Crone Cronies - You're a gift in my life, and not one I'd return! Dec. 11

[sciencelady]

The Cronies is a place for women who are mature in age or attitude. The group is highly diverse in that we have ages ranging from 30s to 60s, some are moms, some are single, some are teachers/professors, and some have jobs and work outside the home and some don’t. We do our own thing and are happy when life doesn’t get in the way too often. Some are training for a marathon, some don’t even do vids, you get the picture.

Life and exercise are what we report. A thread is started every Sunday. Some report every day, others whenever they can.

Bottom line: we are a diverse group and very supportive of each other’s goals. Oh, and we’re funny as heck. If you’d like to join us, just come on down.

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

I think I've gotten most of my projects from last week done - I'm trying to return the wrong part for my dishwasher and they'll be back open to do that on Monday, my Christmas cards are in the mail , and everything else is DONE! Yay! Today I'll be going for a walk and putzing around the house watering my plants and doing some cleanup. I might stop by the garden center and pick up a gift card for my friend's birthday - I thought I'd bring some cut flowers, but with the gift card she can get something real in spring.

Laura, nice to spend time with your parents . Yes, the bikers were ones that pedal . The co-op will be close to a very nice bike path that I used to go on, but there's great bike paths in the two parks that I'm near also. I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike and having access to the paths without having to drive to them and lift my bike in and out of my car. I was kind of surprised most of the women I met at the co-op are buying units on their own, like me. The bathrooms are set up with two sinks, so thought many wouldn't go for that.

Paula, I was hearing the same story about Tchaikovsky on the public radio yesterday regarding his opinion of the Nutcracker. I think the biggest thing I hate about getting shorter is that my BMI calculates higher despite being the same weight! Argh! I'm hoping to make it in the co-op for many years - there's an assisted living place next door that I'll be finding about in case I ever need to switch over (not affiliated with my co-op). Right now, being in a flat co-op unit (no stairs), and no yard work should give me lots of time to not need help around the place.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

Hello from another cloudy and chilly day in North Carolina. Right now, I'm catching up on the computer while DH sits in his chair with Polly zonked out on his lap. It has been a lazy-ish day and I'm enjoying it.

We went to church virtually this morning. This afternoon, I put on a load of laundry and later I'll put up some groceries in the pantry up on the top shelf where I need to take things off the shelf so I can put other stuff behind that stuff. Other than that, I hope to get some writing done.

Paula - Yeah, we've had these conversations for a while. We have long-term care insurance, which we haven't used yet, but it required some conversations when the federal government opened for new sign-ups almost 10 years ago. Since you never knew if/when they would do it again, we signed up, but it sparked conversations. That's interesting about the family support keeping them in their apartment longer.

Anita - Congrats on getting so much done. I'm somewhat jealous! I'm leaving the Christmas cards and newsletter until DH feels up to working on them. I'm hoping he'll feel more like it when things have calmed down some ... like next year. It sounds like you are going to have a great location to get back into biking.

[Paula]

Good evening. Was raining on and off all day - YAY - snowing in the Sierra too so double YAY. But it meant no neighborhood walk with DH. Instead I did two Pahla B Body Shaping workouts which helped me catch up with the ones I missed when I wasn't feeling well. I did Day 11 - Moderate weights and Day 12 Standing Abs and followed those Tamilee Sitting Stretch.

Grocery day today so Trader Joes then Ralphs and food prep. Apples were on sale so we made a big pot of applesauce. Made two loaves of bran bread too.

Anita, thanks for getting us started and Laura, thanks for another good uplifting theme.
Pat yourself on the back for getting the projects from last week completed, good feeling I'm sure. I got the last three Christmas cards done - I was waiting on addresses. I hadn't noticed about BMI but it makes sense as height is part of the calculation. I'm sure you're right, once you're in a unit with no stairs and no yard work you should be able to remain independent much longer than otherwise. Having parks nearby for recreation and no mowing or shoveling should be really nice as I know you love being outdoors.

Laura, sounds like a pleasant day at your house. Sometimes cold days make one slow down and enjoy just being at home. We did a load of laundry today too or I should say DH did - he took care of that because I was busy in the kitchen. We got long term care insurance years ago when it was offered through CalPers. Now we're hearing the company is going bankrupt - rates have risen steadily and still they can't keep up with the expenses. There's a law suit going on so we may get some of the money we've paid in premiums back before everything goes bust. We had a lot of discussions on that before we got it too. Not sure we'll get another policy when this business resolves.

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

Lots of little trips today - I'll be stopping by a friend's house to give her a birthday card today for her 80th birthday, then on my way to my eye pre-op appointment. I'll stop by the appliance parts store to give back the dishwasher part that doesn't work on my machine (and hope the one I ordered gets here soon!). I'll also stop by the grocery store and pick up some things. Hopefully I'll get a walk in there also! I've got a game of Spades this evening.

Laura, somehow I always smile at news of a zonked out Polly . I've got LTC insurance also - somewhat cheap program that just gives me $100/day for health expenses - figure that's enough for my finances and hope that it would not be needed. They (CNA) seem to be having some financial difficulties also and my rates keep going up with age. I got the insurance when I started working at 3M as I don't have any helpers in my region if I were to get injured and circus wasn't exactly a risk-free activity. I'm hoping the biking works out for me - I got rid of my fancy road bike and just have a big comfy bike now - I'm hoping my knee and hip can pedal it just fine.

Paula, glad you got some rain without too many problems - saw some landslides on TV . I'm thinking about whether to stop by TJ's after my eye exam, but frankly have a lot of that stuff already in my freezer. I'm hoping the co-op's environment near the parks will satisfy my missing gardening - they plant lots of lovely wildflowers around the ponds and I'm sure the deer eat well on the plants there.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

HEADLINE FROM NORTH CAROLINA: THE CAME OUT! I didn't believe that it still existed.

It was a busy-ish day. I went to the YMCA this morning and Dad pulled in next to me, so we had the time together. We walked the track and then went to the strength section with all the new machines. He actually wanted to exercise on the seated elliptical, but someone was on it. I really liked the new machines. They were obviously at least a couple of generations newer than the ones we had before and seemed really nice. Halfway through using them, I noticed the guy on the seated elliptical was finishing, so I alerted Dad and he switched over.

This afternoon, I took DH to his annual cardiologist appointment. Before we left, DH asked me what he needed to tell the doctor and I said, "You're doing fine heart-wise?" It was nice for DH to have a doctor's appointment and not have a long list of concerns. Later, we had haircuts (and mine feels really good).

Anita - Will you take any plants with you to your new home? It will be a major change to not garden. I'd think some of that would be good (not having to) and some not so good (not having the opportunity when you want to). Those parks sound like they will be a major bonus to where the co-op is located.

Paula - I'm sorry about the company your long-term care health insurance. What a blow after all those premiums. It's good you were able to do two sessions and feel like you're catching up some. It felt good to go to the YMCA this morning after last week's lull.

[Paula]

Good evening. Workout this morning was Pahla B Body Shaping Day 13 Cardio Toning, I followed that with Travis Eliot Yin Yoga Paradise.

It rained again today. DH went to the hangar to putter on the plane and I stayed home and worked on my latest quilt. Got all the quilting done now all that's left is to hand stitch down the binding and it's done - yay.

Anita, I hope the correct part for your dishwasher comes in soon. I too always smile when I read about a zonked out Polly. Our area rarely has mud slides or land slide problems those are in the hilly areas. The only problem we've had here is a couple times wild fires have come close. We've never had to evacuate for one but came close once. I think you're going to love living close to those parks, nice for walking and biking. You are going to keep a few orchids I hope. Oh, I checked out the Yoga Instructor on You Tube that Vantreestra likes - Sarah Starr, she has a lot of short, gentle chair yoga practices - you may want to check those out, I know you like chair yoga.

Laura, Yay for sunshine. My family must be feeling enclosed as everyone was texting (we do that alot on weekends) with pictures of the Xmas cookies they were baking. Even the kids were up to their elbows in cookie dough. Gosh I miss being them, I'd love to be the taste tester. I always smile when you talk about working out with your Dad, that and picturing street cat Polly zonked out on your DH's lap. A fresh haircut is such a good feeling isn't it.

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

Planning on prepping for several days of winter storm weather starting today - this is supposed to go hard till Thursday, but still ongoing through Saturday... My brother and his wife were going to come up on Thursday, but I'll be asking them if it's still on. Otherwise, I've got a pretty quiet day ahead. I saw my dishwasher part will be arriving by Wednesday night!

Laura, I just love hearing about you exercising with your dad . I'm planning on taking my houseplants with me to the co-op - right now I'm down to five of those (from about 12), but the jade plant I have will be hard to move (very delicate). I still have 6 orchids (down from 14) that I will likely get rid of next summer along with the fancy light I use with them. I'm predominantly on the north side of the building so the amount of light coming in will be low. I'm hoping to use my sunroom/dining room for the plants as that room will have some east/west sun exposure. I've got two orchids I'm still debating about whether to get rid of or not...

Paula, I returned the wrong part to the store and got 100% of my money back on the part minus the shipping costs - this is fine as the store had signs all over that they only redeem 80% of the sale on a return. My new part should be coming Wednesday night - yay! I'll have to check out that chair yoga instructor - we're not having classes until mid-January.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

We didn't have any appointments on the calendar for today and we got a LOT done around the house. We changed the sheets on the bed and did a load of laundry. I did a pick-up at Walmart and cooked Trader Joe's turkey burgers for DH for dinner. We changed Polly's litter box and I vacuumed her room. We planned the dates for our Christmas travel and I started getting out some of the food we'll take and DH planned his PT appointments so we could leave next Tuesday rather than Thursday (yay!). All that's left is handwashing the dirty dishes that don't go in the dishwasher.

We had the second day in a row with . It was chilly, but pure sunshine. Man, we deserved it!

Anita - Congrats on getting the return done and getting the right dishwasher part before the storm. We're supposed to have a storm tomorrow evening and through Thursday, but it's supposed to be rain. The people across the street keep acting like it's so cold, but they are from southern California. Their blood isn't too thick. I just don't say anything...

Paula - Yes, a fresh haircut is wonderful. I can see why your family has been baking so much. Last week was not horrible, but just kind of miserable all week. Congrats on another quilt almost done!

[Paula]

Good evening. Workout this morning was Pahla B Body Shaping Day 15 Push (strength) followed by Karen Voight's Yoga Stretch (a DVD's that I dearly love). Day 15 is the hardest day in the entire 28 day series, I'm always tempted to replace it with something easier. I have resisted that urge so far and I'm always proud of myself when I finish it. I do need the lengthier stretch afterward (25 minues) or I'm sore the next day.

Cold (for us) but sunny so we went flying. I always love flying when there's fresh snow on the mountains - so beautiful.

Anita, hope you're all preparded for the upcoming storm. Do you often lose power during these winter storms. I hope your brother and his wife can still come. How nice the store refunded your money minue the shipping. Glad you'll be able to take some of your houseplants with you when you move.

Laura, a day when you get alot done always feels good. Yay on sunny weather - it just lifts your spirits, doesn't it. I understand your neighbors (the ones from SoCal) DH and I are so spoiled when it comes to weather. The should adjust at some point.