Weekly Chat Thread February 14th - 20th

[staytuned]

Good morning and Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Even if you don't celebrate, there's 1/2 price chocolate and candy to look forward to.  Another taste of spring in the 50s mid-week before plunging back in the 20s.   Hope everyone has a safe, healthy and warm week!

[kritter]

[Shirley U Geste]

Happy Meowentines!  

 

 

[val2525]

[staytuned]

Well, it only took 2 1/2 MONTHS since the apartment manager told me trees would be cut back "any day now", but guys finally showed up today and have been cutting branches and limbs all over. Hopefully, that will solve our tree rat problem and we can enjoy our balcony again, be able to put up lights without worrying about wiring chewed through and coming home from vacation finding a tree rat nest nest on it again. It's only taken over 12 YEARS since the tree rat invasion started so this is a day to celebrate with an adult beverage or few.

[jesmelric]

Hello everybody Hope it was a nice Valentine's day. DH grilled burgers and they were so good! And I made home made fries in the air fryer so it was a compromise and we both had to cook a little lol. And I made a pecan pie for dessert so we had a nice evening together.

It's warming up nicely here and will be about 70 today which is really nice. We are in the middle of Feb so typically we're past the coldest weather by now. I need to do some yard work, I'm really hoping for a nice Saturday to get it done.

We went to see mom yesterday, my sister's schedule is changed so Monday is our new day. She's really anxious to move rooms, in addition to the singing lady and bathroom man, one of her roommates (that seems to have pretty advanced dementia) has decided to start turning on all the lights at 2 am to get dressed and and also that everyone's belongings are hers. And now that mom knows she has an opportunity to go to the side where the residents have better mental capacity she's really ready to do it. So my sister talked to someone yesterday, she was very stern that mom hadn't been moved yet and that no one had returned her calls. He apologized and said he'd take care if it personally, and my sister should expect a call by tomorrow evening. I sure hope so, I think it will really improve mom's quality of life. Mom's 83rd birthday is coming up here at the beginning of March, we will have her here for a birthday meal.

Well I just wanted to share with you guys that I've had some improvement with the parosmia! I am a member of a support group on FB and I kept seeing all these people talking about this weird thing where you put red lights up your nose and that it was really helping. So I decided to give it a try, it's called red light therapy and apparently it's been used for years for various applications. I found the nasal one on ebay for $10.99 and it came yesterday. You use it for 15 minutes 2X a day so I've done it 3X so far and I have noticed less distortion with certain smells (lotion, deodorant, and the like) and the taste in my mouth seems a bit less intense. I sure am hoping for "complete" recovery but at this point I'll take any bit I can get!! I am 11 months with this cr*p. 

[denise15601]

Such good news all around! But a red light??? Amazing! Do you have any idea why it works? A red light for Valentine's day, I guess.

[jesmelric]

Feb 15, 2022 19:37:14 GMT denise15601 said:

Such good news all around! But a red light??? Amazing! Do you have any idea why it works? A red light for Valentine's day, I guess.

Lol, it lights up your nostrils and I had a red nose for Valentine's day It's supposed to help with inflammation. Apparently red light therapy has been around a while. When I had Covid it was like a bad head cold, I never got a fever or a cough or anything. And from what I've researched they say that's good, your body fought it off in the nasal cavity so it didn't get into your chest or anything. However that seems to cause more damage to the neurons in your nasal cavity and that's why they think people with milder cases are more likely to lose taste and smell and then I guess be more vulnerable to the parosmia. And I think there's inflammation in there still? I read somewhere it can last for 2 years  . I'm 11 months in and even though it's not a severe as many others, I sure want it gone! 

[denise15601]

Feb 15, 2022 19:46:07 GMT jesmelric said:

Feb 15, 2022 19:37:14 GMT denise15601 said:

Such good news all around! But a red light??? Amazing! Do you have any idea why it works? A red light for Valentine's day, I guess.

Lol, it lights up your nostrils and I had a red nose for Valentine's day It's supposed to help with inflammation. Apparently red light therapy has been around a while. When I had Covid it was like a bad head cold, I never got a fever or a cough or anything. And from what I've researched they say that's good, your body fought it off in the nasal cavity so it didn't get into your chest or anything. However that seems to cause more damage to the neurons in your nasal cavity and that's why they think people with milder cases are more likely to lose taste and smell and then I guess be more vulnerable to the parosmia. And I think there's inflammation in there still? I read somewhere it can last for 2 years  . I'm 11 months in and even though it's not a severe as many others, I sure want it gone! 

That reminds me of my last chemo that thinned the nasal passages.  Thus the capillaries were too close to the surface and I had constant nose bleeds.  I finally read on a support group to use Afrin on a Q-Tip to swab inside my nose which makes sense.  Afrin causes a constriction, thus curbing the bleeding.  I don't suppose that Afrin would help???  But we don't want to start a fire inside your nose with the red light. 

[labbypaws]

My brother was supposed to get out of the hospital today but Humana hasn’t approved one of his meds yet.

[staytuned]

Feb 16, 2022 1:27:52 GMT labbypaws said:

My brother was supposed to get out of the hospital today but Humana hasn’t approved one of his meds yet.

I was hoping you'd check in and give us an update. I take it going home means he's doing a lot better?

[labbypaws]

Feb 16, 2022 2:18:16 GMT staytuned said:

Feb 16, 2022 1:27:52 GMT labbypaws said:

My brother was supposed to get out of the hospital today but Humana hasn’t approved one of his meds yet.

I was hoping you'd check in and give us an update. I take it going home means he's doing a lot better?

Yes.  C-diff is gone but he still needs to finish the antibiotics.  The cash cost of it is $4000 so he has to await approval.  I saw him Saturday.  The only thing he is (for some reason) worried about is the 4 steps at home.  I told him they will teach him to go up sideways holding the rail.  PT or OT is supposed to stop by the house and help him.

[jesmelric]

Feb 16, 2022 3:30:56 GMT labbypaws said:

Feb 16, 2022 2:18:16 GMT staytuned said:

I was hoping you'd check in and give us an update. I take it going home means he's doing a lot better?

Yes.  C-diff is gone but he still needs to finish the antibiotics.  The cash cost of it is $4000 so he has to await approval.  I saw him Saturday.  The only thing he is (for some reason) worried about is the 4 steps at home.  I told him they will teach him to go up sideways holding the rail.  PT or OT is supposed to stop by the house and help him.

So glad he is doing better. When mom broke her hip OT came over several times and showed her how to do all kinds of stuff while using the walker, it was super helpful. Hopefully they can get him situated so he is comfortable going up and down.

We are warm and windy today, in the 70s. It was in the low 60s this morning and I have to say it was nice not to have to layer up, although I know the hot weather is looming. When I was walking Janey yesterday I was waiting for a car to pull out from a driveway and took off my glove to give Janey a treat for not reacting to another dog when a jogger snuck up behind us with two large dobermans and Janey took off like a shot, I was barely able to grab her leash fully and she knocked me into a tree I jammed my middle finger pretty hard and lost some hide. So I can't say I'll miss wearing gloves, it makes walking her harder. She's doing better about not reacting to other dogs but when dogs are running, especially large dogs, and then two dogs, she just reacts and there's nothing else for it.

We are expecting a front tomorrow but it looks like it will be a nice weekend. We are going to the Goodwill Sunday so it will be nice if we can take the Falcon.

[labbypaws]

He got out this afternoon. A therapist came and he walked up and down a hospital flight of steps so he is happy. I called him a bit ago and he is doing great. He just didn’t realize how swollen his belly was til he put on his jeans. I told him to order some sweats from Kohls or have his wife check the clearance racks.

[blissfullymiserable]

Glad to hear Labby! Fingers crossed the belly bloat subsides.

[chapeaunoir]

I love reading all of this good news! 

jesmelric - red light therapy is used for skin conditions, too - I have a red light mask (also blue and green) to try to improve my acne scarring. It takes a while, but I've read good things about it. 

Also I flinched when I read about Janey running you into the tree reacting to the other dogs - almost a month ago Dickens, the dog I run with, ran between my legs chasing another dog - I was just sacked and landed on my right knee - it's STILL a bit sore if I kneel on it.  

We just exchanged cards for Valentine's day - I think having a nice supper at home is best - restaurants are always crazy busy on that day. At OTF we had 'singles day' for that day (something our local gym did) with a lot of single arm/single leg stability weight training. 

[blissfullymiserable]

Cliff offered up our bar on Monday night but I had plans to get together with BFF last night so I declined plus we had that big dinner Saturday night and I'm trying really hard to watch calories. There was no calorie counting last night though. We ordered 3 different sushi rolls to share and I had three cocktails. Neither of us detected a hint of alcohol in any of them though, probably because it was ladies night and drinks were half off. They still tasted great. Nothing like a fun night out with a friend you've known since the 1st grade

Cliff has arranged his first big purchase post house pay off. A new A/C... he chose a Bosch with an Ecobee t-stat. They gave him a good deal and there's some rebates which is why he sprung for it. It's not as simple as most installations because he currently has a ground unit but this one is going on the roof and there's an air handler in the attic that they will be removing. Oh they're also removing a swamp cooler that is hanging on the side of the house. It's all being done this coming Tuesday. 

[labbypaws]

The programmable thermostats are great. We have a NEST and have noticed a significant difference in our oil and electric bills.

[blissfullymiserable]

Definitely. New windows would help a lot too. That's high on his list. His have never been replaced and the house was built in the 80's

[staytuned]

labbypaws- I'm happy your brother's doing so much better. Another choice for bottoms are scrub pants that are lightweight, loose fitting and tie front would allow more choice of snugness.

[chapeaunoir]

I see it's 'cafe au lait' day - or latte day.  I just looked into my latte and noticed the ying and the yang. I don't have the right steam wand nozzle to do really good microfoam to get that silky looking latte art. 



We're finally having our 'February break' - saw sun yesterday and had a sunny weekend (which had everyone downing tools and going up to the mountains and out to the parks), and though it's cloudy today, it is not raining so we'll have a break before the rains return, with possible snow on Monday. 

[val2525]

I've never liked the rooftop A/C units. Personally, I think they're ugly and ruin the design lines of the house.

But a new AC is a good thing no matter where it goes

[staytuned]

I don't know how rooftop A/C units work on homes, but I do know whenever we've stayed at a hotel/motel on top floor or close to A/C unit, you can hear it. At least on the ground it tends to muffle the sound so you don't hear it inside.

It rained most of the day today which was good in melting off all but the piled up stuff from the plows. The downside, of course, is risk of flooding. The creek on the other side of MIL's road was already at the brink when DH stopped over after work so it will probably flood the road into the yard. Temps dropped from 50s to 20s through the day, rain turned into freezing rain which, thankfully, was short lived before turning into snow which is coming down pretty good as I type. Supposed to get 2-3" into tomorrow morning. Another few days in the cold before another few days of warmer temps again.

I'm still automatically looking at the balcony any time I walk into the living room and so far, not a tree rat in sight. We will hopefully be long gone from here before the branches grow out for the invasion to start all over again.

[val2525]

Simon was getting all the photo attention lately so I thought it was time to snap a cute pic of Trixie.  She apparently agreed with me as she didn't run off and actually stayed posed while I took the pic

[staytuned]

I'd almost forgotten what Trixie looked like, it's been so long. She's so adorable she really needs to pose more often. Tell her "thank you" for me.

[chapeaunoir]

The front paws!!!!!!!!!!!

[denise15601]

It was horribly windy last night and TG my power is still on. A lot of places are without power.
My front yard has tons of pine branches scattered all over.

But the miracle is that one of my big veggie planters on my back porch rail, which is filled with potting soil...blew off the railing and landed right side up!

[labbypaws]

We have trash, branches and recycling matter in our yard. We have no trees.

People need to put bungee cords on their trash cans.

Wind was howling and rain was going sideways.

It is still windy but not as bad.

[staytuned]

Transition from rain to snow was relatively quick so we only got a coating of ice which is still visible on the branches outside. We did get around 3" of snow and getting off and on flurries. DH said roads weren't plowed or treated at all this morning so it took him twice as long to get to work. Must have been bad because our schools, which are usually the last to close in any weather, are closed today. I'm thankful power has stayed on and I don't have to go anywhere. Spending the day going through more stuff to get rid of. Not that easy convincing myself if I probably won't read it, wear it or use it to get rid of it, but slow progress is better than no progress at all.

[val2525]

I was going to "leave" work early but I'm waiting on one client to give me her hours for payroll so I can run it today. Normally it's due next Monday, but that's a federal holiday so her direct deposit would be delayed until Thursday (normally paid on Wednesdays). I sent her two messages, one earlier this week and a reminder today. Plus I just left her a voicemail. If she doesn't respond in the next half hour, I'm running the payroll for the other employee and this slow one can just get paid late Fortunately it's a small check, usually just 5-10 hrs, and she also has a full time job and a DH income so if it's late, it's not a big deal.

Sunny and 60 here today. We're supposed to hi 83 on Monday and 85 on Tuesday (ugh to both) and then a cold front comes in and we're more seasonable for the rest of the week.