<p>Wow cq, that is terrific!</p>
<p>CQ! That’s wonderful!!</p>
<p>c_q!!! How exciting for her! What a great opportunity.So proud of her accomplishment! Hooray! :)</p>
<p>Hi woody! Miss you!</p>
<p>CQ, great news.</p>
<p>kmc, sorry about the diagnosis.</p>
<p>We too have a lake house too close to the lake so renovations would be on the footprint of the existing house, which also has creative plumbing done by entrepreneurs whose skills hopefully lay elsewhere.</p>
<p>c-q, congrats to your D. That is so exciting. I hope it’s one of the calmer countries.</p>
<p>Congrats C-Q to your D, sounds wonderful!
H did the snow blowing, took a shower and went off to work. It was the light and fluffy stuff…
Winter seems to be going by quickly must be old age! :)</p>
<p>Good morning! Funny I say that, because I just had a good cry over Sunrise’s son’s update, but she would say to treasure the good in the morning, ergo I will! I was something of a latecomer to her thread, but I hope her sons are at some point able to share her insightful journey with a wider audience. </p>
<p>CQ, kudos to your D! That is so exciting for her – you must be beaming!</p>
<p>And thanks, all, for the kind wishes re Mch. My evil plan is to head gently into the new world order. I am trying to get up to speed on balancing the glycemic index with my attempts to reduce or eliminate gluten (I am allergic to wheat but historically a carb-a-holic) and foster weightloss while at the same time. I am tempted to just return to South Beach diet, which I know well, and which didn’t require the tracking of calories. But I find the tracking part better in terms of accountability because it forces me to evaluate the components of what I’m making. I actually think mch is ready to take action, which is not to say there won’t be “cheating” per se. I am going to leave that part to him and instead just make sure that what I serve and what I have in the house and what I put in my mouth is consistent with the new regime 
He actually won’t see the doc for another few weeks because they want to rerun the tests for kidney function – he’d been taking pain relievers etc. from the flu when he’d had the tests.</p>
<p>Moda, I too was sick of hearing about the perfection buyers seek - in the end it’s price, location and condition - so try not to drive yourself crazy. I do know how one project seems to beget another, and another…etc. ;)</p>
<p>Your collective discussions about lake houses caused an amusing memory to surface. After I left husband #1 I had my cap set on an old lakefront home that was too close to the edge of a cliff overlooking said lake. It was surreal, because if you were in the living room and seated, the horizon of the lake was higher than you were. I’d gotten all these estimated to move it forward onto a new foundation, upgrade the wiring, furnace, plumbing, etc. and was teetering on the brink of buying it when my mom performed the equivalent of an
intervention. She was pretty convinced that a single woman with a toddler could absolutely not manage such a project, and that with my already intense schedule of juggling child care, work, etc., it would be insane to be both so far out of the city and have such a problem-child property to manage. </p>
<p>She actually scared me off of the whole deal and for a while I was mad at myself, because someone else bought it, did what I planned, and then flipped it for a small fortune. But about a year later I moved to another city for a work promotion and realized that it was pretty much a blessing that I hadn’t gone ahead – that there really was too much going on in my life to have had both the cash flow and stamina to have seen the project through. Not to mention the whole “having a toddler and living on a sheer cliff” phenom. Or the shoreline remediation that needed to be done. It’s funny how whimsy can get a hold on you sometime ;)</p>
<p>CQ - How wonderful! Your D must be so happy.</p>
<p>Not much going on here. Work is super busy. </p>
<p>I’m getting shots weekly in my knee to aid with the arthritis. Problem is that with the shots I’m doing less because it just hurts. So that means it hurts more because I’m doing less. Just seems a spiral. This week will be the last shot on Thurs. So by Sunday/Monday I should be good to go I hope and can get back to the gym on a daily basis. I really need to. Without going to the gym I’m gaining weight back but I also eat more and worse because I’m not going which of course adds to the weight gain – then I feel bad because I’ve gained weight to I eat more. Ugh! I really need to get better. The weight loss should also help the arthritis – if I could just get there. Why is it soooooo easy to put on the weight but almost impossible to take it off? Oh well – rant over.</p>
<p>I hope everyone enjoys their day! I’m going to be positive today and not let the fact that I didn’t go to the gym this morning because I was up half the night trying to find a place that my leg was comfortable ruin my day. I will go to pilates tonight so will get something in today! So far just coffee. I’ll have some oatmeal in a bit. The longer I weight typically the better!!</p>
<p>Just lost a very long post. I’ll have to post later. Morning everyone!</p>
<p>C_Q, congrats to your very accomplished D. What an honor for her! </p>
<p>RM, hope you find some relief soon. I hear where you are coming from on the weight issue. You are welcome to hang out with me and NMinn on the hard core diet/exercise thread. The fact that we hang out there should let you know how hard core it is (as in, not at all)! KMC, you may find some ideas for McH’s diet there as well. My father developed diabetes (definitely family hx) and having my mother be supportive of his diet needs (essentially she ate a diabetic diet as well) made a world of difference in how he managed his disease. </p>
<p>PlantMom, glad your H made it back safely, but bummer on the DMV. Happily, we are able to renew our licenses online. Unhappily, that means they reuse the same terrible picture year after year. </p>
<p>Supposed to be close to 70 degrees here tomorrow! Can’t wait.</p>
<p>kmc…I will be interested to hear about your research combining gluten free and diabetic diets. I also have a strong family history of diabetes. Both of my grandmothers, both of my parents, several of my sisters and multiple first cousins all were/are diabetic.</p>
<p>I also second sabaray’s invitation to visit the diet/exercise/wellness thread in the cafe. So many nice and knowledgeable people who are helpful and encouraging. You just take what works for you. I find I am more compliant with my diet and exercise when I visit there.</p>
<p>RM…I also have knees that bother me but haven’t had to have the injections. Heat works better than cold for me. Are you taking any medication?</p>
<p>D2’s room looks like her closet has exploded. There are clothes everywhere. She returns to school next week and she is trying to decide what to take back to school. I can’t stand to look in her room!</p>
<p>Good morning. My H woke up with the HS son and let me sleep in. What a treat! Indeed, he spent an entire morning yesterday at the DMV. We used to have renewal by mail, but our state has moved in the direction of requiring a ton of information to validate your true self, thus the requirement to show up now at the DMV. In addition, the state has reduced the number of employees working with us, the residents, and eliminated the option of making an appointment. He’s happy to have it done for eight years. I will have to do this, soon, as well. Such. A. Pain.</p>
<p>CQ, what good news for your D! And what a great trip to plan out.</p>
<p>RM, sorry to hear about the knee. I had a frozen shoulder several years ago, and sleeping (or not) was so hard. I had pain killers along with the shots and physical therapy, but none of the above helped with sleep. </p>
<p>kmc, good luck with your H’s improved diet. Will he be checking his blood sugar regularly? My mother developed type II diabetes, and testing her sugar along with watching the scale move down reinforced her improved eating plan. </p>
<p>I think (only because he hasn’t made contact to confirm), that S1 finally started classes for his final semester, just yesterday. He’s went back to school early to work on his thesis research, but jeepers, this was an incredibly long winter break.</p>
<p>kmc, you are so ambitious with your housing! I admire that. I would be more ambitions if we could do anything ourselves, but we don’t even paint.</p>
<p>Debbie Downer now has a report. I think I have mentioned here before that my parents have been totally supporting my chronically unemployed sister…as in paying rent, utilities, food, gas, everything. My parents never made much money, but they planned for retirement and had “enough”…without, of course, factoring in for supporting a whole other adult person.</p>
<p>Mom received a notice yesterday that her medigap coverage had been cancelled, effective as of the date of Dad’s death. She can keep it for 36 months under COBRA, but at a cost of around $730 a month, which is a significant portion of her income.</p>
<p>So at a time of life where I should be able to tell my sister that we need to split the cost of Mom’s medicap coverage, she is calling Mom to remind her that her rent is due at the end of the week.</p>
<p>Speaking of interventions, Missy I think your sister needs one. I cannot imagine any of my siblings hitting up my mom at this point in her life. Although, just last night H&I were talking about how exactly none of his siblings seem to ever pay for the flight it takes to go and visit their parents. Of course we were also complaining that we never do what we want to do because there’s always some sort of command performance eating into any vacation dollars.</p>
<p>Also H said last night he is unsure he wants to buy another house in this state. I am definitely slightly concerned with where he thinks we might be going. I have no interest in renting some one bedroom unless it’s a penthouse with a view. But I do agree that staying in MN was never on the top of our hit list after the kids moved on. However, what the heck happens to all of my stuff in the meantime? And how to I pack this place up when I have no idea what we’re doing next? If i stick it all in storage, will I ever find it again? And am I insane trying to do this during our busiest year ever??? The question is rhetorical because it’s clearly a Yes. Yes, I am insane. :)</p>
<p>I’ll try the diet/wellness in the cafe. I don’t typically branch out but if it’s a good group it might be worth it.</p>
<p>Only meds at this point are the blasted shots! Ugh! I can’t take advil only tylenol which in my opinion is USELESS!</p>
<p>I can’t even imagine packing up my house. We have lived there almost 29 years!</p>
<p>Moda, my sister has definite mental problems and I think she could be a poster child for Executive Function Disorder. My mother just wants her to move back to Texas and move in with one of her kids. She just got a job teaching two classes as an adjunct, but as you know, those jobs pay next to nothing. Anyone else on the planet would find one or more jobs doing ANYTHING to make money, but she doesn’t. After an adult lifetime of not having health insurance, her health is not good, so realistically, a job at McDonalds or WalMart standing all day would not work out well. My mom told her she needs to ask her kids for help, but she said she hates to ask her kids for money. She is willing to ask her mother who is on a fixed income (that just got slashed) for money, but not her kids. She’s really not right mentally, but I don’t think she even has enough of a work history to qualify for social security disability.</p>
<p>RM… Give it a try! There are lots of exercise levels and various eating/diet levels but everyone is respectful and willing to help with what ever you need. I am in awe of the running info from some of the runners ( I will never run!) and interesteddad is always willing to research for newbies and offer relevant information. I would never have lost the weight I did for D1’s wedding without the support I got there. It also keeps me accountable! idad is the one who made me aware of working out “smarter” rather than longer.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that about your sister, missypie, she sounds a lot like one of my cousins who is bi polar.
Presently asking her father for money and her mother passed in December a few days before Xmas. She goes from job to job & different housing/moving etc all the time…</p>
<p>Missypie – Your sister sounds like a piece of work. Ugh. On your mom’s Medigap issue – is her situation one of the ones where you’re allowed a special open enrollment period for Medigap insurance regardless of insurability? If so, it might be worthwhile investigating which Medigap plan is the best fit for her given her current circumstances & health. (And, if she and your dad were paying the income-based higher Medicare premiums, and her income has now declined, she can apply for an adjustment to reduce the higher premium: <a href=“http://www.ssa.gov/online/ssa-44.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ssa.gov/online/ssa-44.pdf</a> )</p>
<p>PSA: Social Security is beyond painful at accepting a power of attorney that isn’t executed on their form. Given the complexity of dealing with them, if you have elderly parents who aren’t capable of dealing with bureaucracies like this, it is a kindness to get one executed. Keep a copy. The form you want is Authorization to Receive Protected Health Information. (Don’t mention power of attorney. That sends you down the path of becoming a Representative Payee, which is a whole heap more complicated. For whatever reason, SS representatives don’t mention the Authorization to Receive Protected Health Information, form 1696.) It takes weeks after it is submitted by the person before it is in Social Security’s system.</p>
<p>Medicare is worse. The Part A intermediary doesn’t talk to the part B intermediary, the part C intermediary, or the Part D insurer. So, keep a copy before sending it in, because you’re likely to have to present it again via fax to one of the other parts of Medicare, because some intermediary will insist that it is not in THEIR system. <a href=“https://www.medicare.gov/MedicareOnlineForms/PublicForms/CMS10106.pdf[/url]”>https://www.medicare.gov/MedicareOnlineForms/PublicForms/CMS10106.pdf</a>
(And Missy, whoever is executor for your dad’s estate ought to do one for your dad, because there are likely to be bills that need to be questioned/resolved.)</p>
<p>Ask me how I know. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Arabrab. I assume she will be subject to preexisiting conditions, etc. since she is 78 and has been on Medicare for years and has had medigap coverage through Dad’s former employer for years.</p>
<p>Just clicked on the link re premium adjustment…they were way below the level where one had to pay higher premiums.</p>
<p>I know that many folks learn about Medicare, etc. when they are dealing with it for their parents or inlaws. I have been resistant but I guess it’s time to step up. Ugh.</p>