Just need to talk to my friends (215)

Lorita, those daffodils will be fine. They are tougher than they look. I have some daffodils that have been in our family since 1962, and the only care they ever got was when I dug them up to move them to my yard about 15 years ago. They are sleeping under a foot of snow right now, and I'm not worried a bit. 🌾

Good morning

Ron

Good morning. Is it just me or did January seem 43 weeks long? Seriously, it's been one cold, dark and unpleasant slog. On to February with tomorrow, Groundhog Day, being the "hump day' of winter.

All this talk of burgers. I'm glad you had a decent burger at Buffalo Wild Wings. I'm with you, Ron, I don't get the appeal of wings— too much anatomy to get through for meager pay-off, IMO.

Lorita, few places smell as heavenly as a BK but I find their food repeats so it's not for me. They do have Impossible Burgers though. I agree with Carl, the daffodils will be fine. If they're not already in full bloom, you'll likely get your usual display out of them at the usual time. They're remarkably hardy.

Gothic G It's got to be a relief that your MIL is in a safe place with others to tackle the storm. It looks like my BIL in Dirty Myrtle got 6 1/2". He grew up in the Indiana, so he is familiar with snow but his southern belle wife and dogs are probably losing their minds about now. Neither of them is fit enough to clear snow and I suspect they don't own a shovel, but it'll be in the low 50s in a couple days so they'll be thawed out fairly soon.

I'm engaging the boys in some housecleaning today. They hate this, but they've been warned. Tonight, we're meeting friends for Thai food. I'm looking forward to not cooking.

I hope all have a pleasant day.
HB

JL…wondering if you were on your way. Port Aransas or did I make that up.

Barely any snow out my window…now it is 35 degrees. Time to get out the beach chairs?

Sister report…..she is progressing in the right direction but slowly. Younger niece is ready to throw her sister under the bus…lol. I told her to call me any time, day or night, to talk.

A gold star to those of us who made it through this storm and a gold star to those who listened and cared about those of us snowed/iced in. We are truly good friends. Good friends who have never…will never meet.

A hug filled with thanks!

@Lorita

Eye injections are given for 2 types of macular degeneration— wet AMD and dry AMD/Geographic Atrophy. Mom had the latter which is treated with eye injections every 8 weeks. My aunt's AMD has progressed to "wet". Wet is considered more severe, but her vision of late is pretty terrible and seems as poor as my aunt's.

My mom claims her injections don't hurt per se, but that there is a feeling of pressure immediately and they can feel irritated/gritty for a day or so. Her doc does use numbing drops twice before the injections. That's said, mom has a weirdly high pain threshold compared to most mortal— she's not wired like most of us.

HB

Lorita - I'm sorry that Sheena is where she is now. It's so hard. We do for them what we can. And they're family members.

JeriLynn - Have a great time on your trip! You're off and running.

HB - Ha! It did seem like January went on and on …. and on. And it was so cold, so dark, so dreary, just unfun.

I hope all of you enjoy the Thai food tonight.

Judith - I'm glad your sister is heading in the right direction.

How do you know we'll all never meet? Ron and Carl have met. You and Lorita have met. I'd say it's unlikely, but not impossible.

Carl - Were you not feeling well? I hope you start feeling better.

As for us - the weather is the usual - cool and rainy. But - for a brief moment the sun came out and the leaves on the trees and bushes just glittered in the sun. It was really pretty. By the time I grabbed my phone to take a photo, the sun was behind the clouds.

Also with the weather - I looked at the big camellia tree in the backyard. It usually blooms in late Feb-early March. Well, yesterday I saw one lone bloom on the tree! Way too early! And one of the other trees is covered in vivid pink flowers - also way too early. It usually blooms in March. I'm hoping that we don't have snow in Feb. (it happens).

Thanks, GG, I'm OK. I just have my usual midwinter combo of depression and head cold. I'm thawing some strawberries and planning to go to bed early. Tomorrow will be warm and I'll be fine as 🐸 hair.

Good morning

Ron

Good morning. Moderating temps here today— we may even rise above freezing. The sump pump came on a few minutes ago. Sometimes the exterior discharge hose freezes and needs to be swapped out, but so far that doesn't seem to be an issue. I'm hoping it remains clear as it can be a real PITA to dig it out of the snow and swap it out with a new one and the laying the frozen hose in the paved driveway to thaw in the sun so it can be swapped again. Should this happen, it'll be on DS to manage. Fingers crossed the snow is providing insulation to avoid a hard freeze.

The rodent has predicted 6 more weeks of winter. I am not surprised.

Beth—Thanks for the good wishes. Tomorrow is the big day. I should get a text around noon with a report time. The house is mostly in order. I need to dig out my ice machine/wrap and shower chair and set up a nest for myself on the couch. A friend loaned me a favorite book (The Frozen River) and my prescriptions are filled.

Lorita— It must be hard to watch Sheena not doing as well as you hoped.

I understand sometimes diabetic retinopathy and vascular issues sometimes are treated with injections, too. The kind of injection mom receives is fairly new; there was no treatment for dry AMD/GA aside from Preservision AREDS2 late February of 2013. Mom started in late summer; roll out was slowish because it took a bit for the insurance companies to add it to their formularies. She thinks it's been helpful. For a while her vision did actually improve based on her vision tests, but she didn't do so well at her last injection.

The specialist initially told mom Aetna wasn't covering it, but it turns out her prescription plan is separate from her MAP. Only U.S. senators have better health insurance than my mom's retired teacher plan. I called the prescription plan which led to an absolutely ridiculous exchange with customer service. Turns out she was covered and when I asked about the co-pay, she told me it would be $10 cheaper at Rite Aid then mail order. I asked if that meant we would pick up the medication and bring it to the doctor and she said "no, you'd inject it at home". I gulped and said "lady, it gets shot into her eyeballs, surely I have no business doing that". She burst out laughing and said "Lordy, that can't be right". Turns out it wasn't.

Carl— I hope you and Ron can meet up at the Geezer Center. This isn't a great time of year for anyone's mood.

Gothic— Camellias sound really lovely. I hope you don't lose a season of bloom to the cold. We have a few magnolias in my neighborhood that are early blooming and most often have their blooms destroyed by a late frost. I was careful to find a cultivar that was bred to bloom later on the advice of the lady on my street whose yard looks like something out of a magazine.

Ron— I hope the medication clears your rash quickly. It seems like it is always something, doesn't it?

I hope you all stay safe and have a pleasant day.
HB

HB and Eagle hope both are feeling better soon.

Carl is probably right about the daffodils. Will be a long time before Ohio sees them

HB - I hope your surgery goes well tomorrow and that you make a speedy recovery.

eaglemom - I hope you start to feel better soon.