Everyday Chatting & Waffling {2023} Let's get to know each other!

Status
Not open for further replies.
I have finished my first few layouts for my sister. It hurts, and I've cried a lot. I'm so pleased with how they're turning out, and I know that she appreciates it, which makes it a little easier, but not by much.

I spent an absurd amount of time making documentation / example images today only to find the person who needs to rubber stamp it... is on vacation through Wednesday. After telling me it was CRUCIAL that I get this done ASAP. Ugh!!
 
Got to enjoy a tour of my best friends "new" house.... It's actually an early 1900s house her husband has been remodeling but after the fridge in their current house died this weekend they decided to move in early :) It looks sooo pretty inside and I'm super exited for them!
 
I started to answer all the posts individually, then I realized I am having a difficult brain day and couldn't come up with good things to say.

I have had a very busy weekend.

I was supposed to babysit last week, but my son and his wife and baby Bruce got COVID, so I was relieved. That was actually good. I had stuff going on Wednesday, Thursday AND Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday were busy. Some days are overwhelming. I am ready for a nap!

If we have time, it might be nice to comment on Syfie's gallery where she did the pages for her niece. When we are grieving, the most comforting thing in the world is creating and having someone care about the things we created is very helpful.
 
Hello Dear Ladies!
You have all been so busy, makes my life seem so dull...LOL I have been taking it easy and staying home, my arthritis has been giving me a hard time the past week, and this cold weather does not help. Ready for spring to pop out... Did get my 10 challenges done, might do a couple more. I have not been able to visit the kids in awhile, sure miss them. My oldest son and his family have been taking turns getting sick, so had to stay away. And youngest son has been putting in a lot of hours at work, and has 3 kids in sports, school activities, church activities, they haven't been able to come down for a visit in awhile. But I do get to watch the grands play basketball live on the computer, sometimes technology is a good thing...LOL And I love getting texts from my grand-daughter... she makes sure grandma know what's happening, and keeps me in the loop...LOL
Hope you all have a wonderful week, will try and stop in again soon. I love reading your posts and trying to keep up...even tho I don't respond to each one, I am thinking of you all and keeping you all in our prayers...
 
Now Eren is gone, and I am bereft once again. It was hard to leave them at the airport. Again. Even though they had barely been home the last few days, I still miss them fiercely. And I probably always will. I have several things I ought to be doing, but I think I'll just play some video games to get my mind off this loneliness.

Sorry to be a downer. I'll snap back in a few days. Meanwhile, I hope everyone is having a great week! :)
 
The last week has been a blur for me. I started reorganizing the bonus room downstairs, only spending a couple of hours a day in there, and have discovered that I can't even do that on consecutive days. My heart rate sits in the one-teens for hours after I stop and it's exhausting. I've started having more dizzy spells too. Time to make some more adjustments...

My brother-in-law had a triple bypass yesterday. They weren't able to balloon the blockages, so they had to move to an open procedure; they were able to repair the scarred area of his heart muscle too. My sister just texted me asking if confusion post-op is normal. I think I reassured her that it is, and that he won't remember much of the last couple of days. He should be on the mend soon. He has the right personality for cardiac rehab!

We've had an extended mild stretch and most of our snow is gone! I think WorkSafeBC slapped a stop-work order on the developer building the houses across the street, at least for exterior work. They knocked off early on Friday and there's been no workers other than the interior finish guy since. It's a little disconcerting! But watching them work, it's not entirely surprising. Having watched them work, the only hard hat I've seen was on the boom lift driver - inside his cab! They've been putting on siding using a scaffold that balances on two legs. Only the roofers have been tied off, and they're subcontracted. The only house over there that is close to complete is directly across from us; the rest are in various stages of construction, some of them still only framed. I think it'll be Christmas again before they're done.

I guess I should write my Challenge Spotlight so it breaks today and not later!
 
Jan, I can't believe that workers were allowed to spend any time working without hard hats! OMG! The industry I work in (electric utilities) is so focused on Safety. We have safety announcements at EVERY meeting...even employee meetings inside an office. Even I have been issued a hard hat (that I think I've worn twice in 20 years). My coworker even has a pink one! LOL!

It is cold and rainy outside right now. I came into the office a little early to beat the storm. I'm usually the only one here for an hour or so. I am munching on popcorn for breakfast. Ha. Today, I have a retired employee and a former intern coming in to help us assemble all of the name badges / tickets for our attendees for our big event that starts Saturday morning. At least the weather forecast is looking good for our three-day event. Most of our attendees drive (some have drives up to 8 hours long). And we have a handful of people flying in, as well. I'm so looking forward to hubby and my vacation after my event wraps up! YAY!
 
I had COVID back last April and struggled with a high heart rate for a long time. My doctor eventually had me go to the cardiologist to double-check, but I could not get an appointment for months. The appointment was today. I almost canceled it because I have felt so much better, but I thought it might be a good idea to go anyway, so I did.

He said my EKG looked amazing, my blood pressure was fabulous, I was doing all the right things, and I should keep on. I was so proud of myself :)

I am very lucky. I am 68, on zero medications, and have no health issues. I had diverticulitis but had surgery for that and have had nothing since (except issues from COVID).

Yesterday was my 100th day of walking over 10,000 steps in a day. I have lost over 25 pounds (some days, as much as 27, haha) and am doing well.
 
Lynnie, I didn't mean to hit "dislike" on your last post... oy vey! Congrats on your commitment to walking!!!!
 
Just want you to know I read all the post. For those who are struggling, I pray and wish you the best. Love the fact that some are having wonderful memories.
I am back and trying to get caught up on my journal layouts. I am glad that I wrote notes every day so I would not forget. I am doing okay. I still have bad times when I wish my husband was here, but it is getting better, and I know I will see him again. I am grateful that he is no longer suffering.
 
SEE! It's so FREAKIN' easy to do!!! WHY do they even have to icon?!? Who would DISLIKE a post on these threads? We really need to tell Ginger to get rid of that dislike button. In fact, I have some ideas for a couple other icons I'd love to see like, "laugh" and "love".
 
Caught up on the posts, thanks all for sharing a little bit of your world with us.

Thankful that Mom has moved to the PCH near us in December is already thriving there compared to the other one. I knew it was meant to be when we found out that her nurse was my Gramma's nurse who was at the same place for 10 years awhile back. I just knew then that she was home.

We got some bad news about my younger brother, he is diabetic and has had a lot of complications over the past several years, a couple weeks ago he had to have his left leg amputated just below the knee. I was devastated but when I went to see him, he was not in pain any longer and had made peace with it. His company paid for a custom wheelchair for him and he moved to day to another hospital for rehab. Hoping his future looks better.

On a brighter note, my son & I have been fiercely planning out our Europe trip. I am getting so excited that I often lay awake at night dreaming of the things we have planned. We got an exceptional price for our tickets since we bought them pre-covid and the airline let us hold them over. We paid $869 for a round trip to Paris, now the exact same plane cost is $3550!! I am so grateful that we were able to hold onto that price. I got a few sneak peeks from my son on our hotels and they look amazing. We get a friends and family price as my younger son works for the Fairmont chain. Thanks Lynnie for sending me some ideas for things to see in London, it is going to be a trip of a lifetime and I can't wait to scrap it all!

Winter is hanging on well this year, weather has been up and down with extreme cold and now just above freezing...you never know what you get on the prairies. The grater came down our back lane last night and I had to shovel packed ice and snow to get the car out for an appointment today....sheesh!! My appointment went well, almost off all my allergy meds, but had a reaction to pineapple (what?? I ate pineapple for years....crazy how this can happen!)

Love looking through the gallery and as always not enough time to scrap these days. Maybe soon.

Hugs to you all!
 
I had a Dr appointment with my GP today. Nothing much new. Then I Renewed my drivers license. Took Alexis to see her GP. Then we went out to supper to the Canadian Brewhouse. That was so nice. Been a long time since we have been out.

‘’I’ve started Journalling daily in the Day one app. I set up a template and am trying to adjust it to what I want without it discouraging me.

we had over a week of really foggy weather with hoar frost. Bit more temperate now.

anyone watching a new show called “last of us”? Primarily filmed in alberta it’s neat to pick out places. It’s hoped to cement alberta as a film industry destination. Has a main actor and actress out of game of thrones. Based on a video game.
 
I've been running around with my head on fire today, trying to get all the last minute details ready for my big event that kicks off tomorrow morning. My coworkers have, once again, confirmed that they do not pay attention to deadlines (sending me edits this morning for a document that was already printed, placed in binders, and packaged for transportation yesterday). Ah the joys... reminds me when I was in college and was forced to do group projects.

Had an interesting call last night. I actually talked to my older brother on the phone. I haven't spoken to him in at least a decade. He was very toxic and physically/mentally abusive to me when we were growing up. I learned as an adult that it was best for my mental health to have STRONG boundaries and just not include him in my life. He lives 3 hours north of me in another state, so we only see each other at graduations, weddings, and funerals. Well, his youngest just got engaged and it struck him that he'd lost touch completely with his siblings (myself and our younger brother). So he sent a long, two page typed letter to the entire family. A lot of the letter was about him dealing with his "personal demons" and how much money he felt he was "owed" by our parents (a common theme he's had all his life... always felt the world owed him). But in the letter, he was also offering an olive branch. So I called our younger brother with whom I'm very close. He got the letter and threw it away. But I went ahead and called the older brother to congratulate him on his son's engagement and to hear what he had to say. We visited for about an hour. I felt pretty good about the call... but I don't plan on changing my boundaries. However, I was pretty shocked that my sweet hubby was actually mad at me for making that call... saying I was playing into the older brother's games. So on top of the stress of planning for the event, I'm now dealing with the emotions from the call and the fight with the hubby. I won't be home until late tonight and have to open up the event venue by 6:30 a.m. tomorrow (and it's a 40 min drive from my house). So... yeah... lots on my mind today. Thanks for letting me vent here.
 
(((HUGS))) Shana, what an emotional roller coaster you've been through! Prayers that you and your hubby can resolve your disagreement and that your older brother will respect your boundaries. Life is hard enough without the craziness you're going through.

Me, I'm not living through things like that, but I'm still recovering from Eren leaving again. Maybe going out every day this weekend will help. I've got social plans for all the days, and I'll probably need a nice long nap when it's all over, LOL!
 
oh Shana, I can relate to family drama. I think your hubs needs to let you trust your instincts on this one. It's your brother, not his.

Oh yes, that would be great to just get rid of the dislike button!

Lynnie, keep up the good work. I didn't know about your diverticulitis. I had my colon removed 20+ years ago after a death defying bout with colitis. yuk! Had the darn ostomy pouch for a couple months before getting reconnected and have been AOK ever since.

Katherine, really nice to see you back in the chat. Hugs hugs hugs. I know you will have good and bad days and definitely always miss your mate. Bless you.

I'm sure I missed some stories, but I'm glad we have this place to share. What a wonderful community.
 
I made a horrible decision yall... For my youngest son's 13th birthday I allowed him to invite 6 of his friends to stay the night last night and most of today. I am exhausted! HOW do they have soooo much energy on 1 hour of sleep???? :36_6_1: There is not enough caffeine in the world to help me right now :D
 
Darling Shana, I'm so sorry that your husband fought with you over your decision to reach out to your brother. And let me make one thing clear, it was YOUR decision to make, not his... so as long as you're keeping your boundaries in tact, I think he should have supported you. But that's me. (like glee said)


Katherine, been thinking a lot about you sweetie. Nice to hear from you again.


Ane, I know how it is when the kids leave. Too quiet. Good that you'll be busy this weekend.


6 13-year-old boys for the night, Steph! WHAT could go wrong?!? GOOD LUCK!


I'm just hangin' out this weekend. Nothing much happening here. Have a good y'all. Love ya!
 
Steph, I remember those days. I think I only let 3 spend the night. But yeah, I don't think they slept until they went home the next day!!
 
All but two are gone already... One will be leaving in about an hour and the other will leave after church tomorrow. I'm sooooo glad they had fun, but I definitely feel all of my 39 years today lol
 
Oh Steph, you are a saint! I hope you are able to turn in early and get some much-needed rest tonight! Hope the birthday boy made a lot of fun memories!

We survived the first day of my three-day event. My hubby and I had a long talk and he got up very early with me to drive me to my event. I'm glad he did because it started to snow this afternoon. He helped me set up two of the training rooms today before my coworkers showed up. I very much appreciated his help. When he brought me home, he "made" supper (aka ordered a pizza... ha). But he also did the dishes and picked up the house little bit. So I can see he's trying.

I'm just checking emails and I plan to go bed shortly. Tomorrow's event will run from 7 a.m. until about 9 p.m., so I need to be well rested! Hope everyone has a great day!
 
Shana,
I'm glad yall talked. Hopefully things are better now :) And I'm really glad he did the kitchen duty. I know how exhausting that is when you've worked all day - especially an event that requires more energy on your part.

They had a great time. I'm surprisingly not as worn out mentally as I thought I'd be but my body? That's another story. I have EDS so trying to have a Nerf war and climb the big dirt piles with them did me in.
 
Katherine, I am so glad you were able to post. I journaled a lot around when my first son died and it was very helpful. I, too, journal daily, but I don't have the energy to turn them all into scrapbook pages. I wish I did. I can't even manage the weekly ones, LOL. You never really recover from grief. Life changes in unexpected ways, and you just learn to cope. Faith saved me.

Shana, Toxic relationships are the worst. My husband has let go of a toxic sister, but I keep wanting to reach out to her. She has had cancer several times, and she is alone. I can't bear the thought of her being by herself. I abide by his wishes, but it isn't easy. I am lucky that there is not a toxic soul in my family, and I have been very blessed.

Steph, I once had birthday party sleepovers two nights in a row. My daughter had about 30 people, and my son had five. You may feel free to guess which was the most exhausting. Hint: it was not a party with 30 people. I was ready to have the parents come to pick them up after an hour.

Glee, you actually gave me lots of helpful advice about diverticulitis and the surgery. It was about two years ago, so no wonder you have forgotten.

Karen, I love Paris so much! My favourite art museum is the Musee d'Orsay. It is in an old train station, and the light is luminous. I also like the Garden of the Rodin museum and the Musee de l'Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens. Everyone goes to the Louvre, but these were not as busy and were much more intimate, and I loved the art more. The boat ride on the Seine is well worth doing also. If you are a walker, take the little train UP to Sainte Chapelle and Monmartre, but walk down. You will see a little vineyard and charming houses and what have you. Many artists lived in the houses on the way down. You will also see the Moulin de la Galette, one of the old French windmills. When you see Notre Dame, make time to see Sainte Chapelle, just a few steps around the corner from there. It is the jewel box of Europe and contains the most beautiful stained glass windows. I saw it as a child, and I was not disappointed when I went back years later.

Here I ramble away! I have been busy babysitting my grandson. I used to do it two days a week, now it is three or four. I walk him to school three days a week now and I love it. I am so luck to see him as much as I do.
 
You make me reminisce about Paris and France, Lynnie. So many wonderful places I visited too many years ago. Musee d'Orsay, the Tuileries Gardens, Sainte Chapelle. I actually lived in Montmartre for a couple weeks before traveling down to live in Tours for a month and then spent the rest of the summer on Cap Ferret. It was glorious!
 
FormbyGirl; [B said:
"Karen, I love Paris so much! My favourite art museum is the Musee d'Orsay. It is in an old train station, and the light is luminous. I also like the Garden of the Rodin museum and the Musee de l'Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens. Everyone goes to the Louvre, but these were not as busy and were much more intimate, and I loved the art more. The boat ride on the Seine is well worth doing also. If you are a walker, take the little train UP to Sainte Chapelle and Monmartre, but walk down. You will see a little vineyard and charming houses and what have you. Many artists lived in the houses on the way down. You will also see the Moulin de la Galette, one of the old French windmills. When you see Notre Dame, make time to see Sainte Chapelle, just a few steps around the corner from there. It is the jewel box of Europe and contains the most beautiful stained glass windows. I saw it as a child, and I was not disappointed when I went back years later. "[/B]

Lynnie, I spent most of yesterday planning a few details of our trip. My son is SO organized and I am SO lucky to have such a wonderful son to travel with. I did send him the comments you sent me and we will see what we can incorporate. I know we are taking a boat ride in London but not sure of Paris. He is such a dear - when I was viewing the itinerary on his computer, he had my birthday (April 22) covered in black so I couldn't see the surprises for the day. I am like a little kid before Christmas, so excited, but still awhile away...I don't know how I am going to last until the big day!
Click to expand...
 
digiscrapmomma said:
Shana,


They had a great time. I'm surprisingly not as worn out mentally as I thought I'd be but my body? That's another story. I have EDS so trying to have a Nerf war and climb the big dirt piles with them did me in.
Click to expand...

My daughter's boyfriend of two years has EDS and is trying to get a diagnosis. He has all the symptoms. Loose skin, dislocatable joints among other symptons. He also has POTS and is waiting for a definite diagnosis there as well. It is such an under-diagnosis ailment and not much is known about it. The best doctors are at least an hour away. Hope you have yours under control, if that is possible.
 
I need to put something here that I don't think I've mentioned before but I'd like to hear what you ladies think.

This is before my father passed. My sister hasn't been around for at least 3 months. Than she showed up like nothing happened. She visited weekly. Than she disappeared for a few months. My father got sick and ended up in the hospital. She came around EVER day and missed work to be with him. She stayed "visible" until after my father passed away. We split his estate and divided all his stuff. It was shortly after his estate was settled that she blocked me on facebook and we haven't spoken since - a year ago last Thanksgiving. I tried calling, but she never picked up the phone. Why would she block me? She was always very jealous even at a young age. But everything was split 50/50. She was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. She has major back problems too. But why would she block the only blood relative/sister she has?
 
LilyAnn said:
I need to put something here that I don't think I've mentioned before but I'd like to hear what you ladies think.

This is before my father passed. My sister hasn't been around for at least 3 months. Than she showed up like nothing happened. She visited weekly. Than she disappeared for a few months. My father got sick and ended up in the hospital. She came around EVER day and missed work to be with him. She stayed "visible" until after my father passed away. We split his estate and divided all his stuff. It was shortly after his estate was settled that she blocked me on facebook and we haven't spoken since - a year ago last Thanksgiving. I tried calling, but she never picked up the phone. Why would she block me? She was always very jealous even at a young age. But everything was split 50/50. She was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. She has major back problems too. But why would she block the only blood relative/sister she has?
Click to expand...

LilyAnn,

Sometimes there are people in your life that are toxic and are not meant to be there, even when you want them to be. All you can do it continue to make the effort with occasional calls and cards and leave it to time to heal (or not). You will always know you did everything you could and that is what counts. Don't waste time and energy wondering why poisonous people are the way they are.

You probably did nothing, except be a good, kind and thoughtful person. Some people just think they are owed everything and resent that some people get on with life.

Big hug!
Lynnie
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top