I'm here to help...

[Apples2 19]

Funny question, Laura, asking if I have the same address. There are times I would like to blow this place...new idendity, tropical island, foo foo drink in hand and a non-English speaking pool boy. But, alas, the farm is where I will be for a good long time.

[Apples2 19]

Missed you Apples Yes I think this is a good time for me to regroup. Now if I can just get rid of this upper chest cold and I will be ready to rock.

I have drank more hot stuff then I can count trying to get his stuff to break up in my chest. But then I am like coughing my head off and can;t sleep. I am mostly taking niquil at night so I can sleep and trying to rest and drink plenty of liquids during the day and drinking /eating Soups which make me feel better.

I am so glad you can job hunt online I at least get up get showered dressed and apply for a couple of jobs then go lay back down. I guess my body is saying rest while you can but the Mom in me is like there is so much I can be doing around the house.

Awww...poor girl. DH had the crap last week. He said the daytime med really made a diff. Hope you are fully recovered soon:drool:

[Apples2 19]

Junking up the thread!

Just got a text from Lori. Sitting on the beach eating nuggets...no crap. She flies out tonight. She said she was a little bored today with DH working. Told her to go ogle a pool boy. After all, she is our resident cougar!

[Charlene K 1]

Junking up the thread!

Just got a text from Lori. Sitting on the beach eating nuggets...no crap. She flies out tonight. She said she was a little bored today with DH working. Told her to go ogle a pool boy. After all, she is our resident cougar!

We love you junking it up! Looks like you are back to your ol self again. Are you leaving tomorrow?

I tried on the NB Shape ups like Sketchers. The shoe guy said they were a better shoe, but no wides. I need wide for my bunion....lol

Wow! We are having a major T-storm right now, but it is moving fast....lots of wind and lightning.

I was eating Optifast bar...doc says they are low glysemic, but they are pricey. Now I am eating Muscle Milk Light...chocolate peanut caramel. Walgreens had them on sale......3 for five bucks. 170 calories, 15 Protein,6 fat, 18 carbs, 4 fiber....Love em!

[Apples2 19]

We love you junking it up! Looks like you are back to your ol self again. Are you leaving tomorrow?

I tried on the NB Shape ups like Sketchers. The shoe guy said they were a better shoe, but no wides. I need wide for my bunion....lol

Wow! We are having a major T-storm right now, but it is moving fast....lots of wind and lightning.

I was eating Optifast bar...doc says they are low glysemic, but they are pricey. Now I am eating Muscle Milk Light...chocolate peanut caramel. Walgreens had them on sale......3 for five bucks. 170 calories, 15 Protein,6 fat, 18 carbs, 4 fiber....Love em!

Must be the year for thunder storms, Arlene. It has been a bi-weekly occurance around here this summer. But, we have the most beautiful crops in the 40 plus years my DH has farmed. Bumper crop with fingers crossed that it all holds out until harvest. High winds and hail could take them in a minute's time. We are insured but no chance to make money on ins. payment.

Have never tried the Muscle Milk or Optifast bars. I do the Atkins, Pure Protien and Myoplex. Target has a good tasting ones that DH and DS take in their lunch boxes as a snack. Will have to try the Muscle Milk ones the next time I get close to a Walgreens.

Not sure when I will head North this week. Our hired man's son died at the age of 42 and we have his wake and funeral this week.

Decided not to risk the dinner with DH. He will go to the dinner and I will eat at home and go to my meeting. When I am not sure what they are serving and feeling swollen from my PB, not going to try it. Fine with me. DS will go with DH...not like DH is shy and can't go alone. LOL. They can take hours and "farm" with the rest of the guys. These kind of functions kill me anyway. So backwards...women on one side of the room and men on the other. God forbid if a woman were to pull a chair up to the men's side!:thumbup: Been there, done that. :w00t::wub::w00t:

[Apples2 19]

BTW, Arlene...I'm always my "old self". Just hit a couple of bumps in the road for a couple of weeks. The arm is doing better. The wrist is a bugger but new doc said splint for 3 more weeks (which will be 6 wks) which will give the wrist time to heal.

[Apples2 19]

Linda...I have been going to ask you this question since last week. Talking to Arlene about the shape up shoes reminded me. You were talking about your hip bothering you. You didn't by chance do a lot of walking in a pair of shoes like that, did you?

I notice that if I have not worn them for a week or so (when I am wearing one of my other 200 pair) I tend to get sore hips the first day or so. Just wondering.

[JeweI 2]

Things got just a bit crazy picking Jake up from school today. They could not find him. Finally they escorted me inside to look for him and the poor thing was scared to tears. He heard his name on the intercom but didn't know that it meant I was ready to pick him up. Where was his teacher? I don't know. He was left in the cafeteria with alot of other kids who were being loud and he has never been in a situation like that before. The principal asked me to come inside and get him tomorrow. Then I found a note in his backpack saying he needs learn to sit and listen to directions. Then he tells us someone hit him with an orange traffic cone and that nobody likes him. It makes me sad to hear him say that but I keep pushing him to try. This is our best option until we can afford private school. Hubby is feeling so guilty for not being able to put him in private. He is taking it really hard. Telling me about how much he was picked on in school and stuff. I keep trying to tell him this is not the same. It is only the second day of school. He has all these negative feelings toward public school and I don't want my son to get those same feelings. I think he should keep trying so I keep asking my husband not to talk about it in front of my son. We need this to work out. If it doesn't hubby will want me to homeschool. Which means we will be stuck on this tight budget life forever. I just see that the 3 of us are a family and we all need to participate in the cost cutting for a bit so we can reach our goal as a family. In the end it will make life better for us all.

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Went to visit Olivia at the hospital today, give my sis some moral support. Went with my parents by two sets of trains. It is so easy to get to Chicago and around Chicago. Walked one block from one train station to the other.

Olivia looked good. She's on Valium to stop the seizures and I think she slept a lot. Today they had her jumping up and down trying to get her to have a seizure. She has never had a seizure in the hospital and they've never registered on an EKG, ergo, they can't pinpoint the source of her seizures.

So, back to school tomorrow. Not really looking forward to it. My assistant is thinking of quitting. There's a position at the college she lives next to working in their bookstore. It's right next to where she lives and her husband is the head of development at the college. Without her I'd have to do all the paperwork. Don't know if I'll have enough students to justify hiring another assistant. School needs more students. So many wait till the last second to enroll and some are actually a week or two late because we start before many of the public schools.

Tomorrow, I won't be able to see any of the kids, I'll spend the time scheduling the ones who show up. I'll have to get a copy of each teacher's schedule.

My brother from CA had an interesting possibility for the future that would involve a possible win/win situation for my parents and for me and my husband. As you know, my dad has early Alzheimers. He's 82. My mom is 77. They are both living in their fully paid for home about 5-10 minutes from me. They aren't wealthy but manage quite well on their social security and small retirement account because their bills are minimal, they're very frugal, and they have major tax deductions on their house.

I, on the other hand, took out a loan on my fully paid for house in order to remodel the basement so my son and his wife and baby could live there and to make other improvements on the property. Then we got flooded and a huge part of my loan got washed away. I'm using what's left of the loan to refinish the basement and Ken's part-time work to pay off perma-seal. Plus part of Ken's retirement since he seemed to have lost most of it on the market anyway. I'll never be able to sell the house if I don't get this fixed.

So, retiring at 62 (I'll be 59 on Dec. 30), is pretty much an impossibility, but continuing teaching at the level I am gives me the willies.

So my brother's proposal is that Ken and I move in with my parents. We would receive the house and any other assets that are left over. The other kids don't want that money. And they don't need that money. And we would probably be paid as their caretakers.

The advantages are that my parents would be able to stay in their own home. For my dad, staying somewhere where he's very familiar with everything (He was raised a block away) would help keep him from the disorientation a new setting would bring. My mom loves her home and her biggest fear is being put in a retirement village or assisted living with a bunch of gossipy old people (especially from her own religious background. And most of the good retirement and assisted living homes around here are filled with Dutch people from a Reformed (Calvinist) background)

Her home has always been the social center of the family with kids and grandkids returning there regularly from all over the country. However, she can't handle my dad, who has retained all of his bossiness but is losing his cognitive reasoning abilities. She's a nervous wreck, he follows her everywhere making 'suggestions' for her improvement. He's incredibly stubborn and has never really respected women. Sees himself as the patriarch and can't stand that others (especially woment) don't have the same opinion as himself. She has never been successful at standing up to him and his badgering.

So with Ken and I there, she wouldn't be stuck with him. We'd be able to handle Dad for her, get him out of the house so she could have her space, get her out of the house so she could have adventures and new experiences which she loves and would give her something to talk about other than my dad and how hard it is to live with him.

As they continue aging we'd be able to coordinate their care in their own home, supervising homecare nursing as needed and eventually hospice care if necessary.

We'd be able to protect them from the dangers of con men and home invasion that happens all to often to the elderly.

This would be our retirement job.

The main problem for me would be a paradigm shift in dealing with both parents. My dad makes me angry. He has never respected me because I'm female. I need to see him the same way I see the children I teach. With compassion. My mother's victim mentality does not inspire patience in me.

I was with them all day today, ran a little interference for my mother with my dad, listened to her with patience, saved them from getting lost and getting on the wrong train at one point.

This whole process would take a couple of years to implement. My brother, who is very persuasive(he's a pastor and now a chaplain), is going to bring up this scenario with my other siblings. We'll see what happens. I live the closest to them and the other close sibling is the mother of Olivia who is overwhelmed with taking care of her and her other 2 children as well as having a husband whose MS is currently in remission but could come roaring back.

Gotta think and pray about this. My husband is on board, after initially being repulsed by the idea. Once he understood it as a job, his manhood at not being able to support us. He has a hard time handling me being the chief wage earner. Unfortunately, this is now common as so many men hit their late 50's and early 60's and get an expiration date stamped on them.

Hope that was all clear and understandable.

Sorry that was all about me and I'm not real responsive to the rest of you today. Writing it all out, pros and cons, is a good exercise for sorting things out. I value your input.

Cheri

[IndioGirl55 32]

Hey Gang...

Welcome Home Karen !!! Yes we need you junking up the thread - glad you had a nice weekend - Wrist so so?? Corn I can eat off the cob - but on the cob I get stuck for some reason - most likely eating too fast and not chewing..

Hugs on your pb - I haven't ever done it somewhere where I couldn't go to a bathroom..

Julie - I'm not a Pasta salad girl - I like my Pasta hot w/butter or alfredo sauce ;0) - So you all know I don't eat that way very often - but your bars & sweets - really really really sound good..

I agree w/Cheri - before when you talked about your cymbalta it seemed like it helpped the pain - so wait till you go to the mayo..

Cheri - Great idea of your bro's but you know all that has to be written up in a will by your parents to hold up.. Also being a caregiver is really really hard - would you have some one to be able to come in to give you a break.. Was the flood outside surface Water and you didn't have flood insurance?? Couldn't you get some low interest loan from the government - they usually come in and help pple out when things like that happen..

Hugs on your neice

Eva - you going to be come a real estate agent?? I think you should be come a travel agent :0) !! You have a busy week - hugs on the funeral - those are so tough

Linda - Hugs you have me crying about your poor Merry - that would just break my heart... How's she doing today..

Melissa - rest while you can..

Jessica - Hugs - Kindergarden is tough - I agree your DH shouldn't discuss this stuff in front of him - Did your DS go to pre-school?? I think my Brooke has gotten in trouble for not minding - it takes kids awhile to get in the groove... But that had to be so scary when you couldn't find him - those car lines are for the birds - yes - park and walk in to get him

Laura - Yep I know why you are the way you are - latter life mommy - tried to so hard to have one - then were blessed to get Nel - I have a gf at work who was like 38 when she had DD (had to do all that fertility stuff) any way - she's the same way - I think she still sleeps w/her DD.. I think that maybe we take for granted our kids (not having issues in having them) where as - to pple who have a hard time having them once they do - they are extra special (thats not to say that ours aren't special - but you know what I mean )

But - What about the gym - yes you walked - but gym gf - weights - more than 1.5 mile ... Come on you are pretty damn fit so I don't think a 1.5 walk really over exerted you ;0)- we want you to get to goal !!!

Charlene - You want to talk about hot - I will say that today was our hottest day all summer - at 6:30 tonite my car said 119..

Ok I know I missed a few - but it's 8:30 and I need to go eat..

I had boot camp tonite - and I wore a tank top - IT'S THE 1ST TIME I have done that... I figured my little short sleeves weren't really covering up anything - so what the hell - it pple don't like it they don't have to look..

[Apples2 19]

Janet...it's so funny how you all miss me when I'm gone. I would never guess that someone would miss my farm wife posts. Oh well, I'll just lap it up and go with it.

OK...I'm not sure how much of you pray or believe in Got or whatever. It's a personal thing and I am believer in keeping my faith to myself. (Actually, I believe but I am one to KNOW God knows me and where I come from and we have sunporch church on Sunday mornings while eating homemade muffins...doesn't get better than that).

I'm putting out a prayer request. One of our LBT longtimers found our she has rectal cancer. I have followed this girl from day 1. I just find her to be cute, full of spunk and very helpful to newbies. Can we all just say an extra shout out to God (even if you don't believe) for this woman. She's the kind that makes you smile just cuz she is such an individual and does not give a crap if you agree or not.

Thanks for the healing prayers...she need it and know she will feel it. BTW....user name Jacqui.

[Apples2 19]

BTW..our sunporch church does not include chanting, etc...we just look at the crops that grow in the back yard and are thankful...not because of what they deposit in the checkbook....but because of the number of ppl they feed. I guess you could say that we have a non-denominational feel about it all.

OK...I explained it.

[Mrs. Bubba 0]

Well, I don't feel sleep coming on anytime soon.... Pain is quite bad right now.... nothing is working so must find ways to try to trick my mind into not caring.... It's hard to do that....... I flit from computer to tv to bathtub........ waiting for something to let up.... No fun....

Apples, you have had so many deaths in your life these last few months... It's time for a break...... hope you are back to normal eating soon.... I love your sunporch idea..... A quiet time with nature and God is very nice. When will your harvest start..... September I suppose... DH and his employers are done with peas, working hard on wheat and the Beans are about ready to go, too..... And so far have been binning all of it because of the storage rates at the elevator..... Lots of work...... But DH is back to his old self this week... Last week was a bummer for him.... My prayers will go out to your friend... wish her comfort and peace... I remember seeing her name early on when I started here... We just never know what can happen....

Jessica, sorry that little Jake had a hard time at school.... I'm sure he was so relieved to see you... Kids can be so cruel, too.... Hope you get it all worked out so he is happy and safe...

Cheri, your family situation sounds interesting, but challenging....I'll pray that you find the best possible conclusion to this concern..... having something in writing like Janet said sounds like good advice...

Janet, congrats on tank top.. I wear them all the time... but my arms aren't my big problem area... Now shorts.....there is something I won't be caught dead in with these legs!!!

Well this is about as long as I can stand sitting here, so better flit off to something else..... and maybe another pain pill....... I hate these nights.... I have to go to Bismarck tomorrow to get a perscription for my foot.... NP says is it not fungal and most likely a sever strain of excema..... Hope her fancy cream will help.. I also have spider bites on my right wrist and arm... That itching is making me crazy, too...... Just falling apart and wondering if I'll ever feel good again.... NIght all..............have a good sleep... Love to all.... Julie

[ocotillo 0]

Apples welcome back and yes, we love you junking up the thread. And I might be a contributor too when I'm bored all day, sitting around watching TV and can't figure out what to do with myself................nah....................probably not, but I hope to be a little more responsive then. I'll send positive thoughts Jacqui's way. She is very helpful and I'm sorry to hear this news. I wish her all the best.

Glad your wrist/arm/hand is healing too. The recipe should be in your email. Wished I could help with the corn. Nothing like fresh sweet corn. When I was growing up, we grew corn (in Colorado). Dad would pick it and Mom and I would husk it, clean it, and the freeze it. Of course it would have to be cut off the cob because Dad didn't like it on the cob (go figure). Those ears that weren't fully developed would go in the pot and Mom and I would eat those for lunch, sitting on the floor on newspaper and watching her soaps. Now that is a good memory.

Janet, the real estate license is to be an assistant, not a listing agent. I am a terrible sales person, but great at organizing and doing back ground type work. I love the idea of the travel agent, but there isn't that much of a market for it these days. Talked to the first financial planner tonight and he says going with the annuity (regular retirement payout/month) would work for me since I'm so young and would probably be better than the lump sum. As for the 401K, he has some interesting IRA investment deals. We have someone else to talk to and then we'll see what we want to do. I'll probably sign my papers and get them mailed in next week.

Laura and Jessica, both of you are so cute with getting your sons off to school. I don't think you can protect them from everything, but you can be there for them when they need you. Hang in there Moms.

Cheri, that is an interesting proposition regarding your parents. It would be very hard work for you but could be rewarding also. Make sure you get everything in writing and that all the siblings agree.

Hi to every one....it's getting late and I need to sleep. Catch up tomorrow, I hope.

Eva

Edited August 25, 2010 by ocotillo

[Charlene K 1]

Good Morning! I just finished a walk in my old NB's while I wait for the new ones to come in. I think that thunderstorm last night was because we got a little front in. It was in the 80's this morning.......NICE!

Apples, I will pray for your LB buddy. My cousin had rectal cancer and beat it. He is five years out from his bout. I like your sunporch worship. I can just imagine looking out at the fields and being full of gratitude for God's creation. I am thankful for farmers who provide for us. Our church doesn't have a sunporch, but we do have muffins, donuts, and granola bars along with juice and coffee. Don't worry......all I drink is a bottle of Water.

Cheri, I think taking care of your parents is awesome. I do agree with Janet that there needs to be some kind of contract with the siblings. I know it will be tough, but you will be blessed beyond measure.

Janet.....wow 119. I bet it is hard to do any exercise outside. You better stick to the gym.

Eva, my DH and I bought have annuities. We haven't drawn on them yet, but I see it coming when DH officially retires.

Jessica.....I am so sorry your little one had such a tough time at school. Yes, your son will feed off of your DH's negative comments if he doesn't like the school. I hope he finds a little friend there and develops a relationship that makes the rest of his problems go away. Hang in there!

Julie, I am sorry I forgot why you were in the hospital last year. Do you think your shoulder could be from adhesions from your surgery. The reason I say that is yesterday I was reminded about my adhesions. I went to Penney's and bought a body shaper ( extra big too) and put it on last night. When I put it on over my abdomen and midriff pain shot down my leg and up to my jaw and into my upper back. I just can't wear anything tight on my abdomen because of all the scar tissue. I must be a nightmare inside. Anyway, I just remember how sick your were and thought maybe it might be coming from your surgery.

Okay peeps.....gotta go get ready to swim at my friend's house then babysit this afternoon. DD has not delivered yet. I am thinking maybe she will be induced next week.

Later!