<p>Hugs to dte and cd. I do the laundry basket thing all of the time, most recently on Thanksgiving.
woody- glad your D is ok.
Not much going on here. I have done just about nothing for Christmas. H and I have talked about putting up a tree next weekend as the kids won’t be home until the 22 (S) and 23rd (D). The kids already got one big gift each so thankfully very little shopping to do. </p>
<p>DTE, sorry to hear about your pain.</p>
<p>Regarding ShawD, I don’t know if she knows what she is most interested in. She loved the Cardiac ICU unit, she working with the VA (geriatric population, I guess) and liked the VA. She didn’t seem to like OB/Gyn. During her rotation at your hospital, she only worked on very simple pediatric cases, which made it less challenging for her. But other than OB/Gyn, I think she enjoyed everything. </p>
<p>The good news: She has taken her final exam of her undergraduate curriculum. </p>
<p>The bad news: She went off for a long weekend with one of her friends to Las Vegas to celebrate. Alas, after checking in with her hotel, she went into the lobby of the MGM Grand and was pickpocketed. She knew who did it and confronted the woman, who it appears had passed it off to a confederate. After confronting the thief and getting nowhere, she wisely backed down. She probably should have had the friend take a picture with her phone. Anyway, she lost $100, a bank card, a credit card and an iphone. She called us in tears at 4 AM our time. I canceled the two cards and have tried to erase the phone, but the thieves must have pulled the SIM card. No big deal and the phone is less than 2 months old so the chances are good that the credit card will pay for a replacement (probably depends on which card the phones were charged on, which I’ll find out tomorrow).</p>
<p>I’m sorry your D had her items stolen. Very upsetting. Congrats on her having her last UG final, though! I hope she was able to enjoy the rest of her weekend.</p>
<p>Shaw! so glad your D is OK and that she knew when to back down. Where was the MGM security? </p>
<p>Just ordered 4 books and lacing thingy and a backpack that looks like a monkey for G’Son. I know he would love the Dusty one but as there is a picture of a skull in the corner of the bag…well, so not a fan for a not even yet 3 year old no matter how popular.</p>
<p>Been shopping on line for a few hours and have gotten a lot done.</p>
<p>Finally using Ebate as access to Amazon and other shopping sites. New to me so will see how this pans out. Also signed up for the Amazon Smile and am embarraressed that we did do this sooner given how much we shop there. We chose Doctors without Borders but a friend signed her blind dog organization up.</p>
<p>Our weather is grey, gloomy, sad, and I could go on forever. D says in RI it may be cold but it is sunny.
She wanted a humidifier and so I ordered one and she is so grateful. She is 31 tomorrow! She is SO worried about her loans. But happy enough and thriving.</p>
<p>Shaw, sorry to hear about d’s pickpocket encounter, though if you HAD to have someone take your wallet, perhaps there’s a silver lining if you’re also in Vegas at the time 
(Spoken as one who ought to just give her wallet to the casino…the gaming gods are not strong in me…;)</p>
<p>I’m ready for a break from all the holiday indulgence already. Had a lovely weekend with guests – very entertaining…went to a comedy club, went out for fantastic meals, went to a TSO concert (always a little over-stimulating) then worked 12 hrs yesterday. I just need a day to wander around aimlessly in pajamas Then again, that day may come soon enough so I should enjoy the shenanigans while I can ;)</p>
<p>Woody…that article about knee replacement resonated with me. In Canada, the bar is a little higher to qualify for knee replacement, but I see the wisdom in that. It becomes a serious problem to have the replacement joint fail in the very elderly. Which is why they made my mom wait a good while and try everything else first.</p>
<p>Had I been her doctor, I might have made her wait a little longer, and might have supervised her in weightloss and exercise as well. I say that not to be mean, she’s not morbidly overweight, but she would have done better quicker in her rehab had she habituated some exercises for core strength first. As it was, she didn’t do what she was told with the first one, and it atrophied a bit. For the second one, she figured out she’d be wasting it if she didn’t do the rehab correctly.</p>
<p>I have a knee that smashed the dashboard of a 56 Superchef in my wild youth that had really been acting up on me a few years back. Honestly, once I lost 40 lbs and started snowshoeing/walking up the hill each morning, the pain and swelling went completely away, even though it was rough at first. But I avoid high impact on it to be safe, and I still feel it a bit when doing squats. But the extra leg muscle and reduced weight have largely “healed” it…for now Avoiding wheat, which in my case causes inflammation, also helped.</p>
<p>Of course, with my recent tumble from the healthier living wagon, I’d better get back to clean eating and more vigorous exercise or I’ll be back where I started I blame, in part, mcson’s return home as now that I’m cooking for 3, there always seems to be that deadly extra portion lying about ;)</p>
<p>Mcson has really flourished work wise, but its funny how some things stay the same with him. He decided to make his girlfriend an interactive online advent calendar that he coded himself, full of mix tapes and artwork and cuddle coupons…but we’ve noticed most nights midnight will find him just staying ahead on the next day’s surprise 
Good thing she’s in a different time zone!</p>
<p>I had pain in my right knee off and on since high school. It got very bad about 7 years ago (I remember because it was the year I turned 50). Then it went away again. In the meantime I had started to do some thigh/butt toning .Not a lot at all just a few minutes a day of things like “butt taps”. Wasn’t even thinking about the knee…but haven’t had any pain since. Not recommending this or saying it will help anyone else,(and I am an accountant, not a health care professional) but it seems to have helped me.</p>
<p>Oregon – we use Ebates, and have received over $500 just for doing so.</p>
<p>Super Z!</p>
<p>Wow on $500. We are huge purchasers from Amazon (home and office). I should try. </p>
<p>@oregon101, MGM Security didn’t do anything – I think they just want to eliminate bad news that would prevent people @kmcmom13 from coming to the casino. The police are just paper processors. Not trying to solve the problem.</p>
<p>LOL</p>
<p>Shaw, if MGM heard about the motorcycle stint in Reno on a press junket, they might reconsider encouraging the likes of me on their property despite my propensity to lose ;)</p>
<p>One of us awoke with “diddi Mao” (Deerhunter) written on their door in red lipstick …</p>
<p>dang kmc why can’t I live near you?
I live alone outside of the box.
Gee, that would make a great product slogan!</p>
<p>IF I were to have a headstone (which I will not as the Salmon River is my destiny) I would put that on it.</p>
<p>Yeow! A Google search shown nothing for “I live alone outside of the box”
.
I still like it 3 minutes later. </p>
<p>Guess I am bored and soooo tired of gift buying and I think Amazon is going to have either give me an award for purchases or ban me for returns. A toss up.</p>
<p>I get very little back from ebates on Amazon purchases, but it works a charm for a lot of other on-line purchases. </p>
<p>Do I want to know what butt taps are? Yes, yes I do.</p>
<p>I have purchased a total of 1 Christmas gift so far. Gah. D may be moving to NYC, so more stuff is not what she needs in her life…and warm stuff may be exactly what she needs. But, we don’t have an answer to that one and probably won’t for about a month. </p>
<p>Yeah, Amazon and Ebates don’t play nice.</p>
<p>Had never heard of ebate. </p>
<p>arabrab - to do “butt taps” stand with your feet together and pretend you are sitting back on a chair.Press everything together when you stand back up. I do about 20 every AM. I also do a similar thing with my legs wide. This must all sound weird here, but it has worked for me.</p>
<p>I like your motto, oregon.</p>
<p>Oregon, I think I’ll steal that for my gravestone…just to give my descendants pause ;)</p>
<p>(Zombie grandma on the loose!)</p>
<p>Good morning! I am traveling for work next week, and I am just now realizing that if anything is going to get done before Christmas, it pretty much needs to happen NOW. Yikes.</p>
<p>Good Morning to All!
Trying to capture fun and festive here but am having some difficulty. The house is only partially decorated and I just don’t seem to have the energy to finish. It is what it is! H is frustrating me as he still hasn’t talked with his family about whether they will be celebrating here or not. I gave him this weekend as the cut off date! I am finished shopping for the girls but still need to finish up for H and D2’s H. I really struggle with “boy” gifts. So far I have a sweater for D2’s H and a gift card for his favorite home improvement store so he can pick out a new tool. I have been on the hunt for a local sports sweatshirt but no luck so far. I will put golf balls in his stocking. I am really at a loss since I don’t want to get him more clothes. Any suggestions? H is getting a Vivofit, Netflix and some clothes. I still need to wrap gifts and I haven’t baked one thing! Guess I need to go listen to some Christmas music to improve my mood!</p>
<p>So sorry to hear about being hit by a car(!) and theft on vacation! Bah, Humbug indeed! :(</p>
<p>Maybe I need to borrow eddieo’s magic light for the winter!</p>
<p>I have the guys done but not the D or DIL!
S is getting a chef’s knife and sharpener and a cookbook plus we are paying 1/2 towards a dvd set they want.
I am trying to get away from gifts between friends but a few have tripped me up so have been working on that.</p>
<p>I ordered Fluxx 4.0. It looks like fun and DIL loves games. </p>
<p>The corporate finance holiday luncheon was yesterday, then we were told to leave early which was an extra treat. I was able to stop by at the mall and pick up a gift card for my niece. Still struggling with shopping, though. I am trying to order a gift basket for my S & BIL (I don’t usually, but they have done some extra special things for us this year) and Dean & Deluca insists that their address does not exist. Need to find another source as I can’t order from Harry & David (S objects to their politics). In addition I am having a hard time buying for H. Oh well, I am off next Tuesday, so I have some time.</p>