Optimistic October - AF

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

What a great way to start the month - AF and going strong. With each day that goes by I feel more and more committed and as if AF is normal. The feelings of joy, peace, health and ability to manage challenges that come makes my life so much easier.

Lav, it is colder here too, definitely not short weather. You know your family, if your son will call when ready, you have to wait it out, I guess. What are the plans for this weekend? It is cold and rainy here, chili for dinner tonight!

Pauly, we are here for your if you need us.

Dill, it seems like fall came overnight, I have to get out my warmer clothes today, shorts and sleeveless tops will be no good for me.

Cyn, I miss the deer we used to have in our back yard, they are so beautiful. Lots of geese flying around, they are lovely to see too, in their formations, always backing each other up.

Not sure what I am going to do on this Saturday, lots of options.

Have a good one.

[dill]

October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again. ~Hal Borland

Thanks Star, for the kick off to the beautiful month of October. It feels so cool and crisp this morning that it gives one an innate sense of hopefulness. Something we can all use about now.

Pauly, Lav, Cyn, greetings and happy, hopeful AF Saturday!

[paulywogg]

Happy October friends,only thing that I have planned today is a quick shift at work went to hubs' company's bbq last night which was a huge trade show for plumbing companies,we had tickets for Kell and Louie but just ended up using them for Brady's two friends, it was outdoors at this place called Opportunity Village that has a little train, merry go round, etc lots of lights cuz they usually have a huge Christmas display, Lou would have loved it, dang! Lots of chicken and ribs,soda,beer/wine but looking around I saw most of the men drinking sodas, that was pretty cool, the only bad thing I did was have a diet Dr.pepper too late for me haha,anyway, hello to Lav,Dill Star and Cyn hope everyone has a nice AF Saturday

[treegirl]

Hi all -

Raced around this morning getting things ready for HB and SD -- but she ended up having a $$$$ brake job on her car and can't travel, so things are much calmer now! (After HB and I moved a mattress up a flight of stairs into her guest room for her, ah well!)

I wish all a happy AF Saturday -- I love "Optimistic" for this month, by the way...

[Lavande]

Good evening friends & happy October to all

Well, the rain is hanging around after all, oh well. I guess they stop fearing a possible drought now.

Thanks for using the 'optimistic' suggestion Star. I think we all need a fair dose of that right now.
No progress on the family drama today. But my daughter & her family came out today which was nice. SIL helped YB move a huge & heavy potting bench into the greenhouse. It's been sitting in my garage since we moved here 13 years ago. YB had built it for the greenhouse at our last house & we moved it here hoping to build a new greenhouse for it some day. It was so nice to see my granddaughter after 3 weeks, she's happy & matured quite a bit. I made a pot of meatball vegetable soup & warmed up a couple loaves of pepperoni bread I had stashed in the freezer - yum. Good meal for a cool rainy day/

Dill, thanks for the quote & yes we all need to feel hopeful right about now!

Pauly, sounds like you had a good distraction with the BBQ, great!
I hope your day went well today.

Cyn, sorry you labored so hard to prepare for SD's visit & plans changed. Sounds like something I would go through, ha ha!

Wishing everyone a peaceful night!

Lav

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Cyn, glad you like the optimistic theme, Lav suggested it and I loved the idea. Always busy when guests are staying. No plans this weekend, just relaxing and getting things done for the week. Watching football this afternoon I am sure.

Lav, great your daughter came over, sounds like a fun evening. I wish you could take a picture of the greenhouse, I would love to see it. Detaching yourself from the other situation is all you can do, I am currently detaching in another family situation with my son, who is a serial complainer and whiner. Love him dearly and need to take care of myself. A question on the food front: any websites or info on nutrition and arthritis? I am experiencing some swollen fingers with the weather changing and wanted some ideas. Thanks.

Pauly, most people don't drink much, an amazing discovery for moi! When ever I go out now, I look around and see that my way of drinking was sick, sick, sick. Most people have soda, tea, water, maybe a drink or two. So proud of you sticking to your commitment with all that is going on in your world right now. Sounded like a fun time.

Dill, lovely quote, I do have a sense of hopefulness. I am working now after 42 days AF on limiting my food intake. Next, getting to a comfortable weight, having patience, and realizing it may take some time. The journey, not the end, is what I have to focus on. How are you doing, any special plans this week? We have grandparent's day to look forward to on Friday, and I am looking forward to it. I am also going to dig out more boots and cooler weather stuff. I wonder if that big hurricane off the Atlantic coast will affect our weather. You never know.

Have a lovely AF Sunday!

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, we were optimistic last year too haha,last Oct was a rough one for me but the positive side of it was that I had my quit Oct24 that lasted for almost 5 months so this month has a special meaning to me gonna get groceries out of the way and probably take Kell and Louie to Boulder city cuz they're having art in the park, little booths of people's artwork and homemade crafts and FOOD booths!! I love stuff like that and hopefully I can find some nice lotion or something, plus it's a nice distraction for all of us,shoot I was looking at my blood work and I totally didn't notice that my LDL cholesterol is a bit high,it was flagged and I didn't even notice, meh,I wonder if it was all that coconut oil I was taking in my coffee, got to talk to the naturopathic about it, Lav glad you had a nice visit with your family, Star,I too need to watch what I'm eating better I'm tired of feeling sluggish, hello Cyn and Dill(final FTWD tonight!) Hope we all have a great AF Sunday

[treegirl]

Happy Sunday all -

Dill - I meant to say thanks also for the quote. Right now is a good time to be focusing on the 'enduring constellations above'... Looking down on us from above, seeing our human foibles, but also supporting our good endeavors. Wishing you peace today.

Pauly - your plan today sounds great, going to Boulder City. You really have been such a sweet support to Kell and Louie - I'm sure it is really appreciated!!

Lav - really 3 weeks since you saw your granddaughter? I bet she was super-excited to see you! Isn't it amazing when things that have been 'out of place' for a decade or more get moved to their new 'home'? I think that a change of energy, even when it's re-arranging things, is such a healthy thing. Hope the greenhouse comes along well, and that YB uses it! (I keep visualizing a 'breakthrough'...)

Star - good luck with your hands, so sorry that they are swollen, that must be hard. Have you kept a food diary? I know that gluten and sugar are big culprits for my arthritis pain, but I don't usually have swelling. Good luck finding answers.

Wishing all a cozy Sunday, AF of course...

[Lavande]

Good evening friends,

The sun came out an hour before sunset, ha ha! I won't complain but it has been dark & damp for several days.
I am going to keep an eye on Hurricane Matthew (named after my son for good reason). It very well could be giving us problems in a week or so, ugh.

Star, my fingers started swelling in high school, honestly. My mother, who was a nurse told me I was consuming too much salt so I tried to cut back. What I didn't realize at the time was that my whacky hormones were also contributing to the problem. It wasn't until 100 years later that I finally got all that under control. Salt & hormones..... difficult to manage.
But like cyn said, sugar & gluten are both extremely inflammatory so cutting back on those as well helps a lot.
Osteoarthritis doesn't cause swelling in the hands but RA does (in the feet & knees & elbows as well). My mom ended up with joint effusions due to RA - terrible.
I had myself tested in my mid 30's after she passed away to see if I had a positive Rheumatoid factor but I did not. It just took forever to figure out what was giving me so much grief.
So, the bottom line is we have to get our hormones squared away, reduce sugar & salt intake & reduce gluten intake which is in practically everything processed!!!! Easy? NO!!!

Pauly, loved the pic of you & Louie on FB
some people can lower their LDL with lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, no smoking) & some of us just can't. I fall into the latter group. I gave up dairy, red meat, quit smoking, started a regular exercise program & my cholesterol remained elevated. With the family history of heart & vascular disease we have I agreed to go on a low dose statin & it did the trick.
How are you going to handle yours? Make a plan, make some changes then get it rechecked in 6 months.

Hi there cyn, are you still getting rained on too?
I've been getting pictures of the greenhouse project but can't seem to get them on my Photobucket page so I've just been posting them on FB.
Right now, with all the rain we've been getting YB is trying to figure out where the leaks are coming from, ha ha. That is keeping him busy.

I spent time today working on some craft things for the Nov 1 Curves craft week. Stitching up 4.5" lace snowflakes with different designs is time consuming but fun

Hello to Dill, hope your day was good.

Peace to all tonight!

Lav

[SnoopyC]

Good morning all...

Had a great Sunday, hard to go back to work. I could have slept in longer, but onward I go. Not much time this morning so sending strength and light, have a good one.

[dill]

Good morning everyone, sorry for my absence yesterday. I had a lot to do and caught no breaks until near sundown! LOL When I have the grandkids over I also invite their laundry. My son does some and I do some. I am pretty sure I get the lion's share but I have a large capacity washer. Well, had. It gave up the ghost yesterday in the middle of a load. I had to haul the remaining laundry plus the soaking wet load over to the laundromat. Not a great experience! We will be getting a new machine this week. Mr. D has repaired this one once before and he knows exactly what is wrong with it. He said it would cost $400 just for the parts for him to repair it so we are opting for a new machine. We had a nice visit with the grandkids tho in spite of the laundry problems.

Lav, I'd love to see your craft items. I hope you can fix your problem with photobucket and post them here. If not, let me know how to find you on FB if you post them there. I am not in the least bit active on facebook but I do have an account so I could find you.

Pauly, I'm glad to see you are getting out and enjoying different fairs and foods. Moving forward is all we can do sometimes. I also have elevated LDL but my HDL is high too so my doc is less concerned than she might have been. It's genetics, like Lav said. I recorded Fear and will be watching tonight. The last 2-3 episodes have actually been pretty good so I'm looking forward to tonight's. Did you like it? Was it good?

Cyn, I knew you would like that quote. I was delighted to find it. I have been longing to be able to see the stars and see the contours of the land, both of which are obscured by trees and bushes thru the nice warm weather. I don't wish the warmth away, but once the leaves start to fall I am at least comforted by knowing I will be able to see into the distances. It was so well said in that quote! I hope SD's car troubles are not too expensive. Bravo on moving the mattress up a flight of stairs! My mattress moving days are over I'm afraid, at age 64.

Star, I'm glad to hear you are remaining so positive and finding ways to let go in some of the family situations. Not easy, but I really work at it too. Allowing our adult children the space to be who they are and to learn their own lessons is really the loving thing to do. It's counter intuitive tho when we have so much experience and could make their way so much easier if they would just listen! Ah well. I'm all but finished with Hawaii and was wondering if you have any particular books by Michener that you would recommend. Also wondering if you ever read East of Eden. That was one of my favorites. I read it so long ago I wonder if I would enjoy reading it again now. Other favorites of mine: Atlas Shrugged and Poisonwood Bible.

I hope we all manage another beautiful AF day. What a gift!

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, you can smell fall in the air this morning Dill,Fear was ok but I hate end of season cliff hangers! When I was a teenager my mom and I were addicted to All my children and they would do that cliffhanger thing but at least I could catch up the next day,now I gotta wait months! Lav,I know that I eat too much junk,too much!! I think if I clean out the crap I should be ok,plus the darn smoking that I say I'm sick of but still do grrrr!not a lot but still too much, the art event was fun but we ate too much,oh well eating light today, pest control guy coming this afternoon so I need to pick up around here before work, hello to Star and Cyn,hope everyone has a wonderful AF Monday

[treegirl]

Morning all -

Glad to see the forward movement theme in our little home thread here! We're marching along with the seasonal changes, and appreciating the new vistas. Thanks all for your reminders.

Lav - your evening sunset just became our late-morning sun! It was wonderful to see that little light grow and grow and then burst through the clouds. The dogs are ecstatic - they love sunning on the deck more than anything! They were a little mopey this morning, as I took HB to the 6 AM train; they did not like to see his suitcase again so soon. But they're happy now that they can catch a few rays.

Dill - ughhhhh! That exact same laundry dilemma has happened to me as well! Nothing is heavier than a wet load of wash. Good luck with the new washer. I sometimes wish that I had an old-fashioned top loader... one has to be so careful of the new ones - taking the laundry out right away, running bleach through to clean them, etc. Oh well, progress, right?! And about Advice: Our family has an official moratorium on offering advice - we're all trying to train ourselves to be good listeners and not 'fixers'! It's been a learning curve for us all...

Pauly - so glad that you are sensing a weather change there -- a cool breeze once in awhile can be just a great break. Good luck with all the health and dietary stuff. It just takes time to work out, I guess.

Star - I was glad to hear that you are a little more tired than usual, too. I am really dragging these days - although I did to a big 'cook' over the weekend so that I have some nutritious food for myself for the week.

I also did a nice dinner (early holiday-Rosh Hoshana) for my husband last night. Goodness I am out of practice for putting a whole (meat and potatoes) meal on the table! Honey-cake is a traditional food for this holiday, as are apples (to represent a sweet and happy year). So I made a GF honey cake with almond meal. It uses a lot of honey - next time I will try maple syrup or brown rice syrup to see if it works. But it comes together quickly - if anyone wants a great GF dessert recipe: Gluten-Free Honey Almond Cake - Cookie and Kate. I skipped the raspberries and the pistachios and just threw in some thinly-sliced apples. Delish.

Wishing all a day with some 16-second memories, and a mindfulness moment or two --

[Lavande]

Good evening friends,

Nearly 10:30 pm - how did that happen? Busy, busy I guess!

Dill, these new fangled big appliances don't take the beatings & wear & tear like the old clunkers did, geez. I've been thru two washers just since we moved here.
Blessings on your new one
Glad you are having good quality time with the young ones.

Pauly, you mentioned pest control. Are you having your home sprayed with chemicals?? Those chemicals cause me immediate & severe headaches
I worked at a nursing home years ago that used those products & had to quit the job, ugh! I couldn't even pump gas in my car because the fumes did the same thing to me. Nowadays the gas pumps are different & you don't get those fumes in your face. I would consider chemical sensitivities with your allergies......
I read something just today about changing habits to move into a healthier lifestyle. Basically you just need to keep practicing until you finally get there

Cyn, happy new year!
I saw that recipe a day or two ago & thought it looked good - yum. Fortunately we get good local honey from our Amish friend, oh yeah!!!! Glad you & your doggies found some sun

Hey Star, hope you are well.

Wishing everyone a peaceful night!

Lav

[SnoopyC]

Good morning to all...

Great threads, can't believe how quickly times is moving right now!

Lav, have fun making your crafts, what a creative way to express yourself! Your are keeping busy and out of trouble! Good for you. Hope the family situation is cleared up soon.

Dill, never a good time for a washer to go out, yuck! We inherited an old big washer, a top loader, may it last many more years. I have to detach from my son, otherwise I get really stressed out and annoyed, despite the fact that I love him dearly. He is and always has been a conundrum to me. I just finished two volumes of Texas by Michener, then ordered Chesapeake and Alaska. I also love Space and The Drifters. So, there you go. I think you might really like Chesapeake, it has so much historical colonial info in story form, so interesting and wonderful. I love that book. Our country is so interesting, tragic, wonderful. I love good stories, including ours. I read The Poisonwood Bible and enjoyed it, what a great story. Never read Atlas Shrugged. The Michener books are so huge that while I am reading them, I am also dipping into lighter books too. Do you do that? Less time recently to read, too much time spent at work!

Cyn, how lovely to celebrate Rosh Hoshana, I work with a young women who takes the week off for that holiday with her family. The food sounds good. I have just been sleeping so soundly, having a harder time waking up in the morning, but once I am up, I am OK. I attended a formal meditation class last night, it was lovely. Started out with progressive relaxation exercise, then a guided spiritual one, I felt so relaxed after and peaceful. I am going to try and attend it when I can, it is close to my house, lucky I found it. I am actively seeking a group of people and a new friend or two outside of work. After losing my friend last year and distancing myself from another old friend (she turned nasty) I am open and willing for new relationship. Taking my time and being patient.

Grateful for being AF, let's have a wonderful day.