Car

Stephie-poo! I have sooo missed you!!! Have been catching up on your trials and tribulations on your son. Let me tell you a story....Get comfy now... Once upon a time there was a prepubescent boy (about 12 -13) who wouldn't do his homework, hated school, had bouts of depression, his work at school was always a mess, got sent home from a school outing/suspended for rolling basil and toilet reeffers. "Ah, ha" said the evil school head-master, "he's depraved because he's deprived (thank you West Side Story). You and your parents must go to a shrink (well, actually a child psychologist)". After a few sessions with nothing being brought to the sessions which accounted for this young man's behavior, the psychologist noted that the young man's handwriting was a mess. "Humm" said the shrinkette, "I wonder if that is significant? Off to the neuro-psychologist with you!" So this beautiful, but trouble young person was dragged to a neuro-psychologist, who tested here and prodded there, and questioned this and that. "Ah, ha" exclaimed the neuro-shrink, "what we have here is a case of a non-verbal learning disability (a type of mild autism). Return his head to his shoulders!" "Yippie!" said the boy, "I'm not stupid and there is a reason why I do some things differently from other children." Time passed and this young fellow turned into a young adult with a scholarship to the Colorado School of Mines, and Metro State College, and a free full ride for graduate studies at Penn State. So, the mother of this young adult looked at this boy's (just for giggles, let's call him Ted) YouTube friends' list and it stretched far and wide and the mother smiled and said that this was good. This engaged and engaging young person is living happily ever after. Not the end. The moral of the story is ...Hang in there!!! It only gets better. Love, Car

Good day ladies, It's been a long time. We just melted out from 56" on the weekend of the 18th to get sprinkled on to the tune of another 5" last night. Oh, well it's our snowy season. Decided to update my forum stuff. Hope you enjoy. The sweet face is either my pup Ruth Ann Magilicutty or my husband. Son just got a new automated glucose monitor to compliment his insulin pump. I guess it attaches like his pump does and monitors his levels constantly. Being young (27) and getting an autoimmune disease like Type 1 diabetes sucks big time, but son Ted is a real trooper. His endocrinologist is now through with him and has turned him over to his GP unless things change drastically with his sugar levels. Guess I had better take some time and see what the rest of the crew has been up to. Later,

Hi Ladies, This is Car, dropping in for a quick howdie! With managing the other house, work, playing with my new Aerogarden, training dogs outside in the snow, and getting set up for the dog competitions, I'm all pooped out. Well Janet, it looks like you danced a few dances. I'm so envious. And zipping!!! Sigh!!! So, how about some wall climbing? I need a partner. Steph, glad to see that you are in motion again. Slowly!!! Candice, are you counting down the days? I love that house, but it is a ton of long-distance work. Love to you all, Car

Steph, So does this mean that I should get rid of the hookah I bought you as a get-well gift? Luv, Car

Janet, Bon voyage!! Dance a dance for me. Steph, How are you feeling? EASY NOW ............... Just think on the long term. And the PT? I know that it is hard and hurts and scary, but be strong for just this little bit and I promise that it will get better. Now a tune....Step-by-step. Row-by-row.....dah dah dah. The rest isn't applicable. Every day you're getting stronger. Luv, Car

When are you going back to the PA with a good round of "Eat Dirt"! Think strong thoughts. Love, Car

Hi Steph, mon cherie! Oh, sweetie....I can only relate on the most superficial level.....But, just think how bad this would be if you were still carrying all the extra weight. When I had my back pain, work got me a zero gravity kinda' reclining chair and it went a long way to making the pain go away. I found out that all of us over 35ish have spinal degeneration of one sort or another. Your sort is just different and more intense than mine. For some reason, mine is manageable with yoga. OK!!!!! Let's hit this challenge as a team. GOOOOOOOO Steph! So, I'm into my research mode http://spinwarp.ucsd.edu/NeuroWeb/Text/sp-700.htm (seems to contain a really good analysis of the problems and is not influenced by the drug companies. It even has pictures). Luv, Car

Yea, I'm still here and waiting for the outcome of your orthopedics's visit......... Luv,

The insanity really sets in around wills, in the receiving and in the creating. My mother died a year ago, and I was amazed at what crazy things my mother could think up along the way. I could trace when I was in her good graces and when I was out....then, there was when my father's twin brother died and my brother wanted to question my aunt's investment advisers. Strange.....As I once heard "and this too shall pass". OOps, better run. Hubby should be here to pick me up from work in 1 minutes. Luv to all.

Sounds like you're close to the sweet spot. It's nice when you're there. LUV and HUGs,

Phyl, you're right on the snoot! I encountered the same thing, but it was well worth it. xxox

Yup. Some of the best are still in Vail and Aspen. XXox

POO-BAH!!(That's a big poo-bah, if you didn't catch it!!)(oops, was that too loud?). It is not all in your head! Getting to the real root of back pain is very difficult and can take real perseverance. We were never meant to walk upright and we pay for it many times over. My chronic back pain resolved itself into knees going down the tube. Don't give up!! Can you get yourself to a sports medicine specialist (yea, you're sporty enough for them)? The orthopedic specialists who were able to isolate my exact problem were from that area. Sooooo, if there is nobody up in MT, you can always come visit me in CO. We've seem to collect these guys down here. HUh, huh??? LOL and Big HUG,

How about setting some short-term rewards...like if you make it through 1 day ok, you can buy a new barrette for your 2nd honeymoon, and if you make it though 3 days ok you can buy a discount swimming suit, and if you make it through 2 weeks then you can buy that kick-ass beautiful suit that you saw at Neiman-Marcus???? France here you come. Svelte !!! HUG:wink2:

Hey Phyl, Way to go with the H2O exercise. You're going to be in great shape for your knee replacements!!! BIG HUG!!:wink2:

Hi Phyl, I had 2 complete, but one at a time. You are a better woman than I. I think the reason that Blue Cross paid for my lapband was that they were tired of my parts-is-parts. I would think that there is somewhere between $50 - $75 thousand in surgery, hospital and PT in those joints. The big BUT is that without them just standing was an adventure in pain itself. I'm sure you can more than relate. I would wish you "good luck", but I don't believe that luck plays into this. A good surgeon, all forms of strength, attitude and you-go-girl!!!! LOL

You go, girl!! I'm envious. My husband hates to dance. So, tell me about your knees. I have 2 bionic ones and they are the best things since sliced bread (got that one from a Mennonite friend). I keep forgetting that they aren't my originals. Exercise, exercise, exercise. It's the best way if you are preparing for replacement. Dance on, sweet princess....

Hi Phyl, Sorry to hear about your loss. Your mom sounds like she's a trooper. Please elaborate on the statement "Earl is off flying airplanes"....soooo is that in those 2 - 4 seaters that carry people up in the clouds??? I am such a sucker for those flyie things... LOL, Car

Ok, you got me. What is COD? I'm sure it's not Cash on Delivery..... Car

You guys got off on the reality shows and I just zoned out. Luv ya.

Hi Steph, Hope your tummy is all better by now. I'm sure that all of us really like to pass on the throwing up thing. We will be in France for most of September. DH says that we will only be gone for 3 weeks, but we'll see about that...... I like Seattle, so I'm sorry that I'll be missing your walk there. Love, Car

Really should get around to sending you the contract. I'll kick myself into a higher gear tomorrow and get it done. Now, to the more important info re replacement hormones....my dd (darling doctor - don't have a daughter, but a good friend who's my GYN) has me using the patch and I feel so much better with it than without it. Oh, I'm 58 (and holding). As so few tumors are estrogen related, I'm staying with it until I'm old and withered.

Hi Donna, Isn't nice to have a doctor you can talk to. Thank you so much for the information about the old timers. You sure don't hear much about them and that info was uplifting. xxxox Car

Thank you for the new visions. I can just envision Chi laughing with you as he runs the lap preparing for his next tickle. Allie, on the other paw, reminds me of my gelding who loved having me blow into his nostrils. He would just stand there snoofing and opening his nose wider and wider. Fortunately, he didn't lie down after he was finished with the silliness. That would have made for a lousy ride. Horses have the softest noses. When is the walk in Seattle? If it is at the very end of Sept., I might be able to swing it. Went over to the greyhound rescue site on Tuesday daydreaming about adopting, but I'm just being greedy. I could just imagine a young greyhound romping around the house with my 50 lb. Big Boy Bob. Anyway, there are so many good ppl lined up to adopt them. The national adoption group seems to be having problems with enough money to cover vet bills. I should probably show my kennel blindness and check out the Brittany rescue. Catch ya later. Tomorrow AM is my self inflicted weigh in. Sign. Huge hug Car

I was doing really well with the Seattle idea, until I hit the September part. I'll be at my other job (managing the house in France) for the month of September. Seattle is really cheap from Denver soooo can we slide it a little one way or the other? On a less pleasant, but dog note...a really lovely friend of mine sent me an email linking to a petition to charge a man, who viciously killed a young dog, with some fairly serious animal cruelty charges. The reason I am even mentioning this to another dog lover is that the images that the description of the cruelty done keep playing in my mind. Even when I attempt to concentrate on something else, the broken record keeps playing. I wish that there was a nice way to tell my friend to edit out the horrible details before eliciting support from me. Tell me some wonderful things that your grayhound kids have been doing so that I can replace my mental image with some happy puppy thoughts. When I envision my pups, I see them being abused the same way the young dog was. Happy, happy happy...... Huge hug, Car