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

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love to everyone and special birthday greetings to Ane!

You all exhaust me w your escapades. I had a fun outing to the zoo w 2 young moms and their 7 & 9 yr old sons. Have to admit I forgot what that was like and enjoyed it so much. Had not been to the zoo in years (w one of the same moms, my goddaughter) and was impressed by the many updates they've made. Zoos are such a conundrum.

Sherri, God bless you and your amazing daughter! Always interesting to hear how other places handle the medical system since I work at one of the biggest in Hawaii. I'm glad I don't actually work on the bureaucracy part of the deal, though my job as writer only ever presents the rosy parts of the picture.

This leads me to randomly ask my non-US sisters, how is the homeless situation where you live? It's such an epic disaster in all of America, including Hawaii.

Hope you all have a blessed day.
 
Glee - our homeless situation is out of control. There are not enough services or housing, so many people live on the street. This is in every city here in our province and I think all the other provinces too. Our health care is almost non-existent so no one gets the proper help they need, whether homeless or not. All of our bigger parks have homeless people living in them, in tents and boxes and in the city alleyways and street fronts. We have a parking lot downtown for them to sleep but its not big enough for them all so they are everywhere you go. I am definitely not proud to be a Canadian anymore. It is awful here.

I got out to the dog park this morning before the 95ish weather hit. I'm happy to stay indoors for the rest of the day.

I've been reading more which is enjoyable and binge watching some shows. We've been back and forth with our travel agent, it is fun but so exhausting to be making arrangements for two cruises at the same time. We have one booked for the fall and one booked for Feb. These will probably be our last big cruises. It will be time to slow down on the holiday spending after that. The cost of airfare is crazy expensive from Canada. Next fall maybe we'll find something closer to home to do.


Today is a quiet day, maybe I'll watch a few shows. HAGD everyone.
 
Lynnie, how wonderful for you & Rand to help your friend. It is so tough for some folks when they get older to part with things and then if there are mobility issues it turns ito a nightmare. Hoping things will be more settled for her once the cleanup is done.

I am busy myself trying to cleanup so much of my Mom's belongings. I was happy that I sold her wheelchair today to a lovely Mom & daughter that was buying it for the Grandmother who just went to a personal care home. I gave them the wheelchair blanket that I bought my Mom and the lovely girl sent me a message on who much her Grandmother loved it. Warms my heart!

Summer is finally here with the hot weather and some rain that we needed. I thinned out a few areas in my garden and made $40 selling my overgrown ferns, will have to invest is a few new ones with the new found cash. Nice to see how many generous people are around and will often trade you some of their treasured flowers for theirs too. I have a few new ones that I got for a trade, beautiful crocuses.

Glee & Rae, I know about the sad situation for so many these days with homeless camps set up everywhere. I do hope that some of the young ones are able to pull themselves out of that life and live productive lives. The sad situation is that there are so many that are on drugs that our crime rate is getting to be so terrible that I am afraid to go downtown by myself or out somewhere later at night. One day, in the middle of the afternoon I encountered an agressive driver behind me and he scared the s**t out of me! I didnt even know what I did to set him off but it was terrifying. With our health care system right now there is not alot of help out there. My brother is in a low income complex and is recently an amputee and he gets basically very little assistance unless it is from his family members. I am really hoping to see things improve with our next election.

On a lighter note, I have been doing some retirement planning and think I nailed down a date....I think I am ready!

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone, maybe I will be able to get a couple layouts done as well!
 
Glee, the homeless situation here is not great either. Right where I am, we don't see them too much, and they are not intrusive when you do. Just a little up the freeway, though, they are everywhere. It is terrible. I remember the second to last time I was there (Feb 2017), we stayed with friends (actually an ex and his wife, long story) in Ewa Beach and drove along the coast to Makaha, and the number of homeless was shocking. We stopped at a few places to get pictures and accidentally walked into a homeless camp. They were perfectly lovely to us, but it was a shock. The Hawaii of old had no homeless that I remember.
 
Oh glee, don't get me started on the homeless here in MN. We live just south of the Twin Cities and it horrible in both cities. Like Karen said, we don't go downtown anymore for the crime issues down there, but that's not even so much the homeless. They're in the formerly lovely city parks that have been overtaken. The city comes in eventually to move them out and days later, they're right back in there. The crime downtown is teens and drugs and homeless combo.
SO SAD.
 
Karen, I finally got my one container outside my front door planted. This year, I mixed it up and planted some lantanas. We love them, but so do the dang squirrels. They keep digging in my one pot. There are plenty of other places for them to dig... go away!

Glee, regarding the homeless situation, even in our tiny rural Kansas town of 600, we have one individual who had been dubbed the "blanket man" who walks along the highway wrapped in his blanket. He walks between a collection of small towns in our area. The police have visited with him. Social services have visited with him. He doesn't break any laws and he doesn't want to accept any help. But sometimes he is in the middle of the road and can be difficult to see. Everyone is afraid that he's going to get hurt. The community has started a FB page to keep tabs on him. They say he's on the spectrum. We used to have a state-of-the-art mental facility in the town were I work (Topeka), but when the government funding for it was shut off, the facility closed down and the patients were sent to fend for themselves.

As I'm planning my youth tour to Washington, D.C., I've taken several of our usual stops off the itinerary completely because the homeless have completely overrun the area. They've taken over (and destroyed) what used to be gorgeous public parks. They are in front of historic landmarks and will approach tourists (even minors) to ask for money. So I didn't feel it was safe to bring my inexperienced Kansas youth to those areas. Sad on all counts.
 
Thanks for all the reports, gals, I was curious. It's sad and amazing to see this happening in our lifetime, in such prosperous countries. The gap between the haves and have nots widens daily. Cost of living is out of this world, hence, my two grown sons living w us. How can they even imagine moving out when rent is $1,000 a month for a single room in a shared house or apartment. Gas here is $4.69 at Costco. Milk over $6 a gallon.
I hear you on airfares Rae, we've felt that way for years. No hop in the car road trips if you live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific.
Madame Pele has become active again and everyone is flocking to the latest viewing. Tempting, but ugh, I hate crowds.
We've got a 3day weekend as it is Kamehameha Day on Monday.
 
I dont see a lot of the homeless situation around and about in my country town, but it is, of course, here and getting worse according to the news reports. I see a few "bag ladies/men" in the street from time to time, and a couple who sit at shop fronts asking for money. Rentals are out of most people's budget right now so more homelessness will no doubt follow. There are several organisations providing a hot meal each day for little or no money and they are being very well attended. My daughter is in a lovely little 2 bed unit in a block of four, each house separated from each other with a central forecourt, driveway...she is currently paying $290 (Aussie dollars)a week whilst on her current lease, but units similar to hers are upwards of $400 right now depending on the area. She only has a month left on this current lease so she is expecting a big rise. Her unit is privately owned and the landlords are very nice and caring towards her, the husband has only one leg so I think he might empathise with her given her cerebral palsy condition, he didnt even lift the rent last July. Homelessness in the big cities is rampant though.
 
Glee, we were shocked by the prices of things in Hawaii. Yes, I realize much has to shipped in, but everything is so expensive. I can see why most homes are multi-generational. As we travel with Hawaii youth each summer, they tell us that staying on the island is not an option for them unless they live with family. The prices in DC are just as bad.

In Kansas, it's still an affordable place to live. But we are seeing the cost of living rise even in our own neighborhood. The house just behind ours in our little subdivision was on the market for less than a week. We were nosy and looked up the selling price. It was double what the homes were selling for just 10-15 years ago.

We took our daughter out for her birthday. She wanted to go to a specific rooftop bar in the Kansas City area with a great view of the city. Hubby and daughter each ordered a drink, and we split two desserts. $60 for the two beverages and two small desserts. Egads.
 
Shana, I had to look up "lantanas", never heard of these, they are so pretty. Not sure if they would survive our brutal winters through. On the homeless front, that is so sad that the faciltiy closed and there was not any options for patients. It is really sad to see how many young folks have drug or mental issues and find themselves in the sad state at such a young age with no help or unwilling to accept what is available.

Glee, the kids have been talking about a family trip to Hawaii, maybe this winter. Happy Kamehameha Day!

Jill, Happy to hear your daughter is secure with housing right now, wishing the best for her.

I am tryng to get back to normal life after my Mom's passing, still hard moments but I seems to be able to cope much better and I have such terrific friends and my hubby is my lifeline!

I have only done 2 layouts (for my CT position) in the past 2 weeks and really hoping to work on my Europe trip but time is not on my side during the summer months. Between the yard work (mostly from the foundation repair) our grass is horrendous and needs some tender loving care to get it back to beign healthy again...but my back yard looks lovely with all my flowers blooming. :)

 Hi Carla and Rae and those that I may have missed. Have a great weekend everyone!
 
Good morning ladies. Got a bit of a shocker yesterday at my 2 mth eye exam. My glaucoma has progressed at an extreme level in the last two months. The doctor was shocked and showed me the scan with all the damage. He put me on a different combo medication and hopefully this will slow the progression or even better, halt the progression. It is so scary that I could lose my vision. He explained that the surgery has less than a 50/50 chance of success along with many other chronic irreversible complications so that will be the very last resort. He wants me to take magnesium and omegas as well as not lowering my head below chest level i.e. hanging off end of bed or inversion table. Also he recommended cutting back on coffee consumption. He explained that anything that can raise BP can also raise eye pressure, causing further damage. Also no heavy exertion but that's probably easy enough to accomplish. I don't do extreme hiking/running or weight lifting. Sure hope the next exam in two wks looks stable.

Heading out to visit a friend soon. Then groceries and dog park later. I want to finish binging Quantum Leap tonight, I think we have 3 episodes left to finish the season.

Karen - glad you have such a good support system. It helps.


Shana - sounds like a lovely spot to have a drink and dessert. The price unfortunately seems to be the par around here too. We ordered pizza last night and it was $50. I can remember when I could order 2 for 1 for $20. Those days are gone.

I'm off to look at the new products in the store and then hop in the shower. HAGD everyone.
 
Rae, I just found out my sister has had glaucoma for 5 yrs! I knew she had eye issues, but never heard the actual word glaucoma. I'm truthfully shocked. She's 3 yrs younger than I am, so 65. She hikes daily and I know she drinks coffee, too, so I was interested to hear your doc's advice.
 
Oh Rae! Prayers that your docs suggestions work wonders.
Freddy has the beginnings of glaucoma too. Very scary. He doesn't drive at night anymore. Thankfully, my eyes are still very healthy. That's one of my biggest fears too.
 
Good morning ladies. We actually got rain here yesterday. We had a light drizzle for a few hours and then a thunderstorm for about 30 min. First time I've seen that in the year we've lived here. Usually we get a sprinkle for about 5 min and it's over. Never thought I'd be happy to see the rain but I was.

I'm heading out to the dog park this morning since it cooled off a bit and then home to do chores and maybe scrap this afternoon. Tonight we'll watch the last two episodes of Cloak & Dagger season 1.

My eyes are uncomfortable with the glaucoma drops but it is tolerable so I should be able to continue on this combo for two weeks and then test to see if it is helping. The other one he had me on first was so painful and light sensitive that I had to wear dark protective glasses and could only go outside by squinting. The pain was intense. My eyes inflamed and I had to go on anti-inflammatories for a month. Sure glad that didn't happen this time. Maybe these meds will work...fingers crossed. It'll be a long two weeks, waiting to test to see if progression has slowed/halted.

Remi is lying by the front door, wanting to go out. She has no patience LOL. Taz stole her ball and is lying on it, on the couch. I can see it tucked under his chest LOL. Life with dogs :) They always amuse me.

I am enjoying my 2 cups of morning coffee. Yesterday I drank a tea in the afternoon and had one decaf with dinner. Then I drank a night time sleep tea which was really good. I can't say it helped my sleep much but I'll continue with it and see. It really felt weird to not be drinking coffee all thru the afternoon. Two cups as opposed to two pots, that's a big difference. I'll buy some decaf pods for the keurig for coffee in the afternoon if I really am craving one but I'll try to stick to water and tea. That will greatly cut down on the amount of caffeine I consume.

Carla - glad your eyes are good and hope Freddy doesn't progress very quickly. Is he on drops? I'm on a timolol combo with something else, forget the name though.

Glee - if your sister has had it for 5 yrs, hopefully that means that hers is a slow progression and drops are maintaining her eye health.

Time to get out of my chair and get on with my day. HAGD everyone.
 
Alexis went to an overnight girl guide leaderbcamp by a lake west of us, the photos she sent me are so peaceful.

‘’we need rain do bad, not just my area but Canada as a hole. I see the USA complaints of smoke coming down from the Canadian wildfires, and want to cry. So many peoples homes, lives, livelihoods are being destroyed. So much nature eradicated. It’s hard, the smoke inversions are hoffifific, I get it, but where is the empathy?

‘’my city is the 3 or 4 largest in the province and I’s supposedly the most dangerous in the province. There were places I wouldn’t go without a man / boy with me, and some places I’d never go period. It’s sad we have gorgeous wonderful walking biking trails but they are not safe. Drive ins were a danger as your vehicle would get surrounded and there were people hurt.

im sad I don’t remember our two trips to hawaii. Alexis remembers it, and loved it.

‘’I’m still struggling with my decreased ejection fraction of my heart, everything is exertion. I’m nauseous, every day and vomit about every other day. My balance is terrible, I fell last night, and couldn’t reach my phone to have one of the guys help me up. It took so much doing to get up on my own. So out of breath, and I feel bruised on my back and backside today, I bet I have bruises. I’m just so tired, hard to think, I want to be back to how I felt in April.
 
Big hugs, Sherri. Have to agree w u on US attitude re C wildfires/smoke.

Yes, Rae, I'd have to agree on her eye drops.

Hot and sunny again. I'm watching French Open final tennis match. Incredible athletes.
 
Aw Sherri...I wish I could be there to give you a hug. I hope your energy improves and the nausea abates soon.
 
I wish we could pick you up in more ways than one, Sherri!

I am glad the glaucoma drops are working out, Rae. I have an appointment in October to check on how my eyes are doing. The optometrist has been monitoring my glaucoma and, this time, gave me a referral saying there is some concern.
 
Thank you for sharing all the info on glaucoma. I learn so much from you ladies. HUGS.

My Hawaii kids leave Kauai tomorrow and arrive Wednesday. All of the SWAG bags are packed. Each student gets a bright yellow sling bag with our tour logo. Inside the bag are six T-shirt and two polos... so that way I can dress our entire group the same each day. Their program tells them which color shirt to wear on which day. The T-shirts are the most fun because the back of the shirts all have designs that combine both Kansas and Hawaii in some way. I'm at the stage in the planning where I'm getting lots of last-minute texts from the kids with questions, and I love that they reach out to me. I just don't love that it's at all hours! LOL! I have two more days to get some rest and then we're off. Today is going to be spent trying to find time in my packed agenda to reschedule EVERY SINGLE LEGISLATOR who cancelled on me last week. Ugh.
 
No Rae, he's just been told that it's in the "watch and see" stage. THANKFULLY! They can see that it's beginning to "cloud" (is that it?) around the very edges?

Oh my dear Sherri. I wish we were closer. Like Lynnie said, I wish we could pick you up in more ways than one... <3

Shana, you amaze me. Good luck with EVERYTHING!
 
Oh Sherri, big hugs!!! Prayers for your continued improvement!

Wow on everyone's glaucoma! That's something I hope to avoid. Hugs to all suffering its effects!

I've recently started exercising more and recording the food I eat in an effort to get myself healthier. I need to lose a bit of weight, which will hopefully help with the issues and risks I have. I'm staring menopause in the face, but I'm not quite there yet.

I'm also helping Eren apply for jobs. They just finished an application today and hopefully they will be hired! There are so many openings, but Eren doesn't interview well (we think that's why they haven't been hired by anyone yet).

I hope everyone has a fabulous day! <3
 
I've read everything and I'm all caught up... death, glaucoma, trips, health... the good and the bad. Stay safe and live life to the fullest.

I've been "absent" from here lately. I've decided to teach myself Spanish by way of Duolingo. It is taking hours a week just to "not get demoted". So fun but it is getting much harder to learn now as I think I'm beyond the basics. I'm able to understand some parts of conversations now. I can read and speak but you have to talk slowing and using simple words for me to understand fully. I'll get there, I hope.
 
Hi LiliyAne, glad to see you here and good on you for learnign a new language. My son is learning Japanese for a few years now and I have always wanted to learn German.

Shana, You are so busy with those kids, they all sound awesome. I think I want your job when I retire...LOL.

Ane, I hope things work out for Erin, always fun to work a new job in the summer and get experience.
 
Lily Ann - I too am trying to learn (basic) Spanish. I'm using the Babble app. I figured it would be fun to learn a few basic phrases for when we go there in the fall. I also want to learn a few Italian words too.

It actually rained here today, what I'd call "real rain" not the light drizzle we sometimes get for a bit here. It rained fairly heavy for about 1/2 hr. It cooled right off too. I am enjoying it b/c the heat will be back soon enough. We got the new pool liner in today and it looks so pretty. We are filling it now so it'll be ready to use soon. We are going to get solar heating for it which will have it ready to use earlier in the season and later into the season. I don't use the pool much but my hubs and daughter will appreciate the lengthier pool season.

I've started my book club July pick, Golden Girl, and am enjoying it. I'm going to sort thru dog pics and get a bunch printed for a collage frame I have never used, will put it in the media room which was the dog room but now it'll be my entertaining room for book club and other get togethers with the ladies club I am in. I also going to put some of my 12x12 printed LOs on the wall too.

Lots of little things to do.

Bella is whining at me so that means it is time to get outside. bfn
 
Lily Ann, I've been teaching myself Spanish on Duolingo, too. I was clicking right along, but then I realized I was treating it more like a game and focused more on the advancement than on the actual learning! HA! So I stopped, backed up all the way to the beginning, and started over. I had missed several of the basic fundamental rules and needed those to understand the more complex sentence structures. So I no longer care if I advance or if I'm demoted... but I do protect my "streak"! LOL! And yes, my new skills have come in very handing when we traveled to Mexico and South America. So I'm feeling that this time is well spent.

Well, I'm packed. I leave in two hours to pick up the Hawaii delegation. The Kansas youth arrive tomorrow. I did as much of the cleaning and laundry as I could yesterday so hubby would have towels until I return. (Yes, he's capable of doing laundry, but this is his busy season and he's putting in crazy hours). When I left for the office today, there was a gorgeous rainbow in the sky, so I'm taking that as a good omen. I just have a few more things to grab before I move into the hotel tomorrow. Then we fly out Friday morning. YAY! I think I had mentioned that ALL of my legislators had cancelled our visits... but at least I now have both of my senators rescheduled. So I'm taking that as a win. It's nice that they know our program and care enough to offer to meet up with us. <3
 
Shana, your Hawaiian trip sounds wonderful. The kids will have a fantastic time.

LilyAnn and company, I should have taken Spanish! I took French, German, Italian, and Russian in school and was very good at all of them. Of course, that was over 50 years ago, and I only kept up with French, and that was 'sort of!' My daughter-in-law is from a Spanish-speaking family, and it would have been nice to speak to her family in Spanish, but I can't. One of these days...

I have a bit of the Blahs, but I am unsure why. I am bored, but I don't want to do anything. I am too warm with the blanket on and too cold without it. I need to walk, but that would involve getting dressed. I am stuck in a miserable place.

My dear friend, Cathie Marie, has been admitted to hospice. Her sister let me know yesterday, and it has greatly saddened me. She is across the world, so I can't visit her. Some of you who were at DSP will remember her. She was a wonderful scrapper and a delight. We spent a lot of time together. She would fly to California and stay with me; I would fly to England and stay with her. We have been unable to get together on the last few trips to England, but we tried. If she lasts until September, I will see her then.

Grandson Bruce has been diagnosed with Level 2 Autism and Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). He can now get the help he needs. He is an absolute delight most of the time, but the two issues have caused problems for him. I am so happy we can get help for him and we can be trained on what to do to teach him to speak.
 
I am sad to hear about CathieMarie, Lynnie I remember her well from DSP. Give her my best wishes if you are in touch. I hope you get your bounce back soon, I'm not used to you being unenergetic. My great nephew, who will be 5 this month, has childhood apraxia of speech. He is doing well with speech and occupational therapy, has been attending a special preschool and his therapists are of the opinion that he may even be ready for mainstream schooling next year. I hope little Bruce progresses just as successfully.

Have a lovely day all you EDCW ladies.
 
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