podmom

What a big wonderful surprise today.....yay the gangs all here!!!!



Wen Your family is SO beautiful. My favorite place Hawaii....they must have had an amazing time SO great to see little Brayden....keepsmiling I was thinking the same thing...those babies are 3 already boy little ones really mark the time for us! Grace will be 2 in a month. Crazy. Wen Yes you can only do what you can and not stress over the rest. I wish you had a pool and I hope you recover to a reasonable point.... so you are not in so much pain

ML Yikes....you were such a blessing to your dad! That hurricane certainly ended up being a blessing in disguise for him. Usually it is a fall and the subsequent downward spiral ( like with my mom and she was with me even) Boy I know the feeling of working hard and sweating buckets...Liz keeps her house warmer than my old body can handle ( for the kids sake) so I am always moving and sweating Ugg about the annoying micro managing....I think that is common and especially with men I guess you have to go down again when he moves? When is that do you know? Praying it all goes well! I can relate to the need to manage the husband. Retirement is a challenge at times for sure.

keepsmiling I'm so glad that sweet little family is back in Texas. Have a wonderful time with little Piper this weekend!!!!!!!!

keepsmiling7

ML........good to get your report. I bet you are exhausted, and you still have a move to go. Did I miss something, why can't he go ahead and move in this new facility right now?

Your experience spurs me on to start really getting rid of some of my "stuff". My daughter is worried for sure......she doesn't think she'll have any help from her brothers to dismantle this house.

MyrnaLynne

I don't think we need to go down to help him move - the home recommended a packing and moving lady, and they have another lady who will go out and pick up whatever he needs for the new room, sheets, shower curtain liner, whatever. They REALLY want to get him settled in there! He was having trouble with edema and weeping legs, and had some sores on his legs from that, and he wanted to get them healed up before he moved - but there's no reason to wait, he can move and get to the doctor/treatment from the new place too, and his legs are doing better. He was just being stubborn, and worried about shredding his old papers and this and that. I really hope now he is going to take action and GO there already (before it's too late).

Plus his neighbor who has been helping him out so kindly wants him to move to assisted living and be safe (and not be responsible for him), too! It's a lot to expect from somebody not even related to you. Very very kind man, treating my Dad like a brother. But not his responsibility and I'm sure he wants to enjoy his own Florida retirement and not drive an elderly guy to the doctor, etc., worry about him staying alive.

keepsmiling yes, it really makes you want to pare down and not leave so much stuff for your family to deal with!

We went to Best Buy yesterday and I bought a laptop, a wireless mouse and keyboard to go with it (because typing on laptops is a pain) and we took our dead computer in, bought a new tower, and are having them transfer our files from old computer to new one, and it should be back by Saturday maybe, and we'll have our desktop setup back too, but in the meanwhile, I have the new laptop to learn (want to take it down to FL this winter), but have got it set up and our emails downloaded again so that was a relief! A house with no email, no computer to look stuff up on, was driving me crazy - I felt cut off from the world!

podmom

Great you don't have to go down for the move MLso fortunate to have so much help. That neighbor/friend man is a saint. It sounds good and that he will get there soon. for the new laptop. I'll tell you when I first got a lap top I thought I'd have trouble with the no mouse thing but it didn't take long to get used to the touch pad or whatever it is called. and now I wouldn't know how to use a mouse and it is so much better to not have to deal with the space a mouse pad takes up . Just a thought for times when you travel or forget your mouse.

keepsmiling and Wen

MyrnaLynne

Well, I got the laptop because we plan to go down to stay at my Dad's (empty) place this winter and I'll have to pay bills online and check emails and such (and post here of course) while we're away. Mr ML might want to get his own portable computer too - we'll see.

Setting up the new computer is driving us crazy though! So hard! They called and our new desktop tower was ready/they'd move our files on there, so we picked it up and spent the night (until late) trying to upload drivers and get stuff working. It's soo hard. Plus Mr ML has no idea what he did with the disk that runs the new photo negative scanner he just bought and installed a few months ago - SIGH. We've been looking all over the place for it (he unpacked it, set it up, etc when I wasn't around, so I didn't put it in a safe place).


Dad is still dragging his feet (and shredding stuff) - he has a (final) board meeting of the condo Oct 18 (next week) and after that he says he'll be ready to move.. maybe Oct 24? I said why not Oct 19, 20, etc - sooner is better. He has held many offices on his neighborhood condo board, president, VP, treasurer etc.

I finally got ahold of the HR people and faxed them the form Mr ML needs to get Medicare part B and D (without a penalty, because he was under my insurance this year) and they said they'll fill out their part and mail it to us, so he can get it to Social Security office - SIGH - this stuff is all soo complicated. Still been waiting six weeks to talk to an HR retirement consultant person. I'll be retired before they give me an appointment, at this rate.

keepsmiling7

ML..........you really have a lot going on right now. It's a shame all of this had to happen at once. Hope all goes well with your dad's move.

MyrnaLynne

Thanks keepsmiling! I wish Dad moving and me retiring wasn't happening simultaneously because there's a lot to figure out about both things.


Thinks are finally looking forward with the HR people - I got a big packet of forms about pension stuff in the mail yesterday, and I faxed them the form I need them to fill out so hubby can get Social Security part B and D with no penalty and they said they'd fill it out and send it to us.. it's all so complicated! And they seem to not want to talk to anybody in person, just have you fax and mail stuff.

Only good news out of Washington is I saw there will be a 2% Social Security cost of living increase. About the only thing they haven't tried to cut this year.

podmom

Oh boy ML red tape is so frustrating. I hope soon it will be over. I need to do the IRS thing too yuck

wouldn't it be amazing if JB got a job and we got to be happy about that

keepsmiling7

We just had the most wonderful weekend with our little 3 year old Piper. My hubby absolutely melts when she runs up to him, puts her arms around his neck and gives him a big hug. Those are memories you'll never forget.

Outdoor activities are her favorites, so we went on many adventures. It's hard for this "granny" to keep up with her never ending energy, but I tried.

podmom

Oh keepsmiling I'm so happy for you and your hubby and for little Piper as well for she has such a wonderful great grandmother and father. I bet you did a great job keeping up!! Such good news. Those little ones are such a blessing

MyrnaLynne

That's great you had little Piper to give you joy (and a workout) keepsmiling!

I just got Mr ML to sit down and put in for his Social Security checks to start in January - fingers crossed we did it right! (Now that we have a working computer to apply with).

Whirlwind weekend - Friday night and Saturday morning stuff with my college, and my Star Trek ladies called Sat night - to meet for lunch today! It was very short notice and I almost said no, but we decided it would be a nice ride, to look at Fall foliage and lunch with friends. My friend brought her old (91) husband too and the guys talked, we talked, it was a nice day. But after this - no more trips, no more plans until Thanksgiving, Hanukah and Christmas!

podmom

you had a great weekend too ML both of you tired but full ... nice

I need to do the Social too but they missed my most lucrative year.... the one I taught...so I will have to deal with that first.

Off to Lizs tomorrow....she is going on a field trip with Anna Lee so I have to leave early to watch the baby and then Tommy. It will be a long day. I keep in mind I can do it both location wise and health wise for now. It bothers me I won't be able to like this with Emily I can go but not for the day. Ahh well I know I need to be grateful I can drive there.

keepsmiling7

ML..........so glad you have the new computer and those problems are solved. Good luck with all of the retirement planning. You have to make big decisions that will be hard to change later on, if they can be changed at all.

PODMOM........I know your feelings about helping Emily out with her family. Since we have 12 grandchildren, it was much easier with the oldest ones to be active and supportive in their activities. Several of the younger grandchildren haven't gotten as much attention from these older grandparents. And sometimes their parents notice it, but time and age can't change things.

Anyway, today after my exercise class and yoga.......I am going to take a long afternoon nap.

MyrnaLynne

I have no idea if Mr ML's income history is right, as of course there are no records (the year he got out of the Army and went back to school, he earned $72!). Will have to believe them about my pay history, too. I thought you needed to put in stuff about military service (they had that on the checklist) but then they didn't ask about it - said elsewhere if you served between certain years, they counted it automatically. Not sure I believe it.

You are such a blessing to Liz PodMom, I remember how hard it is being home with young kids. I feel like I 'missed the 80s' because I was so involved in raising children then. And she has 3 of them, I only had to deal with 2. (Now Mr ML wishes he had more kids! Should have thought of that 30 years ago - ahem). Our prospects of any grandkids at all grow slimmer every year (sigh).

Keepsmiling you do the best you can with the grandkids (a dozen! bless you) and I'm sure the kids understand you are both getting older and can't be quite the fun grandparents you were when you were much younger. But doing exercise and yoga is a step in the right direction to keep going. I definitely want to get a yoga class once I retire and start doing that stuff again (before I look totally like Jabba the Hut, big fat slug).

podmom

I feel like a Jabba the Hut too ML I've gained almost 10 lbs since Emily's wedding and I worked so hard to lose the 30 lbs when I was 59/60 and kept it off all those long Viv years but now without the Viv work and the grieving it's been a problem. I hope I can get a grip soon

Thank you ML about the Liz blessing...I hope and pray mostly I am but I can I'm sure be irritating too I have not lost hope for Mlette to give you guys a grandchild. Is it ever discussed with your close to the vest daughter?

I had it lucky with the kids thing...2 close to 5 yrs apart...little girls...it was mostly ( accept for worries regarding health at times and sometime social stuff) a real joy. I miss those days!! My Liz has it so much harder. 3 close together plus Anna Lee's different issues plus she had a real job that she loved and got paid lots in affirmation and $ and now she is in the motherhood trenches which is in some ways a thankless job.

keepsmiling You continue to inspire....now with the exercise then yoga class....please always be you here...I need to have you to aspire to...I need you as a role model !!