keepsmiling7

PODMOM..........like ML.....did I miss something with regards to the OC house? Did you have storm damage, or is it just updating?

ML.......your Passover sounds very nice. Our Seder dinner at Bible Study was very thought provoking.
It was a very good experience for all.

We have only 9 coming in for Easter dinner. We have one over-night guest to stay, and that is my 26 year old granddaughter. She has some time off and has come to help out us old folks with things around the house. We are so blessed to have these wonderful grandchildren.

MyrnaLynne

keepsmiling that's wonderful that your granddaughter is coming to stay with you and help out with thing. I'm sure Easter dinner was very nice! Yes, the services around Easter are very moving and that seder being 'the last supper' would also be very meaningful. Plus some of the things about 'not oppressing the stranger' are very relevant today!

Passover gets over tomorrow night - my husband can't wait! That man lives on carbs - pasta, pancakes, waffles, granola bars. I don't feel nearly so deprived because I eat stuff like cheese and yogurt, which I can still eat.

It's Barbara's 69th birthday tomorrow too, so we'll see Passover off with a birthday party for her tomorrow night.

podmom

keepsmiling if somehow I live long enough to have a grown grandchild help me I will be so touched and happy. Good for her

No this would be a rebuild to upgrade in space...and lots of it if it happens. Really hoping.

Podad and I went down for the day to meet with one of the architects again and to walk though a few more houses. Stressful with podad today. He isn't easy going and this isn't his big dream but he is going along with it so that has to be good enough!

Glad you get to bake and eat flour again ML but good to do with out some things at times whatever they might be.

keepsmiling7

We really enjoyed having the family in for Easter, and Jennifer was such a big help around the house and yard. We are very lucky to have these older grandchildren willing to help. They received good training and family importance from their parents. I'll have to give my former daughter-in-law credit for that too.

Hubby's youngest daughter has been with us for several days. She is representing an author that will appear on The Today Show in May. They were filming several scenes around Austin that will be used as she promotes her new book.

I'm off to exercise class now.......got to keep this old body moving!

MyrnaLynne

Good for you keepsmiling to keep in shape! You need to stay healthy, for that big family of yours. I ordered a couple of exercise videos (so far I've tried one of them once, and liked it.) Yes, it's good your granddaughters were raised right. One of my retired friends just cooked a huge Easter dinner for her kids, and nobody took home any leftovers, and nobody stayed to help her clean up! That was a huge amount of work for a single person! She was exhausted.

Wow about hubby's young daughter! Sounds like a big job and a feather in her cap to have something on Today show (lol, does anybody say 'feather in her cap' anymore?)

Interesting PodMom that you are expanding The Haven. More room for the grandkids! PodDad is being a good sport to go along, even though he's grumpy/dubious about the whole project.

Had a phone meeting yesterday with the guy at the publisher (taking my job away) - he was very upbeat and friendly and pleasant, so at least nice to deal with. I still can't envision what tasks I'll be left with (I think editing and proofreading), when they move the day-to-day operations of my medical journal in-house. Oh well, 8 more months to go, if Mrs Boss decides to keep me on that long/till the end of the year. We need to figure out the rest of our lives - no pressure!

keepsmiling7

ML.........I can't imagine the problems you face now with an uncertain future with your present job/company. One thing I learned from hubby's daughter is that the publishing is changing on a daily basis. She worked for Word Publishing in DC after graduation from college. She made good contacts and later formed a public relations partnership with another employee. Since the publishing companies no longer promote the author's books, it is up to the author to get the help they need. Thus, enters Jana and Pamela. They have the skills and connections, so they are doing very well. Since they go where the author is, they can live anywhere. Jana has lived in Richmond, VA, Nashville, TN and now Spring (Houston) TX since she is married and has three children. The Today Show part will appear in May under the Mr. Manners special report. I don't watch daytime TV so I have no idea what that is.

PODMOM.........how is the OC project coming along? Is this something you will have to be on-site to supervise? I get the idea that this is very special place to you because of family history. Am I correct?

WEN.......how are you doing? I think of your when I get the pictures of our precious little Piper on the ipad.

MyrnaLynne

Wow, an elevator would be awesome (in old age). That is a huge plan Podmom
Sounds really nice, too.

Thanks for the beautiful holiday wishes! Yes the doing without/changing your diet for a week is very interesting.

Wow, we had hideous weather on Saturday - cold, raw, drizzly, damp ugh - and Sunday it was absolutely beautiful/perfect weather Very encouraging! Things are starting to grow around here, trees and bushes getting leaves. It's so weird how everything is just dead all winter and comes alive again in the spring. Except our beautiful magnolia tree might not be alive - It didn't bloom or get leaves this spring. We were studying it (Mr ML is eager to chop it down) and we saw ONE BLOSSOM! So it's saying "I'm not dead yet!" Like Monty Python.

Yes Keepsmiling publishing has changed a LOT, plus one publishing house gobbles up another one. Everything going online/being virtual has made things very different too. It's a very good time to retire, while technology is racing ahead/passing me by! I think my other job skill, medical transcription, has pretty much ceased to exist, with voice dictation (computers type what the doctors say now - how well/accurately remains to be seen!) I remember reading one where the doctor said "Percussion and auscultation" and the machine put "patient had heart transplantation"!!

Wen is over cat sitting for her brother (staying in his house) while they all went to a family wedding back East. She is the nicest person EVER to do so much for her family and put herself out like that.

podmom

Hi girls.....I was MIA a bit because I was in the hospital for 24 hours this was it > had basically vertigo Saturday and Saturday night ( out of the blue) never had that before. Sunday morning I had what was probably irritable bowel ( I used to get that a lot not so much now) but vomiting more than usual. At that point I felt like I better go to the ER given my age and family heart history...Liz was wanting me to just for the vertigo( stroke symptom) Saturday night I said no way ER on a Saturday night and that nausea and vomiting are maybe the only symptom women get sometimes for heart attack. Anyway the ER doc said my vertigo was suspicious so wanted to do an MRI on my head to rule out stroke given my age. I was there all day....at least I got an ER room after a couple hours in the main ER holding place.... so I waited till 8:30 pm ( I got there at 7:30 AM) to finally get the MRI so no Drs left to read it so I had to spend the night. I said I wanted to just go home and wait the nurse said insurance probably wouldn't pay for all they did that day if I left without being released so spent the night and at 9 I finally complained to the head nurse when she went to put another bag of fluids in my IV and wanted to give me blood thinners because it was protocol if you've been in bed for 24 hrs. I refused both and said hold on I am probably leaving.....I didn't think I had a stroke and neither did the neurologist that finally saw me around 7 the night before. ( BTW most of the staff was very nice) ....what is going on with reading my MRI?!..she started the I guess they were too busy song and dance but actually went and looked at her computer and said to me ..you can go home you've been cleared ..no stroke. I was very relieved about that for sure but I then wondered when she would have gotten around to checking on that anyway I still have some vertigo but much better today. Neurologist thought it was probably virus in the inner ear. I sure hope so because I don't want to become one of many elderly women with vertigo..it is way debilitating

SO back to you guys...sorry that was long.

keepsmiling That is very impressive your granddaughter is such a successful entrepreneur!!!!! I don't know that show either. Will she still be with you when the TV bit on Today airs so you can watch the show together? I hope so! OC is home to me. I grew up there and love it plus it has the ocean!! The other couple over reacted to the Architect's style ( he is pretty cocky but we thought he woold be better than the other less experienced one) and sent him a testy email and then the cocky guy sent a pretty defensive kind a testy email back so now upstairs couple all worked up and don't want to use him. We need to deal with them tonight.

ML You are very welcome. Glad you had a nice holiday. Now back to the weird new world but I know you will handle it well and will enjoy not working once you get used to it.

Mostly podad has been great about the rebuild ( agreeing to it being the first big thing) but he can get hard to handle once in awhile but we have learned to work things out but it takes a toll sometimes. If I can navigate these three and get it accomplished it will be a minor miracle but well worth it!

You are right Wen is an angel to all who know her! I wonder what she will do with her dog? I guess take him with her? I sure hope her foot is healing!

keepsmiling7

PODMOM........you've been in the hospital!? I can just imagine how scared you were of a stroke possibility. Why does it take so long for the MRI to be read? Hope there is the very simple reason for all of your problems but I am glad you had everything checked out.
Be sure to keep us posted on the OC project. That place will always be special to you.

ML......thanks for the info on WEN. Hope she enjoys her house sitting/cat sitting adventure.

podmom

keepsmiling Thanks for your concern I am almost completely back to normal today and was able to function yesterday. It was probably an inner ear virus. No other symptom but vertigo..now I know how nasty that is We are having problems deciding on an architect but hopefully we manage to accomplish that soon.

MyrnaLynne

Wow, PodMom you had a scary time. I'm glad you stood up for yourself and made them check instead of just jabbing your and filling you with fluids and blood thinners! There are tiny stones on the end of tiny hairs in the inner ear that do your balance, and when you get older, sometimes the tiny stones fall off and get lodged in the curly inner ear channel the wrong way/wrong spot and make you feel sick/give you vertigo, and they can manipulate your head this way and that (like that game with the BB you try to get down the channel into some holes) and sort it out. Not saying that is what was up with you. Glad it wasn't a stroke, glad you are mostly feeling better!


My cousin emailed me that the daughter of the woman who hosted Passover (daughter is my son's age) had a massive stroke over the weekend, was in the ICU, with brain surgery etc. oy. This girl has always had a lot of medical issues, learning disabilities etc, but she was so happy at Passover and had so many friends she invited to attend with her. She's artsy and does origami and other art. sigh. Anyway, I finally talked to her Mom today and seems like the daughter might pull through/get back to baseline - still figuring that out. I can't imagine!

No Wen had to leave Sunny at home with her son and daughter; he would have chased the cats all around the yard I guess. He's devastated while she's away and thrilled when she visits home again, poor dog. She just has until Saturday and then she can go back to her own place again this weekend. She is an angel, that's for sure.

That's too bad PodMom the architect is a prima donna. I can't stand those designer guys who think THEIR idea is what is most important, and not what the client/customer wants - you people have to live in the place, it's not about his ego.

Ugh, trying to figure out the logistics of the TWO wedding celebrations we have to go to, in mid August and mid September. I offered to fly my son and DIL up (because she's not working, because she's so cheap etc) but she doesn't want to spend all our retirement money and put us in the poor house (nice of her! lol) and it's cheaper to fly from Houston to Boston than from Houston to Buffalo (half the price!) but it's a 6 hour drive back and forth so.. I don't know. And we were going to book hotel rooms, but Barbara's not sure if she's going or not, yet so.. not getting her a room! This is like the year my son got married and his cousin got married in Long Island a month later! TWO wedding! MLette and John the BF are going to drive down with us to Long Island party, but John decided he wants to fly from Boston to Buffalo and back, so they are going to fly instead of drive! So it might be just me and Mr ML driving out there, or it might be me, Mr ML, Debbie, my son, and Barbara crammed in the car! Time will tell..

keepsmiling7

ML........I'm with you on the upcoming travel plans. We have two grandkids graduating from college, one 2 hours away on May 11th. Hubby will not go to that one. I come home to get ready to drive 6 hours for the master's graduation the next day. I don't know how hubby will survive that long drive, but it's more difficult to fly with all of his walkers and stuff. He really wants to go to this granddaughter's master's event because he was having surgery during her undergraduate ceremony.

podmom

Girls your travel concerns and plans are hard I hope they work out for the best!

keepsmiling you are wonder woman...very impressed you are going to do that big drive

ML I'm liking John more and more

I'm off to Liz's ...Anna Lee sick again I was going anyway but sad about that plus Tommy got exposed to some kind of virus wart thing...not the hand and feet kind....just kids get and it get go hay wire....Grace has one on her cheek while Tommy has several so far Anna Lee clear but Liz very scared for her since her immune system seems shaky. Stress there never ends. My sister had that procedure and she is worse...she is really done and suicidal please pray they can do something to make it work for her. I am worried. Did I tell you guys bro ended up in the ER Thursday? Kidney stones. He's ok but he too has had so much physical the last few years Ugg the three of us were in hospital over the same week....the elderly

ON a high note we have decided to use the other architect and he is the one the builder I want uses so hopefully God is helping things along. Podad and I signed our contract hopefully upstairs pps do too.

I'll be MIA for a day or so

keepsmiling7

PODMOM.......we'll miss you but I can tell you are needed else where! Hope all of Liz's children get well!

MyrnaLynne

Sorry for your suffering siblings PodMom and that Liz's kids have some creepy virus now - truly always something! Hope they are feeling better soon. Kidney stones are such a pain. But your sister's pain is off the chart, poor thing.

Keepsmiling you are a champ to get hubby and all his equipment to the Master's graduation and long drive. (It's about a 6 hour drive to that wedding we're going to, also, which is super far for people used to short New England driving distances).

Mr ML just lost a big filling yesterday and now he'll need a root canal and a crown and those are $$ - oh well, good it happened while I'm still working and we have a dental plan. But always something!

Barbara decided she is going with us to the Buffalo NY wedding, so I booked hotels rooms for her and us (because it seems she's incapable of making a hotel reservation by herself sigh) - I got one with 2 beds for us, in case my son decides he's coming to the wedding, but that is still up in the air. I found out the wedding hotel has an indoor pool! Woohoo, packing a bathing suit. Still need to book places for the August wedding party/celebration in Long Island.

We're going to visit Aunt Millie tomorrow - she's 91 now, G-d bless her. She seems to be doing pretty well. Uncle Richard, Millie's brother-in-law, who is a year or two younger, has dementia now, but luckily he lives with two of his sons who look after him.

So annoyed, they were having a free lunch today for the office, for Admin Professional day. I went over to see what it was, and they had bought ONE big 8-foot long sub, that was full of ham and cheese and chicken and I don't know what else but I couldn't eat it. And there was a pan of salad, that was mostly gone already when I got there. No thought if anybody was Jewish or Muslim (couldn't have ham or meat/cheese) or a vegetarian (couldn't have meat); they bought ONE sandwich. I'm sure the person who ordered it/picked it out was very happy with their choice.. I went back to my desk and ate a yogurt.