@MusicCandy @SadMe70 A place to communicate

I am so sorry to hear about your bad day! I hope that your pain has eased up. That sounds truly awful. I prayed for you this morning.

I do know about the parking situation at McGuire. The last time I took my husband we sat in the valet line for 15 minutes without moving, and the line was all the way out of the circular driveway back onto the other part of the internal roadways. He was about to be late for his appointment so I ended up driving around by the ER and he unloaded his scooter and went in while I looked for parking. It is very kind of you to take flowers there! I don't go there often (he can mostly take himself) but I see a lot of sad looking people. Even nicer that you left to go find another vase and braved the parking lot again! I know whoever sees those flowers will appreciate them even though they won't know the full extent of what you went through to get them there!

It really stinks about your phone too! You really didn't catch a break that day. I am glad you got a new phone. I use a flip phone and I think two of the keys are wearing out, plus I have broken pixels on part of my screen which makes some things hard to see. I dread dealing with the Verizon people so I've been putting it off, but I may have to go soon. They look at me like I'm crazy when I want a flip phone, but I like them and that's what I want!

I am so glad that your mom was ok and especially that you did not have to go out and get her. I hope that your work shift went ok and you didn't have to do anything to aggravate your pain. I really hope you have found something to help you and that it has let up.

Happy belated birthday to you!! I hope you felt well enough to celebrate a little! Your trip to Deltaville sounds great! I have not been down that way in years. We went to Reedville a few times to the fisherman's museum down there. One trip was to see Santa arrive by boat on the creek that the museum is on, when the kids were little. That was pretty fun.

Please let me know how you are feeling!

Hello, I did get an email from VCU about the closures and was surprised they made that decision so early in the week. I bet they regret that now. I'm sure my son enjoyed 2 days off! Our schools had a half day schedule for Friday for the kids anyway, and the superintendent let the staff go early as well since major thunderstorms were predicted. The storms never arrived either but I was glad of the half day off! Our generator does not work and probably our sump pump does not either so I hope whatever part of the storm comes in the next couple of days does not flood us.

I am sorry you did not get to go to Deltaville! That really sounded fun. I hope you can reschedule.

I am very glad you went to the chiropractor and are feeling improved. Hopefully you will continue to heal. It's great that you were able to keep up with your exercise. All the things you say about your mom are so familiar to me! She loved to play up the drama to get sympathy. Sadly, I'm not sure anyone was sad when she did get called home, so I can relate to your sister's comment. I saw how miserable she made my husband and I knew things would be better for him once she was gone.

I have done 2 hypnotherapy sessions so far. It was not quite what I expected. I thought I'd be going deeper under and he would suggest things to my subconscious. Instead, though my eyes are closed, we have a conversation the whole time and I don't feel "hypnotised" at all. It's just sort of a different approach to therapy. I don't know yet if it's helping me or not. What I hope to gain is to feel less anxious, and by extension, stop tearing up the skin on my fingers, which hurts and is also extremely embarrassing looking. Kids point it out and ask me what is wrong with my fingers, so I'm sure adults notice too but have more of a filter than a 5 year old!

I am still mostly eating healthy, though still having more treats than I should. I have not been eating the junk at school so far. I have been taking a picture with my phone of all the tables full of junk and saving it to a folder on my computer. I hope that looking back and seeing all the calories I did not consume will motivate me to continue not eating there. I have been eating too many at home, but if I'm going to cheat, at least I want to be in control of choosing when and what kind of treat, instead of having others constantly putting temptations in front of me.

I think I forgot to tell you - my PT does not think my hand pain is arthritis, just pain from overuse (milking the goats, etc.). I have been doing some hand/finger stretches in the mornings when I can (I have such a long list of parts that need stretching in the morning I don't have time to hit everything!!) and it's helping. Thanks goodness I don't have hand arthritis!!

Don't worry too much about the wine every night. You need some extra support to help get you through the back pain crisis. You can reduce it again when you are ready! I know that you will because I know how strong you are. I have still been mostly only drinking on weekends, but since our visit to Pies & Pints, I've been drinking a lot of hard cider instead of red wine. I think that's more calories without the benefits that red wine has. Once I finish my current six pack, I think I'll have that out of my system and will go back to wine!

Take care and I hope your back continues to improve!

Hello, I read your post earlier,but I just now have time to write back. Since then, we had the other weather-tornados. One near my house and another near my daughters where we had just gotten off the road. Never seen anything like that here.Sirens went off downtoen and VCU -pretty scary. But no damage to our property. I hopeyou all are OK, more rain will mean floods for sure. I have relatatives in NC- many areas are just devastated.

My back is a lot better. I went last week and now, just when I need it. I will try not to wait so long, that is just silly. My Mom is doing a lot better too. She realized the sympathy factor was only making things worse from the nurses view. They have to think she is mentally with it enough before sheismoved backto her room. She really wants that, so of course she isn't confused now-its a miracle.

I know what you mean about the hypnosis. Ihad a couple of group sessions,and I didn't "gounder" much either. He said we wouldn't remember, but I was aware the whole time,and remembered it too. I hope youfind relief one way or another. It isn'tyour fault, and it must bother you when people notice. Its none of their business, but I would only wish less anxiety for you- that is important.

No change on my meals or wine, but I am thinking about my next check up and how I'd like to do something for a few weeks before that to see if my cholestrolimproves. That is November so time to make a plan. The spacebar is sticking on this PC - annoying.

Always nice to touch base with you - you encourage and lift me up; it means a lot. Till next time - have a lovely week.

I had a really bad day yesterday. During my 2nd hypnotherapy session last weekend, we talked a lot about how bad I feel about myself and the anxiety it causes me. It was very draining but on Sunday and most of Monday I actually felt CALM with NO urge to pick my fingers. The tornado stuff stressed me out and I started picking a little and by the end of the week was my anxious mess of a self a again, picking and bleeding. So I was really looking forward to my 3rd session yesterday. Then I slept really badly and was exhausted, then the car I was driving started not wanting to shift when I stopped at lights, so for most of the hour drive I was completely stressed that the car would break down in the middle of Fredbg, so I arrived at the appointment exhausted and a wreck. He did help calm me down, but then he tried to teach me various visualization techniques to try and help me stop picking. I just don't get that stuff, it seems silly. I was super disappointed. That was my last regular session. We can buy followups at a reduced (but still really high) price. I don't know whether to do that or not. He is very easy to talk with and would be a fantastic regular therapist (which my insurance would then pay part of). I would like to see him more but it's so expensive. I was so hopeful when I had those 2 calm days. I felt for the first time like I could actually heal my fingers. I felt so different and I so desperately want to feel that way. After that less than helpful session in my exhausted state, I was crushed and defeated. I took something to help me sleep last night, at 7:30, and when I woke up at 2:30am I took another half pill. So today I am rested and trying to cheer myself up, but I have no optimism about healing my fingers now. I have tried a ton of strategies to stop picking but I can't beat the urge. The only way I will stop is to not feel like picking, like I did for 2 days, and I don't know how to get that feeling back.

So then I was afraid to drive the car home and waited in the parking lot almost an hour for my husband to come look at it and he drove it home. His van had a loaner battery from our mechanic because it would not start the other day and had to be towed over there. The mechanic thinks it's just the battery but the auto parts store was claiming the battery is fine. The car I was driving is our backup because my car and our truck are both in the shop as well. So all 4 of our vehicles are breaking down at once. As it is, I have nothing to drive to work tomorrow. I will either have to take my husband's van, hope it doesn't break down again, and leave him home with no car all day. Or he will have to drive me to my appt at the Y by 6:30, sit around until 8, drive me a half hour to work, and come back for me in the afternoon.

I am sorry for such a downer of a message. The disappointment after feeling so good and hopeful has been a lot to take.

O my. when it rains it pours, and it is raining too! I am honored that you feel like you can talk to me honestly. I only wish I could be of more help with your fingers. I don't see why medical insurance covers some things but not what actually helps. I have that with my chiropractor too. So much about our health system is screwed up. I will not give up on you in your efforts. Even if I cant walk with you, I will hold a door ready to open if it presents.

Cars= I know how that is too. Me and Fiance have had as many as 4 vehicles, maybe 5 and sometimes it was just like that. The only good thing in my case is that he does a lot of the work himself unless its something big. There are downsides to this relationship but factor that is usually a plus. I really hope you got in OK today and back home safe. Not having reliable transportation can just screw up your wholw life. Neither of us live on the bus line so we are just SOL when that happens. Make it stop raining!!

I am working a partial shift tonight which is why I'm at the computer. I have had no real issues today and no progress either.

I will say a whole big bunch of prayers for you. It sounds trite to say "don't give up", so I won't. But I know you just from the exchanges we have had, and I encourage you to hang onto whatever thread you can. And of course, share any time. I'll check back soon.

I

Hello, I am not feeling as down this week. Still very disappointed that the hypnotherapy didn't work for me, but all I can do is go on I guess. I have not been trying the visualizations. I should really at least try it. Maybe it will work for me if I can get into it.

We have only one car in the shop right now. Mine will have to go back once we locate a part that it needs. The mechanic cobbled it together so it would stop making noise. The hole around a bolt or something was so rusted out that the bolt came through and was rubbing so he added a washer to make the bolt stay in place. We have to find the plate that the bolt goes through. It's an older car so car parts stores don't carry it.

I did not get in all my exercise this week between the car situation and extra neck pain from sleeping funny. The crick in my neck from that has still not gone away and that is on top of my regular neck pain. Sigh. It's always something. I have been eating mostly ok, and not much alcohol. No weight loss though. The three pounds I "lost" are just going on and off and never down below that 3 pound mark.

Thank you for the prayers! I needed them last week. It's hard to stay positive sometimes, between the physical pain and the mental struggles. It helps to have you here!

Hey, Its back to work. Yea. . But last week Fiance and I did go to Norfolk and toured the viking ship - that was amazing. They have a great website and some cool videos of the ship sailing to America from Norway. It called the DRAKEN boat. I would love to go port to port, but I don't think I could take the cold in the seas they usually sail. Rest of the week was back and forth from v,u mom at the home, doing her laundry and shopping fr her -plus my normal. This afternoon was hot and I spemnt an hour at the pool and then some time helping fiance clean up some of the junk. I don't know when the county guy is coming back but there is some progress. Just not nearly enough yet.

Exercise was OK, but trips to my mom cuts into tims I usually workout. I hope she gets back to her room soon so we can get back to normal routine - until it changes again. Food/wine--SAME. I hate that I know what to do but i just don't do it. I know I should be eating more fruits and vegetables and I get to thre end of the day and i'm tired and I have wine and chocolate. I tell other people to take care of themselves but I don't take my own advice. Thanks for listening to me lecture me.

I hope you had a more disciplined week than I did, but either way - we plow on. I'll check back with you later in the week-end.

Hello! Sorry that I missed last weekend. I was away in PA and actually had a wonderful time. I drove up on Saturday to Baltimore for my mom's birthday lunch at a restaurant. Both of my sons and their girls were there and it was a really nice meal. They all went back to my aunt's for dessert but I had to head up to PA to catch a ride with a friend and his wife to our 30th high school reunion, which was in York.

The reunion itself was great. A lot of my friends (and myself) are on Facebook so I see things about them regularly. However, there were several people at the reunion who are not on FB and it was so good to see them. One woman came up to me and I had to check her name tag, and discovered she was my best friend from first grade. I had not seen her since we were in college in the same city and ran into each other on a city bus.

I spent the night with my mom. She had plans on Sunday to go with 2 of her friends and my sister to see a stage production of Mamma Mia. I've seen it, but I went with them anyway and that fun as well. I normally come home from mom's by coming around the west side of the Baltimore beltway, but I was in a different place so was coming down 95. The traffic was horrible so I decided to go around the east side of the beltway, which I have not done in years. There was hardly any traffic, and it crosses three big waterways. The water was all so pretty, the bridge over the river was cool, and there were big cargo ships that were pretty neat to see too. I was so glad that I decided to go that route. It's a small silly thing, but seeing all those things was a nice little ending to my great weekend.

Yesterday was also wonderful. I went with a couple that I know out to Shenandoah National Park for a 4 mile hike called Rose River Loop. They invited 3 people that I do not know, which of course I recoiled against because I am not good with new people, but I actually managed to talk with them all and had a great time. Maybe it was the pretty woods and the nice waterfalls, and the fact that we were hiking and not sitting awkwardly at some social function. The rain had made the river really full and fastmoving, so there were little waterfalls all along it. After the hike we went to a lodge so they could all get coffee (I don't drink it) and then we sat in the main lodge room at a table while they started working on a puzzle. I got very antsy then but after a half hour we left.

My meals, alcohol, and exercise have been as usual. Not great and not bad. I can understand your frustrations. We are in the same boat and just have to keep hanging on. We are trying and at least doing some good things for our bodies! Wine and chocolate helps us cope and be able to do all the other good things that we do. Hang in there!

The viking ship sounds amazing! I had heard about that and I would have loved to see that too. I'm really glad you got to go! I .am glad to hear your fiance is working on cleaning up! Not much of that happening here. One of my husband's giant ham radio antennas got bent over by the storm so that is another mess that needs fixing now. Various things in the house keep breaking too, sigh. How is your mom? Is she back to her room yet?

I am sorry to have missed a week. Being away last weekend got me behind on things! I hope you have had a great week this week!

I am happy for you , that you had a great week-end. sometimes you plan these family and friend gatherings and it's just more stress. I'm glad things went well for you and everyone. You are brave in my book going to all those events. I went to one H.S. reunion and that was enough. Small town school life was pretty awful with teasing, and my mom was awful too- so the hurdle for me was just facing those mean kids again. That was years ago , and since I left the town when I was 16 I hardly remember any of them. My best friend from elementary school was the only person I wanted to see and we just stuck together. They do have a FB page, but again, I don't remember them or have any reason to keep up. I didn't go to college, - x-ray school was hospital based and there were only 9 of us in the class. That experience was pretty awful too. I made good grades, but no friends b/c I was so insecure from my mom's overbearing upbringing. It was a long time before my life got better, but I'm glad you had friends to catch up . It sounds like the whole time was nice with your family too - Yea! Don't ever worry about not being here for a while- we all have those times and at least this was a good time for you.

I would love a hike like that too. But the puzzle would have made me nervous, just like you. I think I mentioned before that all my family plays card games, but I don't- except yahtzee. One time when we were together they switched games just so I could join in. It is a terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach when you feel left out and everyone else is having fun. So glad you had fun with your family and friends. I would also like that car trip back. The bridges and boats had to be cool, and that would be the way I would go all the time. I hate traffic.

It was another week of back and forth from the Home for my Mom, but finally they are talking about letting her go back to her room. That will be another job for me though;since she has not been there since her fall over a month ago. I figure we will need to spiffy up her space; pack up summer clother, get out Fall clothes. Plus we may need to re-do some of her storage places for necesssities . Last time I looked around it was messy and she can't do as much straightening as she did before. I'll put on a happy face and get through that too. At least she has stopped complaining!

I ordered some tests for hormones and genetics online that give you a personalized diet and exercise plan - i hope it will help me get motivated. Not cheap, but they do give some guidelines based on lab results, not just guessing. I need a plan! Clean up at the property is painfully slow. and now tons of leaves and a million acorns to clean up too. I wanted to walk today, but did yard clean up,laundry and housecleaning instead. I don't mind it as much if I'm working outside. Fiance nailed up a birdhouse (that I painted) to a tree and I saw little bluebirds going in. That was the nicest thing - like you said- little things can make you smile. My girls are doing well,thankfully. I'm working this week-end as usual so I'll check back in with you . peace out.

Hello,

I had an uneventful week, and skipped 3 more days of junk at school. Last night my husband and I were actually going out, a very rare thing for us. Gallagher was playing at a restaurant in a town near us. I was very excited to see him. Unfortunately the night fell apart as a table full of drunk people were continually interrupting him. One guy kept getting up and standing right in front of the small platform stage. Gallagher got more and more frustrated, as he repeatedly asked if there was security. The venue did nothing at all, and continued serving the guy more alcohol. Eventually Gallagher got so pissed he left, less than an hour into a 3 hour show. We didn't get to see the watermelon smashing!

Today we went with my older son, his gf, and his roommate to Northern VA to a "hot pot" restaurant for the roommate's birthday. It was a nice experience. Each person has their own heating spot built into the table, you get a pot of broth, and you pick various meats, fish, veggies, noodles, etc. to put into your pot. I am glad I went, but I would not generally venture into 95/NOVA traffic just for a meal. We also had cake from a local bakery which was a yummy treat.

I went to a small town school as well, but it wasn't too mean. Definitely there were cliques, but even those I didn't fit into didn't pick on me. I was lucky! We were watching a movie about a boy who did really poorly in school and was yelled at by every teacher and his parents, and got in trouble all the time, because no one realized he was dyslexic and had additional motor skill problems. A lot of the mean things he experienced were things that happened to my husband in school as well. He also had some learning issues, though more with math. The kid in the movie eventually got shipped off to boarding school; my husband was shipped off to military school.

Good luck moving your mom back in when they release her! I hope it does not end up being too big a job for you, and that she does not make it harder on you.

I did a DNA test for a site that is supposed to give health info. I never looked at it, but I am curious to see if they report any predisposition for the genetic liver issue that my doctor thinks I have. It is not as scientific as what you are doing, but I'm curious to see what they said. I just never get around to finding the login info and figuring out the site. I hope the tests you are doing help you with your diet and exercise plans!

Your birdhouse sounds really nice! I didn't know you painted! It's very cool that you have "tenants" already. I'm glad to hear your girls are doing well. My daughter-in-law made me a jack o'lantern. Things are pretty peaceful on that front at the moment. Have a great week!