are the pretzels with the caramel in the middle. They are so good. I cannot think of who sells them right now. I think that it is Landis not sure though.
      The chicken and dumpling dinner was at a church. They always have such good food. We have taken all of the grands when they were old enough to eat the dumplings. So it was Aliza’s turn. Owen wanted to go but he had to go to his dads. He told me that maybe next year he would be able to go.
      Poor little Colin. I hope that he is starting to feel a little better now. It is so hard when they are that little and they get sick. Hope that he is not getting pneumonia like Neal and Sarah had. You never know you and Sarah may get close before long. Some people it just takes longer to warm up to. She seems like it would take a long time to warm up to her.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Barbara
      Thank you for the ideas. I am still thinking of whihc way to go on the hospital complaint, for the most impact and change needed for me, and others like me. It really pissed me off. I think for sake of saying I did, I have to start with the hospital CEO, or president, whihc ever they have. Then I can say i contacted them to give them a chance to handle the issue. We do have a department on Aging, so i can call them too. I know the chain of command is important, that is why I will call the hospital first, as I can envision them asking if I called the hospital with my concerns.
      You are not overstepping- all your suggestions are valid, and good ones. I appreciate the ideas, and your concern.
      So, here is a funny one for you. This is how my day started. When we were getting up, I told Gary of a person I was concerned about who had a medical issue. Here is what he said,” Forget your praying , Adele, everyone died.” To which I answered, “Isn’t that a fine way to start a beautiful day with the sun shining? I had to laugh at hubby’s total lack of hope and faith this morning. We have been to a lot of burials lately. I keep telling Gary I will not waste my good money on burying him in the Jewish religion, because he does not believe. On the less amusing side, i keep hoping he will realize there is a God, and an afterlife. Nobody can make someone believe. I do not know how he can live with me as I have a lot of faith, and I know sometimes God says no, for reasons we do not understand at the time.
      All that being said, I am coming out of the sad mood. We went to dinner last night, after the wake, (this was Nancy’s nephew) to celebrate our Anniversary on Sunday. Sunday will be a bad day aorund here- torrential rain and lots of wind, so last night was a better choice for an outing. I got lots of comments on my pretty sparkly leaf shirt and my Dream Jean jacket and zipper crops. that always makes you feel better.
      I hope your Itty Bitty is better. Dam the new doctors who do not see fit to give a baby an antibiotic. Seriously?? Why do they have to suffer? I hate that so much, you have no idea. i hope he is better today. I am praying for him.
      i think you are right. There is not much you can do to make your DIL have a better attitude with you. I wish we could understand what her problem is, but, sometimes you just cannot figure it out. We just have to accept it, and move on. Thank God your son skypes you so you can see little Colin, and be a part of his life. Colin loves you, and that is all that counts.
      The girls have been by almost every day to see Tillie and me. Heather came by yesterday while we were at the wake, so Tillie had someone here in between, until Bobby got home. Tillie said she is feeling much better today. the eye is no longer sore, and she thinks she sees a little better. She thinks she sees a little more around the back spot.
      I am making pizza today. Tomorrow, I am doing the Meringue Ghost cookies for Halloween. Those are happy activities for today, and tomorrow. Halloween is coming, and I hope I get more ids than I had last year.
      Hope your day is sunny and bright!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      OMG, DD!
      I laughed so hard at the owl picture. Love the pic of our man, Tom! I watched him lat night. I hate the new Mayor, and her idiot sidekick. I bet you do too.
      Thank you for the prayers, and suggestions. Barbara is such a good resource for us on here, and so are you.
      Please read my post to Barbara for all the news.
      Tillie is feeling she is at the end of her life. I guess being 91, she would feel that way. She says she is afraid of dying. I offered to get a minister to come talk to her, and she said no. So, I say the best words of comfort I can muster up. Getting old is sad at her age. The visits from the kids make her feel good, so that is always nice. We are blessed that they come to see her. I keep telling her how lucky she is, compared to so many others. Seems like empty words some days, but, it is the best I can do.
      I am so glad you got all that help, and a nice place to live. God was with you, and you ran into good people who helped you. I hope you can spend the holidays with your good neighbors, or the family you visit when you take the train to their house.
      My sad mood is getting better. I will be baking it away…..pizza tonight, and the Meringue Ghost cookies tomorrow. LOL
      Hope your sun is shining- it is here, for today. Another rain storm is coming.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      DD
      When I clicked on the picture, it came out right side up!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Colleen!
      Read all the other posts, as all the updated info is in them….LOL
      We did go out to dinner last night, after the Wake. the weather on Sunday will be bad around here again, so we will be in. We had a nice time, even though it was after a Wake.
      Either Bobby will cook, or we will order something for tomorrow. I am doing the Meringue Ghost cookies for Halloween tomorrow, and they are so much fun to make, and easy too!
      Heather is stopping by again today, so I hope she will be here for our pizza dinner. She likes pizza. Bobby will be home.
      I hope you get to see Aliza again soon. I also hope you have some trick or treaters who stop by Tuesday night.
      I have a lunch scheduled with Nancy, and Gerald for Thursday. We will have a new member- Debbie, who will join us. She just retired yesterday, and was one of my work friends, so that is good. I will miss Maxine’s voice at lunch. I am sure I will hear her in my ear….LOL
      Hope your day is going well, and Ron is being a good boy. So,what soup did you make for him?
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Barbara
      We love when you drop by to say hello.
      So, I am eating 2 truffles from Harry and David….LOL That always makes you feel good.
      So, you are also shocked by that weird looking old woman in the mirror? I have no idea who she is either.
      When Marissa and Amanda were here yesterday, they did a snapchat of me, as a dancing skeleton in a tu tu. I tried to send it to the laptop, so i could show you girls. But, it did not come out. It was funny, and then they did one of Gary too.
      We all start baking and cooking away when it gets cold. We are like the squirrels gathering our nuts for the winter. I do have a lot of nuts already in this house….LOL
      I am getting my mo jo back, as they used to say. Let the laughter begin…..
      Adele
      PS…the prayers help, a lot!

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Colleen and Barbara
      do you have those air fryers for your fried chicken?
      Adele

    • Anonymous
      Inactive
      Post count: 643

      That old lady is in my mirror too. Only I must look a lot worse than I thought because when I came out of the store to put my groceries in my trunk a man put them in for me and took my cart back. I must look feeble.
      Happy Anniversary Adele.
      We are getting heavy rain & wind tomorrow too. The wind has already picked up. I hate the cold and rain it makes me hurt all over.
      Must go Penn State is playing Ohio State at 3:30PM.

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      You are right about going thru the right channels and in the right order. It just seems like they would want to just get it taken care of and not make people go thru all of that. I hope that it turns out well for you.
      That is great the Tillies eye is not hurting now and she is seeing better. That is really good news. I know that it is hard when you get in your 90’s. Mom will be 96 in November. All the nieces and nephews are coming home for her birthday. Her birthday always falls around Thanksgiving time so it is a good time for them to come home. The kids all usually have a little time off of school at that time of the year. I do not know if Melissa will get to come home or not. Her kids got their time off in October.
      I am with you it never hurts to pray. One of the nuns that I had in school always told us that God answers all of our prayers but it is not always the answer we want. Then too we do not know what the person who is so sick is praying for. Maybe they are asking God to take them home. So I guess it is just in how you look at it.
      I am so glad that you are coming out of your sadness. It was really nice that you and Gary went out to dinner to celebrate your anniversary. You both really needed it. I hope that you had a really good meal and you both enjoyed it. You sounded like you were really dressed up nice. That does make you feel special when some one tells you how nice that you look.
      I must have missed a post I did not see one from DD. I am going to have to go back and read hers. I am really getting bad about overlooking things.
      Brooklin was in a play tonight. It was called Meet the Creeps. It was based on the tv show Adams Family. It was pretty good. She looked so cute in her outfit. She wore a flowered dress with a hat with flowers on it. She was not one of the Creeps. She was a judge for the best house award. It was pretty good and had a lot of funny parts in it. At the end she got a lot of flowers. She loves to get flowers. We gave her some and some of the kids in the play gave her some. It was really nice.
      It is so nice that the girls are all stopping by to see you and Tillie. They are worried about the two of you and want to make sure that you are both okay and Gary also. Danyielle wants us to come up for Halloween and go trick or treating with Aliza. That would be fun but Ron said that he did not want to go. I am not sure that I want to drive into the city for this with all the little ones out running around and the drunks that will be on the road on the way home. Not sure what we will do.
      Maxine will be with you in spirit. She will be glad to see all of you going out to lunch and enjoying yourselves. How nice that you will have a new friend to add to the luncheon. Hope that you all have a good lunch.
      I made butter nut squash soup for tonight. It is really good. Have enough left over to have all week next week. lol Will eat it for lunch and make something different for dinner. If Ron is good. lol
      Well that is all from here. Have fun making your ghost cookies. Hope that you post pictures on here of them.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Everyone,
      I hope everyone is well on this Sunday.
      I think we all have that same lady looking back at us in the mirror. But inside that lady is the mind of a 20 year old.
      Adele, you have had some rough times lately. I’m glad the family is rallying around to cheer you up. As to Gary-if I remember correctly the Jewish religion does not believe in an afterlife-so I guess he is staying true to the way that he was brought up.
      I hope you guys have a good anniversary and something pretty is coming your way.
      I’m sorry to hear about Tillie-I hope the shots will help. I’m surprised that they never saw the macular degeneration coming on in previous eye appointments. They caught mine quite early. I’m thinking that what has caused the big problem is that she has developed the “wet” md. The dry like I have cannot be treated but the wet can but it is the worst of the two kinds to have. Sometimes the dry turns into the wet also. In any case you will have to learn more from the eye doc and I hope the treatments work well for her.
      I’m glad you will be going out to lunch with your friends this week. What a tribute to Maxine to have that many people coming to her visitation. Can’t wait to see the ghost cookies.
      Colleen, Brooklyn’s play sounds like so much much fun! Now you have another soup to serve Ron when he is misbehaving.
      Barbara, you are the oldest of the group but you only beat me by a month as I turned 69 in October.
      I hope little Colin is feeling better. I have ordered the sides too and have liked them a lot. I am already preordered for a set in Nov. and Dec. The kids love the mac and cheese.
      Piper is a bit older than Aliza as she will be five in December. She’s still Jenny’s baby though.
      DD I’m glad that you were able to get all that help so that you and Jewel have a nice place to live. I like the picture of the house with all the pumpkins.
      Sue, I think it was nice that the gentleman helped you. It proves there are still lots of good people in this world.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Sue!
      So happy when you post, so I know how you are doing.
      Do not feel ad about the gracious young man who helped you. I look at it this way- how many older people or younger ones, for that matter, have you helped get in or out of a door? I bet there are millions! Now, it is our turns to be helped. Plus, that nice young man felt good to have helped you, so you made his day. Maybe he has a Mom who is no longer with him, and felt great being able to help someone who resembled her in some way.
      It is 3:20, and it is not pouring up here, with the wind. It is ruing the boys’ football game…LOL
      I have 3 batches of my Meringue Ghost cookies in the oven cooking. After they are done, you leave them in the oven to continue to dry out- shut the oven, of course. I plan on giving one to all the trick or treaters who come her, as we do not get that many kids. I am hoping it will make the children who do come by, smile.
      Ill take a pic of the cookies, when I have them in the little Halloween cupcake papers.
      Thank you for the Anniversary wishes. After the game is over, we are doing take out from our favorite fish/roast beef place. I am dying for a nice hot roast beef sandwich. Tillie says she is buying dinner for our Anniversary. how cute is that? I think she is also dying for a cookie.
      We will both have miserable weather today, into tomorrow. yuck. My ankle is aching, and my middle toe is killing me. A new spot of arthritis- my left middle toe. Oh happy day!
      Stay dry!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      Read my post to Sue, for all the info. the cookies are in the oven- 3 trays of them. I will try to take a pic of them in the oven and post it. Ill take a better one, when they are in their cute little wrappers.
      What a nice treat to go to your granddaughter’s Halloween play. Post a pic, so we can see! I bet she did a great job. You must be so proud.
      the kids are not coming today, as Heather’s back is killing her from the bad weather. She said she will stop bu y tomorrow. But, it will be just as bad tomorrow. I told her to take 2 Alleve’s. that should make it a little easier.
      I bet your soup tastes real good, even though Ron does not like it.
      I hope Aliza does come up to trick or treat. Can you take her around your neighborhood, instead of going into town?
      I will take a pic in a minute, and post it….LOL
      I am watching the Friday Chew show I recorded. I love when they do the Halloween shows.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey all!
      Here is a pic of the little Ghosties in the oven….LOL
      Happy Halloween!
      Adele

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail!
      it is so dark and gloomy here. It looks like the night is upon us. The wind has been picking up, as well.
      I an glad you are back, all safe and sound. Good to hear from you today!
      Have you been watching the Chew? All week they have been doing Halloween shows.
      Your Piper is a year older then Aizen. He turns 4 this December.
      JJ got a cell phone for his birthday. So, I called him Friday to ask how his week went. He was so cute. He ended the call with ‘love you Nana”- it made my day.
      So, I got myself a new lamp for our Anniversary. JC Penney was having a big sale, and they had the best prices on the Dale Tiffany lamps.
      I am pretty sure the Jewish people believe in Heaven. So, not sure if they do believe in an afterlife, as who is in Heaven? I cannot ask Gary, as he knows nothing of his religion….LOL How sad is that?
      How was your weekend? How were the Choir Boys?
      I bet you are tired form all the fun. That is a good tired.
      What are you getting ready for Halloween? I know you do not get a lot of kids.
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Another lazy Sunday out here. Today it’s cloudy but no rain. It was foggy when I woke up this morning. Typical October weather.
      Sue, hon, the guy was being gentlemanly & kind to you. He was performing a random act of kindness. When someone shows me kindness I say Thank you & smile. Don’t feel bad about it. Just think of it as an act of kindness when someone helps you.
      Adele, I am soooooooo glad I was able to make you laugh with that pic of the owls. It says it all, doesn’t it?! LOL I hope you’re feeling better now. The Halloween ghosts are cute. I could never make anything that cute. I’m not talented in baking. Oh say the Halloween Wars are on tonight on the Food channel. The finals I believe. Don’t know what time they’re on. Congrats on your anniversary. that hot beef sandwich sounds awfully good!!! Making my mouth water. I LOVE French Dips, but the Au Ju dip is waaaaay to salty for me. Sigh. Always something I shouldn’t eat.
      Oh, I got something funny to tell you; the other day I was going out to the store, & when I opened the door there was a helium balloon on my door. It has a pic of Grumpy cat, it says, Better with age….NOPE. Critt got it for me. He saw it & couldn’t resist. I laughed out loud when I saw it. I took it down to show Kay & she laughed too. You should hear our banter, you’d think we hated each other. But we don’t. He starts spouting off & I tell him to shut up, & he says Yes boss.
      That is so weird about the pic turning right side up when you click on it. Colleen said the same thing with another pic that was upside down when I sent it. Strange spooky thing, huh?
      Well, I guess that’s all from out here.
      Have a grrrrrrrrrrrreat week ahead & HAPPY HALLOWEEN
      dd

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD!
      I love the pic of the owl family, and the beautiful snowy owl. you always give us happy things to see- thank you for that.
      Well, the dam cookies did not come out right. You bake them on 200 for 90 minutes, and then shut off the oven, and they stay there until they are dried out and crunchy. Never happened. I am leaving them in the oven overnight just in case they dry out. I called the King Arthur bakers hotline- they were closed for the day. So, I could not figure out what happened. i am wondering if the high humidity today made a difference. Oh well. you win some, you lose some. You cannot eat them, as they are so gooey, they stick to your teeth.
      Your friend Critt sounds like a scream. I am so glad you have him, and your friend Kay in your building. no matter the weather, you have friends you can visit.
      so,tonight Snoopy is on. I love the Great Pumpkin one, and will be watching. Will you watch it too?
      I hope you have a good night!
      Adele
      PS….I may make the cookies again tomorrow. They take so much time to form them and get the eyes on, I am not sure I want to do it again. We will see!

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Adele,
      that’s too bad about the ghost cookies. Are they made from that marshmallow stuff? That’s what it looks like to me. Try again. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, as the old saying goes. Practice makes perfect… mine don’t always come out right.

      I’m glad I was able to make you smile again. I keep trying.
      I’m gonna try to send some pics to cheer ya up. My sermon(s) for today.
      Have a grrrrrrrrrrrreat week.
      dd

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Dd, and everyone

      I have great news- the cookies dried out. I left them in the oven, and before I went to bed, checked them. They did dry out. I was so happy. Attached is the pic of them in their cupcake papers….LOL

      they are made out of egg whites, sugar, and a small amount of cream of tartar. Very easy to do, just time consuming to form them and put the eyes on them.

      Hope everyone is good- we lost power for about an hour last night from the storm.
      Adele

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey all!

      Zucchini bread is done…..

      Adele

      Attachments:
    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      LOL that is nto the zucchini bread….. Ill try to find it again.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      One more try…..LOL
      Adele

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    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Adele,
      Cute cookies. I’ll bet all the little trick or treaters will love them. The zucchini bread looks good especially from that pretty cake mold. What does the new lamp look like? I heard that the east coast was getting some torrential rain.
      The Choirboy concerts were the weekend before this past one so they are done for the time being.
      We don’t get trick or treaters where we live.
      Did you see the pictures of Jenny, Adam and the kids all dressed up on Facebook. Don’t know if they were going to a party or what.
      I haven’t seen The Chew lately.Have been busy with other stuff.
      Can’t wait to see DWTS Halloween show. I have it DVR’d. Also everyone on the Today Show is always dressed up and I love to see them too.
      Gail

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Just a quick reminder that QF is on tomorrow afternoon ET. Adele, I’m glad your cookies dried out. It just took them longer than you thought. As you can see, I’m not a baker. Not like you, anyway.
      I hope you got your power back. We had some power outages this morning due to high winds. they started during the night, but no rain. When the East winds begin this time of yr they are COLD!!! No matter how many layers you have on they cut right thru. I’m not looking forward to the cold weather!!
      From the sounds of it we’re in for another cold winter like last yr. UGH!!
      Have a grrreat day & HAPPY HALLOWEEN
      dd

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    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Ladies,
      Well today has been hectic with all the cleaning we have been doing. We are cleaning out the closets. We decided to clean out the whole room instead of just the closets in the room. So it is going to take awhile in our room. Because the bathroom is included in out room. We are doing one room at a time and getting rid of stuff that we do not use. I really wish that one of you live closer to me. I have a bunch of clothes that I have to get rid of because they are just too big. I do not think that I will gain the weight back since it has been off for almost 2 years. I found an outfit from denim and company that has hardly been worn but is too big. I even have a pair of jeans that have never been worn and still have the tag on them. I do not want to get rid of them if they just go to anyone. I would rather get them to someone that I know. Oh well not much that I can do about it.
      Adele, We will have to go to Aliza’s house to go trick or treating. We live in the country like Gail does so there are no houses around to take her to. We would have to drive her and then she would hardly get to go to many houses. My closest neighbor is a city block away from us. Then after you get to her drive you have to drive down a long and curvy drive. So we never see any trick or treater unless we go to trunk or treat at the church. Your cookies look so good. You always make the best treats for the kids. Do you get many kids that come to your house? Your zucchini bread looks really good. I like that pan that you baked it in. I do not remember if I told you Happy Anniversary or not if I didn’t then I am saying it now. Your dinner sounds really good. Hope that your food was not fixed in the same pan or fryer as the shell fish. Wish that you could send that rain this way. We have had some but not enough.
      Gail, I thought that Piper was a little bit older then Aliza. I just could not remember how old she was. What costumes are the kids wearing this year? I have no idea what costumes what ours are wearing. I have to call Ethan and Kaylee and see what they are wearing and just talk to them for awhile. It is so much fun to dress the kids up and take them out every year.
      DD. Some of the pictures of the the old time decorations I remember from when I was little. The kids with the pumpkins on their heads and all the decorations of the pumpkins that you posted. That really brought back memories. How nice of Crit to give you that balloon. It would be funny to open your door and there that balloon was. Sounds like you have some good neighbors and ones that you can have fun with. Will you have a lot of trick or treaters this year? I do not know if the kids go to apartment building like that . There have been a lot of people that have been saying that they do not give out candy to kids that do not have costumes on. The older teenagers have been doing more trick or treating then they use to. I do not know why they just want the free stuff I guess.
      Well ladies that is all from here. I hope that all of you have a great night and a great and spooky Halloween
      Colleen

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi again,
      The strangest thing just happened. I logged off when I sent my last post & when I came back on I had to sign back in again. Weird.
      We don’t get many kids up here. One of the ladies a couple floors down brings her grandson to my door, but that’s about all.

      dd

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Gail
      I will not tell you who got voted off last night….LOL
      Right now Kelly Ripa is doing her act on TV with her costumes- it is pretty funny. the whole audience is dressed up. Halloween is such fun.
      I will have to check facebook and see jenny’s pics- will do that right after I finish your post.
      Everyone loves the cookies, because they melt in your mouth. I love them too- very light and yummy.
      That is too bad that you do not get to see any kids. We only get about 4 groups- local grand kids of the neighbors on our street, and then JJ and Aizen usually stop by, but, who knows??
      Have a great Halloween!!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD!!
      Great Halloween pics! Happy Halloween!!
      We lost power for only about an hour. Here is something that is not so funny, but made us laugh after. So, when the power goes out, the smoke alarms all continue to go off and you hear….warning, warning, carbon monoxide……. So that distracted us, and we forgot to check if Tillie was in her recliner. her recliner is power, so if the power goes off, she is stuck in it. Well stuck in it she was, and we did not hear her because the smoke alarms were so loud. Then add that she cannot call, because her phones are all cordless ones.
      thank God for Bobby! He was just coming home when they went out, and rescued Tillie from her recliner. Bobby yelled u at us for not thinking of Tillie’s recliner being electric. How funny was that! Gary and I were running around to find the flash light. Thank God I just got those cool new flashlights for all the boys for Christmas on the Q- opened Gary’s, and we had plenty of light. I have to tell you, they give off a lot of light from that center lighted part everyone should get one.
      Happy Halloween all!!
      Did you see DWTS? We cannot say anything, because Gail has not watched it yet.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Gail- loved the pics of Jenny and the kid sin costumes. they seem to have so much family fun. That’s so nice to see.

      Colleen
      That is a great activity to clean out the closets and get rid of stuff. I still have to do one side of my closet to do. All the wakes and funerals stopped my progress. I wish it were a better reason!
      I hope you do get to go with Aliza and see some kids dressed up.
      Amanda just walked in, so I have to do this quicker….so forgive me if I missed anything.
      We did lose electricity for about an hour- read my post to DD for the electric news….LOL
      Happy Halloween!
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      Well, this was the most pitiful Halloween ever. The one little boy on the street came by with his Mom. She (and her hubby) is the one who bought the house from her parents, and the parents built an in-law apartment on the bottom floor of the house. Then an hour later, Pena (Enzo’s mother) came by with the girls and their friends ( total of 4). Pena had on cat ears, and painted whiskers on herself. They stayed for a while and chatted with all 3 of us. Gary stayed downstairs with me, as he felt bad for me this year because I was sad. how pitiful is that? LOL LOL
      I gave out my ghost cookies to all, and had I known, everyone could have had more of those.
      Oh well. I hope your one child made it up to your floor. I have to do something different next year, as I miss seeing the kids. Maybe I could go to the Mall, and sit there and give out candy to any child who walks by????
      Hope everyone else had a much better time than I did.
      Adele
      PS I am just sick to death at what happened in NY. Marissa and Enzo went to Salem, and I will not rest until I know they are home all safe and sound.

    • Anonymous
      Inactive
      Post count: 643

      Just thought I would let you know I lost another cousin today. All the parents and Aunts & Uncles are gone now the cousins are going. My cousins are all older. My youngest cousin called me, it was his brother that passed. He was trying to reach his sister & could not get her so he said would I try to get her & have her call him. I did get a hold of her and she said she would call. He only had her cell phone # and she no longer uses that has a landline. He is in Indiana and had 2 other brothers in Kansas so it is hard to round everyone up when we are all spread out.

      Don’t feel bad Adele I had no kids at all. They have a light the night party for the kids here. It has games & things for the kids and they give out candy. It is done by the church & held in the Community Hall. Much safer for the kids.

      So that is my news if anyone is interested.

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Just had to leave the room with all the news this evening of the horrors again in our country. God help all those hurt or gone and their loved ones. I just can’t think on this anymore right now.
      Colin is doing some better. His poor little nose just runs but he has a darling little stretchy black top and leggings and it has a white skeleton all over the outfit. He looks so precious. It has long sleeves, and Neal said he is going to walk him around some to see all the other children in their apt. complex before they begin to hand out goodies at their apt. I couldn’t help but remind him how quickly Colin can pop something in his mouth while they might be busy handing out treats to others; and he said he and Sarah have thought of this, and one will answer the door while the other keeps a good eye on the baby. He has learned to say “thank you” really well; and he loves to eat fresh vegetables like tomatoes. He is growing so fast. I just love how he crinkles up his little nose and gives this little mischevious smile.
      Adele, I think I know why your ghost cookies wouldn’t set up right. The humidity really affects baking and candy making. I remember making fudge one winter day, dark, rainy and very humid, and it wouldn’t ever harden. I can’t make meringe for a pie either on a humid day. Mama always told me not to bake on a rainy day. And I have done brownies that have done okay, but not candy or anything with egg whites. So glad they finally turned out so cute. I know the children loved them.
      We don’t get any little trick or treaters here since we live so far off the road and out in the rural area. Jerry went by to see his mom today and he took her a crown and a wand for her to decorate with. She looked really cute. Poor Tillie and her chair! You may have to get a set of those walkie talkies so she could have one with her and you all have one upstairs to talk to each other when the electric goes out. I wouldn’t have thought of her being “hostage” in her chair either.
      Sue, I felt kind of strange at first when people would offer to help me with my groceries or such; but now; I just think how sweet this is for them to be “raised right” and wanting to help their fellow man out. Most people are in too big a hurry to even think to slow down and help someone. But I am like Adele, I think they are simply missing someone special in their life, and it makes them feel better by helping.
      Better close for now. Prayers for all my dear friends, for those hurting, and for our country. Hugs to you all, Barbara

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      Well, I didn’t have any kids drop by tonight. For the first time in 10 yrs it isn’t raining for Halloween. So maybe the kids went elsewhere for their treats around the neighborhood. In light of what happened today, parents are probably sticking close to home tonight.
      Oh say, I’ve been meaning to ask, I have some Quacker Christmas sweaters that I keep packing up & I was wondering if anyone would be interested? I got them probably 20 yrs ago. I have a black one with Christmas ornaments embroidered on it. No pockets, tho. The others are of Christmas scenes. I’ll check the sizes & take pics of each one & send along with one of my posts.
      Can you believe it’s the 1st of Nov? Time to put up my turkey décor now. and start going thru my Christmas décor. Speaking of Christmas I got my Temptations oval centerpiece bowl in FL Festive. It’s gorgeous!!! I’m gonna fill it with ornaments & set it out on one of my shelves.
      Well, that’s about all for now. Take care.
      dd

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    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Sue,
      I am so sorry to hear about your cousin. You and you family will be in my prayers.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      Poor Tillie. It would be hard to think about her being stuck in her chair. What would make it worse is having all the alarms going off and trying to get them all to stop. It was good that Bobby got home to rescue Tillie.
      We did not get any trick or treaters here either. We did not go to St. Louis I pulled my back and could not make the trip. The girls did send picture of the grands in their costumes though. Aliza was Mini Mouse she looked so cute. She sent a picture of her looking at herself in the mirror fixing her mouse ears. It was so cute. The grands in Tennessee were really disappointed they did not do trick or treating there. They said that there was not one house in town with their lights on. So they went down town and a few of the stores were giving away candy but that was it. So they went to Wal Mart and bought some candy for the kids. They were both so upset about it. Ethan wants to come home. I felt so bad for them.
      I just wish I could find someone that would want all the clothes that I am getting rid of. I have some quacker in the bag and Denim and Company. I just hate to take it to Good will or a place like that. Now if I knew of someone that really needed clothes I would take them to their house even but do not know of anyone anymore. I did have one girl that would take some of my clothes but she died not too long ago. I have a garbage bag full of clothes.
      Not much else is going on here. It has been a long cold day. We are getting some rain. We need it but it sure did cool things down. I hope that you are getting some sun where you are. You really have had a lot of rain.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      I was wondering if they do Halloween in your area. Ethan and Kaylee were so disappointed because they could not find a house with their lights on. They got all dressed up and they had no place to go. They went down town to the stores and they go candy from some of the stores there but that was it. They had to go and buy candy for them at the store. Ethan has decided he wants to come home. I felt so bad for him. I wish they could come home also. They must have some place that they do trick or treating in that town.
      I am so glad that Colin feels better. He is such a little cutie. His costume sounds so cute that was fun for them to take him around to the apartments and let him go trick or treating. I bet their neighbors got a big kick out of it.
      I do not watch the news as much either. It is so sad what is going on right now. What is happening to people. We need to hear some good news and not all this bad stuff. Maybe if they started telling some good news stories people would all cheer up.
      That was nice that you brought a crown and wand to have for Halloween. Did they have a Halloween party for the people that live there? I hope that they did that is so much fun for them.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi DD,
      When I look at those Halloween pictures they remind me of the scrap book that my mom made for everyone of us kids when we were younger. She kept all of our Halloween cards,Valentine, Christmas and birthdays in it. It is so much fun to look thru them and remember what it was like when we were kids.
      Jewel looks so relaxed sitting on top of that scratcher. I think that is what it is. It looks like one. She is such a beautiful cat. We have not had cats for a long time now. My youngest use to love cats and we had one or two for her. But then it destroyed her rug and that was the end of the cats. We did not get anymore.
      I have not watched any of the quacker shows yet will watch them after I get off of here. Did they have any really cute things on there today? I am not buying much until I have all my Christmas shopping done. I still have a lot to do.
      It is raining here and really cold. It was supposed to warm up but since we got the rain I am not sure that it will. They were thinking that we would not get rain until the end of the week. Did they ever get a surprise.lol
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Sue
      I am so terribly sorry about your cousin. It is awful that we are at the age we are starting to lose those in our generation. It is both eyeopening, and scary, in addition to our grief.
      Gary never stays downstairs for the kids, and he did yesterday because he felt bad about me being sad. I thought that was very sweet of him.
      Well, I think your city does a nice thing with the little ones. That way, you can give out the candy, and see a lot of the little ones all dressed up. I hope I have the energy next yer to try to organize something like that in our Town.
      After I posted, Steph and Jhonny came by with the boys. I am attaching some pics. Jhonny had the panda head on…LOL I hope it brings a smile to your face today, as you need a hug.
      Adele

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    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      hey girls- you have to click on the pic to see JJ behind Aizen. JJ was a unicorn. Aizen was one of the Paw Patrol guys.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Barbara
      I am like you. All this murdering of innocent people and children makes me sick to my stomach. i was sorry the police did not shoot him dead, so he could meet the Devil, and be in Hell forever. i guess they wanted to question his cowardly ass. Only a coward goes after innocent people who cannot defend themselves, or shoot back.
      I think you are so right. Meringue will not set up right in humidity. I am so glad they finally dried out, and thankful I did not throw them out….LOL
      Also glad little Colin is feeling better. It is so hard to be far away when they are sick.
      I am so scared for our grandchildren in this scary world. All we can do is pray they will not be harmed by anyone.
      How sweet that Jerry had a costume for his mom. We are all married to really good men. We are blessed.
      I know we are all praying for the families in NY who have lost someone, and for all those traumatized by this monster.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD
      I am like you. I am packing up the Halloween decorations, and leaving out the ones that are Fall/Thanksgiving related.
      It is sad we all did not have a lot of Halloween guests. I do not blame the parents for being cautious. It is a scary world.
      That is so nice of you to see if anyone can use your Quacker shirts. You are a good person.
      Hope your day is bright and sunny- I have a dinner in the crock pot going.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      That is awful about the kids and Halloween. What happened to having fun?
      Barbara mentioned getting a monitor for Tillie. Gary wants to out in a security camera. But, I do not want her to get nervous thinking we are spying on her. It is a tough call you want to now she is safe, but, you also want to respect her privacy. I am still thinking about what is the best way to go. It would have to be something that I can see/hear, if she cannot speak. I can’t believe I am even considering such a thing. It bothers me we are coming to this.
      I can hear her walking around with the walker, and I hear the water going, etc. But, if there is no noise, I do not know what’s happening. I do not want to call and wake her up all the time, when she is having a little nap. If I had a video camera, I could see myself calling to make sure she was alive. there is no good or quick answer for this.
      It is not raining up here for a change. It is a little cloudy. that’s not bad- it is very chilly too.
      Do you have a Salvation Army donation place near you? You could try them. Or, call the church and see if they have a needy family.
      I have the crock pot going….LOL
      Adele
      PS did you see This is Us last night, or Kevin saves the world?

    • Barbara Smith
      Participant
      Post count: 418

      Love the pictures of the children in their little outfits for Halloween. I was thinking back and reminising with Jerry last night of our times we trick or treated as children and how much fun we had. We carried big brown paper grocery bags and people in the neighborhood would just fill them up. Then there was all the excitement of dumping out your sack when you got back home and picking out all your favorites and all the trading. LOL It seems so innocent back then. I am so sorry for your little grandchildren up in Tn. that didn’t get to go around like they were expecting. Down here, there was a little going house to house in our “city” about 3 miles from where we live. No one has ever been to our house even when the boys were small. We had to take them to church back then and they would do a big halloween party for all the children. You all should go to my facebook site and see itty bitty. I have such a dull site; but he looks so precious. Would love for you all to see him.
      Sue, I am so sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you and your family. It is so difficult during these times since we are all located in different places. My brother just recently retired and moved from about 200 miles from me in Alabama to New Orleans. He was my closest family member. Isn’t it amazing how we all chose different paths in our lives? It is so easy for me to look back and see how by chosing a different path I could have gone in such a different direction. But when I was young I know I made my choices for much different reasons than I do now. But I am sorry for your pain.
      Adele, when Joey put a security camera in their little house, he told Lisa that it would help him be able to check on her while he was at work and not disturb her if she might be resting. It has an app on his phone. It is also very helpful if they are away to be able to look in on their dog. It has sound too; so he can hear if the doggie is barking at something, or if Lisa is needing help. It only plays if he presses the app so it’s not like he is “watching” her but it does let him know if something is wrong; like smoke. I surely understand what you mean by not wanted your Mom to feel she is being spied on. She is such an independent person, and no one wants to give that up. By the way; did you get the King Author flour sale book recently? I ordered some expresso powder to add to my chocolate cake; and the bread box they have. Also tried some of their fruitcake mix and got a few of those gift loaf pans for baking some Christmas gifts for our neighbors. Just love their products.
      Better close for now. It is a warmer, but cloudy day here today. I am expecting some rain later today. Was going to make some soup and bread for dinner; but to tell the truth; I am just too lazy to. I have got to get myself more motivated; I can begin to feel myself starting to stiffen up worse and know some is due to not making myself get up and go; but just don’t seem to have the motivation for some reason. Take care everyone. Hugs, Barbara

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Adele,
      You can get one of those baby monitors. They might work just as well. You will have to check up on the different things that you can get. Tillie may not care if you put a camera in so if she gets stuck in her chair then you will know and you can help her. Just explain to her that you do not want to take away her privacy you just want to make sure that she is safe. She may understand that.
      We do not have a salvation army place close to where we live. I will have to check around and see what we have. There is just some of the quacker clothes and denim and company with the tags still on them. I just hate to give them to people that do not understand what quacker is. Then maybe if they have some of the clothes they will cheer up a little. I know that I put that wrong when I typed it. This is not old clothes that are not fit to wear they are good and just need to go somewhere people will appreciate them. I guess that I better quit before I really make this sound bad.
      The kids looked so cute in their costumes. I am so glad that they came to the house to trick or treat. Johnny looked funny in his panda head. Did Steph dress up at all? Some times the guys are more willing to dress up then then the women are.
      We did not see them. We have been watching baseball. Houston won the world series tonight. SO that is over with for the season. Ron does not watch foot ball anymore since all this stupid stuff has been happening. He will watch some of the college games though.
      Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Colleen
      Participant
      Post count: 3077

      Hi Barbara,
      I wonder why they do trick or treating in some areas but not others. They will figure all of this out after they are there for awhile. It was just so sad for the kids.
      I was surprised when I got a King Arthur book the other day. I have not ordered anything from them but I do go on their web site. They have some nice things but have not ordered yet. Sounds like you and Adele like a lot of their things will have to try it.
      You had a good idea with the walkie talkies and the camera. There are a lot of people that are doing that now. It helps with an elderly person and with little children. You have to take care of your mom’s and keep them safe. My mom always scares me she is alone in the house but she gets around so good. The only thing that bothers me about her is she answers her door without finding out who it is first. We have been telling her to stop that. Check first to see who it is and do not open the door.
      It has been chilly here and rainy. But it is supposed to warm up tomorrow. So now everyone will be getting sick because no one knows how to dress. One day you are wearing winter coats and the next a sweater. Crazy weather.
      Well that is all from here. Have a great night.
      Colleen

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Hi Everyone,
      Colleen, I wonder if the kids should have asked their friends at school where to Trick or Treat-they must do it somewhere around where they live now. How disappointing for them to be all dressed up and have nowhere to get candy. It will be better next year when they know where to go. Maybe when you donate the clothes you will start someone else on a new Quacker following. I know what you mean though-you want to give them to someone who will know what they are and appreciate them. Once I saw a woman who was working at WalMart and I recognized the shirt and asked her if it was Quacker and she had no idea as she had bought it at Goodwill or some resale shop. But she enjoyed wearing it so I guess that was the main thing even though she didn’t know what she had. Good thing I didn’t quack at her. lol She would have thought I was nuts-but she may not have been far off. lol
      Adele, the boys look so cute. I remember watching Paw Patrol with Kendall and Lachlan. I was thinking like Colleen and thought about a baby monitor too. I think one of those life alert things with the button that you can press might be good too but that wouldn’t alert you-that would alert the service so that might not work. Poor Tillie-stuck in the chair. I wonder if there is a website somewhere that has things helpful to older adults. That would be good as you could browse all the alternatives in one spot.
      Sue, I am sorry about your cousin. It is so sad when the family dwindles. My last Aunt just died a few years ago and she was well into her 90’s. Some of my cousins have already passed and some I have lost contact with so don’t really know about them. It makes you happy just to be alive and able to do things.
      DD love the pictures. Jewell is so cute. We will leave up the harvest decorations until Thanksgiving and then change over. I never really put out Halloween this year-mostly just things with pumpkins and leaves and sunflowers.
      Barbara, glad Colin is feeling better. How did he like trick or treating? I’ll bet he was precious in his costume.
      I will start a new page tonight or tomorrow. I have to get my act together.
      Gail

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Barbara!
      I get stuff from the king Arthur all the time. I love their products- my most recent ones are the pizza dough/bread mix, and the pizza dough flavor. I got the pumpkin loaf pan from them too. I am sure you get the “bakers bucks”, and free shipping with their club?
      I just got back from my first lunch out with my friends, without Maxine. We raised our glasses to her….water and coke…..LOL We should have had a drink. It was good that Debbie joined us, as she just retired on Friday, and she filled the empty seat….LOL
      I really have to look into one of those cameras for tillie. Or, at least an intercom?? tomorrow she goes to her GP.
      You know. I just do not feel good today. Cannot put my finger on it- nothing hurts. My eyes are sore, feel tired, and cranky. Just a general, all over not feeling good feeling. Hope it goes away.
      I will check facebook right now!
      Adele

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Ladies,
      That’s too bad about the kids not having Trick or treat in some areas. Altho I can understand why. Here’s why. A local mother found a razor blade in a candy bar she got during trick or treat. They showed it on the news & it didn’t appear to be a new blade or a blade from a razor. Kay & I were just talking about finding razors in apples & candy yrs ago just the other day, before this happened. Maybe it’s a good thing they didn’t have trick or treat. That sounds cold hearted, but in light of what happened out here maybe its a good thing.
      It sounds like we’re in for some winter weather this weekend. Lots of rain here, & snow in the mts, where it belongs. gonna make it hard to go grocery shopping, but I’m not made of sugar & I won’t melt. The snow levels will be coming down, down, down Sunday. that should make the skiers happy!
      I’m leaving up the fall things, putting up T’giving turkeys, etc. It’s 3 weeks from today. Can you believe it??!!
      anybody gonna watch the new show, SWAT tonight? It’s on at 10pm. It stars Shemar Moore, formerly of Y&R, & Criminal Minds. He is one hunk of hoooot chocolate!!! He’s the leader of a SWAT team.
      Sue, I’m sorry for your loss. It’s always hard to lose family members. I never know what to say. I’m always afraid I’m gonna say something wrong. I’ll keep you in my prayers.
      Not much else going on here. Take care
      dd

      Attachments:
    • Anonymous
      Inactive
      Post count: 643

      DD I agree with you. It was just on the news tonight that a Mother found candy that her children brought home that was injected with something red there was a hole in the wrapper. They are sending it away to find out what it is. Last year a man on Facebook said they five full size candy bars because it is hard to get the razor blades & pins in the small size. I was horrified that he said that. You just never know. I thought Adeles ghost cookies were adorable but they would have probably been thrown away most places because they were not wrapped. It is a shame kids fun is being taken away but we live in a different world now.
      I have been waiting for SWAT to come on. I love Shemar Moore. Only problem I also like Chicago Fire too & they are on at the same time.
      You said the proper thing as about all you can say is I am sorry for your loss. It sure was a shock to me.

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Colleen
      you do not sound bad at all. Anyone would be thrilled to wear a Quacker shirt. But, if you cannot find a place to donate them you can sell them on Ebay. I have done that from time to time. When I went up one size, I had a lot of Quacker, and most of it was hardly worn. I sold some, and then gave some away.
      I was glad the kids stopped by, as I was really down that I had only 2 groups of kids- one 3 year old, and then Enzo’s sisters, with their 2 friends- total of 6 kids.
      We had a good time at lunch today. But, it was not the same. Nancy had us raise our glasses for Maxine, and that was nice. We should have had a real drink. Maxine would have liked that.
      Tomorrow we take Tillie to her GP. She is worried as she has been “searching for words”since the eye went black. She stumbles over words, and says the wrong ones. She used to do that a little, but, now it is worst. She wants me to bring that up with her doctor. they did check her for stroke, and found no evidence of any, so I am at a loss. I hope it is nothing of concern, as I am running out of ability to deal with problems and sadness right now. I am just plain old tired. I knwo it is not about me, but, I need a tiny moment to regroup.
      Steph did not dress up this year. usually, they have some sort of “family theme”.
      hope your day went well.
      Adele
      PS…what happened with you and your Jeep?

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hey Barbara
      I checked facebook, and saw the baby pics of Colin. I could not find any recent ones. Did you load them on facebook yet?
      Adele
      PS….he is adorable- love the epics of all of you!!!

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD!
      I am either watching SWAT, or recording it. I love Shemar too. I love his voice. he has one of those soothing voices. I used to love when he called the other girl in the show “baby girl”. It was so sweet. It looks like we have the same taste in movie stars…..LOL LOL I really love of that older black actor, whose voice is real deep, and musical- I can’t remember his name….LOL He was in a lot of movies, and plays, and they use him for some of the Disney movies. I know you must know who I mean.
      I still have half my Halloween decorations at the end of the kitchen table. I went out for lunch today, so i could not get to them, and tomorrow, I take Tillie to the doctor. We are supposed to go out with Winnie and Al this weekend, so I hope to get to them on the other weekend day.
      Love the pics, and your pretty kitty.
      i hope you get your shopping done before it snows.
      Adele

    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi Sue
      Did you have the services for your cousin yet? The waiting is awful too. I hope you were able to go with one of your other cousins. It seems like so many people are losing relatives and friends right now. I did hear that people tend to die in the Spring and Fall, as the seasons change. It surely seems to be true this Fall.
      How is your knee feeling? My other knee has started to bother me again, so I will be getting those series of 3 gel shots. the last time I had them was 18 months ago, so they lasted a long time.
      We all watch the same shows, and I think that is so amusing. We record shows form our cable box- are you able to do that from yours? We can also see ones we missed form the “on demand” feature. We have Comcast/Xfinity.
      I hope you are feeling better. It is so hard to lose those we love.
      Adele
      PS- how is your knee feeling??

    • Dianne Danielson
      Participant
      Post count: 1034

      Hi Adele,
      Are you thinking of James Earl Jones? He did the voice of the father lion in Lion King, & was the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars, the early ones. The cast for the live action version of Lion King he’s the father again. They just released the whole cast for the movie, to be released late next yr, I think. And he’s the voice for CNN.
      I didn’t know you were such a fan of Shemar Moore. He did a special appearance last week on Criminal Minds to help Garcia get thru a bad time when a criminal they put away escaped & it brought back horrible memories for her. It was really sweet.

      I was referring to some cardigan sweaters I got from QF yrs ago. I could probably count the # of times I’ve worn em on one hand, LOL!! They aren’t exactly wearable during the rest of the yr.
      I have Comcast/Xfinity, too. They just raised my bill $4. could be worse I guess. It just seems like they’re always raising their rates!! When I first moved here I was paying less than $40/ month, now it’s over $100/month!! And since this blding is wired with their equipment we have no other choice.
      This weekend will be the 7th anniversary with Jewell. I call it her 2nd birthday. I adopted her on Nov. 4th, 2010. She’s laying here next to me on the sofa.
      Take care.
      dd

      Attachments:
    • adele shanbar
      Participant
      Post count: 5025

      Hi DD

      yes, yes, yes….it is James earl Jones…..LOL
      We loved the show last night. Neither I , nor Gary can remember what show the end theme came from. Do you remember the show the theme song came from?
      We stopped watching Criminal Minds, as the gory details were getting to me. It was getting too violent. I just could not watch it anymore.
      Wow- you have had Jewell for a long time. It is so nice to have a cat. I miss mine. I can’t get another kitty as they go between your legs, and would trip Gary and Tillie for sure. Not to mention me.
      We are taking Tillie to her doctor appointment soon. I hope we can get an answer on her stumbling over her words, and that it is not problematic.
      It is warm again over here- in the 70’s. I swear, we are all gong to be sick! It is supposed to take a huge dip in a couple of days.
      I hope you got a chance to do your food shopping, before it got real cold and snowy.
      Adele
      PS…love the owl pic!

    • Gail Norusis
      Participant
      Post count: 3596

      Starting a new discussion page.

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