Bosom Buddies

jane · October 31, 2021, 11:54:49 AM

WOW, MaryPage, what a family history of strong women you have. We know now where your "hospital voice" comes from!

Beautiful day here, but time to dig out my warmer coat. It'll be only in the 40s this week and into the 20s at night. It seems as if October flew by.

Stay safe and healthy!

Jane

jane · November 01, 2021, 04:16:34 PM

'Twas a bit of a nip in the air...34 when I got up this morning. I had an early (for me) haircut appt and then some running around to do. I went up to Billing Dept at hospital to ask for help filling insurance with my drug carrier for a tetanus shot I got in July. Hospital won't bill my BC/BS prescription provider; I paid the bill and she helped me fill out the form with all the right numbers.

Then I ran around trying to find a 5 or 6# bag of ice cubes. Our refrigerator isn't hooked up for the icemaker...there's only a crawl space under our kitchen. For some reason it's hard to find a small bag...had to try 3 places before I found one.

I'm really sleepy this afternoon. I don't usually nap during the day unless I'm sick, but today may be an exception!

Stay safe and healthy,

jane

maryz · November 01, 2021, 08:35:16 PM

Must be good sleeping weather, jane. I got a short nap between breakfast and lunch this morning.

I had a nice surprise last night - a little goblin came to pay me a visit. They came for just a few minutes in the lobby, but it was fun to see Henry in his "Monster, Inc." outfit.

Sharon, your new great-grand is a cutie!

Stay warm, Buddies!

Cottoncandy · November 02, 2021, 11:47:26 AM

Good morning....I have been fighting a cold and sinus problems...probably from all that wind that blew for 3 days..Jane I don't take naps either but do lay down and read awhile...Mary P you have a interesting family history...I'm the last of 9 kids...just one brother and I left.....Hi MaryZ Sharon and Marlyin...hope all are well and safe from covid...have a great day....

jane · November 02, 2021, 12:19:04 PM

Darlene...the wind does that to me, too...triggers my sinuses and ears to hurt. Nasty stuff.

Sharon...Ceci looks like a beautiful doll. What a cutie.

Mary...Oh, my Henry Monster came for a visit. How delightful.

Beautiful fall day here. I went and voted and they said there's been a big turnout already. We have contested mayor and council and school board races.

Otherwise a quiet day here.

jane

MaryPage · November 02, 2021, 01:38:53 PM

Errrurgh! Jenny (the Denver Darling that was) would be able to relate to my utter disgust at having written a long posting, only to have it eaten up by the closet monsters who love to feed upon my words. It is with such a sense of having had a bucket full of abject defeat thrown over my head & body that I set my fingers back on the keyboard and start over again. Sigh!

Ceci, those nasty bugs drilling into your head match up with the day we are having here. Rain, mist, nasty grey fingers of dismalness owning the day. Day? I'd say we're not really having one. Hope you have Someone to serve you a huge mug of steaming hot tea. Lapsang Souchong would be a great choice for today; or mebbe an Earl Grey with a double dose of bergamot in it. My Cousin Bea always ordered a pot full of the Lapsang on our High Tea outings, while I have steadily been an Earl Grey gal. I do relish the after taste of smokiness the Lapsang releases in the throat and mouth, though. That was also my great grandmother's fav.

This is what I am having done on the 10th. I have not, and WILL NOT, read this myself. My stomach curdles over things medical. Color me squeamish, but if I'd wanted to know these things, I would have tried for Medical School.

https://medstarhealthinfocus.org/cardiology/surgery/tavr/

I am So Tired of hearing nothing but the news that my once gorgeous home state of Virginia is having an election today. An "off year" election. Only 7 states in our Union do this. And I can tell you that it gets more than tiresome. It is bad enough that most of us only have elections every Other year; the newsies and the pols still yammer on and on. But I have dreamed happily of a day when Virginia and the others would decide to match the other 47 states and cut us a little slack in the politicking. My solution, for simply years now, has been that each pass a special bill in their legislature to have just one year in which the governor and legislature are elected to a term that is either one year less, or one year more than the state laws call for. Then the NEXT election for these offices will fall into line with the rest of the nation. Oh, what a relief 'twould be!

I say my once gorgeous state because Virginia, which still holds some views that are the most beautiful on the planet and can make your breath stop for a moment, has become miles upon miles upon miles of scabs of human occupancy built on what was once an Eden of green. Houses and shopping strips and roadways and warehouses and office buildings and worse stretch out as far as the eye can see. The detritus of our human existence is blotting out the beauty of Mother Nature, while spitting in her face. My home town probably is called that by ten times or more the number there when I was a child. The water coming down from the dark areas of this afternoon's skies is the same that Caesar quaffed from his goblet, but not nearly of the degree of purity. I used to lift my little face up to the skies and stick out my tongue to take in drops of rain or flakes of snow; now it is not all that safe. But children dare not play out of doors, anyway. They are safer shut up indoors with social media and video games.

I sent a stuffed doggie with a cast on its arm to Miles, my brave six year-old. I noted last night a little white banner below the slide show on my Skylight, and touched it with my finger so the new pictures would show up. There lay Miles in his bed, eyes shut tight with a huge smile on his face. He was holding that doggie in his arms. The caption Melissa had written for that photo says simply: "Thank you, Gran!"

That's all I need, and Life is Beautiful again.

Hugs to each and all

SharonE · November 02, 2021, 07:06:25 PM

Hi Gals, Mary Page so sorry you are being inundated by the nor'easter. It looks awful on TV and I'm sure worse in person. What a sweet gift for your grandson. I bet it did make him feel better. I will read your medical procedure when I finish posting. I like medical things. However, I'm sure I wouldn't want to have that done to me, but if needs must... Oh, I agree with Jane, what a strong line of women in your family! Definitely where your hospital demand came from. I like Earl Grey also, but usually choose vanilla chai. We're watching your election too.

Jane, you really are cooling down in your area. I hope the election goes your way. Thank you for the comment on my Ceci. She does look darling. I just wish I could see her one day soon.

Mary, I'm so sorry to hear about your back problems. I do hope you ordered a chair that is easy for Margaret to handle. Some of them are so heavy. I've had to handle them at times for my aunt and for Miss Frances, and they are quite awkward to handle and heavy.

Bridge was a mess today. They moved us because 2 other meetings were going on that interfered with players and rooms. Not well planned at all.

I got a manicure yesterday. Have you heard of an S & S? I hadn't but it involves painting clear polish, dipping in colored powder and repeating 2 times and burnishing it and then more clear polish. They look really nice and the guy said it would last better than gel or regular polish, so we will see. My regular nail place has closed and I had to go to the mall to another one I had been to previously. It is nice, just farther away.

Darlene, I'm sorry you are fighting a cold and sinus. It is the season for it, I guess. I hope it is cooling down for you.

Alpiner, sorry there isn't more weather change for you.

Marilyn, I'm glad you're getting out to lunch. Enjoy.

I don't have much planned for the rest of the week. Cleaning girl comes tomorrow.

Everyone, stay healthy. Sharon

SharonE · November 02, 2021, 07:18:33 PM

Mary Page, I just went to the link you gave us. It was fascinating and very informative and not nearly as bad as I had envisioned. My Prayers go with you for a successful procedure and a full recovery. Sharon

Cottoncandy · November 02, 2021, 07:34:44 PM

[MaryPage...I read it to....you got this....../color]

maryz · November 02, 2021, 07:46:19 PM

MaryPage, I read about the procedure, too. It's much less invasive than the procedure I had done. I'm sure you'll do well. It was a mostly gray, chilly day here today, too.

Sharon, my back is much better - back to "normal", actually. The wheelchair is just for times when I might need to be walking or standing a lot. Normally, I do just fine with my walker. I've heard of that method for nails, but haven't known anybody who's had it. The gel polish works very well for me. I've been going 4 weeks between manicures, with the polish staying unchipped. Of course, I don't DO anything like cleaning or yard work anymore.

jane, I didn't realize Iowa voted today, too. Hope some of your chosen candidates win.

jane · November 03, 2021, 01:45:16 PM

Winter is coming...a crisp 27° when I ventured out this morning...after 9:00 am... and so the ol' winter parka felt good. I've also dug out my knitted hats and my lined leather gloves. My boots are still upstairs, but I guess I might as well bring those down too.

My yard guy had all the leaves out of my yard...and then the winds came overnight and it looks as if he hadn't touched it. Hopefully by next week the vast majority will be down.

Maryz...the voting here was all local...school board and city council and mayor. School board went the way I'd hoped; and mayor's race, too. City council not so much, but the candidate I voted for didn't campaign at all...so guess the other woman deserved it.

Nothing else exciting here. Hope you all are holding on and staying safe and healthy.

jane

maryz · November 03, 2021, 02:36:52 PM

jane, I think the local races are the most important. They are the ones that have the greatest effect on our lives.

MaryPage · November 04, 2021, 12:44:52 PM

It's just a sort of blah day here on the bay: neither nasty nor nice. Nothing worth mentioning.

I had my Pre-Op yesterday; it actually consisted of just a physical. I excel in the weight division these days, but fail utterly in the blood pressure class.

Mary, the Nurse Practitioner half of my examination team told me that Pig's Valves are considered "natural" in the language of natural versus artificial. She swore that when the Eliquis ads say that med must not be taken if you have an artificial valve, they are speaking only of metal devises. So right at this moment, I am considering the matter open for collecting more information. I fully expect to allow my Cardiologist the last word.

Annapolis reelected their nutty but nice Australian Mayor the other day. His quirkiness and ours have proved, on the whole, to be compatible. Speaking of which, your granddaughter lives within the voting city, while our community of Chesapeake Harbour does not. How can that be, you ask? Clearly this marina and neighborhood lie within the city limits? Well, yeah. But these days, you know, maps are not so much what they are as what you want them to be. The developer of Chesapeake Harbour, when it was, more than thirty years ago, a gleam in his eye, bought the City off with a contribution they felt they could not say no to. So we are NOT within the city limits, albeit those limits enclose us on any map you might find! We pay no City Taxes! We have no vote in their elections!

The improbable changes color constantly these days of thrashing tornadoes where none have been known in previous History, and the tags attached all state clearly: Man Made.

alpiner1 · November 04, 2021, 02:22:12 PM

I have been very up tight this morning . I have an appt. this afternoon with the eye doctor . I see him every 6 months to keep check on cataracts . He says I should have cataract surgery & I think he is surgery happy . I can still see to read & drive .

SharonE · November 04, 2021, 02:56:49 PM

It is wet, cold, blustery and generally miserable weather here today. Supposed to hit freezing tonight and there was supposed to be snow in the mtns not far from us as well. Don't know if it actually transpired though. I don't watch the news till evening.

Alpiner, if you have to get cataract surgery, get it. It isn't bad at all. I was very apprehensive too, but no problems. I had it done about 3 yrs ago.

Mary, I'm glad your back is better. I do think it's a good idea to have a wheelchair available for special times. I'm glad you liked the picture of Ceci. She almost looked like a doll in the photo.

Jane, I'm glad most of the people you wanted got in. Too bad you couldn't have replaced your governor too. They blew leaves around here this week too and you can't tell it today. The leaves are everywhere. I had 2 small plants (kalenchoe) that I've had outdoors this summer, but I brought them in last night.

Mary Page, I'm sure they will give you the right medicines after your surgery. Hang in there. I think the time you have to wait and worry is the worst part of it.

Take care everyone. Stay healthy. Sharon

maryz · November 04, 2021, 03:18:09 PM

alpiner, cataract surgery is usually a breeze. John and I both had it done years ago. He had his a couple of years after mine, and by then they could implant lenses to correct astigmatism as well as distance. He had worn glasses full time since he was a teenager, but then didn't need them at all, except for dollar-store-readers. I still wear my glasses, but probably could leave them off except for reading - just a habit and convenience for me, I guess.

MaryPage, I think I've said they used bovine (cow) valves for me. I'm on Warfarin - do have to have fairly frequent finger-sticks to check coagulation levels, but this is a generic drug. And not nearly as expensive as the newer Eliquis. I trust the docs to know which will work. I assume Alison & Joe are in the city of Annapolis, but haven't heard from them about the election.

Cold and dreary here today. And they're predicting highs near 70!!! early next week. Oh, well...

MaryPage · November 04, 2021, 05:18:25 PM

Alpiner, I have absolutely no instincts to sell you on cataract surgery, but do feel a need to reiterate what I have told everyone whenever the subject came up this past 15 years. For me, it was a piece of cake. That day found my drive-me-there daughter Debi & I in a waiting room full of patients. Then I was in and out before I had time to take it all in. No pain. Only one eye done; the other came a couple of weeks later, and I cannot remember one day from the other, except that after I got home from the first, I was able to do a comparison which did not work for the second, as I only have 2 eyes. I held up pictures in magazines and looked at them with just one eye open and the other tight shut. The whites in and around those photos were MUCH whiter with using my now cataract-free eye than with the other. I'm serious. All by myself alone, it was easy to discern the difference.

Yes, you can get lens put in your eyes that are for driving or for reading. Or you can choose bifocals, which do both. I chose the bifocals.

I have always been most awfully glad I had my cataracts removed. It is. in these days of folks living so much longer, a rite of passage like having Wisdom Teeth removed: you will be better off and much more comfortable without them!

Well now, there's a new thing for me to think about, Mary! Cow's valves!!! There is just so much I've known nothing about!

patricia19 · November 04, 2021, 07:03:11 PM

Alpiner, both of my parents had it done in the early to mid-nineties. And my sister just had her second eye done last Monday. She had the first one the week before. It was a simple procedure.

alpiner1 · November 04, 2021, 08:25:52 PM

Quote from: patricia19 on November 04, 2021, 07:03:11 PMAlpiner, both of my parents had it done in the early to mid-nineties. And my sister just had her second eye done last Monday. She had the first one the week before. It was a simple procedure.

My Mom had cataract surgery in the 1990's & lost sight in one eye afterward ..

MaryPage · November 05, 2021, 10:24:24 AM

The beautiful Chesapeake Bay is putting forth one of its shiniest, most spectacular days today. New penny bright and full of sparkle. Very little sign of fall, you would think it the heart of summer out there.

My son Rob is 75. My daughter Elizabeth is 73. And this day, Guy Fawkes Day in Great Britain, marks 70 years for my daughter Anne. Much is not clear in my musty old head, but I remember them as little things together in the sunshine of Rockville, Maryland back in the fifties when they were little things.

The Pandemic prevents the Big meeting of the clan our Annie deserves. We'll make up for it later.

In the meanwhile, it is a splendid day out there.

Remember, remember the 5th of November
For gunpowder treason & plot.
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Need ever be forgot!

patricia19 · November 05, 2021, 11:29:41 AM

Alpiner, you need to study up on the procedure and make up your own mind.

MaryPage · November 05, 2021, 12:43:18 PM

GENERAL POWELL'S FUNERAL in the Washington National Cathedral is going on now. Beautiful. I have felt tears many times already.

Marilyn · November 05, 2021, 01:25:06 PM

Hello Buddies just checking in to let you know I am still alive. I am going to lunch with my friend Jeanie. I have hired a caaregiver who will be here for 3 hours today to give me a much needed break. I will have her here twice a week.

maryz · November 05, 2021, 01:52:43 PM

Marilyn, so glad you're getting out - and have been able to get a caregiver for Keith.

jane · November 05, 2021, 02:10:07 PM

MaryPage...good idea to let your cardiologist decide about what medicine you need after your procedure.

Alpiner...natural to be nervous about anything to do with the eyes. My friend Kathy is in Iowa City right now having her first eye done. There have been so many improvements in all things medicine in the last 30 years. But, always your own decision to make and live with.

Sharon...we've already had a hard freeze, but warming up this weekend, and then back to the low 40s for highs and twenties for overnight.

Patricia...hi to you up there in the interior of Alaska!

Marilyn...good for you hiring a caregiver for two days a week so you can get out and do things with friends or even by yourself without having to worry about K.

Mary...sorry for the cold and dreary. It's nice here..overcast now and quite a blustery wind.

This Thurs-Sat is "holiday weekend" for shopping. I went out and found a pretty wreath and they gave me a 30% off coupon, so that made it affordable. I also found another mask at 50% off. I've somehow misplaced some of my masks...probably in coat pockets or purses or whatever. Covid cases are rising here. Hard to believe, but true.

We had a nasty murder in a town south of me. Two 16-17 year old boys attacked and killed the high school Spanish teacher in a park where she liked to walk. They've been arrested and will be tried as adults. I've come to the sad conclusion, after watching and hearing people interviewed on tv etc. that there is a huge Mental Health crisis in this country.

Take care and stay safe!

jane

MaryPage · November 05, 2021, 05:49:53 PM

I agree with you, Jane. There is so much Anger, and all Anger comes from Fear. Fear these days seems to be pouring from wild tales on Social Media.

It all makes me feel sick, because I am too old and frail to do anything about it.

The worst part of all of the mental illness that is causing so many to resort to killing, and killing total strangers, often because of their ethnicity, but sometimes just for money, is that this was all predicted. Years ago. I think it was in the sixties, but I am not sure. NIH (the National Institute of Health) had a mouse or a rat city, as an experiment to find out what the types of social stress we humans experience do to other animals.

It was all written up, but my recollection was that they started out happy and cooperative and continued so as the population slowly grew. In time, however, as the space available and the amount of food available did not increase, but the population did, mice or rats that had cared about the other inhabitants began instead to feel threatened by them. The killing began.

And the fear generated by lack of space and hunger, and by the mental illness these brought out, created a social situation wherein Gaia, the name the Ancient Greeks gave to our planet, began to fight back with its ecosystem against the rat population that was destroying that ecosystem, and Gaia tried to get things in balance again.

There was a piece in our local newspaper just yesterday postulating the Pandemic came about as part of the Ecosystem fighting back, and predicting we ain't seen nothing yet. Scientists believe we will be bombarded by worse & worse from the struggling ecosystem until we make serious attempts to restore it to a happy balance.

Well, we all learned one plus one equals two early on. But a fair sized portion of our leadership population got really upset and insisted we will not run out of food sources in the waters of the world or on the arable lands of the world. This just is not true. We cannot take a set amount of water, (1), and a set amount of land (1) and have them add up to more than has been the case these thousands of years. We cannot. On the contrary, we have been polluting those waters and poisoning those lands: so our dirty handiwork has caused our numbers for nourishing our mounting population figures to go down, down, down and whole nations will begin to starve.

Only it is no longer truthful to predict these things WILL happen. The facts are, these things ARE HAPPENING!

I expect if future generations are unsuccessful in restoring the ecosystem we inherited to a healthy, working balance once again, the generations left on our dying planet will all be living anything but sanely.

alpiner1 · November 05, 2021, 10:28:38 PM

Quote from: patricia19 on November 05, 2021, 11:29:41 AMAlpiner, you need to study up on the procedure and make up your own mind.

I have made up my mind . My vision is fine probably for as long as I live . My eyes have improved since my prior appt . .

diglady · November 06, 2021, 11:45:13 AM

Good morning Buddies! I have been reading about the question of cataract surgery.
Just had to tell you: I was in nurses training at Yale Medical Center 1953-56. We did the first cataract surgeries there at that time. Following the surgery the patient was flat on back in bed with sand bags each side of the head for 1 week. And they did NOT replace the lens at that time either.

Now you are in surgery about 20 minutes and then out the door and on the way home with a few eye drops to take. And a lens in place. The success rate of the surgery is 99.99999% There are VERY few untoward events with this surgery which is considered one of the safest surgeries to have.

MaryPage · November 06, 2021, 11:53:47 AM

Amazing chapter of History! Thank you.

maryz · November 06, 2021, 01:50:48 PM

alpiner, glad you've made a decision. That's always the hardest part.

diglady, I remember that was the case when my mother had cataract surgery, probably in the 1960s. I had to stay with her for a few days, and then she (and others) wore those glasses with really thick lenses. Time and technology do change things, don't they.

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