Just need to talk to my friends (207)

jfkoc

Thanks for update. I was able to read the obit from what you posted.

eaglemom

Oh goodness, I hate to read that. Thanks for doing the research Lorita.

BethL

I'm so sorry to hear about Joan passing away. Thank you for letting us know.

GothicGremlin

Another short report while I'm mostly in transit.

JeriLynn - I love being able to see Mt. Rainier, even if it is the most dangerous volcano in our area. And yeah, we made the trek down to SF via 5. It looks like 5 to 505 to 80, then over the Bay Bridge into SF.

Very cool Beth. I'm in awe of all of you who do nursing as a career. It seems like such a stressful job.

I've done privacy law (mostly consumer privacy law) for years, actually close to twenty years. I've worked for various non-profits over the years, including one I started up myself. It was all mostly policy work, I'm not a litigator. Privacy is the odd legal duck - my colleagues (and coalitions) run the political gamut - left, right, libertarian, and everything else in between. So long as we stick to data privacy there tends to be no conflict. And I've seen that over the years again and again.

I had to step away from a lot of it when I started taking care of my sister, but I keep up and am still involved. One non-profit I worked for at the beginning of my legal career is having a "reunion" next month open to anyone who ever worked there. I'm still on the fence about going because I know what will happen - I'll end up with a job. 😄 And knowing me, I won't be able to say no.

And yes, my s.o. and I are both in SF to help out our friends. We're taking V out to breakfast tomorrow morning to get a read on him. Fingers crossed that I can meet with his husband later on in the afternoon and have a very gentle come to Jesus meeting with him about V's safety. V lives in an old Victorian with so many very steep stairs - and D is in denial.

On the plus side I saw Peggy's friend M today - and I gave him her high school class ring. There were tears. He was so happy to have it, and touched that I would give it to him. I told him that Peggy would have wanted him to have it, and I firmly believe that to be true.

Okay, I'm off to sleep (early for me) - potentially stressful day tomorrow with D & V. Wish me luck.

GothicGremlin

I'm sorry to hear about Joan. I don't think I ever interacted with her, but I remember her name.

Iris L.

I'm sorry to learn about Joan also.

One of my cousins was lamenting that so many of her family and and friends are gone. Well she is the oldest in our family now. She is ten years older than I. I have a group of first cousins that are around my age, so we should be good for a while.

Lorita, the Marines are protecting the ICE agents and the federal building downtown and protecting federal vehicles when they have to transport. The remainder of LA is still under the protection of LAPD, even though the Police Chief said his officers were overwhelmed. Rioting and looting of businesses is happening in downtown LA. Also concrete rocks are being thrown onto cars on the freeway, the freeway was shut down for a time. There is an overnight curfew now, we'll have to see how that goes.

So far all the chaos is far from LAX if anyone will be flying in. But it will be a good idea to avoid driving into downtown LA for a few days.

Iris

JeriLynn66

Good Morning,

Lorita, I'm so sorry to hear about Joan. This is a picture that I found that she posted of the view from her deck. She could almost touch the clouds. What a beautiful view.

Yesterday at the Zoo that is my house we had: 1. my cousin handyman here working on the garage painting entrance hallway, bathroom and the laundry room, 2. DH spraying weeds all around the yard (3 acres), weed eating the front pasture fence line, 3. riding the side by side down to my Aunt's to move a chair from her living room and transport here to mine, 4. grandkids here to swim, 5. me cooking for everyone, 6. a friend delivering a scooter we had loaned to his Pastor and 7. final night of Bible School. My office, living room and garage are full of "stuff" that had to be moved for painting the walls and baseboards. The chaos might try to continue today, EXCEPT I'm going to light some sage and smudge every room front to back to invoke calm and serenity.

The final night of Bible School was fantastic. As I parked, another car pulled in next to me and one of my little students came running around the car squealing "My Teacher, My Teacher"!!!! That was a perfect ending to a somewhat stress filled day. That sweet face and her hand in mine; she was glued to me all evening, LOL.

Today will be more painting, grocery shopping (again) and complete the prep to deliver cooked food and groceries to BIL on Friday. And, I must find a spot for the garage hallway table my Cousin the Painter says MUST leave its spot. He says it makes the hallway entrance too narrow, causing everyone to brush against the walls. "Everyone" being dogs and baby goats or people with armloads of said animals.

I'm sending everyone big hugs and hopes for a wonderful day. TTYL!

Mint

good morning

I miss Joan also. Thank you Lorita for helping us with closure. If I remember correctly, she had moved from the home where that picture was taken. She sent us a few pictures of the inside of her new home if I remember correctly. But we’ve heard very little from her after that. It seems like that surgery she had really started a downhill trend for her.

I got to see the strawberry moon this morning. It was beautiful.

jfkoc

up…working on ancestry papers so I can set the table for friends coming for dinner

Lorita

Morning, JeriLynn, that is a pretty view and it was taken from the deck before she moved. She posted pictures of her new place which was has close to her kids. I had tried calling her a couple of times before this last time. No answer but thought she might have had the surgery she mentioned and was in the hospital.

We had rain during the night and more to come later today. It was sunny half an hour ago but dark and cloudy now.

Yesterday the mother sparrow came back to her nest and fluttered around before getting in it. Maybe she will lay more eggs.

Iris, I'm like your cousin -all of my family is gone except two cousins, one older and the other a couple of years younger. There is Sarah's brother but haven't seen or heard from him in a couple of years, which is for the better. I have a BIL and Logan and Todd. Never once thought it would be like this. Even most of the people I worked with is gone except Carol.

I saw an ad thus morning featuring the Cheddar Bay biscuits Red Lobster has and it made me hungry for them. Has anyone ever tried the mix? JeriLynn, I still remember VBS I went to when I was young. It was at the Baptist Church about four miles south of us. Still kind of remember some of the projects web did.

Hope everyone is well today. Wonder where our two fellas are this morning?

Carl46

I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know Joan but I remember her posts and I know she was a good friend to several of you.

I'm off to eat Mexican food with a former coworker. Then drive home in the rain, probably, since thunderstorms are predicted to begin about 2 PM. TTYL

Iris L.

"Enbracing Peace": commemorating the end of WW11 at San Diego Seaport area, near the USS Midway.

Iris L.

Iris L.

Paddle boarding on the bay.

Lorita

Good pictures, Iris. Bet you're having s good time. Thanks for posting the pictures. Carl, I used to love Mexican food.Loved Spanish rice, frijoles and guacamole plus the white sauce and chips. I had some really good spinach enchiladas once, too. Enjoy your lunch.

ladyzetta

Hello everyone.

Rest in peace ((((Joan))))) she will be missed.

I'm trying to keep up with all these, postings, your all so busy, I can't keep up with you.

As for me I'm doing well, still going to yoga, we went yesterday, aroma yoga, that was very relaxing.

Lorita, I have been watching a Arizona, court trial on TV, it ended today. Now I can get back to Wagon Train and one is starting now.

Hugs to all, Zetta

jfkoc

Iris…great pics to remind us to always remember!

ronald71111

I'm so sorry to here about Joan. Her rocker will always have a special place on the front porch.

Been busy trying to straighten up where the photographer can take pictures next week and should be on the market shortly after.

Im still having problems with choking at night. Real bad night before last and will be seeing my pulmonologist next week and the VA called this morning to let me know that a scope of my esophagus has been ordered. I personally believe that the problem is my esophagus, since I've had two surgeries for achalasia of the esophagus and esophagus has been stretched several times. Always a waiting game!

Ron

Lorita

Ron, just s thought to you sleep with your head elevated? That might help, anyway worth a try if you don't already.

jfkoc

I was going to suggest that too…perhaps elevate the top of your mattress

BethL

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/245454#Comment_245454

Beautiful, Iris!

Iris L.

This house, where we got our dessert, was featured on the movie Top Gun.

Iris

Lorita

Beth and Iris, thanks for posting the picture. I wasn't aware there was a statue but have seen the picture as long as I can remember.

So enjoyed our nice visit, Sandy. You had a lot of interesting animal stories. Wish you would post them so everyone could enjoy. On the local news tonight they showed several videos of Mountain lions/cougars/pumas taken by trail cameras. One showed a mother cougar with three kittens. Seems they are making a comeback in Oklahoma. I think I posted last year that Toad found a calf up in a tree, probably put there by a mountain lion. That was just half a mile from here.

Looks like you're enjoying your trip, Iris. Where are you?

About ready for bed, so will say good night. Sleep tight.

Mint

good morning

Ron, I was also going to suggest elevating your head lol. I have slept on a wedge for years. It got rid of my terrible sinus headaches that I would wake up with in the mornings. Don’t know if it would help you or not, but probably worth a try if you haven’t already tried it.

Hope each one has a peaceful day

Lorita

Morning, Mint, I used to.have awful sinus headaches when I would wake up. I could wet a washcloth in really warm water and hold it on my forehead untii It cooled and that helped. I tried sleeping on a wedge, not for the headaches, but kept sliding down off if it. I have to sleep on two pillows because sleeping on one, or none, makes me dizzy.

Supposed to be in mid 80s today and up to 100 heat index next week. I'm not ready for the hot, humid weather. Hope everyone is well today.

harshedbuzz

Good morning all.

Lorita— Thank you for sharing the sad news. May she rest in peace.

It does sound like you may be getting a replacement TV. We had something similar happen on a Samsung TV from Costco— entire areas of the screen died. They had us return it to the store which refunded the cost of the TV and the extended warranty. We were able to but a larger version and walk away with about $80 of the refund because of the prices dropping. Win, win.

I've made the boxed Cheddar Bay Biscuits before. The secret is to add more cheddar cheese than the box calls for to get the authentic flavor. I double the amount at a minimum.

Beth— I think you're right about the bare-root roses. My former MIL used to propagate from cutting and would often plant them in late summer. She sometimes wrapped her plants in burlap because of extreme weather, but they did seem to thrive for her.

Eagle— Happy Anniversary to you, too. We were the opposite. DH was 38 (I was 28) when we married.

Gothic G— I hope your visit was successful in terms of helping you friend navigate the changes he's going to have to make going forward.

Ron— I am glad the treatment is working as intended. That's good news.

I suspect you are right about the esophagus being part of your other issues. Mom's had a swallow study and upper endoscopy to sort out her two bouts of aspiration pneumonia. One finding was that the action of the esophagus is considerably slower than it would be in a much younger person. The GI doc explained this as completely expected of someone her age (87). He "prescribed" earlier meals (plan for at least 4 hours between dinner and bedtime), smaller bites, slower pace of eating and to avoid spicy foods if they seem to make things worse. He also has her sleeping on a wedge pillow which seems to help the breathing (COPD and asthma) and her moderate CHF. In her case, Fosamax was causing the reflux that was being silently aspirated.

Jerilynn— I'm glad VBS was a success. It sounds like much thought and work was put into making it a memorable thing for the littles.

Lady Z— I'm glad you're still trying new yoga approaches. Aromatic sounds really interesting.

Iris— I love the pictures. I met Bob Hope once years ago. He was doing an event in Philadelphia in the early 1980s when I was working as a manager in a large chain supermarket. I ran into a lot of local and national celebrities for some reason. He came in around 10pm and bought a 1/2 gallon of orange juice and could not have been more accommodating and gracious— signing autographs and posing for pictures. It made our night. Charles Barkley was another celeb who was unfailingly kind to his fans out in the wild at that time. And tall. So very tall.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

DH and I rolled in last night around 7:30pm. The traffic was miserable through most of CT, NY and NJ— that was the part I got stuck with. DH got the ugly part driving up. The pair of us are thinking Amtrak and Uber next time. Seriously.

Mom's visit with her 89-year-old sister went swimmingly. There was very little of auntie's simplistic political nonsense (she's the pretty but dumb one in the family) and less of the frenemy vibe between them which was lovely. Most critically, mom has been sucking on a sore tooth that last couple of years about how her dad paid for auntie to go to a 2-year secretarial college but refused to pay for mom to go to art school. Auntie wasn't a good student and graduated with no real skills relevant to the workplace. Mom had assumed this to be true— it turns out their brother had paid for auntie's classes but swore her to secrecy as he had 6 other sisters and limited funds. Mom did manage to put herself through college, but this really pained her. If nothing else, I am glad we took her for that informational alone.

She saw almost all of my surviving cousins at lunch and auntie's boyfriend who was unfortunate enough to end up in hospital that evening with an infected foot. Poor man— it was even his birthday, and he spent it with the nuttier side of the family and a painful boil. Yuck.

DH and I chilled and mostly took it easy. We managed to have fried clams and chowder 3 nights in a row. On the last evening, we splashed out for a couple of delightful lobster rolls as well. We didn't do any fine dining; the first 2 places were sort of rustic, and the 3rd was "in the rough" (outdoors, picnic tables and a lovely view. That meal was over $100 with soft drinks but just amazing.

This is the view from our table in the dirt.

The weather was rainy and foggy the first day, but we had a lovely time driving around looking at scenery and ducking into an art association gallery. We'd hoped to buy a piece but most of the works were pretty mediocre. That night, we shared a couple local IPAs and watched the waves and some racoons scavenging along the rocks in front of our room. They were quite entertaining.

The weather was better the second day, so we wandered around touristy Bear Skin Neck and got the blueberry muffin craving DH had taken care of. He got tired after a while, so he went back to the inn, and I toured the individual galleries and the art association show. I saw a lot of amazing stuff, but didn't want to pull the trigger on a $6K piece so I came home mostly emptyhanded. I did enjoy poking around and found a glass print of a mermaid for my nephew-in-law at Christmas. Here's hoping I remember that I bought it. LOL, I cleaned out my "prize closet" early in the COVID lookdowns and found 2 books I'd bought for DS's Christmas at the KSC when he was 10. He was about 25 when they resurfaced.

DH has offered to paint me an iconic Motif #1 piece as a gift for our anniversary. I got a decent angle from which he could work if he really wants to do this. I don't have a lot of wall space available, but I could move things around I suppose if he really gets around to it.

Enough from me already, there are several mountains of laundry awaiting my attention. DS did a load of towels, so it's just clothing. Oh, and I seem to have "fixed" the ice maker in my new fridge. I need to buy some food for it. I've got a busy day housekeeping I guess.

Be well.
HB

eaglemom

Here……….

ronald71111

Good morning!

Ladies, thanks to all of you for the suggestions, which i am doing or have tried. I strongly believe the problem is from long term achalasia of the esophagus which now both sphincter muscles do not work. I try to make my last meal no later than 5pm, which gives me 4 to 5 hours before sleep. They have stretched my esophagus everytime its been scoped.

Ron

jfkoc

up…wonderful dinner with friends last night. My food was acceptable…the conversation unbeatable.

jfkoc

Getting there by train sounds like a good idea. I figured out that the easiest way to get to NYC ws to fly to Philly…visit the Barnes Collection and then train in to the City.