If going back when you're 38 is crazy then I must be downright insane. I've just started classes and I'm 49. I say go for it and enjoy yourself.

I'm glad the swelling went down and I hope everything heals us permanently.

I was SO hoping the Social Groups would be back after that. Sadness.

I'm SO sorry.

I'm glad you were able to talk with her. I hope there's some viable option available for your dad.

I'd love to join. I'll probably mostly follow than post. I'd love it if everyone would share how their tracking their food. I always do much better when I'm tracking. I tried one several years ago (now I can't remember) and I just didn't like it. The food diary was clumsy so I just wrote everything down. Non-Dairy snacks: I love having those pre-cooked turkey sausages on hand. They're really easy to heat up and snack on. I can't have nuts, so these are a nice alternative for me.

wonderful.

you should be very careful with any kind of infection in your eye. Cellulitus can affect your eyesight and brain! Be careful. I don't know what kind of over the counter would work but this is what happened with me. I got dx by the doctor with orbital cellulitus. They gave me eye-drops - it did nothing went back - they gave me oral meds. - nothing. went back again and they sent me to an ophthalmologist. She gave me an ointment (more like a gel - the consistency of gel toothpaste). That's what did the trick. I was also told to do warm compresses several times a day. This gets the blood moving up to the infection to aid in healing. I had a recurrence within a month but fortunately had the meds already. I was also dx with blepharitis by the ophthalmologist and try to keep my eyelids clean.

LOL!! me too!! My kids give me a hard time for watching that show sometimes. I don't think they appreciate the benefits it incurs.

although I don't know if it's contagious, It could be orbital cellulitus.

praying!!!

Has Hospice even been discussed as an option with the family though? I agree that hospice care is great (I'm a volunteer), but it might not be what he needs just yet. Can your mother afford a companion type person to come in a care for him during the day? My sis did something like this for a while. She would go into the family's house to watch their mother. She did light chores (tidying, laundry), fixed this lady lunch, and just basically visited with her for about 3-4 hours. It was a set of eyes there just in case something happened while the family was away working. We have something similar for my mom now too. Call social services and patient advocates and see what might be available through the state. I'm sorry your mom has checked out. She's probably exhausted & overwhelmed herself....and older people do not deal with stress as well as they did when they were younger. :grouphug:

how terrible! I hope you feel better today. :grouphug:

me too. She can be difficult (like Morse was), but I really like her.

Vera My husband and I started watching them last week via Netflix livestreaming. They're quite good. Brenda Blethyn is wonderful as the eccentric & caustic detective.

I used to, but not so much anymore. I like the quiet. When my kids were little I switched from music to news/talk radio (NPR, Diane Rheem) because I wanted to hear some adult conversation. I've just never gotten back into the habit of turning on music.

I voted wheat (both as I'm not sure which is the trigger), nuts (not allergies but diverticulitis)and other for chocolate . I try to avoid and I usually pay for it when I give in. Probably doesn't pertain to your food menu as I think most people aren't allergic to chocolate.

Thinking about what a 13yr old boy would like... It has nothing to do with American history but Reclaiming the Blade was quite good. Unfortunately, it's not available in streaming. Also Nova did two episodes about swords: Viking Swords Samurai Swords - my dh liked this one a lot. They're both available on Netflix but not with live-streaming.

I liked it, but I was already LC when I read it. It did make me throw away the vital wheat gluten and WPI I had been using in LC recipes. I thought he had some good footnotes (important to me). The fact that he is a doctor also lends a lot of weight to his argument, IMHO. I thought the book itself was good, but that a bit more than half-way through it ran out of juice. He kind of makes the same point over and over again.

I vote for game night too.

:grouphug: and no grandkids to love on either.

I tried reading it many years ago and got bogged down. I never finished. I loved the story about the candlesticks and the bishop though and I SO wanted to read the whole thing. But, like I said, got bogged down.. It moves very slowly. So yeah, I felt lost too. I had seen at least one movie version and was familiar with the overall story, so that didn't help me.

I hope it wasn't too bad.

Thanks everyone. It probably more difficult because we've also had a delightful Christmas break. It's been a happy month.

It's been an emotional 2 days. My 11 yr old went to sleep crying last night. It was so hard. My 23 yr old son was accepted into the grad. program at PennState with a nice little stipend (yay Homeschooling!!). It's his 2nd choice and we haven't heard back from any of the other colleges yet. But, as we were all celebrating with him about this happy news my youngest (11yr son) had one of those "Wait a minute..." moments and he burst into tears when he realized that it meant his brother will be moving farther away in the fall. I didn't even think about trying to break it to him gently and I feel so bad. We were all happy for older ds. It made college boys leaving today that much harder for our youngest. dd(21) is away visiting friends in NJ and leaves for college next weekend. Hubby is taking ds (20) off to college. DD (17) is taking youngest to a friends house, and I'm here by myself being reminded again that my days as a mom to a houseful of growing kids is coming to a close.