What Did You Do Today?

[gja1000]

Sandy, you may be itchy because of drinking too little water. But a very likely contributor is stress. Yes, stress can cause all sorts of skin problems. When I am stressed out, the palms of my hands itch.

[gja1000]

Janet, does your mom use a walker? Probably not, but she certainly needs to be using one. Being a nurse, I'd just have to lay down the law, "you want to live with me, you use a walker, you drink yogurt, etc etc." It simply isn't fair to you to have to take care of her when she does things that make it harder for you.

[judy]

Gayle is right, Janet! You really do have to override her objections. Put a little chocolate syrup into the yogurt and tell her it's ice cream.

I do not know how you can convince her to use a walker unless you do like Gayle says. Lay down the law!

I didn't say the word "no" to my mother until I was 13, and I stood in the doorway to her bedroom and shook! I understand how your Mom can intimidate you!!!

Mackenzie's graduation was wonderful! It is a K to 12 school, with only one 8th grade class. She will be with the same kids in high school too. She got a lot of awards, mostly for drama and singing, and one for art.

I'll post pictures when I get them from Jessie.

[DianaB]

Originally Posted by gja1000

GUYS! I just found the most delicious flavoring for water. It's called a water enhancer - maybe you know about it, I sure didn't. Since I've given up sodas and I really don't care for plain water, I've been searching for flavored water.

This is called Mio Liquid and it is found in the area where they have the powdered drinks, e.g., koolaid, and Crystal Lite. I got the sweet tea and also the berry pomegranate. You just put a squirt of the liquid into plain water and the flavor is so intense. I can see where you could get too much!!!

My daughter says Walmart has it and our regular grocery store (HEB) has it too.

It's really GOOD! I'm going to take some to school to squirt into the bottled water I keep in my fridge. YUM!

I have some of that......I just tried it the other day. I have the sweetened tea too and it is really good!!! I haven't tried any of the other flavors yet.

[DianaB]

Sandy, I hope that you're able to get things over and done with in the next few days. I'm sure that you're tired and ready to move on to new things.......I also hope that the little house works out for you.


Gayle, it looks like Dae Lynn and the kids will be living with us for about 15 months. Damon has decided that he wants help for his problem so he's going to Teen Challenge. It's a very difficult Christian based program but it has an 86% positive outcome. Damon really does want to change and he is a good man. I really think that this will help him and help him to overcome his problems.

We think that his jail sentence will be 6 to 9 months but we're not sure until he goes to court next month but he's willing to accept going to Teen Challenge instead of jail. He's been accepted so it just needs to be approved by the judge and then we'll have to get the stuff ready for him to take. He'll be about 3 to 3 1/2 hours from here at first then he'll be in western Kansas which will be a lot further. Dae Lynn and the kids can go and visit twice a month and talk to him twice a week after the first month.

This is a program started by David Wilkerson who wrote "The Cross and the Switchblade" which is about him becoming involved and changing the lives of drug abusers. It is a huge nationwide program that is sponsored by our church so I am very comfortable with him going.

This decision has been very hard on Dae Lynn. She keeps thinking about all that Damon is going to miss.....Christmas, Thanksgiving, Karlie going to kindergarden, most of Dean's first year and into his second, and a lot of other things. Plus it's hard to give up her independence by moving back in with Mom and Dad. We are going to set up some private areas......we're going to put her tv and living room furniture in the basement for her to use and I'm going to make a sitting area in my bedroom with a tv as well. I think that for $10 we can get a couple of satelite boxes set up. I think that we'll do alright......but it will sure be a change!!!!

[judy]

It sounds very promising Diana! Congratulations to Damon for choosing this road!

I will be sending prayers for the judge to allow this option.

Dae Lynn will have you and Glen to share the kids milestones with, so it won't be as hard as she is thinking.

You are such good parents!!!

[Janet]

Gayle.......Mom does use a walker, she has to. Her balance is not good at all. The stroke affected the right side if her body, so when she went to step up into the house (small step) she didn't get her right leg lifted high enough and she went down, scraping her shin. Looks nasty.

Judy, you have got to be so proud of MacKenzie. I wish her the best of everything high school has to offer. I also hope she gets involved in activities that she enjoys plus others that will make a difference. One more thing....I pray she enjoys her high school years because once they're gone..they're gone.

Diana...sounds like your life is going to change a bit. I also pray for you and Glenn, because as much as you love them....it's going to be different for quite some time. I'm glad Damon is getting the help he needs, I liked him in the short time that I met him and I wish him the very best.

[gja1000]

Diana, it sounds like Damon is going to get the help he needs and I am so glad to hear that. It sounds like a really good program. My cousin's son went to some sort of program like that (not the same though) in CA after conviction for selling drugs. He was also a drug addict. He got his life back together and now he is married with a little boy and he just got his associates degree and will finish a degree in Social Work in a year and a half. He is the best young man you can imagine now.

Your life is going to change drastically though, but you can do it. I remember hearing that my grandparents kept my cousins (2) during WWII while my aunt (their mom) followed her husband when he was stationed in CA and then she stayed with my grandparents too while he was overseas. Several years later my mom divorced my dad when I was 2 and we lived with my grandparents for FOUR YEARS!!!

You are so right to set up everyone's private areas, because you will all need to get away from each other, I can promise you that. My mom lived with me for 6 years, and she had her own TV room, Gary had the den, and I had my TV in my office way in the back of the house away from everyone. We also had a TV in the living room (yep, we had FOUR TV's) where we could watch TV together if we wanted.

Things works so much better when everyone has their own space. When the kids lived with us for a couple of months this spring, we did not have our own spaces and it was OK for the short while they were here, but if they had stayed much longer, I would have had to set up my space out in Gary's shop! LOL!

[Tiramisu]

Diana, it will be fun. My daughter and four kiddie stayed with us for 22 months while sil was working in Iraq.

My sil volunteers computer repairs for the teen challenge chapters in this area.

[DianaB]

Thank you so much everyone for your support and your prayers!!!

Sandy, that's so cool that your sil does work at Teen Challenge.....then you're some what familiar with the program and what it's about!!!

[gja1000]

WHEW! Gary and I left the house at 8:30 this morning to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel. YUM! I was good, one scrambled egg, one piece of toast, one slice of bacon and decaf coffee.

Next we stopped at Ross (discount clothing store) and I shopped a little bit. I bought a picture of the guest bathroom, a flexible insulated bag to take my lunch to work, and a spoon holder for the stove.

Then, we started collecting buckets from Firehouse Subs (sandwich place). You might ask, "Why are you collecting buckets from Firehouse Subs" and I would say, "To give to the guy that makes the best catfish stink bait in Texas"! LOL!

Gary has a friend who makes this GREAT stink bait for catfish. Every so often Gary goes around to Firehouse Subs to buy their 5 gallon pickle buckets ($3 each). It's a neat deal though, because Firehouse Subs donates all the proceeds from the sale of their pickle buckets to charity. The catfish bait that his friend makes is pretty pricey, but Gary gets his for free because he supplies the buckets. We went to 6 different stores in Austin and got 18 five-gallon buckets.

One time Gary made the mistake of taking his FJ Cruiser to gather up the buckets. Remember I said they were PICKLE BUCKETS. LOL! His Cruiser smelled like pickles for a couple of months. Ewwwww, not good on a warm day! Since then, he takes the pickup and you can still smell the pickles when you walk up to the pickup. I wonder what people think in the parking lot when they walk by our pickup! LOL!

Last, we had to pick up some medicine from the pharmacy and now at 3:00PM we are home at last. Time to put up my feet.

[Lindsey]

I'm just catching up and everyone has been so busy!! Diana, I am so glad to hear Damon is getting help. I hope things go well with Dae Lynn moving inn with you. Janet, I just want to give you hugs and I think you're doing great with your mom. Gayle.... mmmmm pickles!

Last night Scott's friend had a barbeque. I really like this friend, mostly because he talks to me and is very open and easy to talk to. He is the only friend Scott told about the proposal before it happened, and he seemed very happy for us! I think Scott is considering asking him to be his best man and I am 100% behind that! Anyways, we went shopping for some pork chops and vegetables and the three of us were preparing the meal in the kitchen and it was a lot of fun. When we started barbequeing, more people showed up, and after we were done eating, people kept showing up!

I had assumed it was just a barbeque... eat, visit a little, and come home. At 8:30 I asked Scott if we'd be home in time that I could call my mom. He said probably. Then he was offered beer and I said I would drive if he wanted to have one drink with his friends. Then it was two drinks. Then it was 10:00 at night and there was no way we'd get home before my mom was in bed. We were sitting in his friend's living room and there must have been 15 people there and they were all in their groups talking, and then Scott got up to talk to other people, and I sat there on a chair for half an hour staring at the floor! I'm not super outgoing so it's tough for me to jump into someone else's conversation and it was so awkward. I felt like crying! I asked Scott for his cell (I forgot mine at home) so I could check facebook and whatever, and I sat there for another half hour. We didn't leave until 11:30 and I was not happy! I drove home in the dark, and had to slam on the brakes when two deer jumped out on the road. I HATE driving at night. Oh yeah, and none of his other friends said a thing about our engagement, except one called him over and said "So how'd you propose?" to let him know he knew about it... but no congratulations, nothing.

Today we got up early and went into town to the farmers market. I needed flowers and tomato plants. We walked past a few vendors and when we got to the far end of the market, one vendor was selling ALL little sets of flowers and tomato plants for $1 EACH! Wow! I am waiting this long next year lol! We spent $14 and got two tomato plants, and enough flowers to fill 8 planters.

When we got home, I started pulling weeds and Scott started cutting the lawn. Oh my gosh were there a lot of weeds after a month!!! Then I pulled out some boxes of our summer yard stuff and put it around, and put our little patio lights up on the deck and in the tree by the deck, and we cut a huge branch off the tree. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we just came inside at 4:00 and it started to pour, and now there's lots of thunder and lightning. I love thunderstorms!

[Janet]

You had a busy day huh Gayle....all day. Hope you got all rested up.

Lindsey....I hope you didn't stay angry too long. Also...when you're in a situation like that again...look around. There is probably someone there feeling just as you were feeling....go talk with them...they may be shy too and who knows....you may find another really good friend.

This morning I washed 3 of the 4 bed sheets. I'll probably do the last one on Monday. I drove to town and picked up a prescription, bought a bottle of the Glucosomine, bought some healthy breakfast cereal and a couple of other items. Mom wasn't dressed so I left her here. I've been making her get dressed everyday and when she doesn't do it on her own...I find someplace I need to go because she always wants to go with me. I get tired of seeing her in a nightgown and house dress...lol.

Didn't really do much else...just picked up a bit around the house.

My neck is still (after a week) giving me pain. It's now in my neck, shoulder and upper arm. Monday I am calling the Dr. to see if I can get in. The pain is so horrible it makes me sick to my stomach. This can't be from a stiff neck...I've had them before and they've been nothing like this.
I'm just worried I did something when I lifted Mom up off the floor when she fell in the kitchen.

Did get word that a friend's mother is in the hospital. They think she had a stroke, because she is slurring her words and confused. She is also in kidney failure. The Drs. told her that her mother will not be able to go home, that she will need a nursing home. My advice to her was to let her go to the nursing home. As much as I love my Mom....I wish that's what I would have done and stuck to it. I pray my friend doesn't have to go through the same thing.

[Lindsey]

I wish someone else were feeling the same! They are all really good friends and see each other very often. I thought the two other girls might include me since they were sitting right next to me, but they literally turned their backs to me and talked to each other. I didn't stay mad long... I went to sleep as soon as we got home and I didn't hear Scott even come to bed, but we both apologized when we got home... me for being upset about driving, and he for not including me in his conversation when he knew I was feeling uncomfortable.

[gja1000]

Janet, yes you need to see someone about your neck - that is classic pain from a neck injury, going to the shoulder and down the arm. It is usually helped by physical therapy, but goodness knows, you don't have time to go to physical therapy. There is a medication for nerve pain called Lyrica. They gave Gary some for his neck pain, but he didn't take any of it. I've heard others say it works good for pain caused by a nerve.

Lindsay, I am the same way. I am very uncomfortable at a gathering where I don't know the people very well, and if I don't know anyone, I am just miserable. Sometimes I feel left out when Gary is with his sisters and their families, so I just take my phone or iPad and read or surf. It still feels funny and uncomfortable.