@MusicCandy @SadMe70 A place to communicate

Hello! My trip to mom's was short but nice. Her stitches are out and she's doing fine. We had a nice meal out together and took a nice walk the next morning before I left.

On Wednesday of last week we went to the airport to finally welcome my daugher-in-law back to the US. We were nervous because she did not get through customs for 90 min after her plane landed and we saw lots of people from her flight and several later ones. The customs guy decided to wield his power and ask her all kinds of questions that are more appropriate for her green card interview. He was determined to get her to say she married for a green card only. He sent her to a second line for further interrogation and that person just checked her papers and sent her through (which is their actual function).

She had her medical exam this Wednesday. I printed out the form and instructions for them from immigration. It said to bring a photo ID such as passport and driver's license. I told them take both just in case. They stopped at my house on the way and I asked about the passport. They did not have it, and they looked at her license and it was expired. I could not believe they did not bother to check into something so basic and important before they were on their way to the exam. When they left I just broke down and cried. They are stressing me out because I worry that if they can't do something this simple, how are they going to put together the mass of paperwork needed for her green card interview next month. My son starts work on Monday so he is not going to have much time to spend tracking things down or calling immigration if he needs copies of stuff he does not have. I need to figure out how to let stuff go.

On that note, I switched medications already. The first one actually had me a bit calmer, sleeping a bit better, and picking my fingers less. Even though I was still picking some, I did not feel the obsessive, anxiety-ridden drive to do it. As soon as I stopped taking it, I was right back to the picking. I was having trouble with a side effect though, and the whole class of drugs has the same issue. My doctor switched me to a newer class of meds and a lower dose, but she warned me about the cost since there is no generic, and it was $50! I can't pay that much each month. There is a savings program of some sort through the manufacturer but you have to give them phone and email and they send you all kinds of crap. I am going to try it and see if it even helps me before I get into all that.

How did you like Lake Anna? I went to the state park on the lake in January. It was freezing that day but there were beautiful icicle formations hanging from the plants and trees right at the shore. I went to Powhatan State Park last weekend, down your way sort of, and am going to Widewater up in Stafford tomorrow. It will be super hot, but there is just one trail there and it's only a mile. That will make my tenth state park visited, and I'll get my Trails Quest 10-park pin! :-) We leave Sunday for our vacation and I'll get to 2 and maybe 3 parks next week.

I am not doing well with my eating. We got some amazing cheese at a nice grocery store on our way home from Powhatan, and I ate lots crackers and cheese every day. I've had way too few veggies all summer. I usually eat salad for lunch at work but I haven't eaten so many this summer. I have been eating some delicious fresh fruit over the past 2 weeks - blueberries, blackberries, cantaloupe, all local, plus yellow mangoes that were from an international grocery near the airport so they weren't local but they were soooo good.

I am doing a little exercise, actually had a great yoga class this week, but not enough to compensate for all the bad stuff I'm eating and drinking! I am already wondering what pants I will wear on the first day back, August 5. All school district staff meets at our high school and we wear our respective school shirts (we get a new staff t-shirt every year) but still have to wear dress pants. None of mine were fitting in May and I've lost no weight.

It is very kind of you to be so understanding about the new caregiver needing to be with her mom. I wish that I could go help my mom more often. Even when she is in good health, I worry about her being lonely. I can't remember if I told you, but she had to have her old dog put down a few weeks ago. Her cat died last year so as she told me, she is truly alone in the house for the first time ever. I hope her mom gets well soon so she can get started. I know you could use the support and extra time!

Good luck with your colonoscopy. That prep is no fun.

I hope you are getting some fun things in without melting in this heat! Have a great weekend!

Hello, I always love seeing a note from you, like a post it from your "berry " best friend! I lve berries too. i just don't think to get bthem, but I'm going to look at a farmers market next week. i'm not making the strawberry jam this year- too hot and it takes a long time. Plus, i still have a couple of jars from last year that i didn't give away as gifts. could eat amazing cheese and crackers all day long too. my mom used to send us on our bikes to the corner story, owned by a couple of russian immigrants ( proably the only ones in our small town). They had some deli type things that weren't at the only grocery store ( A { P) and especially a big hoop of cheddar cheese. she made bisquits with a hunk of cheese in ther middle which melted. One of my sisters nakes it stil, but i'm afraid too- carb overload and you can;'t eat one.

Fiance and i put out a kayak at the Pocohontos state Park in june i think. It is a half hour west of us. There wasn't much to the park as I remember except trails and boat access. Good for you racking up the totals of Parks. I'm thinking ther mountains might be nice now and maybe a cave tour. We did a couple of those and it is definitely cooler.

I hope your meals will be easier to manage when school starts and back to a routine. It was an erratic week for me and my meals were good one day, terrible the next.... wine= just so so. We were going to Norfolk tomorrow to have a quick visit with my sister on her way back to FL, but the traffic would probably be a nightmare with summer Sunday evening tunnel travel- so we decided to just face time instead! I'm sure we would be in traffic for 4 or more hours for just lunch together, so we will just relax and try to stay cool. I love summer and hot weather, but it is oppresive right now.

I'm sending good wishes and prayers for everything to work out with your daughter in law. That must be so stressful for you. young people don'r always think about details, i know. don't make yourself sick over it, if you can help it. you already have enough to deal with on your own. i hope the medicine helps without too much budget strain. That is a shame it costs that much. I hear horror stories about the cost of life saving medicines, that in other countries are free or nearly so.

I am doing some cleaning and clearing out next week and that makes me feel accomplished, even thogh the mountain is daunting. I do get satisfaction of seeing a small space clean and neat. I hope you do something fun and relaxing next week before school starts back up. Take joy in the little things every chance you get. And have a cool drink.

Hello, I am back home again after a wonderful vacation! The airbnb place we rented was perfect for us. It was a small house on a farm that a couple bought about 2 years ago. They live on the property also. It was quiet, private, beautiful (mountains all around, and it backs up to the national forest), and peaceful. The couple could not have been nicer. They left us a big basket of veggies from their huge garden, and provided a golf cart so my husband could get around outside a little. The wife took us on a tour of the farm.

We visited Natural Bridge, Douthat State Park, and a cool railroad museum. Natural Bridge has caverns that I wanted to tour but we ran out of time. That might not be too far for you. There were a few short logging trails on the property where we stayed and I had a great time walking there - entirely alone (except for the dog) and competely quiet in the forest, good for the soul. On our way home we stopped at Crabtree Falls and I hiked there. We stayed there for several years when the boys were growing up, and it was nice to see it again. I ate lots of cheese and other treats, plus drank hard cider all week, so even with all the hiking I lost no weight at alll, but at least didn't gain any more. I am dreading trying on my work slacks!

Today is about unpacking and I hope to cook up a big batch of fresh veggies and freeze them. Last year I froze quarts and then pulled them out for quick meals, adding shrimp or other protein. It was quick, tasty, and healthy. Tomorrow I am going to spend the day with my daughter-in-law, trying to build some good bridges. We plan to hike and have lunch. They got the medical exam done, and her drivers' license renewed online which should be coming in the mail. Next up is her big green card interview next month. I am praying that they get the paperwork together correctly and that everything goes smoothly.

My new medicine is not helping me stop picking at all. I was on a higher dose of that last one, so probably I would need a higher dose of this one to start getting some effect. But, I can't be paying $50/month. Plus, the pharmacist said not to take ibuprofen with it because there is a risk of stomach bleeding, and I need that sometimes when my various joint pains get really bad. I may give it another month, but I think I will have to stop it again and just be my anxious self, with embarrassing torn up fingers. It's so frustrating that I can't stop myself, and that nothing can help me without causing other terrible problems and/or bankrupting me.

Your story about going to the corner store for the cheese reminded me of something my dad used to to. He would stop at a deli on his way home from work, and they would sell trays of the ends of all the big blocks of cheese they sliced from. The tray always had a big variety of different cheese and we loved eating those!

I am so glad you went kayaking! I did not get to that this summer. Pocohontas is on my list of parks to visit! I am not sure when I will get there since my hiking will be mostly confined to the local parks once I go back to work next week. I hope you will get to do a cave tour. I have only ever done Luray, which is very cool, but I'd like to see others!

I think you made the right choice regarding the Norfolk traffic! It took us 3 hours each way when we went to a park down that way - 2 hours to get to the area and an hour for the last 10 miles or so. Facetime sounds like the better option!

Good luck with your cleaning! I am a terrible housekeeper. Right now I'm also plagued with ants. I can't get rid of them! They like the moisture in the kitchen and bathroom sinks, which is bad enough, but lately they keep crawling on my bed which I do not like at all!! I don't eat in bed so I don't even know what they are after. I have the creepy crawlies all the time now, and half the time there's nothing there!

Have a good week. I hope you get to do something fun as well!

OK- my computer has totally pissed me off now. I typed 2 messages to you and they are gone! I don't even know what happened. I'll have to try again later. Just so you know I read your news and I hope you have a good start to your week GRRR!

That has happened to me on here a couple of times. So frustrating!

I spent a lot of time with my daughter-in-law this past week. My son started his job on Monday and they only have one car, so she's stuck at their house all day. On Monday we went to Lake Anna State Park with their dog, then out to lunch near their house. She wanted to learn how to make a quiche so we made one together. She's an excellent cook but not familiar with making western foods.

Wednesday was my husband and my wedding anniversary and we planned to go to the buffet lunch at our favorite restaurant. I picked her up and she went with us. On Thursday we took a short walk up and down their road with the dog, then went to lunch in Fredericksburg. We had a good time each day, and I'm glad I got to do that.

On Friday I tried making a cheese I had not made before. I have several aging in my "cheese cave" now. Today I have some things to do in the goat pen, then I need to make a meal plan and go shopping. I have been very lazy with meals all summer but I start work tomorrow so I've got to get my act together. I lost no weight this summer, so I also need to try on my pants and see what I can wear tomorrow! I plan to go back to no alcohol on weekdays since that makes me sleep even worse. I dread getting up at 5:30 because I have been sleeping so badly. That first medication I tried this summer was helping me sleep better so I really miss that, and I was picking my fingers less than usual. I quit taking the second one because it wasn't really helping and it's too expensive. So I'm back to bad sleep and bleeding fingers just in time to have to be around people every day. :-(

I hope your week goes well!

OK I'm going to try again. Last note that got lost, I wrote that I have ants too! There are lots of trees and a wetland around my house so there are always "bugs" and I leave the windows open most of the time. The ants do seem to be coming from the drain area, but any crumb that falls on the floor will have a crowd of them in minutes. I'm often up past midnight cleaning the kitchen so maybe I won't wake up to an ant pile. They may just hang around as long as its hot; that was last year anyway. I use a pet friendly non toxic spray but I don't want pesticides around the house.

I'm so happy that you got some quality time with your DIL. I know you had that rough spot and it is always good to make amends and get along together. I bet it is interesting with her background in Korean food and you can show her some american cooking. I love quiche too. I tried kimchee and kombucha, but I couldn't develop a taste for either. They say fermented foods are good for you but I'll have to get it some other way.

Nice to hear that you had some outdoor time at Lake Anna and a hike before school kicks in full swing. We haven't had a day trip for 2 weks b/c the clean up work is critical. The building where fiance has tons of stuff stored, including cars he meant to restore someday . has sold and has to be cleaned out. I'm actually glad since this process will finally come to an end. It has been hanging over in lmbo ever since we have been together for 6 years. He found the buyer who is self-financing so each heir gets a check monthly instead of a lump sum- but it is something. Mostly, the issue was it just needed to be disposed of and that took long time. and- I have 2 new neighbors so the yard at my house also needs major clean up so they won't complain. I plan on this all getting done in a year at least- so next summer will be better.

I hope you get to do bees someday! There is a beekeeping group in our county and we thought about doing it, but the goats are all I can handle. I would love to have the honey too.

The couple that lends me a male goat each year has 4 apple trees, all different varieties. They brought me some apples last month from the first tree that was ready, and I made and froze some applesauce. On Friday I went over to pick some myself from the 2nd tree. My family used to pick apples and peaches a lot when I was growing up, but it's been many years since I picked any. It was so much fun!

I have been good with the alcohol this past week. I had none on Sun-Thurs. I am not sleeping great, but it's better without alcohol than on the nights I drink. My food has been good and treats not too bad. We had treats every single day this week at school, but I ate only one candy bar. I have this week's meals planned up through Thursday. The pool at the Y is closed this week for cleaning, but once it opens I can start swimming again since all the swim teams will finally be over. Since they are draining the pool, they had a "soggy doggy swim" and my son and his wife brought their dog. It was cute!

I got my schedule for the coming school year and it's very daunting. Instead of just K-1, I'll also be working with grades 2-3. It jam packs the schedule, so our 20-min afternoon planning period has been taken away. Other than our 30 min lunch, we get one 10 minute break in the morning and that's it. There are even few opportunities to go to the bathroom, a problem my team was discussing because we tend to drink water/tea etc. all day and we pee a lot! I am looking forward to seeing the new K kids tomorrow, and some of my old friends too!

Good for you drinking less and keeping the weight off! I am proud of you for losing it and keeping it off. You do need to start eating though. You need the energy with all that you do! I am sorry to hear that Rachael's caregiver is not working out. I was really hoping you would get a break there. Please take care of yourself and start eating (healthy!). I will say a prayer for you. Good luck with the colonoscopy prep too!

I hope back to school was exciting and not too stressful. That is a lot of different ages to work with. Have you handled the 2 and 3rd grades before? How much of the planning do you do yourself? If the curriculum is laid out I suppose it's mostly following the plan, but if not.. that is a lot of work. I hope your meals and alcohol continue to be steady. I am definitely going back to the no alcohol some nights - soon. Really. If you can do it I can too. You are my inspiration.

My meals are great on my work shifts at least. i make my morning oatmeal and i take everything with me to make a power bowl with grains, greens, carrots and a chia wrap. I am still tempted with the cookies they bring, but I can't eat as many when i have had a giant bowl of the good stuff. Home days I still need to do better. Exercising is good as usual, keeps me sane. I know you will enjoy getting back to swimming. i snuck in to the outdoor pool on my way to work for 20 minutes - it was warm and wonderful. I told myself i was on vacation - for 20 min.

Good for you with the apples. I got a few too just from the grocery and they were pretty good. but, fiance and i went to his part of the country in Glen Allen where he grew up and that is mostly rural. We stopped at a lavender farm and he kneww the people that run it - 6 generations now. i got 2 plants and i have to think about where to out them and do some good prep work. My yard is mostly shady but they like sun, well draines soil and not much water. sometimes I just plop plants any where, but they extra care will be worth it in the end. We also stopped at a market and picked up the last 4 of their so juicy and ripe peaches and farm eggs. I don't have access to those now so I have to look for them, but again - worth it.

Rahael's caregiver just got better without me saying anything so i think we can make some adjustments and it will work out after all. It is so haed to get those hours approved if I let them go. And Rachael likes her - so we will try. I hope everything is going OK with your sons and DIL too. I remember you during the week as you are always so encouraging- i want the same for you.

Hello, the first week went well. I won't have to go to third grade until the first week of Sept. I only worked with them for half of my first year and it did not go well, but I have more experience now and would know some of those kids. I have worked with 2nd grade and that is usually ok. So far we have just been helping in the classroom for all of K-2 because it takes some time for them to get assessments done and figure out what kid needs what. In all cases we should have curriculum to follow which is much easier. We have to spend some time prepping materials though, and they have given us minimal break time and took away a planning period we had last year so they can give us the additional grades. I think it is going to be pretty hectic once all grades are in full swing. They are also having us monitor K lunch in their classrooms which is also hectic.

I ended the week by feeling exhausted as soon as I left the school, and I either have a cold or an allergy flareup. Yesterday I was planning to go to a dragon boat racing festival up in MD that I've been looking forward to all year, and I just couldn't do it. I was so disappointed. I spent almost the whole day in bed or on the sofa, sleeping or reading. I started allergy meds and a decongestant and slept a little better last night, but still so tired feeling, and that is with getting up at 9! I hate to start my week off exhausted. My period also started Friday so that is draining more energy from me. I am really wanting that to be done forever even though I know menopause will cause more problems. I have been having perimenopausal signs for a while now and I'm tired of it all, physically and mentally.

I had no alcohol last week until Friday, and probably shouldn't have had any then since I was feeling bad. I had none last night. My meals have been ok, and I avoided most treats at work except a crab dip with crackers that one of my team made and had in our office several days in a row. I know you can get back to your plan with the alcohol! It is hard for us both to stay on it, but I think as long as we are on a plan most of the time, we can slip sometimes. I know that I will slip, but then I will get back to it (sometimes faster than other times), and I think we are a lot alike in that respect. It really helps me to have someone who is going through things similar to my own life, who can understand and encourage me!

Your morning oatmeal sounds delicious! I mostly eat a wasa cracker w/ pb and some prunes. I don't have much time in the morning, and that is a quick fix with pretty good nutrition that I can eat while I get the milking stuff together and get dressed. Some weekends I do make a hot oat bran cereal though, and put good stuff in it like yours. It definitely fills me up!

I still have a lot of apples left. I've been taking one to school each day. I want to make more applesauce but haven't had time. I hope I can get to that before they go bad. I'm glad you got to take some trips to get some good fresh stuff! I grew lavendar once a few years back when I put in a bunch of different herbs, but then I didn't use it for anything. What will you do with yours? I just liked smelling it! A friend gave me some peaches he got in GA and they were soooo good. I haven't found any better ones close by. I do love nice fresh peaches!

I am so glad to hear that Rachael's caregiver is settling in better! I really hope that works out for you all! My son and DIL have the green card interview this Tuesday. I am super nervous about whether they have all the paperwork in order. They have done the best they can, and could not get any help with questions, so now I'm just worrying and praying. My older son is doing fine.

Have a wonderful week my friend!

I kow what you mean about feeling exhausted.. me too. I actually hasd a pretty good week, but work last 2 nights was just busy, hectic and stressful. Last night there were 3 drunk.assault, ect people in the ED all at once and that involved police custody- yelling patients, Multiple cops and guards and it went on a long time before they all cleared out. Not truly so much work for me, but the whole room was high stress. Plus I couldn'r get in a good nap as I sometimes can. Tonight computer went down before I came on at 3 and the girl ahead of me doesn't work here much and she made it worse. I did a lot of exercise last evening too but tonight I'm just tired and feeling like I al worn out- so I hope I can get some rest later tonight. I hope YOU are feeling better with some week-end rest so you can start next week fresh. I had a terrible time with menopause, I don't envy you with that. I did eventually take a natural hormone which helped a lot. Don't wait if you need it I suffered a year for no good reason.

Tomorrow I have healing prayer duty at evening service, but I'm sure I'll be rested by then. I will remember to say a prayer about the green card business. I bet you sometimes wonder why LOVE has to be this complicated. I wish you all well.

I'm glad your meals were OK last week. Mine aren't much better, but again work meals are great. I would go for the crab dip too. I love any seafood anyway. I also would like your breakfast, wasa and prunes. I try to remember to put a package on the stove and stew them and eat some every day. I got 4 figs off my tree last week - first time. Fiance planted it last year and it is getting big. I don't have plans for the lavender, I just like to have it growing. I forget to use most of my herbs as it turns out- the thyme and chives ect. I have a big pineapple sage- never use the leaves - and a big bee balm. I just feel good about seeing them bloom and grow abd I know they are good for pollinators. Oh- I did get some finger eggplants off the vine and pan fried them - really good.

Good for you with the no alcohol. I am noticing that my habit is just that- it actually upsets my stomach a bit so I don't know why I don't think about fixing the tea first. I think I am worn out and my resistance to changing the habit isn't strong. At least I figured that out. Got to get back on track. but my week at home was peaceful and happy with Rachaels caregiver doing fine now. Chat with you later my friend - sad to see summer at an end.