lost my mom 5 years ago, and my dad, her ex- sends a kind note on fb every year saying he's thinking of me and my sister. I really appreciate it. So I would vote to send a card.

Another vote for the Miss Julia series, the author is Ann B. Ross. I adore Miss Julia, I wish she was my grandmother!! Great, funny series and she grows a big heart, it's neat to see her transforming from an unloved widow to this motherly person with family and friends all around her and adventure!

what seems to work most of the time in our neighborhood is for the homeowner to walk right up to the dog owner, hand them a poop bag and tell them pleasantly, cheerfully, but pointedly..."you missed some poo!" and keep doing it every time. Most people get shamed into doing the right thing, or at the least will stay off your lawn.

wasn't but now I'm thinking an adventure might be in order! thanks for the link!

I"m listening to the bullet proof diet book right now and he mentions nightshade family foods, mostly related to inflammation. The advice I'm getting seems to be to cut it for two weeks then add them in and see if any bother you.

my 85 year old grandmother lived with us a few years and she could not use any cell phone except the jitterbug, which had big buttons, and a yes or no button and we paid for operator assistance, so when she'd get stuck, she could just ask the operator to call "my sister" . We tried to move her to a very simple phone with big buttons, but she could not work it reliably. The jitterbug is a cool system, but not really money saving, though I thought it was worth it.

we love old movies, too. My favorite is probably "Bachelor Mother" with Ginger Rogers. It's a comedy, she is really funny. We quote lines from that movie a lot. also, Philadelphia story, the old Thin Man series, Arsenic and old lace, How to marry a millionaire, The Quiet Man (John Wayne) -not a western. :)

:grouphug: :grouphug: praying for you. If you could get out every morning for a 30 -40 minute walk in the sunshine, that could really help. Just do it, even though you don't want to. And, I second Arctic mama's suggestion of escapism t.v. -pick a series on netflix and start watching. I am so sorry, praying for you, and I know it doesn't seem like it, but this will all pass and you will pick up and move on to a new normal and even learn to thrive again. <<<hugs>>>

thank you for updating us! I think of your friend, every time I see Venezuela in the news. I am so glad that she and the kids are out safely.

I'd like to join. I blogged for like 10 years and then just ran out of steam, with all the hard things going on in my life. I had moved my blog from blogger, to wordpress self-hosted - and then, because I got so sick and tired of how hard it was to design my site, I moved it to squarespace...which also is a learning curve. I like squarespace now that I know how to navigate it, but I am paying for a site I'm not using. I think overall, blogger was the easiest blog to figure out. I'm thinking of moving my blog back to blogger to archive it there and thinking of re-branding my squarespace site to something different, since I am now a retired homeschooler. Which, means...more work..ugh. Not sure what to do. I think a good thing now is the trend for simple, white layouts, which means less complicated to put together.

I would have forgotten about the shoes, too!

thanks, Unsinkable. I am so proud of my daughter! -all 105 lbs and 5'2" of her!!!

what creekland said, or leave the bags in a hot garage for a few days, even better, put the bags in clear plastic bags and tape shut, so you can see if anything crawls outs. my dd just got back from Marine bootcamp and was bitten by something while on the crucible, so we put her two bags in the garage all week. I think it was probably chiggers that she got, because they were outside, not bedbugs, but just in case... :scared:

congrats!

yes, my two oldest were on our insurance and pay their own bills and deductables. My 2nd oldest had several cavaties one visit and we offered to pay half of the bill for her, but that was after she had sweated out the whole "how am I going to pay for this" idea for a whole day. I think it helped her to renew her brushing habits to better effect :) Our oldest is at Marine boot camp as a reservist, so she is now on her own military insurance which makes us very very happy.

does it have to be paid vacation? maybe you are looking at this from a limited angle. can you find the career you want and when you need a vacation just take it off as unpaid? This is what I am doing, I have re-entered the workforce and I do take time off, but it is unpaid. Dh has paid vacation and he supports us, my money is helping money...for college stuff, school stuff for the kids.

I saw posts on twitter that it was trolling to see how gullible people are.

walk away. If there is spending going on, and the two elders need medicaid later, the State will go looking and see exactly who took what and go after them for repayment.

so sorry for your loss. praying for peace for all of your family.

I'm sorry, I get it, really. I had my 85 year old grandmother live with us for two years, and she was severely depressed most of her life, very negative, passive aggressive and just the usual older person stuff, too. It had a horrible, negative impact on me. She just passed away, my stepmom is dying and my dad is facing some health problems and he let me know that he doesn't ever want to be put in a care home...which sent me into a dark place for a few weeks. But, I've come to the realization that I cannot do 24hr. care for an elderly/ ill person again like that. I think the best solution (not saying it is easy and I haven't had the talk with him yet) is to come out and say what you are capable of doing. Like, I can visit twice a week, and or do your grocery shopping and then point them to services or a health aide service for the rest. I am not looking forward to the conversation. I am hopping he will buy a home on my street, so he can pop in for breakfast etc. but I can't be a full time care giver again, it was too much for me. There is a lot of personal power is saying what you "can" do and not feeling like you have to apologize for the rest.

we have a F1B (I think...can't remember how that all works now!) labradoodle. She is 3/4 standard poodle, her mother was a labradoodle and her father was a standard poodle. She is the best dog I have ever known, and super chill. she doesn't shed, but does need to visit the groomer every 2 -3 months. I think her calmness is the poodle in her. She is very polite, hardly barks and super-super smart. She was so calm as a puppy I worried she was sick. She did chew as a pup, but grew out of it. We did crate training, but then one day, at around 8 months or so, she threw a tantrum about it (and we had guests at the time) so I gave in and she had the run of the house ever since, and it is fine. She is a great dog! My sister in law is allergic to dogs and my dog still bothers her tho. I would get another one in a heart beat. I know a few golden doodles in the neighborhood, and they are adorable, but seem really hyper, at least while young.

I really like doing 1/2 cup almond or coconut milk and 1/2 cup of strong coffee (!) a scoop of protein powder (chocolate) and either a half a banana or some frozen strawberries, or I just picked up some frozen cherries (yum!) I'm a big of a creature of habit. I don't drink coffee, but I really love it in a smoothie.

Can she take a bath instead, on her own without help? I would think the easiest and most accepting thing would be to let her take baths, as long as she does a good job...eventually as she gets older, she might transition to showers because it is more efficient, but that would be on her. I'd also second the suggestion of reading up on anxiety, her reaction does seem extreme. I have one child who has a fear of buttons. There is actually a name for the phobia. It's silly, but I don't get to pick people's anxieties...so there it is, I honor it the best I can. Though her reaction isn't as extreme as your daughter's, my child just abhors them like many people don't like snakes, she will touch them/ wear them if she has to, but gets an uncomfortable, squimish look on her face. I did force her to wear a few shirts with them before she got the nerve up to articulate her extreme problem with them, I felt really bad for forcing her, but I didn't know. ...Just my thoughts.

so relieved for you!!!

thin mints piled on top of ice cream...of course. Go all in. :)