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dsmith

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Everything posted by dsmith

  1. I gained a shoe size and now need wide shoes.🫤
  2. I was trying to find somewhere to watch it, never thought of checking there, thanks! The opening music is terrible lol.
  3. Niece and nephew are having trouble getting their ADHD meds, not sure which ones they take. They often have to go to a pharmacy 45 minutes away. Mil recently had to switch one of her COPD meds because of supply issues. Thankfully the replacement seems to be helping her a little more than what she had been on.
  4. If it was just me I could probably get away with $50 -75 a week, but $100 would be more realistic. I rarely eat meat, but I do like the expensive tuna fish that has just tuna and salt, no added water or oil. I love rice and beans, lentils, veggies, etc. For just me I would buy only organic but for our family of 5 I can't afford to do that, so I avoid the dirty dozen. It bothers me when we get inexpensive meat, because there's a reason it's cheap. When I was following a certain diet I only bought grass-fed and finished for myself, but I can't afford that for 5. But even if it was just me I wouldn't go back to that - meat doesn't like my body any more. Beef bothers my stomach a lot, but chicken is worse. If I eat meat it is only 2 - 3 ounces. I doubt I would buy it at all if I was just cooking for myself. I would be tempted to try some kind of meal kit service, or something like Hungryroot. There's also a local CSA that has a small share of organic fruits/veggies that would be tempting.
  5. Our Kitchen Aid is about 30 years old and gets almost daily use. We make a lot of bread, pizza dough, baked goods, etc. We do have a bread machine, and do use that on occasion, but most of our bread is done in the Kitchen Aid. We also use it for meatballs, mashed potatoes, meat loaf, I could go on... Dh is really the one who uses it the most. I have a few no-knead breads that I do, but he does the majority of cooking/baking.
  6. I've always disliked eating out if the restaurant is very noise. I get anxiety when being in noisy environments, but we try to go out once a month for dinner, usually well before the dinner rush so it's more manageable for me. We went to Longhorn the other day, and I had my Air Pods Pro in listening to an audiobook on the ride. I didn't take them out when we got to the restaurant, and forgot I had them in. Even though it was pretty early, they were mobbed and it was very loud. It was giving me anxiety, and it was only getting worse when I realized how long we would probably be there with service being pretty slow. I remembered my Air Pods, and decided to play around with the settings, so I set it to noise cancellation, and holy cow!!! I could still mostly hear what was being said at our table, but the background noise was reduced so much, and my anxiety just disappeared! It was one the most pleasant experiences eating out at that type of place. If only they had this type of technology when my son was younger! He was much worse than I am, but he has mostly outgrown his issues. The Air Pods Pro are the only thing I can put in my ear that don't give me an earache or headache. I've tried ear plugs in the past, but they are always too large and uncomfortable, and I can only last about an hour with them. I can't wait to try this at the next loud wedding we have to go to!! My husband was so unsure of these when he gifted them to me, but I love them so much, and now I love them even more!
  7. I paid $550 for my son's previous pair of eyeglasses. The pair we bought at Costco was $250ish, and that included Transition lenses. That alone paid for our membership. (Edited to add - ds is rough on glasses and these have stood up well to his abuse.) We drive about 35 minutes depending on traffic. The gas lines are long by us, but it is cheaper than any other place. We buy things like cereal, cookies, filet mignon, OTC meds. My husband cannot sleep without Breathe Right strips, and they are a lot cheaper there than other stores. I like their eggs a lot - for some reason they peel so much easier than any other brands. My son likes to have frozen things that he can pop in the microwave, toaster oven or air fryer - things like ham and cheese filled croissants, pocket chicken sandwiches, pizza, breaded chicken pieces, etc. I will eventually get hearing aids there, and I'm trying to convince mil to get them. We will probably get our next dishwasher there. We got a great deal on a tv last year, and when it went on sale even cheaper I went online, filled out a form, and was refunded the difference. We will get the upgraded membership when we renew. We're a bit obsessed with Costco lol. Dh and ds love the hot dogs, and the price can't be beat, so we always have a cheap lunch or dinner when we go there. For some reason nobody uses the self checkout in ours, so we rarely wait on line for more than 5 minutes, and usually someone helps us check out anyway. We also have Sam's Club and BJ's membership. We have different things we buy at each store.
  8. What is your current favorite podcast, blog, or person you follow?: Bible in a Year, Catechism in a Year, The Meditation Podcast, Weight Loss Made Real Podcast What was your favorite book last year- fiction and/or non-fiction?: I've been rereading series from my past, which has been a lot of fun: Anne McCaffrey's Pern books, The Hobbit, LOTR, Harry Potter, Wheel of Time. I really can't pick a favorite out of those - maybe the Harper Hall trilogy out of the Pern books. Non-fiction: How Not to Age by Michael Greger. I have all of his books, and I am on his site all the time, I just can't listen to him. He has an odd way of speaking that he didn't have in his earlier days. Favorite purchase last year: A larger tv for our rec room and a wall mount, but my favorite has been LED light strips that go on the back of the TV and splash color onto the wall behind the tv. It has a camera that senses the colors on the screen, so the colors on the wall match the tv. I thought it was silly when dh ordered it, but it's made movie night a lot more immersive and fun! I was a bit reluctant to spend the money, but we got a surprise check from a judgement against a company we use for our business, so we decided we needed a splurge for ourselves. Plus the TV was a great price at Costco. Best life hack: Hmm, I can't say I have any amazing hacks. When we make dinner, if it's something that freezes well we make double and freeze what's left for a busy night. This has saved dinner and kept us from ordering out quite a few nights. But there are those nights that we just want takeout.😁 We will also spend a weekend making personal size pot pies for the freezer. We do chicken, shepherd's pie, cottage pie and a creamy tarragon chicken one with a polenta topping. They get wrapped individually and everyone can pick which one they want. Biggest regret: We had a tough time making ends meet for 2022 until the beginning of last year, so I had to use credit cards for a few emergencies. Things are better now, thankfully. What did you do to make your life easier this year?: I stopped worrying about the amount of sleep I was getting and went with the recommendations of a sleep app I was using. It was recommending 1:30 am as my ideal bedtime. I decided to go with that time, and delay my wake up time. I'm fortunate that I work from home and can make my own hours. I sleep better, and I have much better focus during the day. It was a burden trying to fit into the 'norm' of sleep/wake times and work times, and I'm much happier this way. High point of last year: Christmas! It was so much more relaxed this year. We didn't have financial pressures for once, family issues seemed to mellow for the holiday season, we were able to celebrate the way we wanted to. It was probably the best Christmas we've ever had.
  9. I can't stand trying to force myself to drink a large glass of water at once. I also don't really like having those big water bottles sitting in front of me. I have a 4 ounce glass, and I use that. I have water before every meal, every time I pass through the kitchen, when I think about it, etc. A 4 ounce glass seems much more doable. I also drink herbal tea, and I count that towards my water intake. I'm not an outdoor walker, but I do plenty of walking indoors. It's either too hot or too cold for me, and the weather affects my MS too much to safely deal with alone. Nobody will walk with me, so I adapted and now walk indoors with an audiobook that I love and only listen to while walking, or I will listen to a podcast. I also walk whenever I am waiting for something, like the tea water to boil, something heating in the microwave, etc. I also have one of those mini steppers. It's in the way from my desk to the rest of the house, so every time I need to get up I get on it for a minute or two. I will do a longer session at some point during the day.
  10. I'm still going strong, with something similar to the original method. The only difference is that I now use a Remarkable 2 instead of a notebook, and I create separate notebooks for tracking things like books I've read, projects, etc. I have a basic template that I use every month and it takes me about 5 minutes to set it up before the beginning of the month. The only resource I used was the original how-to from the website, so I'm not any help.🙂I've always used it strictly to keep myself on track, and never was into all the fancy stuff. As pretty as some people make their journals, for me it defeats the reason bullet journaling attracted me in the first place, which was rapid logging. There are a ton of videos on YouTube, and the website has a lot of info, but the site seems a lot different now than when I started years ago. I did find the book somewhat helpful.
  11. That dose doesn't bother me beyond the first 2 days of being a little hyper. Just have lots of healthy snacks around if it makes you hungry. Lower carb/no junk food at all, lots of veggies, some fruit is how I usually eat on steroids. Take advantage of increased energy and do some extra cleaning, etc. That's what I usually do. 😊 I find as long as I can deal with the increased hunger in a healthy way I don't put on more than a few pounds of water weight. My elderly neighbor was on that dose for about a year before they were able to taper him off, and he never had any side effects at all. He went through chemo and radiation with a half day of nausea, so I think he's one of those rare people that never have any side effects from any medication/treatment.
  12. Pediatric specialist of any kind seem to charge a lot in our experience. My son's neurologist charges $395 for a Zoom visit. He does spend a good amount of time, though, which translates to appointments being at least an hour late. At least it's better than when we had to sit in the office for an hour or two. We are lucky in that he will follow patients into adulthood, so we haven't had to find another doctor for him. It was hard finding a decent doctor for him! We've had other pediatric specialists in his younger years charge up to $1000 for a visit. I haven't noticed many regular specialists being much cheaper in our area and they wouldn't accept a pediatric patient. My neurologist charges me $85 a visit, but she's not a very good doctor. I keep her because I just need medications and MRIs. When I checked other neurologists they started at 350/visit.
  13. We have a china cabinet, but we also have two corner built-ins. The top has glass doors and grooves to display china, the bottoms have solid doors. We also have a cabinet built over the radiator, and to each side of the radiator there are doors with shelves. It's actually a good amount of storage space. Someday we will probably get rid of the china cabinet and replace it with something more modern, as well as modernize the built-ins. I kind of swing between wanting something more modern to loving the old-fashioned look of the built-ins.
  14. I wouldn't kill the bug either, but I would catch and release for you. Many people don't understand phobias and can be very insensitive about them. As if not helping you and making you 'face your fears' is going to instantly cure the phobia! I'm generally ok with most insects and will bring them outside, but if I see an earwig I have to call someone to take care of it. And if it's actually on me I WILL freak out. I suffered with agoraphobia for years, and most family members and friends were very insensitive about it, and at times just plain mean. Even my son, who has his own phobias, gave me a lot of grief about it, because he loves going to malls and I just can't. I can handle any shopping experience nowadays, even Costco on a Saturday morning, but malls still get me.
  15. I would say every other month we have one thing delayed. We have a pretty large order, about $400 a month. About once a year an item we order will be taken off subscribe and save even though they still have it in stock. Usually the price is very high when that happens but from a 3rd party seller. One of the teas I used to get for $13 is now over $25 the last time I checked.😠
  16. I've made the same discovery! They're so comfortable!
  17. Being comfortable in my own skin, not worrying or caring what other people think is definitely a plus about getting older. I used to get upset about stupid things, like what I will wear to an event, my weight, or feeling like I don't quite fit in with certain groups, but now I don't give a sh*t. It's very freeing. If I decide I don't want to do something, I don't do it. I'm not going to some event where I don't like most of the people or where I feel uncomfortable. When we were younger, mil was always insistent that we had to go to this party, or that wedding, or something at her brother's church. Now we just say no if we don't want to do it. Not having a period is the absolute best thing in the world! The 2-3 years of hot flashes wasn't fun, but now that they're gone, I love not having to think about periods, pads, cramps, etc. I've slowly been developing a 'don't sweat the small stuff, it's all small stuff' mindset over the years. I have a few areas in my life where I'm not quite there yet, but many other areas where I am. For example, my basement got quite a bit of water last night from the latest storm. In the past this would have really upset me and stressed me out. I knew it was coming last night, so I prepared as much as I could, and went to sleep thinking whatever happens will happen. We'll do what we need to do to clean up, but I'm not stressed about it at all.
  18. Is there a mobile vet service in your area? We have a few near us, and they get very good reviews. Otherwise, I saw a video a while ago on youtube where they used a towel from behind and before the cat realized what was happening she had the cat tied up in a little bundle. I think it calmed the cat, too, but I could see some cats going completely mental, lol. (Thinking of a cat we had years ago!) Good luck and I hope Obama is feeling better!
  19. Breakfast during the week was usually cereal or cream of wheat, possible oatmeal. On the weekends it was bacon, eggs, pancakes, etc. My dad usually made lunches for us, usually a sandwich - pbj, tuna, deli meat and cheese. He'd also pack 3 cookies and a banana or other piece of fruit. I remember when my dad was sick, my mom took over for a month, and made me cream cheese and jelly sandwiches every day. The thought of cream cheese and jelly makes me nauseous now! On occasion I would get a school lunch on Fridays because it was pizza day. In high school I usually got lunch from the cafeteria, but junior and senior year I got out early and ate at home. Dinner was usually homecooked by my dad, but he did on occasion use things like hamburger helper, or he would create his own version of it. We had a large family, so we ate a lot of ground beef dishes, mashed potatoes, breakfast for dinner, tacos, pork chops, etc. It was usually a meat, a starch and a veggie every night. I didn't have steak until I moved out. He did do london broil, sliced thin on garlic toast - that was a favorite occasional meal. I didn't go to a fast food restaurant until high school. We did go to the local hot dog place every time my parents sold a house.
  20. If you really need it, do it now, while you're young!! My mother-in-law put it off for years because she was afraid of the surgery, but she would have had a much better outcome if she had done it earlier, especially after years of injections. The steroids destroyed the tissue around the knee - the surgeon said it was a mess in there. Also, she was offered a really cool recumbent bike for home rehab that automatically increased the resistance, etc. She barely used it. People who use it do a lot better overall from what I read about it. It did take up half the living room, though. Put everything you can into rehab afterwards. It can make such a difference! My mil is a rehab failure, lol. She has never finished one course of rehab, ever, unless it's home rehab by a VERY easy going therapist. They usually figure her out in a day or two, and know if they don't tone it down she will cancel most of her appointments. She is losing a little more muscle strength and mobility every year.
  21. Yes! I forgot to mention this. I add 2 tbsp to my oatmeal or smoothie most mornings. I think beets are supposed to be good also, and hibiscus tea. I love beets but I don't like hibiscus tea. I think nutritionfacts.org has a few videos on bp, which is probably where I heard about hibiscus tea.
  22. When my brother-in-law married last year, it was understood that nothing would come from my mother-in-law, and they didn't expect anything. It was a second marriage for him, so they had put in $$ for his first marriage. Now mil is retired and a widow, so financial circumstances didn't allow for anything beyond a $500 wedding gift. This was the bride's first wedding and she comes from some money, so her parents were more than happy to cover everything, including the rehearsal dinner, and were adamant that she not contribute anything after losing her husband to Covid. They had quite a large wedding at an expensive country club, with the best cocktail hour I've ever experienced! I think it's important to figure out what you can and can't do for each of your kids, and be upfront about it with them. So many couples are opting for much more reasonable weddings nowadays, and many are expecting to have to save and contribute a good portion.
  23. I've had some success with CoQ10 and magnesium. I need to lose weight that I've gained since Covid, though. A 10 pound gain really spikes my blood pressure! I've had to give up caffeine due to palpitations, but I did see a small drop after I did. Salt is a big one for me. I tend to hold a lot of water when I have too much salt. One day of salty foods usually results in a 2 - 4 pound weight gain the next day and a big jump in bp.
  24. Dh got me a Whynter ice cream maker. I had been hinting at the Ninja Creami because I was tired of having to freeze the bowl of our current machine at least 24 hours ahead. He checked out some videos and decided the Whynter would be a better fit, and he was right! I never considered them because of the price, so I'm feeling very spoiled!! I've made vanilla and mint choc chip, next it my favorite - peppermint stick. I'm in ice cream heaven lol. He also got me some socks that are guaranteed not to slip down your heel in your sneakers, which I absolutely hate!! They actually stay put and I have a bunch of different colors. He bought me an assortment of tea, my favorite protein drinks and my favorite Nespresso pods. Ds also got me my favorite pods and a big box of Ferrero Rocher. Mil got me a winter jacket which was desperately needed and an Amazon gift card. It was a good Christmas all around, and we feel very blessed this year.
  25. I'm stressed out just reading your post - that's a lot to deal with. My son is on the spectrum, and when he was younger the family just didn't understand his issues with sound, food, textures, etc. It wasn't until he had a nervous breakdown in 2nd grade that they mostly got it. They didn't realize how overwhelming sounds can be for him. Neither did we until then. I mean we knew, but didn't realize the impact on his mental health. Thankfully my mom was the one person who understood after dealing with some of my siblings/step-siblings with their own various diagnoses. We only host nowadays. I know that's not possible in your circumstances, but it's the only way ds can handle the holidays and family events. He has his room that he can escape to, and he often will eat in his room and come down for dessert. If we can't host, dh will attend unless ds decides he can handle a short visit. He can do smaller gatherings for maybe 2 - 3 hours outside of the home, but that's it. If we were to travel a hotel room or a house rental would be an absolute necessity for his mental health. I hope you are able to figure out a way to make this visit bearable for your family! And sometimes we need to upset others for the wellbeing of our kids, but it's not an easy thing to deal with.
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