Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Greetings! Happy New Year to all!

Mama, I always enjoy and look forward to your posts! Enjoy your sister's party! Hopefully all the loose ends will be tied up quickly by your doctor! We hope for you to have enough as well!

Heidi, good news that your ear seems to be doing better! Continue your sleep marathon, as it's likely to help the antibiotics to do their work.

June, your day sounds wonderful, especially the reading and snoozing parts!

MizT, good luck with your bromeliad pup! Hopefully it will do as well as the fens! Sleep well!

It's time to say good night! Sending lots of healing energy, , positive thoughts, prayers, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}}!

Guess it didn't check the numbers! Here's an almost-TOPP for you:

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Happy New Year!

Another day of sleeping soundly. My body must be working hard at healing. I had to get up to feed and water critters.

So glad to hear that you're getting lots of sleep, Heidi! Feel better soon!

Prayers for all who are impacted by the fires and bad weather in Australia!

Pleased that you are getting better Heidi.
Love your almost top Julie.
Hot day so we went to the movies and saw 'St. Vincent'. A nice relaxing comedy. My sort of movie, something relaxing.

The rain has stopped, and there is a spot in the sky that is a bit brighter than the rest of the clouds. The sun is trying to break through Even this bright spot in the clouds is welcomed after all the rain and dull, grey, dark skies of late. The temps started falling in the wee hours as the storm passed, and will continue to fall all day, in fact falling most of the week. Every day the temps will be lower than the day before till Thursday. One forecast has Thursday morning low temp in the single digits, possible 5 F or -15C. Not seeing that on my favorite weather web site, hope this one is correct with 22 F or -5C as the low. That would be bad enough.

HEIDI, I do hope your infection is well on it's way to cured. Get all the critters fed, including yourself, then rest again if you can.

June, I am glad you enjoyed the movie, and the cooler temps in the theater. One nice way to get a break from the temps. How hot has it been there? any cooling forecast in your area?

I join Julie with thoughts and prayers for everyone in the fire areas. It has been hard reading about the homes lost, but so far, no loss of life, and injuries are few and minor. any injuries are too many but happy none are reported to be life threatening. I hope the cooler weather helps to get fires under control.

Julie, how is practice going? Can you tell you have not practiced as much lately? Do you loose ground in your progress if you slack off practice a bit? I hope not, and that you are enjoying time with the cello again.

I need to go to grocery today, should do it before it gets colder. Daughter #2 has not been up in a week, so no help with grocery shopping. I think she has the after Christmas Blues, and the rain grey skies has not helped that. she has promised to come tomorrow to help staff take down decorations, so maybe that and the sun that just might shine today will help get her out of the depression.

Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

Hi, Everyone!

June, what a great way to get out of the heat - go to a movie. I haven't seen anything about St. Vincent, but knowing that it's a relaxing comedy is a good recommendation.

MizT, I hope your D soon gets out of her post-Christmas depression! It's especially hard when you have been having lots of gray, rainy days! Hopefully helping with the removal of decorations and being around other will cheer her up!

The question about getting back to practicing is difficult to answer. I was very upset that I didn't have time to practice for several days! Just before the holidays, my teacher lent another cello to me, as we anticipated that the first one she lent might need to spend several days in the shop. Fortunately, that was not the case. However, that means there are 3 cellos in the house: the 7/8 size cellos I have been renting for 3 years and the two 3/4 size cellos borrowed from my teacher. Interestingly, those two cellos are not identical in size. Apparently the fractional size cellos are not at standardized as violins, which I guess makes sense, since they are a much larger instrument. In addition, I have the bow that came with the rental cello, a bow that was in the case with the second loaner from my teacher, and a bow that our D no longer uses. I'm not sure if she wants it back, but since it's here, I have been trying it out. So I'm alternating between 3 cellos (none of which are exactly the same size) and 3 bows. I had hoped that my memory of 2 movements of a sonata I'm learning would have solidified, but unfortunately, that has not happened. But I certainly have a lot of variety to practice with. I also need to find time to transcribe notes from my last lesson into something more easily read and understood. So, I really need to spend some time 'in the woodshed,' as they say.

Heidi, I hope you're feeling better today!

It's time to log off. Sending lots of healing energy, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, positive thoughts, and for each of you!

It's time to be putting away Christmas decorations!

I'm temporarily awake. I can't believe how much I'm sleeping. At least the head isn't hurting as much, even though the ear is still oozing clear yellow fluid in large amounts.

Twelfth Night is upon us Julie...hope you're getting the decorations away...I'm going to keep writing about them as my grand daughter will get to do the deed....lol.
Julie...loved reading about the variety of cellos and bows you have at the moment to practice on...must really add spice to your life...and never worry, the music will stick when you least expect it to.
Heidi, sleeping is the only way thus far that you have managed to heal, so I'm glad you are getting to do all of that sleeping...you needed it. Hope full healing sets in soon...enough is more than enough.
Tricia...sending wishes for brighter skies your way...It's been pretty cloudy and rainy here and today is really cold...seems this will be the weather all week from reports...cold, but a tad brighter from the sun. The rain has caused a return to the aches just a bit, but other wise, I've finally turned the corner health wise. Hope your aches aren't bothering you too much too.
June, you took care of the weather in the best way imaginable...a trip to the movies and see a good movie and enjoy the cool at the same time...wonderbar.
Take care all...I'm off to read and play some more...Peace.

Heidi, I hope that draining clears up soon, there is still a lot of infection there for it to be draining that much. How many days now have you had the new antibiotic?

Julie, is it harder learning on different sized instruments? Is this something like my Dad did to me when I was learning to drive? A different auto each time, even borrowing friends cars, so I would be able to drive any auto I set foot into? You would be able to play on any 3/4 sized cello put into your hands?

June, I have not heard of that movie either, but not surprised, I do not keep up with movies. It has been 15 or more years since I went to a movie theater. the seats are not comfortable, leave me achey, and I cannot hear because the background music and other noise drowns out the dialogue. I had rather see movies at home.

Mama, sorry that the weather is affecting your body. Yep, it is mine also, but I have kept going the last 2 days. Yesterday was grocery shopping, putting away and making lunch for me and Tanya. Today my sister came over, we did a LOT of getting things together for the Anniversary Party. she brought the Styrofoam I needed for the flowers in her candle holders. she cut flowers from larger stems for me, need single blooms for these smaller holders. they have magnolia blossoms, baby breath and some type of mythical gold flowers with old gold candles. I needed lots of greenery cut to act as the base, covering the foam, and she cut those for me. saved my hands a lot of grief and we got finished much faster! Then we cut the gold fabric, bells with beading and the tulle with glitter on it to make the swags that go at the windows, caught up at the edge of windows into a swag with more life sized silk magnolias.

Sister had been undecided what to have on the cake. First her daughter and DIL wanted to reproduce her wedding cake. Fifty year old photos, in black and white, did not show the decorations, it was white on white, not enough contrast to see what they were. I remember spun sugar flowers and ribbons, so I suggested they ask if the baker could do magnolias on the cake, sugar flowers again and continuing with the theme we have going in flower arrangements and decorations. she loved the idea. We also played with what we could do on the tables, and decided we had enough choice we could just do it once we were there. the glitter tulle, gold ribbon, and gold beads will wind their way around photos of Edna and David in gold frames, on tables with white tablecloths with table runners of old gold with vines in cream on it. this is going to be a lovely room I do believe. I found a HUGE gold bow from two kinds of ribbon, I had bought last year, will add some of the beads with bells to it, and maybe a magnolia, to be on the front door. Food tables will be white tablecloths covered with netting, and swags of that around the edges. she found gold silk rose petals to scatter about. I told her we need to stop now, or it will begin to look gaudy hehehe. It is

I told her we need to stop now, or it will begin to look gaudy hehehe. It is a rather large room, so not overdone really. Not yet

We had lunch of take away chef salads, at another table in the meeting room we were using here. they were really nice and just what I wanted. I was tired of heavy foods from holidays. Nothing else going on here. I send huge hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

Just a quick hello! Hoping all will feel better with each passing day!

{{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, positive thoughts, , and healing energy for each of you!

MizT... It's been 1 week on the Cypro now. Less sinus pressure, but no let up on the amount of drainage.

Heidi, I do hope everything clears up soon,
All those decorations sound fantastic Tricia, How long until the big event?
I admire people who can sing and play music. I have absolutely no talent fur music at all.
Pleased you are feeling better Mamacita. I expect all the decorations are away by now.

JUNE, the party will be Jan 17th, a week from coming Saturday. I have a couple of things left to do in that time. My niece wanted to decorate the rocking chairs that will be reserved for her mom and dad. they have a small bridal viel for Edna's chair. Now to make either a black tie bow tie or a top hat decoration for david. I can print a picture from the computer, but so far graphics of a black bow tie are so black, no detail shows, it looks like a one dimensional, poor drawing of a tie. I am thinking the top hat will look better.

Heidi, if it were me, I would let doc know there was still that much drainage. It seems there is still a lot of infection causing that drainage. That might mean that antibiotic has only slowed down the infection, not getting rid of it. How many more doses of anti do you have left to take??

Sun is out, but it is colder now. this is often the pattern here, rain and warmth, sun and colder temps, but this week is just extreme.

I hope Tay has picked up my new eyeglasses for me. she was to get them on her way home yesterday (their shop is very close to her house) but was very sleepy when she left. Well, she could pick them up this morning and still get them to me today couldn't she??

Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

Just a quick hello. Our temperatures are residing between zero and single digits F. Some area schools are closed tomorrow. We won't know until tomorrow mid-morning if the music school will be closed, so not sure what to expect for the day. I'm heading to bed.

Sending powerful healing energy, prayers, positive thoughts, , and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for everyone!

I went shopping today with a friend. She wants a new mattress. This person is always indecisive and invariably returns what she has bought the next day. However, that is not an option with a mattress. She has been going to all the shops for the last week. Today was a very large shop with at least 100 beds on display. I must have tried out at least 12 of them for her. She wants a hard mattress but her husband likes a softer one. She has narrowed her choice to three so will now take her hubby to see if he would be able to sleep on the one she chooses. Great fun.
Pre dinner we joined a neighbour for belated seasons drinks. A warm day so ham and salad, then stewed cherries and cream for dinner.

Busy busy busy and my tree is still up! Best laid plans..Not for fb...I now have 3 grand kids under 3 and they are all staying with us for a few days. We figured it would take a while for Dana to get the 3 kid routine down so thought we'd help her out a bit. I'm so tired after being there for the birth, 1.30 am, and then watching the kids.. I got to bed around 4 am by the time they'd done the room transfers etc. This morning my alarm went off (actually Tahli jumped on the bed) and my eyes did not want to stay open. Isobel River, 6 lb 10 Oz

Suzy I had three under 3 1/2 and no family support (we were in Melbourne) so I understand how busy you will all be. Congratulations on another grand daughter. We also had a heatwave when Sharon (the youngest) was born. It was 110.6*F and the only aircon in the hospital was in the nursery. When we got home I only had a 20cm fan.
I do hope that you can catch up on some sleep.

Congratulations, Suzy. Please remember to take care of yourself as well!!!!

Congrats to you on the new Granddaughter, Suzy.

But..... has Dana never heard of birth control? And do any of the children have fathers in common? And do they/ he contribute to the financial care of the kids?

Hello all...Sending greetings of congratulations to you Suzy, hubby, and Dana...However I am saddened, because while I think Dana is a great Mum...she is making life so difficult for herself. She has much to offer and hopefully will give herself a chance to grow and become even better. I'd love for her to use gifts that have not yet been discovered because of her increasingly busy life. I do hope she makes good use of birth control from now on..It is so hard to give kids the life you want with things being so expensive. As for you...your tree may never get down once you start cuddling the newest one while marveling at all of the cool stuff the older two will get into...May rest find a way to catch up with you. Peace
Heidi, I agree with Tricia...time to let the doctor know the drainage continues to be heavy and see what he has to say.
June, life does seem to form patterns doesn't it? My kids were 20 months apart and wonder if you'd agree that while they were little, things were hard but manageable, and life was much easier as they grew into the teen stage...lots of mouth, but at least I only had to go through that once and it was over...lol. Hope Dana finds out how really lucky and blessed she is to have such strong support...of course she most likely knows that already.Hi Julie and Theresa...seems as if we're all in for some really cold weather, at least for the next few days...stay warm.

If I wake up early enough, I'll call the Doc. The last 2 days I slept until after 4pm. I'm feeling better each day, despite the steady draining of the ear.

Good Evening, Sudoku Friends!

WOW, Suzy! No wonder we haven't seen you very much lately. Congratulations to you and Mr. Suzy on your new granddaughter. Congratulations to her mother, as well! I hope you are able to get some sleep between the snuggles and running after little ones. Our 2 were 21 months apart, and with only 2, it seemed like I was always exhausted. Hopefully, Dana will adjust to the additional needs of her family! You provide so much support in so many ways to her!

Heidi, I'm glad you're feeling better each day and getting so much sleep. Thank goodness this didn't come during calving. Hopefully you'll be able to call the doctor tomorrow and chat with him/her about the continuing drainage.

June, I didn't realize you had 3 so close together. It certainly can be a challenge, but easier to meet that challenge when we're younger, as Dana is.

Mama, I hope you are well and your return doctor visits are providing you with some answers and relief!

Suzy, I suspect many of our thoughts are so well stated by Mama. Hopefully Dana can find some time to do things she enjoys and to return to her studies. There are so many demands on her time. She has been blessed with 3 beautiful and healthy children.

Theresa, I suspect your temperatures are even colder than ours - high of zero today and more of the same or colder predicted for the rest of the week. Many schools were closed today because of the extreme cold and worries about children walking or standing for long periods of time waiting for a school bus.

I hope everyone can stay safe, in spite of extremes of cold (northern hemisphere) or heat and fires (down under). Sending prayers, healing energy, positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and !

Ummmmm... calving decided to start early, how I don't know. We've had 3 calves born already, 2 heifers and a bull. I tagged one and IH tagged the others. The 3rd one was just born today.

Yes Julie, it is brutally cold here. With the wind yesterday it felt like -37C. I was so cold by the time I got home from dropping the kids off at the bus stop in the morning. At those temperatures it only takes a few minutes for skin to freeze. I have been dressing in layers and layers and layers.

OH THERESA, I cannot imagine temps that cold, even if that is 'only' the wind chill or feels like temperature. As you said, that is dangerously cold. Do be careful and keep both yourself and the grandies protected from that wind. I do not think I own enough clothes (and I have way to many clothes) to be able to put on enough layers to keep warm in those temps. Are you able to keep your home warm enough inside? I will complain less about our low for today now, and be thankful it is only wind chill of near zero F.

I did a check of what Theresa's temps would be converted to F. I did a second time, because I did not think it was right. I had forgotten that -40C = -40F . I blame that on just waking up, the forgetting of that fact, that is. Minus 37 C = minus 34 F.

Heidi, are the calves being born early a normal size? No signs of them being premature? It is unusual for them to be born this early. Might be better now, with the ground frozen, not cold life-threatening mud. Congrats on the three born already.

I am still trying to put away the decorations, clean and rearrange my what nots, and get Christmas things packed away. The tree is down, needs to be reduced in size and tucked into the box. The decorations are mostly into the small confining boxes, these boxes need to be fitted into the large one. It is a jigsaw puzzle, but they do fit in nicely if I can remember how hehehe. I do need to wrap the hand blown icicles before returning them to their box. They are in the box, unwrapped, awaiting my convenience.

Did I say I made veg soup day fore yesterday? that was the only thing I did Tuesday. Sunday grocery shopping, then Monday sending hours doing decorations left me tired and in a lot of pain. It took all day Tuesday and this cold front to pass through before I returned to the able bodied. I kept finding myself waking up on Tuesday, in my chair with my book in my lap. I dozed most of the day, but perhaps that helped with my recovery Wednesday.

Enough for now, I have typed this in fits and spurts between peroids of working with my cleaning. Now it is time to have a late breakfast and get back to work once again. I will be most happy to have my boxes back in the closet.

Hugs to each of you, with extras, till later.

MizT, these temperatures are not normal for us in January, thank goodness. As far as inside temps, I have had to crank up the thermostat a notch or two, and still wear layers. It is so nice to crawl into bed at night under the comforters, surrounded and covered by cats!

It has been a long haul, but my FIL and MIL are in the same nursing home, in the same room. FIL was sent home several times, had several falls, but things seem to be settled for now. He is not happy because he wants to go home, but he has been told that will not happen. His dementia is progressing quickly and he is also hallucinating.

My tailbone started to finally feel better yesterday. I can now sit and stand without severe pain. Now I have to work on the sleeping part. I tend to roll onto my back at night, and the pain instantly wakes me up. That too will get better, I decree it!!!!!

The kittens have all been for their operations, so no more babies from them or made by them. We found homes for two more after they were operated on, so the final two and the mother, SuzyQ, we will keep. The little black kitten, Artemis, insists on sleeping in the crook of my arm when I am on the computer. That is where she is right now. She has an eye infection, so she is on pills twice a day and eye ointment twice a day.

Hubby has been given an offer on the farm property where FIL was living. I think he's going to take it. It is located in a rather depressed area, so it is not as much money as we had hoped. We will also share with our daughter and his sister because she is experiencing financial difficulties. We don't have to do this, but we don't feel right moving ahead in life while leaving others behind. The entire 144 acres is worth about what our house is worth. We are going to keep some of the frontage where the farm house is located and some of the other frontage for future buildings possibly.

A while back I alluded to problems on my side of the family. I have a nephew who got into legal problems. Taking into consideration family background, etc., I believe he is guilty. He is currently in jail and can't get the bail money together. His lawyer got in touch with me and I made it perfectly clear that I refuse to help. I am cutting that entire section of the family out of my life. Good people deserve help, others can lie in the beds that they make. The lawyer asked me to be my nephew's surety and I refused. She asked for other family members info and I refused as well. Done and dusted!!!

Well Theresa...the cold has really hit you like a ton of bricks...cold here too, but no where near as badly as its hit you...stay warm and safe. Glad your m- and f-i-l's are now together in a nursing home..that can help make life easier for all, knowing that they are safe and cared for.The visiting will also be easier.Just keep watch on all that goes on..As far as helping your family, stick to your guns..you know what is best for you and your family. Trust all will work out for you. Glad you have a possible buyer, even if the price isn't what you had hoped for...sometimes it's just good to be done with things and free up the mind and the emotions that have been held in check for too long...wishing you all some improvement...just as your body is starting to respond...so may the rest of the problems you've been dealing with disappear.
Tricia, hope your aches will hold up under the extreme temps... rest while you can and work as able..we know that drill well... things will finally be in their rightful places in due time...Peace and well being are wished for you.
Heidi...Sorry to hear that the calves have started to arrive while you are still having issues, but as Tricia suggest, this may be easier than the rainy, mucky time of birth that is harder on all of you. I do wish you well and lots of help from Gil. I sorta feel sorry for him, because I'm sure he's not really able to lead and knows things aren't what they should be, yet still w/o a clue to change things. I'm looking forward to you feeling better...can't even begin to wonder what he thinks...Take care my friend...may better health soon be with you.
To all of the rest who make up this group, stay well and know good wishes are always included in my post for you even if I don't call your name...it is said in my heart. Take care and know that I care. <3

Greetings to Everyone!

Heidi, congratulations on the arrival of calves. Seems I spoke too soon. I'm glad Gil is making an attempt to help. You need to continue with your recovery.

Theresa, I wish I had some warmth to send you! Many of the schools in our area were closed yesterday (Wednesday). Some remained closed today, but others were open. We had about 3 inches of snow to go with the cold today. I had a cello lesson today. Neither the cello or I enjoyed being out in the cold. We got there a bit early to have time to take the cello out of its case and begin to warm up.

MizT, I'm sorry the underrating and cold have contributed to additional pain. The vegetable soup sounds good - something warm for your insides on the colder days. I suspect that it has been cold enough for you to dress in layers even inside.

We found a 'cold compression' long sleeve shirt by Reebok before Christmas & have bought a couple more on sale since then. He really likes them under his long-sleeve polo or rugby shirts.

Theresa, I'm so glad to hear that mil and fil are in the same room in the same facility. That will make visiting them and watching over them so much easier! Now, if only you would be feeling enough better to get a good night's sleep, that would be a big help. I'm glad you have found homes for more of the kittens and you're comfortable keeping 2 and their mother. Will they be indoor cats? I'm sorry you've been bothered with the troubles of your nephew. It seems you have done the most sensible thing.

Hi, Mama! You always find the best things to say in the best way! I hope you are doing well!

Sorry to cut your comment short, Mama, but the lights are dimming and we may be about to lose power, so I will turn off the computer for the night and find my warm bed. Thinking of everyone and sending warm thoughts and much , healing energy, positive thoughts, prayers, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} for each of you!

home at last. 35 c at the reptile park. that was ok until we went back to the car and I tripped over a tree root. I thought I had sprained my wrist but after about 5 hours at our local hospital I have broken a bone just above the wrist. typing one handed as my left arm is in a cast.

Oh no, June. How long will the cast be on? Are you left handed or right handed? Sending healing thoughts ......

this temp. heavy lump of plaster for one week. I go back and get permanent cast next week when the swelling has gone down. just got over an hours sleep. it is warm and humid and I dehydrated yesterday so I got up for a drink. luckily I am right handed. cannot go to the toilet as no one awake to help pull up my nickers.

Oh NO, June!!!! How awful! That's the last thing you need!

Good for you, Theresa. If that nephew is guilty, he needs to stay in jail. I'm a firm believer in helping the innocent, but the guilty deserve no help at all. I'm proud of you!!! You also deserve kudos for cutting out that part of the family from your life. A hard thing to do, but frequently necessary for your peace of mind and quality of life. Good for you!!!