Snowy Midwest Morning

[BirdbyBird]

Welcome Wednesday! Winter is definitely here. I am not in a panic though. My reservations for a driveway spot in Charlotte, NC, before Christmas has been accepted and plans are slowly pulling together.

Besides achy face nerves from the Bells Palsey my vision doesn't appear to being bothered and the prospect of successfully run away this winter is heartening. I have a recheck on Friday. Mostly I am waiting for my nurse practitioner to react when I finally admit that I discontinued taking my statin drug about 2 months ago. Over the years the dosage had been reduced and with recent successful weight loss efforts I figured now would be a great time to drop them and see what the blood test reflect. As other have mentioned I have been reading some of the research and reports on the use of statins. The muscle issues that I was trying to work through this summer convinced me to try another way. It felt like it might have been sciatica but neither acupuncture or chiropractic interventions seemed to affect it much. Lark was not happy that my discomfort interfered with her hikes. After dropping the statin the discomfort has slowly faded away. Circumstantial or Cause and Effect? Somehow I don't even care. I really don't like to take medications.

The talk about visiting Tombstone and Bisbee lately made me think of that sign I left in the window unbought. Then I remembered that I could have the best of both worlds. A picture is a lot lighter to carry around than a metal sign!



May your day be merry and bright! And may the fairies be running amok and laughing out in the garden.....

[Queen]

Morning all!!

Snowy here too. Boooo! Days like this make me miss the Florida sunshine, but getting to be retired is an okay trade off since I don’t have to go out into said snow!

Tina, my doc wanted me to do statins years ago, after reading the women specific research, I declined. Now I’m hearing from friends who take them about all these muscle issues, so sorry you’re dealing with them as well.

[Shirlv]

Morning All, Clear weather on the Eastern Shore. Going to submit application for apartment today, scary. Will start moving stuff into apartment when available. I’m not waiting for the house to sell because this old timer would be overwhelmed if I had to move in a hurry. With moving stuff in mind I ordered a cart on wheels for apartment living. It came today and I am now officially a bag lady. Ordered a paperboy hat with brim to shield my eyes per the ophthalmologist. Hat was too small so guess I’m officially a fat head too. Can you see my day is not going great already. I think it will be a two glasses of wine night. Safe travels

[OregonLuvr]

Good morning. Not as cold here as predicted by the zealous newspeople. 37° here now with a high of 51° this afternoon, I will take it. Cleaning out my kitchen cupboards today and reorganizing. I bought a couple of heavy metal shelves to put in my canned food cupboard. I think it will be perfect as my cupboard is tall and deep so lots of wasted space.

A lot of talk about supplements and drugs here recently. We all have our own opinions of course. I am not much of a drug taker (I forget alot). I take a couple of supplements and Vit D that is it. I have some "won't takes" also. I have read extensive research on statins and they are never coming my way. I would definitely take a med if it was one I thought medically necessary. Most of the docs are total pill pushers they think will fix anything and everything. I also blame people for presuring them because they think if they dont get a prescription it was a waste of time to see the Doc. I tend to heavily research (from many sources) most of the meds. Credible studies AND anecdotal sources. I learned in college how to sort out credible studies from hype studies. I see my Primary doc on Thursday for the second time and she seems pretty onboard with my thinking. Heck she is young so she is still in "training" LOL

[BarbaraRose]

Starting to sprinkle here this morning with heaver rain later on today and thru tomorrow.

Had another butterfly "hatch" out yesterday. I have been trying to get her to drink sugar water but no success. I just put her on a flowering plant on the front porch (to keep her out of the rain) and put a vase of some cut flowers that butterflies seem to like, right next to it. Hopefully she will start to eat something so she can get some strength.

Have a mouse problem in my kitchen. I think I found where they are coming in under the sink so am trying to patch that up. May have to buy a live trap if I continue to see "evidence" of them still being there.

A neighbor stopped by last night to let me know that the man across the street is doing better in the hospital. I doubt he would have made it much longer tho if this neighbor and the couple from his church hadn't broke in to his house to check on him.

I had no energy or motivation yesterday so I got absolutely nothing done other than paying my rent. I opened up the rent bill to pay it and it was $22.50 higher than it is supposed to be. No explanation for it. So I just wrote the check for what it is supposed to be and wrote a note saying I am not paying the rest of it.

Just had a nice little cuddle session with Lola. I just love that she is getting so much more affectionate lately. She is a good kitty!

I ordered a few Christmas gifts for myself. Since I decided I can't afford a trailer right now due to possibly needing a new roof, I decided to get some toys instead so I can get out and have some fun anyways. I ordered a hard-sided kayak, a cruiser bike, and a tent. I have been very reluctant to tent camp after that trip where that man tried to break into my tent in the middle of the night. However, I still want to camp and if I go with a camping group and/or friends and keep something with me to protect me, hopefully, I will feel safer.

My blood tests from last months doctor appointment came back showing I am borderline high on my cholesterol. It has been creeping up over the years. My bad eating habits are finally catching up with me, so I am considering starting on the Keto diet in January. Normally, I eat lots of sweets and carbs, so it will be a big change for me. (No drugs for me either). I could also stand to lose about 10-15 pounds. I am also looking into joining a fitness center, but maybe with bike riding and kayaking, that will be good enough to start with.

Have a good day!

[Acadianmom]

It's sunny and 60 here today. I missed the overnight low. Don't think it was as cold as predicted.

I take a multi-vitamin and Areds that my eye doctor recommended semi regularly. My mother had macular degeneration and I sure don't want that. BJ said her medical file probably says "Non-compliant". Mine probably does too. I refuse to take the osteoporosis medicine so they have quit scheduling me for bone density scans. I have to put ointment in the cat's eye 4 times a day so have to write that down to keep up with it.

Shirl, good luck on the move and selling your house. I would hate to think I had to move again. It's amazing the amount of crap I accumulated in 12 years. I need to find a collapsible wagon to bring camping. I have a garden seat with wheels that I use around here to move 40 lb bags of cat food. I need to buy smaller bags but it's hard to put a scoop in the small bag. What is a paperboy hat?

I am almost through shelling the bucket of pecans we picked up at the campground. Now I need to find a hole in the freezer to put them. I usually do some Christmas baking so that will use some of them.

Martha

[JudyJB]

I took a very low dose of a statin for a couple of years then forgot to fill the prescription somehow. Anyway, I had no problems with it. In fact, I was told by two doctors after getting cat scans for various reasons that my arteries and veins had no plaque in them due to the statins The result is that I have less than a 5% chance of getting a heart attack or stroke over the next five years! So, after realizing I had stopped taking them, I recently started again.

I am happy to be heading to the doctor soon to get my bladder/kidney stent removed. That will reduce my bleeding and the irritation it is causing, aka pain with urination. Going to take Uber today because I really had a lot more pain yesterday after driving my RV to lab for blood work and shopping at Walmarts. More expensive, but will be a lot easier on my body. Going to check into renting a car for a weekend after I turn in grades so I can explore around and do some shopping for myself. Weekend rentals are often very cheap.

Breakfast this late morning is a large cup of oatmeal to solve the problem caused by my pain meds!! Also bought a lot of fruit yesterday, but getting that stent out will mean I need to take less pain stuff.

Barbie, a very good "live trap" for mice is a 5-gallon bucket with an inch of bird seed in the bottom. They slide in to get the bird seed but can't get out. However, don't let them out in your backyard, as I did. Take them for a long drive, at least five miles, before you let them out. SOme people recommend a couple inches of water in the bottom with a raft of some sort containing food, but I could not stand the thought of them drowning. At least the mice I caught were well fed and dry. Just make sure you check it every day.

[Shirlv]

Martha, a paperboy hat looks like baseball cap but with a puffy crown. Returning too small cap and ordering a knit one so can pull down over my ears when really cold. Will I be adorable or what. Hat pulled over my ears, sun glasses and pulling a bag lady cart. Submitted apartment paperwork. Put my name on a unit that overlooks a cornfield instead of the parking lot. Not the Wye River but it will do. Hope the house sells quickly once it is on the market.

[Irmi]

Shirl, I loved your description of the paperboy hat. I'm glad Martha asked because I was afraid to. Cold here in Ocala but not as cold as our home in MD. Steve went out for breakfast with the deacon from church, and I wish he would do that more often, so I can do the necessary things in here that he just gets in the way of. He took a nap when he got home, so got more things done. My kind of day!