Posts by barbarriba

Bear - thanks for the note. My mother-in-law is also bi-polar. I don't know if the medication she's been on for years had any affect on the dementia. She has been telling some fantastic stories too. One of her granddaughters lives with her and puts up with a lot. MIL sometimes tells people there are all these strangers in the house. I'm sure it's hard for my niece to feel she's in that category. That's wonderful that your father survived such a hard time and still is enjoying his life. Bless him!

Helene - I read most of your post to my MIL. Such beautiful descriptions of the beauty of life. She enjoyed it. She was sitting in my livingroom looking out at all the spring blossoms while I read to her. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Thank you to Chris and all the rest of you lovely friends for your kind words.

I haven't been logging in my food and exercise lately. But was pleased this morning when I weighed that I was still the same. Maybe I'm kind of getting my body to be comfortable at my goal weight. Hurray! Barb

Bonton, I've been thinking of you and your sister. It's so consuming when a loved one is ill. My son was in the hospital last week. He has ulcerative colitis. He had to have three blood transfusions. But he's home now after a week in hospital. Doing much better. This has been a very tough year. I hardly talk about it because I'm too worried. My daughter in law told me this evening that he told her he felt the best now than he's felt in ages. Such a relief. I sure agree that the grandchildren can sure make for a bright spot in our lives. I was with both my grandchildren today, the cousins, a boy and a girl. It's so much fun to see how a five year old relates to his one year old little cousin. He asks so many questions about her. Puzzling over her being so new at everything. It was so sweet this evening when our grandson heard grandpa drive into the garage--the sound of the garage door always gives him away--grandson spoke up quickly about grandpa, "I love him so much!" We get embarrassed to say things like that as we get older. The tender feelings we have stay below the surface. But when a loved one is in danger due to a health problem, the feelings just press outward urgently from our core.

If you're going for Spanish heart throbs starting with B, how about Javier Bardem. I love the quirky films of Pedro Almodovar. There's an old '92 film by him called Jamon, Jamon (Ham, Ham). It's got Penelope Cruz in it too. Javier does a little bullfighting in the nude. Hilarious!

Beb-Don't know if you got me and Ohio mixed together. I've been wondering. Anyone else notice their skin improving after losing some weight. When I saw my doctor last year, before I joined CC, I mentioned to her that I had quite a few of those pesky skin tags--those little mole-like growths--in places. Now after losing some weight they're almost all gone or have shrunk to the point they're not noticeable. That's a real plus! Barb

I agree! You know every time any of you gives me a word of encouragement it almost brings tears to my eyes. Strike the "almost." I don't know why I'm so emotional. I'm long past menopause! You're in our embrace Snow!

Beb caught me that I don't have the correct birthday listed in my profile. Paranoid, I guess. My birthday is tomorrow, March 7th (not 17th). Good eye Beb! My mom and my husband and I are going over to the desert tomorrow to look at the wildflowers. That was my choice. I guess there will be a crowd since I even heard about the fantastic wildflowers on National Public Radio yesterday. We're still having a drought here. But the timing of the few rains have brought on a slew of flowers in our Anza-Borrego State Park. I love the desert. We lived in a little town in the desert of Arizona when I was a little girl. My father was recovering from a horrible car accident. He'd been paralyzed for 6 months and the doctor prescribed living in the desert. My parents bought a Union 76 gas station. My dad ended up working so hard to keep the station afloat it almost killed both my parents. Their contract required they keep the station open 24 hours a day. But there wasn't enough money coming in to pay help. But I was only 6 years old and loved exploring the desert right outside our yard. Kids are so close to the ground they see the all the little details of those belly flowers--the ones you have to lie on your belly to see!

See now I'm talking and I won't shut up!

One of the reasons I have trouble reporting what's going on is because I'm afraid once I got started it would be a flood. My mom lives with us and has quite a few health problems that I'd rather not dwell on. Plus, my mother-in-law is developing significant dementia. So, lots of doctor's appointments there too. I'm the family dogsbody, either taking care of the seniors or the grandchildren. But if it weren't for the grandchildren, I'd be depressed! I belong to a book group that meets once a month. We're all about the same age. I mentioned the dementia problem and practically everyone in the group had something to say about similar issues they're facing with their parents. Makes me more determined than ever to try to take care of my own health--at least what I have control over. On the weight battlefront, I seem to be winning right now--and that's a good feeling.

Quite a few of us have the problem of "it's all or nothing." Once we fall off the deep end discouragement sets in. You're doing the right thing: sending out an SOS. It reminds me of swimming in the ocean. Sometimes a wave grabs you and tumbles you around, slamming you against the bottom. You feel powerless beneath the force of it. But it will pass. You'll come up for air and see clearly again from the surface. Just hang in there!

Mix the yogurt with a little juice and pour into an ice cube tray. Then, after it's frozen, pop the cubes into a blender. Makes a yogurt slushee. If you re-freeze the slushee, you get closer to the texture you want. You're trying to add air to the mix. I like to freeze juice in ice cube trays, and then just blend with the nonfat yogurt and fruit for a smoothee. Just watch serving size. It's still got calories in it even if it is nonfat yogurt and unsweetened juice and fruit.

As a southern California, I've eaten plenty of avocado in my life. One of the easiest and most simple ways to eat is as a breakfast food. Just slice onto toast and top with a little salt and pepper. I prefer it on extra-sour rye toast and add a little sprinkle of herbe de provence seasoning. My mother, who is 86 years old, beams with delight when I serve her this for breakfast.

I also love avocado in fruit salad. Adds a savory creaminess. A delicious salad can be made with tart orange slices, red onion slivers, and chunks of avocado with a sweet-sour vinaigrette and course pepper.

Avocado makes such a wonderful addition to sandwiches.  No need for any mayonnaise or butter on the bread with creamy avocado.

My family members also just slice an avocado in half and fill the depression where the seed was with a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Then just eat with a spoon, using the skin as a bowl.

I've heard that there are businesses here in California that specialize in ripening avocados for restaurants so that they're delivered at the peak of perfection. If I have too many at one time (my sister has a big tree) I keep some in the refrigerator and bring a few out at a time to ripen. I agree with gi-jane that the thick skinned Hass has a nuttier flavor that I like. Some prefer the milder, smooth Fuerte. The Hass are a little tricky to test for ripeness. Takes some practice to not to let the fruit get too ripe before eating.

I'm getting close to 60. This is the best time of my life. The self-consciousness of youth has evaporated. I have no desire to be younger. And I adore watching my grandchildren grow. Glad I'm healthy to enjoy participating in their lives. Try to enjoy each age as it comes.

One of the wonderful things I've seen happen since communication started on the Internet is that people feel less self-conscious about expressing themselves in writing. When we sent letters by post to each other, I think a lot of people held back, afraid that others were waiting to pounce on their writing skills. Standard spelling has a rather short history. You will find many different ways of spelling things if you read the manuscripts of the educated people of the past. But thanks for starting this discussion. Since we all use the word "lose" so much, the error with "loose" seemed to be like a virus. I sometimes see "wait" for "weight" too. I'd never want to stifle our free flow of communication though.

That's great that your mom is stepping in to give you a hand. I'm a grandma too. My grandson who is almost 5 now had very similar problems. It was funny at when he slept here at our house or at his other grandparents he would often sleep through the night but not at home. Kids are masters at pushing their parents buttons. Grandparenthood is a lot more fun! Everyone has given you very good suggestions. My only advice is to let you know that it will pass and become a dim memory. Just hang in there. I worked nights when I was younger and took care of my kids during the day. I became a crabby zombie. But we all survived. Now I'm a happy grandparent.

L  must be for lavender. I love an herbes de provence seasoning that has lavender in it. A little sprinkle on a salad with olive oil and lemon juice is so light and tasty. Great on broiled chicken too.  Beth, I agree with you about buying cheap jeans. I usually buy Levis on sale for less than $30. But one pair of NYDJ are my splurge. I save them for dressy casual occasions where I'm around the people from my husband's work at parties. He works in the hotel business and the women--and the men--really spend the money on clothes. Since I'm a fulltime grandma and hangout with kids or my mom and mother-in-law all the time, I'm most days in old jeans and t-shirts. After working for 9 months to get into a much smaller size, the more expensive jeans show it off a bit more. I buy clothes so infrequently that when I do my husband really encourages me. I think he enjoys seeing me in something besides my grubbies. Anyway, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

Glad your mother is making a quick recovery Phox! The health problems of a loved one can really turn the world upside down quick. My mom lives with me and at 86 she's been through a lot. Exercise routines go out the window when you're in a crisis.

It's great to use yogurt in cooking. But if you heat it much you do lose the probiotic benefit. I've always loved plain yogurt because my mother used it as baby food for me way back in the 50s. It's a wonderful food. Nowadays, our food processors add so much sugar to everything that we think sweet is the way things should taste. It takes some withdrawal pains to lay off the stuff.