Thursday, Jan 18th

[purrfect-lady]

Good morning,

We've warmed up this morning to above freezing! Yay! And going to about 70* this afternoon before going back into deep freeze again tomorrow. We'll take it! We're "on the job" again today so maybe we'll take Miss Boots out for a stroll. Ans speaking of that little girl, what a great time we had with her yesterday. She didn't forget us! She was surprised when we walked in the door yesterday and then smiled and went right to us! She's changed and grown a lot in two weeks. We had fun all day long and are going back for more fun today and tomorrow.

My laptop is still acting up. My tech dept dx'd it as frayed cable between keyboard and screen and it's fixable but only by certified HP people. And there is a shop in Bee Cave so I guess we'll be looking into that today. It's always something, isn't it. It's only 19 months old! If I suddenly disappear, you'll know why.

LOIS - how is 'cats' doing? Are you quilting it on your Cutie frame? You do have one of those, don't you? I'm trying to remember . . .

KATY - Relax! You have had several months of stress. Read a book! Take a nap! Watch a movie! Make cookies! Sewing will happen again when it happens. Something will come along that will jump start your sew-jo. Until then, enjoy the calm. And someone said Suburus are good cars with front wheel drive. We've never had one, but I believe that is a true statement. They are good cars in bad weather.

CHRISS - how is Jerry doing after chemo? If falling is becoming an frequent problem, you may not want to leave him along very often. Things can happen. As for the walker are you talking about the ones with the seat? Remember that seat is to stop and rest, never "walk" while seated on the seat. My brother Jim did that and the walker upended. Fortunately, he was already at the hospital, just stopping for lunch because he liked their cafeteria food. ER staff came running and he ended up with a head bump and got admitted to the hospital. As for insurance, we have Medi-gap. It travels with us everywhere we go, and is accepted pretty much everywhere. At the time we were making our choice, the Advantage plans didn't, but I understand they have changed some of their rules since then.

VAL - you are your busy, busy self! Always have your eye on the calm of the next week. But for you, it seems that calm never happens. Sorry Josiah had to have a second surgery. Scary stuff. Praying that's all he needed and it fixed the problem for him.

MARY Q - I hope you can get all that fabric de-stinked. Dry cleaners also use a product that is supposed to remove odors. Probably the same stuff you are using. I know after our fire our cleaners gave me a jar of liquid stuff they use for odors. It was to take out the smokey smell.

LYN - sorry about the frogging. Like I said, it's always something. At least I don't have much on my computer if I have to give it up for a while. I hope your guy is able to fix yours up righty-tighty.

JANA - I'm glad Michael's meds are getting straightened out! And your house, too! Are you going to look for other bar stools or stay with what you have for now? More importantly, how's the progress in the Batt cave?

FLO - a sun porch will be awesome! I bet the chickens would like to visit in there in freezing weather!

JUDI - I never had grandparents. Three of them were dead long before I was born. And my last gramma moved to AZ when I was 3 yrs old and died when I was 9. But we did have pseudo grandparents and we got to stay overnight with them once. That's the only time I remember being babysat by anyone but my older sister - who hated doing it. She invented a game where she was the big bad wolf, caught us little girls, put us in a big cage and there we sat until my parents came home. It was a "game" so we thought we were having fun! Smart sister!

I better get this sent before my 'fuser completely dies. The flashes are starting to be longer - blank screen for a few seconds at a time.

I hope y'all have as great a day as we're going to have!

mary z
>^+^<

[grammiequilts]

Good Morning Mary n all. it is still dark but warming to a balmy 27 today...bad news is we have snow and more to come. Hating to drive I have my annual Dr visit today, No issues to report but I didnt like the results of my dexa scan and will go over it with him. The Prolia injections are helping my bones except for one hip. He said they dont know why that happens. So today we will see if anything else needs to be done...
I did work on the geese a bit yesterday but my ADD kicked in and I started looking through the travel boxes to see what I might take with me...right now hexis are winning, BUT I had a few "flowers" sewn together and they seem to be missing,,,maybe 6 or 7 I searched everywhere, they are gone! So on to plan B I will just sew all these hexis together in a colorwash, and call it good.. I am sorting and making sure I have all the supplies...thread wax scissors etc. I will leave home the mini iron and pad and a few other things,,,Now to search for some books to take...
This coming week I have a ton of things to do...starting with tomorrow a hockey game, the next week hair and nails and dinner with Ryker for his 8th birthday (can you believe it?) then dinner with our travel companions, and all this packing and sorting,,,Our son will watch the house ( along with our neighbors) water the plants and I will stop the mail...the list goes on and on...Hope you are all having a good morning and great day,,,,
I pray that Jerry does well with his chemo and gains some strenght and prayers for all computer problems and other issues, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[fabricgirl]

Good morning,
It's cold so for this week we are forgoing the gym and we are due for more snow tomorrow just great we have our dr apt tomorrow.
I am still quilting on the quilt on my machine I dont think my machine goes on my frame I have to wait on a new machine for that frame because there are way to many things I need right now to get a machine so for now my machine is it.

Today is cleaning day so after all the cleaning I will sew more on the quilt.
I hope you all have a great day.
Prayers go out to all.
Lois

[WeSignificant]

Good morning hope everyone is well. I got no update on Josiah yesterday so can only assume all is well.

We are supposed to be headed for an Atmospheric River so we will see. Rain to start tomorrow morning and last through Wed. Sometimes they over predict and it really is just a sprinkle. The temps will warm up though.

Chriss how did the chemo go? I am sorry that Jerry is not doing well. Wish I had still had Dad's rollator. I gave it to David's friend about a year ago as Dad could no longer use it. If you do get one pay attention to the size and the weight. It was hard for Dad to push his around the house as it just didn't fit. Plus the weight was a lot for me to load and unload from the car.

Maryq always hope. Spring will come and all this silly weather will stop. Then summer and we will be complaining about the heat! I have not found much fabric in second hand store here. Not sure why, maybe us Californians just hoard ours? Oh Laundry, thanks for the reminder, I should run a load today.

Lyn talk about errors, I made the back for my blue quilt, darn, forgot to add the extra for the quilting. So I am trying to decide if I should split it down the center and sew a piece in or just attach to the side. I am thinking I will text the quilter today and ask what she would prefer. I can't believe I did that. I think I am trying to hurry because I am so far behind.

Lois be safe out there. No ice dancing!

Jana I am sure if I cleaned out my house, I would find all kinds of kid stuff. I am the babysitting grandma too. I grandson's MIL rarely sees the kids and certainly doesn't babysit. She is special if you know what I mean.

Flo I am a bit confused, how does a washer freeze?

Judi not sure that is weather I would want to go out in. That is odd that one hip seems to be resistant to the Prolia. Are they talking replacement?

Maryz so glad you get to spend more time with Miss Boots. Who is going to babysit when you go back to Wa. I have been to Washington state in the past. At one time all my sisters lived there but have never been to Gig Harbor. One day maybe.

I did get my hand x-rayed, no fracture, he says it arthritis. The 27th of February I will have my Cystoscopy to see if I have a small tumor not showing on CT scan. These drs! I have had this microscopic blood since I can remember. I would think if there was Cancer I would know by now. They just don't seem to understand this has been a life long thing. Crazy!

Well, I need to get to those classes and send a message to the quilter. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

[WeeOne]

Good morning everyone!

MaryZ, Did ya get another picture made and laminated for Amara to carry around and kiss? Enjoy your day!

Valerie, Sorry for your backing woes. If you need more all the way around, I have a suggestion. A few years ago Velda, a couple other friends and I made a comfort quilt for a friend here in the park. We needed a wider back. So we took another fabric, width needed, ran it down the left side to the middle, then it ran across the quilt to right side and down to the bottom. An L shape an upside down L on bottom. I must say it was cute.

Medicare and insurance conversation. Garry worked for United Airlines, they use Aetna and it includes Medicare. We can't change insurance. United sends a letter every year, if you change insurance you Can't come back. As for Medicare part B, here's a screen shot. For some reason diabetic testing supplies Can't be transferred from one pharmacy to another, it doesn't matter who the pharmacy is. It's totally stupid but I guess there has been a lot of fraud.



Still working on laptop and beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just buy a new one. This one is 8 years old. I need to check how much memory it has.

We're going out to lunch today with friends, to a Mexican restaurant down the road that we haven't tried.

Prayers for all your needs.
Lyn

[maryq]

Good morning Girls

We are at 0 degrees this morning, Anchorage, is 17 above! What's up with that?

Maryz... SO glad you guys are getting more time to spend with that darling little girl. Isn't is just so heart warming to have her recognize you and smile when she sees you. Not many greater feelings that when a little one will run into your arms--and I'm sure by next year, she will be RUNNING!! Yesterday's formula of Oxyclean Odor Buster and laundry detergent seem to be doing the trick..

Judi... Oh dear, you have ADD too? Have you ever heard of the Libby app for your phone? Do you have a local library and a library card? I prefer reading real books , there's just something about holding that in my hand. But with the Libby app I can find a book to read, either on my phone or my Ipad. On a trip it might be easier than hauling heavy books. Just a thought. And by the way, I sure wish I could go to Florida with you!! This cold sure makes the old bones hurt right?

Lois... I sure don't blame you for not wanting to go out!!! My Nolan has a hockey game tonite at 7:45 and I'm deciding if I am going to be a nice gramma and bundle up to go watch! Or stay in!! I do love watching him play though. It's supposed to warm up on Monday--good thing as I need to go get groceries again!

Valerie.... SO true, we complain because it's too cold and complain because it's so hot!! Last summer we had a really long stretch of the HOT weather and I think we complained because it was so not our normal weather pattern. We can get a few days of temps in the 90's and even a day or two at 100 but weeks on end is rare. Don't you wonder about Dr's sometimes. I realize that there is an opioid problem, but my DDS doesn't even HAVE a DEA number and won't/can't prescribe any pain med! What's the POINT?

Lyn,, I don't roll my clothes in suit case, I just put one day's outfit in the BIGGEST zippie bag! But I only did that when I was in Scotland and we were in different places all the time. If I pack to go to Alaska I don't do that.
Just an FYI... my Humana medicare plans, costs me $1.00 per month! Yup, when you are covered by an Employee Benefit plan, you are pretty stuck! Tom and Viv has the same problem. If you didn't travel, you could have the strips mailed to you by a Mail Order place sanctioned by Medicare, but that would sure be a PITA, since you move around. It's just all so stupid! Even tho you would lose the United Benefit, could it be worth it to change to different plan in the long run? My brother and SIL asked me about stuff and since so much has changed since I knew it, I always recommend a GOOD insurance agent.

Chriss.. I used to know a lot about Medicare plans. When the whole Part D thing came out, I studied it quite a bit and even went to a couple assisted living facilities to explain it to the residents. I worked with it almost every day in the pharmacy, especially when I was working in Long Term Care. I swear there were days when I spent most of it on the phone with not the insurance company itself but with the PBM (Pharmacy Benefits Management) as we submitted claims through them and not directly to the particular insurance company. My Brother has a U-CARE plan, and that's specific to MN and when he travels, he's often "out of network" Humana doesn't have that restriction since it's nationwide. The problem I'm hearing now is that some Clinic systems won't take any kind of "Advantage Plan" The Mayo Clinic system in fact won't. Humana is notorious for being slow to pay claims, so it's not a favorite of Dr.s offices either. Ok, that was too long.. Anyway.. I'm sad that Jerry isn't doing well and hope that this last Chemo can kick Cancers Butt! I'm sure he'll go through some more icky side effects for a while but pray that he comes out the other side free and clear!
Were you able to find a rolling walker for Jerry? The are the best and I wish I had my Mom's.. there are days when I think I could use it! (I do have plain old walker on hand)

Yesterday was spent between laundry room and ironing board. I don't think I even walked into the sewing room. I don't know how many loads of stinky fabric I washed, but the Oxyclean seems to do the trick. There are lots of small pieces that I've hand washing--charm packs and what ever those pieces are that are 1/2 layer cake size. Some beautiful batiks. It's a pain to wash and sort charm pack pieces, but man you should see the dye that come off! Today however, before I do fabric, I need to wash clothes--I'm running low on skivvies! I still have a tote box full over in Katie's garage to go get. She's giving me a lot of the really big pieces that could be possible quilt backs, and the small stuff like the charm packs that she doesn't use. I think I'll be set for life! And please don't tell my kids I'm getting more fabric!..

For now I need more coffee, and as soon as the current load in the washer is done, I'll take a quick shower then head back to sorting and washing!! Man I wish you guys could see all this stuff up close.. I'd love to share!!

Wishing you all a lovely day!!

[auntjana]

Good morning!

Cold and clear, then more snow coming this weekend. I'm good withthat, just no snow on Wednesdays! That's when I need to take Ethan to orchestra practice

We too are tied with a retirement medical plan from work. They do offer a plan for us that live out of state, but we don't have much choice of what we get. But I will say what we have is great! We get to use the University of Utah health care system and with Michael's stay with Covid and now this heart surgery, we haven't had to pay a cent out of our pockets! His meds and test strips are covered too. We use CVS and pick up at the local store. It has a drive up window for pick-up - no getting out of the car! Especially in the snow! Our banks still have drive up windows!

Today is play time in the Batt Cave! No where I have to go. Except that Michael may want something from the grocery store, then we'll go there and back. Daniel will be by later to unbury the path for my trash cans. I only need to run them to the street once every three weeks or so and they are buried in by about 2 feet of snow. They need to go to the street for tomorrow.

So not much else here, same old boring stuff. Well, maybe one thing new, Matt is changing jobs. He got a new job, doing his rocket science stuff with another company. A step up in management and oversight of several different projects. He was at his o.d job for about 16 years, so this will be new. Oh, Matt is literally a rocket scientist, building rockets and drones and communications for them.

Hugs,
Jana

[Marilynsgrammy]

Good morning. Not sure if the sun will pop out but the rain isn't threatening either. I'll take it.

It's going to be a fast day today. I need to go in two different directions running errands. I also need to move some furniture around here and make a few phone calls. But, on the bright side, once my "have to's" are done I don't have to still do them. woo hoo. Yesterday I ordered Jerry's rollator walker, it will be here on Monday.

Maryz, seems I remember your having your computer fixed or replaced recently. But then my recently is sometimes 10 or more years off. I have a Subaru Forester and love it. It's a 2014 and already has 178k miles on it. I would definitely consider another one but really need to look at small pick up trucks. But that will be in the very distant future. Enjoy your play date today.

Judi, aren't you glad to not have the busy of the holiday's is over and we can relax. ha ha. Seems that planning and taking care of what needs to be done is just as busy and preparing for the holiday feast. Hope those hexi flowers pop up.

Lois, I am sure you'll get it all sorted out and be a quilting woman very soon.

Valerie, don't tell anyone, but I am hoping that atmospheric river is so fierce that I have no choice but to stay home and that any meetings or whatever I am supposed to attend are snowed in. Sadly, often times, the weather is all around us but not here. Now you made me go look. Seems the rollator I ordered is just barely under 20 pounds. I never thought about the weight. I was only concerned with the height the handles could adjust to and the size of the wheels. I ordered this one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NF ... =UTF8&th=1

Lyn, well I learned something today, and I'm not even out of my jammies yet. I wonder if Amazon is an option so you have a few back up strips? I get my CPAP supplies from Amazon and haven't been disappointed. Mmmmm, Mexican food. What will you have. My go to is usually a chili relleno with rice and beans. I mix it all up in my plate then use the chips to scoop it up as if it were a dip. Or, I get a flour tortilla and roll it all up and call it a burrito. so good. and perfect for a high carb eater. ha ha.

Maryq, sorry, I've got a load in the washer, it will be done soon. don't mean to hog the laundry room. I am not sure I would have your patience and dedication to washing all that fabric. Medicare is changing all the time and I am not up on the recent changes. I guess that everyone just has to figure out what is best for them and can go to their HICAP person for free information and help. I think Jerry will like his rollator, they aren't that expensive. his regular walker has front wheels and my thinking is that if her were to start falling the wheels would keep rolling. hopefully with the rollator he can use the brakes? We'll see. He will only really use it to go to the doctor or up and down the hall. He doesn't move much and never goes outside. As for opioids, Jerry has so many in the cupboard and gets more every month. I have a stockpile that one day I will need to dispose of.

Jana, if you're going to the grocery store can you get me a gallon of milk? It's the only thing I need and has to be gotten today. Thanks, you're a doll. Hope those cans get unburried.

Well, my load is in the dryer, I need to use the phone and get things moving here. You all have a superb day.
Chriss

[grammiequilts]

Well, I left the house an hour before my appt..the Dr is a half hour away....I got about 5 miles from my house and said no way can I make it is this...the roads were snow covers ans slippery. I called and told them I couldnt make it...I even tried the expressway ( normally 70 mph) today it was 30 mph...and snowy. I treid a main road here (Normally 50) was 25 or 30 at best....It would have taken my 2 hrs to go 30 miles///
When i got home the office called and set up an virtual visit with my Dr and all is well...He said my right hip might very well have a lot of arthritis in it and that is effecting the bone growth,,,We will do an xray when I get back from Florida and see what is going on. Since i am 77 and not in a lot of distress he is pretty good about letting me decide what I need..I am in for the rest of the day,If I was a bear Id be sleeping til April.....xxxooo

[womster]

Hello all -

I think I have finally turned the corner on whatever this is. I tested for COVID this morning - nope. I have coughed so much even my lungs hurt. The worst part is that it exacerbated my afib. I thought we’d have to go in for a cardioversion when my HR hit 145. I took an extra dose of diltz, and today it has returned to normal, thank God.

I shall go catch up on what y’all have been doing.