rackey Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I have been trying to decide which 20th class reunion to attend this year. I attended high school in Huntsville, Alabama for the first 3 years, then fought through the final year down here in Florida. The problem is, both schools are having their reunions on the same day. I attended the 10 year reunion here, but only 30 of the nearly 400 graduates showed up, and I only knew a few from my days in the band. On the other hand, I spent most of my HS years in AL, and yesterday I confirmed some tragic news- they're going to demolish my old high school and build a new one a few miles away. This will be my last chance to see the old campus. There will most likely be a party the evening before here in town, but it's a 10 hour drive north, so it would be an all-night run to attend the other on Saturday morning. It sounds like your heart is in Alabama and that this may be the year to make the trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rackey Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Today is Mardi Gras! Even if you're not in New Orleans, take a few minutes to be extra silly today and share the spirit with us! :trumpet: :jester: :violin: Be extra silly? - Hmm . . . I think I can handle that. - Thanks for the Mardi Gras reminder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 It is 34 F here in New Orleans (feeling like 27) and raining, raining, raining ... yet the crowds are thinner than last year (but not by much), the floats are rolling, throws are flying, bands are marching, and Mayor Landrieu offered the traditional greeting to the kings of Zulu and Rex that includes an obligatory reference to the beautiful sunny weather. One local tv station anchorman is dressed like Cinderella -- his appearance nearly stopped the parade and rendered the mayor nearly speechless. Here's a video of him dancing with the mayor and some of the Zulu warriors. [click here] Mayor Mitch Landrieu is the bald guy in the black coat. As the song goes, " it's carnival time, and everybody's having fun! " I'm happy to be watching the parades on tv this morning, me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Mardi Gras!!! If not for you Kathie, I'd totally have forgotten!! Hang on! <dashing off to the closet> <returning in a velvet top hat, peacock feather mask, tons of beads, and carrying my beribboned jester wand> Okay, I'm ready now. I'm just gonna round up the cats and we'll have our own little parade thru the house. They love it when I toss beads at them. Here kitty, kitty, kitty................................... Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey6163 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Went to my ortho appointment yesterday and got a cortisone shot in my hip, now that HURT!!!!Hoping it helps, the doctor wants to wait six months to see how things progress, so no relief anytime soon. But I did get to stop at JoAnn Fabrics and the Home Depot, two of my favorite stores stocked up on paints , glues and all that good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandystar Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I'm surprised that they don't give you anything to numb the area before the shot, Stacey. I had a cortisone epidural injection in the cervical spine a couple of months ago, and they put me to sleep for it!!! I've had it several times before, in FL, as a series of three shots, where they only numbed the area; I could feel the prick and my shoulders felt heavy, but that's all... no pain. I sure hope it takes effect soon for you. On the brighter side, look what you were able to accomplish after the shot! You weren't able to do that a few days ago, as I recall. I finally got my windows and doors delivered today. They are huge! I broke down and got the Majestic Mansions Cambridge style, even though there was no double door available in that style. Next, I need to recut all the openings (and there are 2 identical front panels, I guess to support the weight, so that's a lot of cutting). I still don't have access to my scroll saw, so this is gonna be tricky. Luckily, these all come with interior trim (or I'd have made some), so any small mishaps in cutting will be covered up. I'm going to try to make this Gloucester a double front opener, like the Cheltenham (which was, and still is, out of stock). I ordered additional hinges which appear to be on a slow boat from China (!), so that part is no problem... I just need to be sure there's room because the windows are HUGE! Almost makes me think they're 1:6 rather than 1:12! We shall see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Went to my ortho appointment yesterday and got a cortisone shot in my hip, now that HURT!!!! I'm sorry it hurts but glad if it gives you some relief. They have given me nerve blocks in my upper back and neck area. They might be able to do that for your hip if you don't feel you are getting enough relief from the cortisone shot. I've had the cortisone shots in my feet, hands, knees, lower back and upper back and neck. They don't usually bother me too much but then I'm a ornery, hard headed, old penguin (that's what the kids call me 'cuz of how I wobble when I walk). It's a wonderful feeling while they are working. Fingers crossed these are the most wonderful and long lasting ones out there. Hugs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I've been a busy bee these last few days. FIRST - we're not moving so I am unpacking the few boxes that were already packed and SECOND - my aunt is coming to stay with us for about 3 weeks. She's my mother's youngest sister and she just had knee replacement surgery. She lives alone and her daughter is working full time, has a teenager still in school, and lives too far away to pop in every day. So I volunteered to have her here with Mother and me for awhile. Hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew!! So I have been emptying the guest room - where all the boxes were - and getting it all fixed up for her. And my cousin said she just found a chest deepfreeze for us, something I've been wanting for years, and I have had to clean up and rearrange the back porch to make room for it. Unfortunately, the pack porch had become a catch-all I did all that yesterday and hauled a FULL recycle bin and a FULL garbage can to the street for pick up today. Whew! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Sounds like a busy time for you, CJ! Congrats on the freezer. I had an out day yesterday. There is a mall about 15 minutes from my house where I do a lot of my shopping. It's fairly large with a Michaels across the highway on the north side and Costco to the south. I have my dad drop me off and then I walk to everything. It's nicer when the weather isn't so cold, but it was so good to be able to walk outside. There are still some pretty big snow piles, but the crosswalks are clear. I found some cute minis at Michaels which made my day, then hit the mall for returns and Costco for food shopping. Today was working on house stuff...again. I'm getting so frustrated with myself because my minis seem to keep getting pushed back for other RL things. Just when I think I'll be able to sit down and work on something I can't because of all the other things that have to be done. I love this forum so much for the lift you guys put in my day with all your projects. even when I can't work on mine, it's awesome to see and hear what you all are doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I have been in withdrawl since Friday PM, when we lost our wifi connection. The tech came Monday and fiddled with it all day long; he got the signal through to using our cable on his machine; but ours was receiving NOTHING. So Tuesday we took the computer to the shop and the tech brought it back this afternoon and I'm wading s l o w l y through >3 1/2 pages of posts. The contractor is finishing up a back porch on another job, but his son-in-law was here all day cutting vertical timbers to hang the panels for the interior walls and has all of one wall and more than half of two others done, plus one of the panels up. When it's done DH is going to chat with him about building us a back porch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I got back home from Atlanta with a long list of to-do items, but I've gotten sidetracked with genealogy research and haven't done much of anything else. The poor Beacon Hill is giving me the evil eye, and the quilted table runner I started when in Atlanta is languishing on the work table. The income tax papers are still in their tidy little folder. Several relatives are waiting for a visit. A cousin has talked me into teaching an informal mini class at her school (for the teachers) next fall. And we'll be leaving for Missouri the end of the month. What happened to all of the time we were supposed to gain in retirement? Swamped in New Orleans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandystar Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I just ordered Stacie Laurell's cold porcelain air-dry clay in a variety of pastel colors. Has anyone tried this? Supposedly it dries to a smooth porcelain-type finish. I plan to use it for making some jewelry. I was blown away from seeing some techniques on youtube.com -- never realized these effects could be achieved with clay! It was... "I GOTTA try this!" For those of you who know me by now, that doesn't mean buy 3 or so blocks of clay, a cutting knife and a pasta machine (which I already have)! It means buying all the eye candy I see and a couple of instructional books (Lisa Pavelka). I have most of this stash already, just waiting for a couple of things, but thought I'd ask if anyone has worked with this and, if so, what they thought of it. Nice time to ask, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandystar Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Kathie, spare time is like a vacuum... the larger the space, the faster it will fill -- especially if you start volunteering your time to others!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I think I live in a black hole ... My time is sucked down it never to be retrieved again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The black hole theory! That's gotta be it coz I keep losing hours and days and even weeks at a time when I can't even recall what I did on those days. That gets a little inconvenient when it comes to things like "When was the last time I ate? I dunno, what day is it?" and I still can't figure it out. I'm working on an hourly scheduling system to keep my brain on track and setting a timer to go off every hour to keep me grounded in the moment. So far, it's not working well but I'm not giving up. The next step is to start writing down what I've been doing every hour when the timer goes off to help trigger my memory recall at the end of the day. I've got two big white boards up with hourly sections for each day of the week and cork boards with lists that I can take down and carry with me so I can stay on task and not forget what I was supposed to be doing. I've got a notebook beside them so I can write down what stopped me from doing something at the scheduled time if I don't get it done and hopefully that will give me some trending information that will be helpful in figuring out weak spots. I *will* get a handle on this. At this particular moment, I'm going to go sit on the patio and admire the two new blooms on my hibiscus that sprung open this morning. They're sooooooooooo gorgeous! Deb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 .... I've got a notebook ...... I *will* get a handle on this. You WILL, I just know it. Just so you don't feel left out, I carry a really tiny spiral notebook and a mini pen, the kind they give out at kids b'day parties, in my pants pocket at ALL times. If someone asks me to do something or tells me something, I write it down a couple word note on the days page. Otherwise I forget in 5 seconds because I have ADD really bad (and I'm ancient - bad combo). I get distracted by whatever blows by me at the moment and my time is lost forever - thus the black hole effect. It has helped me to stay in the moment longer and feel more effective. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Shortly after we retired DH "borrowed" one of my three-ring binders and every year we go to Staples and buy the calendar with two pages for every month, and all our activities, appointments, etc, are written in it as soon as we know about them, or it doesn't happen. Both of us are at the age that we eat breakfast every half hour (it seems). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Ahhhh, exhausted. Just spent the day setting up for the Les Petits Club show tomorrow in Boca Raton, Fl. If you need a break from your nasty winter, come on down and enjoy one of our best ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 You WILL, I just know it. Just so you don't feel left out, I carry a really tiny spiral notebook and a mini pen, the kind they give out at kids b'day parties, in my pants pocket at ALL times. If someone asks me to do something or tells me something, I write it down a couple word note on the days page. Otherwise I forget in 5 seconds because I have ADD really bad (and I'm ancient - bad combo). I get distracted by whatever blows by me at the moment and my time is lost forever - thus the black hole effect. It has helped me to stay in the moment longer and feel more effective. Thanks for the encouragement Selkie. These days I need as much of that as I can get. Coming back to life has been an ongoing struggle. Keeping track of what happens when I lose blocks of time will help the neurologist figure out what's causing it and maybe they can do something about it. Right now they're just shoving blood thinners into me, monitoring the MGUS (pre-lymphoma that causes the body to create excess white and red blood cells), and doing MRIs periodically to count how many more dead spots there are on my brain. Last time they counted there were 96 and some of them in clusters the size of a quarter. The part of my brain that recalls things is badly damaged which is why monitoring what happens during my lost time is important. (Blocks of time that "never happened" can be indicators of new strokes and I'm pretty sure that there were quite a few of those when I pushed myself too hard during the move.) There's nothing they can do about it but if I know what is damaged, I can work harder at trying to find ways to work around it. They tell me that sometimes brain activity can come back so I'm diligent with my mental exercises as well as finding different ways to do things that accommodate the changes in my neurological activity. That's why I've created this scheduling system to try and have some kind of normal life. I have a referral to a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic (and there's one on the other side of Phoenix so it's attainable now) but I'm too scared to make an appointment with him yet. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 As long as you're alive and don't have other issues, such as Alzheimer's, your brain continues to reroute and grow new axons and dendrites, which is the function and goal of all that post-TIA/ stroke physical rehab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Thanks for the encouragement Selkie. .... I have a referral to a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic (and there's one on the other side of Phoenix so it's attainable now) but I'm too scared to make an appointment with him yet. You are welcome - Now, on the advice of this old decrepit lady, get thee an appointment post haste and then get thee to the appointment with no delays !!!!!! This guy/gal may have a stupendous trick up their sleeve that will be just the cats meow for you. Please, Deb, I know you are gun shy on MD's in general, but look at it this way, what's the worst that can happen? He/she is an idiot, well, you've seen that before so you got that covered. No need to fret. You just pull up your bootstraps and try again somewhere else. If he/she is great, you got it covered too and the added bonus of racing ahead with great new things. Major hugs - 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Deb, what Selkie said. I know you're gun-shy, but anything has to be an improvement! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparklepuppies Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 The first performance of the school spring play was tonight. Lawson is "cast A" and performed tonight and will again tomorrow night. Brennen is "cast B" and has the matinee show tomorrow. Same play, 3 times. And they happen to be playing the same part... They did a pretty good job tonight, looking forward to seeing it again. The contractor guys are coming back tomorrow to continue working on putting my downstairs back together. Was supposed to take 2 days, but tomorrow is day 3, and it will probably go into Sunday. The entire bathroom is being redone, with new walls and new fixtures. Will be happy when it's all done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Rule of thumb for remodels....double the price and double the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Tracy,so sorry the remodeling is taking longer,but I envy you as a mother right now-What fun! I know you are proud of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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