Quick Updates from the Moderators Showing 1,401-1,450 of 2,648

[Lesley]

Linda, in case I forget later, hope you have a appy birthday on the 28th. Enjoy your day x

[Linda]

Lola wrote: "Hi All,
Jina ,you know you and the girls are with me always, in my Heart ! I will send up my prayers with everyone else.

I heard from a "elfster" that someone has a Birthday on the 28 th, Happy ..."

Thank you Lola. I am taking the day off so my boys can pamper me lol. Have a wonderful weekend. Hugs all around.

[Lola]

Your Welcome! Have a great Day! Hugs Lola

[[deleted user]]

Happy Birthday to Linda a day or two early...! I hope you get pampered for the next week! Take care & enjoy yourself!

What's everybody else doing as summer winds down? Ray and I are heading over to Napa this weekend for a quick 2-night wine-tasting trip, and of course I'll be lugging the laptop to cram in a few more words before my deadline on Monday...I hope you all have a safe, happy, healthy weekend!

xo

[Linda]

Lesley wrote: "Linda, in case I forget later, hope you have a appy birthday on the 28th. Enjoy your day x"

Thank you Lesley. Blessings to you and your family.

[Linda]

Paula wrote: "Happy Birthday to Linda a day or two early...! I hope you get pampered for the next week! Take care & enjoy yourself!

What's everybody else doing as summer winds down? Ray and I are heading over t..."

Thank you Paula. My guys are pretty good at pampering me. I am very fortunate in that respect.
If it cools off I may talk them into taking me to the County Fair. It has been so hot I don't want to be out in it directly. The heat and I do not get along well lol.
Have a great weekend everyone.

[Lola]

Oh Linda it has been wonderful here the last few days , in the mid 70's and sunny , but it is supposed to be back in the 90's Monday. It was 49 this morning ,I had to put on sweats for our morning walk.
Hugs Lola

[[deleted user]]

We are in Napa this weekend, and because it's so close to the San Francisco Bay, it's absolutely perfect -- high 70's. This is a great thing because there's a cooling breeze at night that we don't get at home this time of year.

I'm like you, Linda -- I'm like a rabbit left in the sun too long. I tend to get hot and pass out. It's been the stunt of the family since I was 6 years old. Not a handy problem for a southern girl! LOL.

[Jina]

Hi Everybody!
I hope everyone is doing well and having a great and peaceful weekend. Its unbearably hot here. Heat index has us at 108°. The heat lightning in the evenings is beautiful though.
For some reason my allergies are acting up. My nose runs on one side and stuffy on the other and my girls say I sound like a frog so they are making me sing certain songs and then giggle their butts off at me. (The heathens! Lol)
My girls can't be out in the heat or sun either. Samantha is slightly allergic to the sun. After about 20 minutes in this heat and sun she breaks out in blisters and hives so she cant be out in it, and Sarah and Heathers medications have warnings to avoid sun and heat exposure since the medications will make them get burnt easily. Heather is very pale skinned and even her eyes can get burnt. The anoxic brain damage hurt the rods in her eyes so she must wear sunglasses when outside, in a car (because of glare), even computer screens can hurt her eyes after long periods so she has special glasses for computer work. Its amazing what medicine and advances in technology have done so that I can help Heather have the best quality of life.
Happy birthday Linda. I hope it's a wonderful day! Paula, I hope you took pictures of Napa Valley area. I have never been near there but always have wanted to go. What is your favorite wine? I love the one my sister had at her wedding, loved it so much I drank 2 bottles! I just dont know the name of it. My husband took me out for supper a couple times this month. Once we went to "The Outback steakhouse" and I had the peach Wallaby Darned, that was delicious and then Friday we went to the "Texas Steakhouse" and I had a peach margarita with a "1800 tequila kicker" included which was put in a cool blue test tube and submerged in the frozen margarita. You couldn't taste the alcohol in the frozen drink but that kicker... Boy Howdy! I had never had tequila before so Michael showed me how to lick your hand, salt it, drink the shot and then bite into the lime. That was awesome. I dont normally drink but its so hot those fruity slushy drinks sure look good.
I had some sad news yesterday. My Aunt Donna`s house burnt down. She is ok thank God but she lost 3 of her cats and the house is a total loss. She is in her 80s now so I dont think she will rebuild. Plus that house was built by her brothers ,(my Uncle Chuck who is now deceased and Uncle Marvin). It was an electrical fire that when it started took out the electricity and phone line (since her phone had an answering machine, it didnt work once the power went out). She had to walk to the nearest neighbor to call for help and that was over a half mile away. By the time help came the house was in a total blaze. I worry about her now. I wish I could be there to help with the salvage and clean up but she is in Nebraska so I am too far away to be any good to her. Fortunately, my Mom (her sister) and my brother Daren live in the same town and Mom and Daren were with her yesterday to help. Donnas daughter Jenny lives in the next town so hopefully she will stay with my Mom or her daughter until something can be worked out for her.
As for us, Sarah Faith starts her Junior year tomorrow. I have to go to court tomorrow to become Heathers guardian then Tuesday Heather has her heart surgery to replace her pacemaker/defibrillator, put a new lead in, take a biopsy of her heart muscle and do an ablation. We have to be at the hospital at 5am. Last time they did this I finally got to see her around 4pm in recovery. It will be a very long day and I will be alone in the waiting room. Prayers are greatly appreciated.
I miss y'all and am sorry I haven't been on much lately. I will be glad for fall and when things slow down.
Hugs to all,
Jina

[Lesley]

Jina wrote: "Hi Everybody!
I hope everyone is doing well and having a great and peaceful weekend. Its unbearably hot here. Heat index has us at 108°. The heat lightning in the evenings is beautiful though.
Fo..."

Oh Jina, what a lot you have to cope with, my heart goes out to you and all your family. I know we cann't do alot for you from a distance but if it helps we are with you in thoughts. Hope all goes well with Heather at court & in hospital. Try & take care of yourself. Hugs Lesley

[Melinda]

Happy Birthday, Linda

[Melinda]

Jina,
Know your Aunt Donna. Your and the girls are always in my prayers. Praying especially hard for the court date and Heather's surgery. I hear you about the time for Tuesday. Having to teach an 8 am class had me getting up at 4 am. By 3 pm , I need to take a power nap.
Know you are not alone and a lot of people care.

[Melinda]

Sounds like all of us are keeping busy. I am reading a little and hope thinks get back to a routine since Fall is basically here.

[Linda]

Jina wrote: "Hi Everybody!
I hope everyone is doing well and having a great and peaceful weekend. Its unbearably hot here. Heat index has us at 108°. The heat lightning in the evenings is beautiful though.
Fo..."

Thank you for the birthday wishes. I had a lovley day. Quiet and peaceful. My son cooked dinner and made me a cake. One of the others boys gave me some new dvd's and they all gave me a hug and warm sentiments. I read another book in the series I am reading , The Rosemont series by Barbara Hinske. Such fun. I really am thankful for my Kindle unlimited subscription. I can read so many books for free and I get to discover new authors as well.

Jina, I know it is hard to be alone when you are in a hospital waiting room. I pray the Holy Spirit will give you peace and comfort as you wait. I have to work, but I will keep you and the girls in my thoughts and prayers throughout the day.
You might take your coloring materials along with you for a mindless distraction. I don't know if I would be able to read under the circumstances. My mind would just drift and it would not make sense. That's just me though. Have a good night.
Peace be with you all.
Love Linda

[Lesley]

Hi everyone, Peace now reigns in the Bell household again, and the quiet seems strange. Had a lovely visit from our 12 yr old, going on 20, Granddaughter for a week. Our annual family 'get together' on Saturday, slightly different from usual, with heavy rain, thunder & lightening and fewer numbers than usual due to recent health happenings for a couple of family member. Even so I think everyone enjoyed themselves and we were all able to have a good catch-up. Age ranges from 4 months to 68.
Judy & Mark update - cann't remember what i've already told you but here goes. Judy completed 1st round chemo & scan shows significant reduction in tumor so straight on to 2nd round chemo- downside continuing to have several side-effects. Mark had 2nd session of chemo on Friday & over wk-end, luckily for him he doesn't seem to be having too many side effects at the moment. He is hoping to start back to work this wk or at least give it a try. Hope everyone had a safe wkend. Love & hugs from Lesley

[Jina]

Hello everyone.
I wanted to stop in and tell y'all that Heathers surgery went well. She is sore and nauseous today so we are watching her closely and that's why I haven't been on until now to tell you. Thank you all so much for your prayers, encouragement and support. It means so much to my family and I. As for me, I am pooped. I feel like I got hit by a big rig and so tired. I plan on sleeping in tomorrow. I am so relieved that the surgery is over and she is on the mend.
Hugs to you,
Jina

[Melinda]

Jina wrote: "Hello everyone.
I wanted to stop in and tell y'all that Heathers surgery went well. She is sore and nauseous today so we are watching her closely and that's why I haven't been on until now to tell ..."

Answer to prayers. Glad that it went well and is over. Take care of yourself so you can take care of everyone which is important. I understand about feeling like big rig hit you, I hit my wall and took a2and half hour nap today. 4 am mornings come quick. God has his hand on you all . Keeping you all in my prayers as recovery and the next steps get taken. How does sarah like her classes in school? Get some rest.

[Lesley]

Jina wrote: "Hello everyone.
I wanted to stop in and tell y'all that Heathers surgery went well. She is sore and nauseous today so we are watching her closely and that's why I haven't been on until now to tell ..."

So pleased all went well, try & get some rest & look after yourself. Love to all x

[Lola]

Hallelujah !!!! Ah Our Heather is a Champ ! As everyone else said ,Please take care of yourself, You are a very Special Woman! We Love You, Lola

[Jina]

Melinda wrote: "Jina wrote: "Hello everyone.
I wanted to stop in and tell y'all that Heathers surgery went well. She is sore and nauseous today so we are watching her closely and that's why I haven't been on until..."

Hello,
I slept in until 10 this morning and Heather slept in until noon. Her shoulder is really bruised and swollen and even her neck and left side of her face is swollen too. She is still nauseous. Not sure if it's from the anaesthesia or if its from the pain medication. I have a headache but I think its a tension or lack of sleep headache. Thank you again for your prayers and support. Heather received a nice gift from a Facebook friend. Heather wants to be a photographer and physical therapist for handicapped children, so Heather had always took pictures of sunsets/sunrises and loved to take pictures of trees. She loves black and white photos and one of her idols is Ansel Adams. Well on the group page "Nebraska through the lens" there was a beautiful picture in color of a sunset with one lone big tree. Heather loved the picture and looked at it online for quite a while. I messaged the person who took the picture and asked if I could save or share the picture to my daughter's page. She did a very special thing and had the picture processed and put in an 8x10 frame and shipped it to her with a get well soon message included. We got it today and Heather was thrilled. I videotaped Heather opening the gift and sent the video to the person who sent it. She was touched by Heathers reaction and how much the picture meant to her. I thought the whole situation was lovely and the testament to the compassion and what random acts of kindness can do. If you'd like to see the photo I can upload a picture of Heather holding her new gift.
I didnt tell you all but I had to ask for/demand a "Patient Representative" at the hospital. The anesthesiologist was very rude, cruel and insulting and caused an uproar in the preop waiting area. Dr. Pulout asked right in front of Heather "what age level is her intelligence?" I told him, "she is 19, does algebra and understands everything you say and you just insulted her and I". He was upset that Heather has trouble opening her mouth very wide because of apraxia and her jaw is displaced a little from being intubated for so long and when she had her heart attack, her jaw clamped shut tight and had to be pried open (They are going to give her botox injections to loosen the muscles in her jaw so the dr at UNC Chapel Hill can put her left side back where it is supposed to be). So he tried to cancel the surgery saying it couldn't be done, then he pulled the rolling computer up by Heathers bed to look at her history and proceeded to read... "Heather was 15 when collapsing at home from sudden cardiac death... it was 20 minutes until the EMS arrived and Heather has anoxic brain damage from lack of oxygen..." then he said "well thats why her brain doesnt right, right there." I interrupted him and said "Look I gave her CPR the whole time until the paramedics got there, it wasnt my fault or hers that she aspirated and what I was blowing into her wasnt getting to her lungs! I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk like she isnt right here listening. You are upsetting her." Then he asked if "that"(and pointed to her throat and bib) was the way she is "normally". I said "yes this is her normal breathing and swallowing." He then said if I had done it right she wouldn't be as bad as she is now.He asked why she had to have a tracheostomy. I told him she suffered a stridor episode. He proceeded to tell me that she is in stridor now and I needed to pay better attention because "this isn't normal". I couldn't help myself, normally I dont pitch a fit but I had had enough. I asked him "Are you always an @$$hole or just today?" By this time I was crying and shaking from anger and adrenaline. Heathers cardiologist arrived then and they stepped away to talk. I turned to the anesthesiologists assistants, Dennis and Judy and they apologized saying they had never seen him be "that rude" and that they were so sorry. When I had explained the part about doing CPR, Judy had come up beside me and put her arm around me and said that I did great and that it wasnt my fault and that if I hadnt done what I did, she wouldn't be here right now. After the 2 doctors consulted it was brought to Dr Pulouts attention that in Heathers other surgeries a "size 6 tube" was used. So Dr Fairbrother came in and put his arm around me and patted my back. He asked Heather "you ready to do this young lady?" She nodded and he said "its worked out, he knows what to use now so we can take her back. Dont worry Mama." They walked away with Heather after I gave her a kiss. Dennis walked me to the surgery waiting area. He apologized for the other Dr. again and said he had called his superior and told him what was going on and he was going to file a complaint and document the incident. That the dr was out of line. When we finally got to the waiting area he gave me a hug and told me he'd take good care of Heather. About 10 minutes later I got a call from Judy saying she knew that I would be worried butthat Heather went out beautifully with no problems and that Dr. Pulout was replaced by Dr Sang and that she'd call me with updates later. While waiting the Patient Representative came up to me and made sure her facts were right. Evidently, Dennis, Judy and Dr Fairbrother had talked to her and all were saying that Dr Pulout should be reprimanded. Its now in Heathers charts at the hospital that he isnt to be treating Heather for any future surgeries Heather might need. Its so sad when you come across a healthcare professional who probably does his /her work for the money but lacks compassion and empathy and good people skills.
I need to get her to bed so I will talk to yall tomorrow. I love this group and so glad that I met y'all. It seems everyone here has a wonderful big heart.
Sarah has a history class, Math 3, a finance class and English. She is very good at Math and loves history but her weakness is English. She has trouble with spelling sometimes and sometimes the chosen book to read isnt something that keeps her attention. If anyone has suggestions for her to help her with her English class I would really appreciate it.
Love to all,
Jina

[Jina]

Lesley wrote: "Jina wrote: "Hello everyone.
I wanted to stop in and tell y'all that Heathers surgery went well. She is sore and nauseous today so we are watching her closely and that's why I haven't been on until..."

Thank you so much. So glad to have you in my life. I hope all continues to go well wiith the cancer treatments for your family members. I am continuing to pray for you and your family. Prayer works. God is great!
Love you,
Jina and the girls

[Jina]

Lola wrote: "Hallelujah !!!! Ah Our Heather is a Champ ! As everyone else said ,Please take care of yourself, You are a very Special Woman! We Love You, Lola"

Thank you. Yes she is the toughest most determined young lady I know. So glad she has the personality she has. She is always positive and fights hard to recover from her illnesses.
Love you to the moon and back my friend,
Jina and the girls

[Jina]

Update on my Aunts and a question for anyone.
My Aunt Donna whose house burned down was able to salvage a few personal belongings and is staying with her daughter.
My question is about my Aunt Judy who lives in Kingman Arizona. She has Celiac disease and has over the last year been losing weight rapidly. She is 5'4" and has gotten down to 93 lbs. She went to the dr for tests and they found a tumor on her thyroid. (Haven't found out if its cancer or not yet) Does anyone have any suggestions on what she can do to put more weight back on? Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.
Hugs to all,
Jina

[Lola]

Dear Jina,
I am in tears! What an ASSHOLE , I would have probably popped him one! Wolf has a Dr. that is the Poster Boy for the I am Dr.God,every time I see him my middle finger itches,I guess it would be childish to flip him the finger.

I know what your Aunt Judy is going thru with the fire, when I was a kid our house burn down too. I can still remember that smell! About gaining weight ,how does she handle dairy , Milk Shakes may help,or the protein shakes.

Tell Heather she is my hero , I am BAD at math but aced English because of a great Teacher that made learning fun. How is she at Audio Books ? Maybe having it told to her would help.
Love You'll to the Moon and back too, Lola

[Jina]

Lola wrote: "Dear Jina,
I am in tears! What an ASSHOLE , I would have probably popped him one! Wolf has a Dr. that is the Poster Boy for the I am Dr.God,every time I see him my middle finger itches,I guess it ..."

Dear Lola,
I know what you mean about the middle finger itching. When Heather was hospitalized in 2013 she was in PICU all of January and went to the pediatric ward on Feb. 6th. She had a whole team of drs and therapists and specialists. Sometimes a Dr would ask Heather to do something that caused her pain. It was needed to progress but sometimes the dr or whoever would be forceful about it and it would upset her. One of Heathers regular nurses told Heather that when she was upset because they hurt her or made her upset that she should tap her middle finger with her thumb. That way no one knew or would be upset by her gesture but she would get the "release" of expressing how she felt about what they did or made her do.
My husband Michael wanted to come to the hospital and as he phrased it, "put him on his arse". But Michael was too far away in his big rig. Probably a good thing he was, I dont have bail money. Lol
Love you,
Jina

[Lesley]

Jina wrote: "Lesley wrote: "Jina wrote: "Hello everyone.
I wanted to stop in and tell y'all that Heathers surgery went well. She is sore and nauseous today so we are watching her closely and that's why I haven'..."
Jina, So sorry you had to go through all that with the Dr on top of everything else. You and your family are amazing. Keep stong & take care. Thinking about you all.
Thank you for your thoughts/prayers for my family, treatment seems to be proceeding ok at present for them both. Love from Lesley x

[Jina]

Lola wrote: "Dear Jina,
I am in tears! What an ASSHOLE , I would have probably popped him one! Wolf has a Dr. that is the Poster Boy for the I am Dr.God,every time I see him my middle finger itches,I guess it ..."

We haven't tried Audio books with her yet. Great idea. She has said reading for long periods of time have given her headaches, so audio books would prevent that. Thanks for the suggestion!
Love,
Jina

[Lola]

Dear Jina,
I checked and there are places on line that you can download text books for free ,one I saw was Bookshare.com. You may want to look in to this for her school books. Love Ya, Lola

[Lola]

These are audio books , I typed in audio text books. Love Ya , Lola
Something is going on with the web site here, I wanted to go in and add that they were audio but it would not let me edit my post.

[Melinda]

Jina,
Spelling is not my best subject. When I was in school, my mom will verbal quiz me and my English teachers made use look up the meaning and write a sentence with the word in it. It seemed to help me remember the words and how to use it. The books that are chosen to be read in high school are the pits at times. Some times finding about the author helped me with the book . I would try and figure how the author came up with the story and did it relate to life at that time.
Just some thoughts that you can try. I love history and if I can tie other things into that I do better.

[Melinda]

Lola wrote: "These are audio books , I typed in audio text books. Love Ya , Lola
Something is going on with the web site here, I wanted to go in and add that they were audio but it would not let me edit my post."

Lola,
That is a wonderful thought about audio books. Many people due better listening than having to read the words.

[Jina]

Hello,
Thanks Melinda and Lola. I will try both of your suggestions. The way you describe learning new words and meanings reminds me of Heather. Unfortunately she was a horrible speller. She didnt learn to read like I did. When she started school, they would send home these huge words for her to memorize. I learned to read I guess you would say "old school" . I learned each letter, its sound and then they would add additional letter combinations.. like at, cat, bat rat and so on. I remember the first textbook. It had Dick and Jane and a dog named Spot. Did any of you have that too. It had easy sentences like "See Spot run." It was one of my favourite books because it introduced me to reading on my own. Before that my Mom or oldest brother Dana had to read to me. Heather learned reading and writing by memorization. When she wrote she put smaller words togethed by how she "thought" they sounded together. You could easily read and understand what she was trying to say by sounding out certain parts. I have saved some of her writing and I might scan it and share it with you. It is a prime example of showing why memorizing words to learn to read isnt always the best way to learn. When she got older she took it upon herself to write down every bold word on a index card and then wrote the definition on the back. She saved all her index cards by subject and by chapter. When she was in the hospital and I was getting the house packed up to move to the new house closer to the hospital I found her "stash" of vocabulary cards. She had two of her Daddys boot boxes full of them under her bed. She had an old backpack filled with her art work and sketch pads from school and her notebook of notes and practice Math problems. Sometimes in the notebooks I saw a letter she was trying to write to me or her sisters or something wrote about what we did together on a certain day. One was about a trip to the beach we took and what she saw and did... almost like writing it down she could keep the experience forever and relive or remember by reading it again later. There was also a drawing she did of her Dad's big rig and his trailers he would haul. Little notes would be in the margins around the drawing about where he would haul what and what colors his various trucks were. I spent several hours going through her paperwork finding "treasures". Her memories and thoughts were poured out through her stuff she kept under her bed. I put all her stuff in a Rubbermaid container in her closet now. Its precious to me. I have brought some of it out to show her homebound teachers so they could know how she learns. She is also OCD. She has to have her paper prefect, it cant have wrinkles or faint lines. The lines on paper have to be dark. When she writes, which her handwriting is very pretty and precise. Each r has a hook on the end and her "y's" have the same loop. She would get in trouble during class for being a slow writer but it was because her writing had to be "perfect" to HER standard. I could show you a paper that demonstrates how each letter was just the same. She had a teacher's assistant Miss Bannon who was her tutor throughout 2nd grade to 8th. She had an IEP because they thought she was dyslexic for awhile and this teacher thought her to put squares around the person, place or thing, circle the action of the sentence and underline the main idea of the sentence. Plus she numbered each paragraph. It helped Heather focus on what was going on and think it through so she could answer the questions. When she had to answer questions she put the answer down and what paragraph she got the answer from. She did well and was on the honor roll a lot. Sarah's biggest problem is she has no patience. I find that I learn best by listening to the teacher and taking notes. When answering quizzes and tests I could recall the answer because I could picture when I wrote the notes about it. In my head I could "see" my notes and answer from remembering what I wrote. I was in big trouble if I didnt take notes about a subject I was tested on. Sarah when she and I read together something I notice she transposes a word or two and when she writes notes about numbers, she will transpose the number order or leave out a number. So I taught her to lightly cross out each number as she goes that way she cant leave out a number or change them around.
Sorry I went on and on but maybe knowing more, the teachers in this group can help me help her. Thank you for your ideas and advice. Education is so important to me for the kids. I want them to do well and go far. I want them to reach for whatever they want and know they can achieve it if they work for it.
Love to all,
Jina

[Lesley]

Jina, I to learned to read 'old school' & remember the Dick, Jane & Spot book, but I think they were around when my boys learnt to read. I also remember 'Janet & John' books. I wishe educationalists would realise that not everyone learns to do things in the same way. Hope you have a good weekend & manage to catch up on some more rest. Love Lesley x

[Lola]

I remember learning to read with Dick, Jane and Spot too ! OMG I just looked and they have the Dick & Jane books at Amazon ,it was the Fun with Dick & Jane that I looked at. Took me back 60 years. Hugs Lola

[Melinda]

I learned old school. Before school, Mom was teaching me because I had a speech defect and went to therapy every week. It was expensive back in the day. I had to make a notebook with pictures of the sounds that I had trouble with like sh, sn and w's and words like sneeze. I fought it but it really helped. Probably result in Mom having grey and white hair early.

[Jina]

Melinda wrote: "I learned old school. Before school, Mom was teaching me because I had a speech defect and went to therapy every week. It was expensive back in the day. I had to make a notebook with pictures of th..."

Heather and Sarah have speech impediments, or so they are called. Heather and Sarah needed help with "r" and "w" and combination sounds. Like the word "rock" would come out sounding like "wok". And the word "wash" would sound like "warsh". "spaghetti" sounded like spasghetti. Green was geen, and frog was fog. They are much better now with their speech but Heather didnt speak until she was 3 and by then I had Sarah and they learned to speak together so they talked alike. We realized when we moved south that "warsh" was a midwest accent thing. We still catch ourselves adding an r if we are speaking fast. The biggest help with speech was tongue twisters and a real funny childs book of poems. I will find the book and add it in a post. Maybe some of you have read it, either to your children or grandchildren. Even reading it as an adult, I had fun. It was a play on words like "bunny rabbit" was "runny babbit".
I hope all of you are doing well and I look forward to chatting with yall about books and what everyone is reading.
Love y'all,
Jina

[Lola]

I am reading The Sounds of Glass by Karen White, I think it was one of those daily deals from audible , I have never read anything by her before. A part in it took me back to childhood about putting peanuts in a coke , we always did that when we were kids. My Dad owned a "Service Station" back when they did every thing for you,and you got dishes or green stamps. He had one of those old coke machines where you had to move the coke through a maze to a metal flap you lifted up and pulled out your coke. We had learned how to get them out for free , little thieves ! lol Dad just looked the other way lol. And Tom's peanuts oh man we love it. I may have to try it again ,although I don't drink cokes any more. Hugs Lola

[Lola]

I harvested my corn yesterday a pretty good crop. And we gave away the Hens to our neighbors Niece, it was hard watching them go, they were fun to watch and all had different personalities . It sure is quite without them cackling all the time. We made a deal to get eggs from them when we run out, we have 3 dozen right now.
It is cool and cloudy here today Fall is in the air. I need to pick tomatoes today , I need to find some jalapenos so I can make salsa.
Hugs Lola

[Melinda]

Lola wrote: "I harvested my corn yesterday a pretty good crop. And we gave away the Hens to our neighbors Niece, it was hard watching them go, they were fun to watch and all had different personalities . It sur..."

Sounds like Fall harvest is going on at your house. Your food will taste good in the middle of winter. It is amazing what noise we get use to and miss when it is gone. It is busy when you have a garden.

[Lola]

We had a cold front move in it has been raining all day so no gardening today.
I added a photo of my flowerbed border , we got all the rocks from a creek near our house. Hugs Lola

[Jina]

Under the group "Book promotions" they are asking for book reviewers and people who would like to receive advanced copies and ebooks to review and they give out gift cards and other prizes. You just need to sign up. I will try to get on my desk at the computer and copy and paste the link for y'all.

Love you,
Jina

[Lola]

Peace be with you all on this Sad day ,15 years ago and we are still fighting terrorist. Love, Lola

[[deleted user]]

Ladies! I'm BACK! Where was I? In Goodreads Never-Never Land. Updates in the group didn't show up as notifications, and didn't appear on my page. I have NO idea what happened, but I suspect it was related to whatever updates they've done to the site. I'm so sorry. It's been over a week without notifications or updates.

I wish you all a thoughtful, peaceful day today as we remember the events of 9-11-2001. I know we all remember where we were when we heard the news. If you're like me, the next few days were a blur of shock and disbelief, horror and tremendous sorrow. We probably know someone - or someone who knows someone - who lost a loved one that day.

This is no ordinary day, and it will never be. So we honor the memory and set aside our differences as a nation to embrace those for whom life will never be the same.

I know I plan to contact the people I love and make sure they know it.

I'll now read through all the comments I missed, and then leave a separate message about where we go as a group from here.

Love you ladies!
Paula

[[deleted user]]

Lola wrote: "Peace be with you all on this Sad day ,15 years ago and we are still fighting terrorist. Love, Lola"

Peace be with you today, Lola.

[[deleted user]]

Wow, everyone, I can't believe how much I missed. I was able to keep up with Jina and the girls on Facebook, but I feel like I was off-world for a long time and I'm so sorry I missed all this news!!

I don't know where to begin, so I'll just take a shot at responding to the updates.

Jina -- you and your girls continue to amaze me. As someone who used to deal with doctors on a daily basis - as the administrative director of the medical staff - I could throttle that anesthesiologist. You did the right thing by getting the Patient Representative involved. There is no excuse for that behavior, and I bet it's not the first time he's gone on record as an asshat. I am seeing RED right now. It's an embarrassment to the entire profession. My husband is a nurse anesthetist, and he is the most compassionate person you could ever meet. He loves his work, he's humble about it, and he's wonderful with children and the elderly. He would be appalled, as am I.

And...with respect to your new tequila experience, all I can say is...I love margaritas on a hot summer day with hot Mexican food. But beware the expression, "One tequila, Two tequila, Three tequila, FLOOR" !!

I'm so sorry to hear about the fire and I hope she is able to find somewhere to live that will make her life peaceful and happy again. Uprooting an elder is so difficult for them. I'm sure she lost many precious, tangible memories in her home and I hope she is finding her way to a sense of peace. So happy she wasn't hurt.

About the poor womanc with celiac disease - the important thing is to identify the trigger foods - and remove gluten from the diet, which fortunately is easier today than it was a few years ago. Once the symptoms are under control and she finds a diet that works, her weight should normalize. There are also some medications that can combat the inflammatory effects of the disease. I have a friend who has it and she has found a lot of relief since her diagnosis, by nutritional diligence and supplements. A gastroenterologist is your best friend when you have these horrific digestive issues.

My mother had something similar. She was negative for celiac disease, but had an auto-immune disorder that made weight gain impossible. She was so, so frail. I tried to get her to give up gluten, simply because it's the one thing she never tried...but her eating habits were so well established that she rejected the notion. I still believe it would have helped her, but the idea of giving up her favorite foods was a non-starter. *head shake*

I love hearing your garden stories - I've killed three basil plants, a tomato plant, and a redwood starter this summer. It's just so, so, so hot here. I can't wait for the fall!!!

This week is my birthday week and because it's my first year without my mom, and it's been a tough year all around, Ray and I are escaping to our favorite hideaway until next weekend. It's the Heritage House on the Mendocino Coast, where one of my favorite movies, "Same Time, Next Year" - with Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn - was filmed. The first time I saw the movie, I decided I HAD to find the beautiful place it was filmed, and two years ago, we did. We go back once a year. This is our week.

I'll be in touch as often as I can. I've been swamped with a backlog of books to read, and I have two reviews to be finished by Tuesday, so I'm under the gun to get caught up. I had to take some days away from my manuscript because I was "stuck" and it needs fresh eyes. I plan to write this week, starting Tuesday, and get back in the groove.

I hope we can get back into OUR groove of reading and talking about our books very soon, now that Fall is upon us.

Please let me know if you have questions or if I missed something important - hopefully Goodreads will stay stable now and I won't run into the "missing updates" issue again.

Take care!
Paula

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One more comment...

I posted a photo from our trip to Napa... just for fun.

I tried to add "Christmas in Eternity Springs" to our bookshelf, and I hope it shows up! It releases October 4th!! For some reason, the saving function is very slow and it can take up to 10 minutes for new books to be added to our shelf. If it doesn't work, I'll try again later...

Now to the housework...ughhhhh,,,,

[Lesley]

Peace be with you all on the reminder of such a sad day.

On a happier note, have a good brthday week Paula, it may well be bitter sweet because of your recent loss but try and remember the happier memories.

Take care all, love from Lesley

[Melinda]

Just wanted to let you all know that I have been thinking about you. I am looking forward to our next book. Hopefully all of us will have more down time. Lola, hope you garden is about done. Right out of the garden is good but by Fall , you are ready for a break from putting things up or just picking things as they ripen.
Keeping everyone's relatives with cancer or other issues in my prayers.
Have a good day or night depending on when you read this.

[Lola]

Thanks Melinda, It has been cold and windy here the last few days, it is supposed to get better this weekend. I will be doing a lot of harvesting . I need a few days without rain to pull up my onions ,you need to dry them outside for a couple of days, then I have a tall rack I drape them over to complete drying.I tried a new onion call Ring Master and they are huge ,great for onion rings . We had some for lunch today ,so easy to make. I slice the onions about an inch thick ,put the rings in milk then flour seasoned with garlic salt and pepper ,then back in the milk and flour. I have a small deep fryer that I use with canola oil. YUMMY !!!!
I have been re-listening to the Bluegrass series by Kathleen Brooks . I have always liked community series like Eternity Springs these take place in Kentucky.
Hugs Lola

[Lesley]

Thanks Melinda, I'm also looking forward to our next read & discussion as I've missed everyone over the summer, Our garden is gradually being prepared for winter.Treatment for Mark & Judy progressing reasonably welldespite a few 'hick-ups' & keeping fingers crossed for positive outcomes.
We also have something to look forward/work to as Mark & his partner, Tina have decided to get married on 30th December.
We are also having to sell off all our cattle as the Landlord has requested the land & buidings back. Luckily this seems to be progressing well although' hubby' is not happy about it. I must admit though I'm quiet pleased the decision has been taken out of our hands to finish as he is nearly 70 & I have been asking him to finish up for a few years now so that we can do other things. Going to stay with my Grandchildren tomorrow for the week-end whilst John & Tracey go to see Mark & Tina to sort out suits for the wedding. Love to everyone x