Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 4/29

Funeral and all went fine. Reasonably good behavior for everyone. Saw people I had not seen in60 years. a difficult process. Both my sister and brother live in appalling conditions I can’t begin to describe.... mental or emotional difficulties in different ways ... Homes look like hoarders on tv . how do they live like that?? I don’t know what happened to them. I understand underlying mental problems to hoarding ...I can’t swoop in and fix stuff! It is way beyond bad housekeeping So glad we did not plan to stay in either house.

I felt absolutely tiny And I’m not tiny but the general size of the next generation is pretty stunning. A whole lot of really over Weight people A motivation to look at the gym here again this morning. More later we fly home tonight.
 
Good morning,

No workout yesterday. Agility class was my activity. Today I did Live Push Pull, 40 minutes, 177 calories.

Lori, that was so good that you were able to see Madeline. Are they doing any treatments between the MRI's? What you are describing is so like what happened to my friend. She had lost feeling in her arm, and some speech problems , almost like a stroke, but was able to get back to normal with the radiation they did at the time. That was short lived however.

Carolyn, Good job on the yoga workouts. I got the JS DVD yesterday, hope to do it this week.

Diane Sue, so nice that you could spend time outdoors with the grandkids. Agree, it doesn;t matter which workout you choose on the FitBit....I only track the fact that I did "something" 5 days a week.

Valerie, good all went fairly well. Have a safe trip back.

Hi to Judy,

Take care,
 
Hello Ladies,
This is my rest day so no workout today. The weather is lovely so we took advantage of it to get some work done outside. My husband painted the mailbox post before the HOA “mailbox police” send us a letter about it.

Deb, sometimes it’s more about being active than getting in a structured workout. I haven’t found that choosing an activity on the Fitbit makes much difference with the calorie burn.

Valerie, I’m glad that you had no major family conflicts while you were away. It’s so hard to see family or friends making obvious bad choices and mistakes when they are unwilling to change. I guess I could be considered small in comparison to my siblings and my in-laws. Most have terrible eating habits and inactive lifestyles.

Hello to Lori, Judy, and Diane Sue. Have a wonderful afternoon everyone.
 
No workout today. We went out to go to church and it looked like someone had backed up over the curb into the electric box on the corner of our yard. It is leaning sideways and the bulbs that had come up are bent over. We will have to contact the electric company. I don't suppose whatever neighbor did it will announce it. :(

Valerie, I am sure you will be happy to get back home. I cannot stand clutter all over and could not understand hoarding. We, are trying to make sure there is not a lot of junk that the family will have to go through when we are gone. I buy smaller packages of items, just because I don't have storage and it is not sitting out in a corner or something.

Deb, I do not even know why Fit Bit puts all of those functions on the watch. I guess it makes them seem like they are so much more in abilities than they really are. I would think something would have to monitor breathing along with heart rate and movement to really get the workouts right. I think it does fine with heart rate though and seems pretty accurate on floors (most of the time) and steps. Sleep stages work well when it does not malfunction. I like getting outside. It wakes me up and helps me get my second wind most of the time. Right now the only allergens is a moderate tree pollen count and my allergies have died down. Maybe finally getting local pollen from close by is helping some. It was pretty bad for awhile and I was getting desperate. My grandson and I sat outside and blew bubbles yesterday evening.

Carolyn, HOA police can be annoying at times. We have not had complaints though, other than when we moved in and set out some boxes and someone reported it a couple of hours later, as we did not know the trash days or rules for pick up yet. Had to send paint chip colors before we could paint the exterior of our house and wait for approval. We had already bought the paint, so I am glad it was okay. Apparently they made the last people repaint and the guy next door because they did not get approval and they didn't like the rust brown color. My daughter had her brick mailbox broken down and they suspect the trash truck, as neighbors that run said it was fine when they went by and shortly after the trash truck went through it was broke. It has been 3 weeks and no response.
 
Painting the mailbox post seems like a small point to regulate. We have some rules but seems too minor.

We are at gate area early and will have a long day. We did about half hour this morning elliptical and tm for me , enough so I feel a light workout got done I would have gone longer but we needed to pack up and drive a ways , meet cousin for lunch etc etc.

This will be a lot harder on my sister and brother and SIL.. our mother was a huge part of their lives both in good ways for her care, and conflict related. Now it’s all gone. Like all content went away. I have lived far away for 45 years so I feel bad but it doesn’t change and uproot my whole life as it does theirs.
Their lives are upended. Brother already called this morning saying he feels awful.... I talked to him for a while and then had DH talk to him ... as a doctor ....because I was concerned. DH talked to him about seeing his own doc and getting on medication. It’s all he’s done for yrs, take care of mother. that must have been a hard phone call for him to make to me because he is very tough and gruff “ no nonsense” kind of guy. I almost didn’t answer because barely out of shower dripping wet. I’m not dr Phil but I can let him talk and be understanding. I’ve seen the situation develop over years.
DH was there and I put him on to offer professional advice. I’m so glad we spent those few hours at the house on Friday because my brother was able to talk ...he now “knew” DH somewhat.
 
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Good evening ladies,

This morning I did a LEKfit bounce that had some really tough leg sculpting. I really enjoyed it. I followed up with a 10 min BBS Dance cardio. Total time was 63 mins / 526 cal.

Valerie...that is so nice people from years past came to show their respect. When my mom passed 23 years ago some of our neighbors from our old neighborhood came. It was so touching.

Deb...she is taking a chemo pill and increasing steroids. We will know more in a couple of weeks. She is amazing with her faith and is so positive. She told me she plans to have a huge 80th birthday next March 8th. Just do not see this happening. :( Agility is a great workout.

Diane Sue...Hoping the electric coming was able to come out. Not a great way to start the day.

Have a nice evening all!!!
 
Good morning,

Not a good night's sleep last night. I will be dragging for puppy class this morning.

Carolyn, LOL on the "HOA Mailbox police"...I agree, the activity on the FitBit is probably more for the encouragement aspect, rather than calorie burn. The only one that is different is the "interval training" one.

Diane Sue, that is too bad about the electric box. Did it affect your service at all? I don't know if I would like those types of restrictions on what I can do with my house.

Valerie, hope your trip home was on time and uneventful. That is good that your brother called you and spoke to you both. Maybe he will take the advice from your DH and see his doctor about his own health.

Lori, that is great to hear that Madeline is still so positive, and that they are still trying with treatments. As long as the treatments are not debilitating, like some can be. I hope she gets to have her 80th birthday celebration.

Judy, hope your weekend was good.

Take care,
 
Hi Everyone,

Saturday was a rest day and yesterday I did Body Beast Bulk Legs. The weather was nice this weekend and it looks like it will be sunny and warm through Wednesday.

Deb-I didn't sleep well last night either. I'm not sure why, maybe a little too much caffeine yesterday and I worked out later than I usually do.

Valerie-That is really good that your brother reached out to you. I hope he takes your DH's advice. That's too bad about the hoarding. We went through that with my FIL and it's very hard to deal with.

Lori-It's good that Madeline is so positive and that there is a treatment plan. I hope she will get to have her 80th birthday party.

Diane Sue-I hope the damaged electric box gets fixed quickly and doesn't cause you any issues. We have to deal with all kinds of rules and restrictions living in a condo, but I'm not sure I would like that if we were in a house. Most of the neighborhoods here do have HOAs but I'm not sure how much they control.

Carolyn-That's funny about the HOA police. We had a person on the HOA board who always walking around with a clipboard, trying to find things to write people up for. She would also organize committees to do the same. It seemed like a near daily occurrence to see her or the group walking around taking notes. I think everyone was glad when she went off of the board last year.

Judy
 
I am whipped. need to hit floor running and get stuff done. I’m sure we are having a planned power out for the PUD to replace a system part power will be down for a while. In all the rush I think it is Monday night. chaos the last few days but now back to “normal”, need groceries , pick up mail etc. and need to check on family.

I am still giggling about the great saga of HOA vs painted mailbox post. And the clipboard lady, out looking for trouble. Too much time on their hands.
Judy yes that was a call for help. There must be some underlying reason for the hoarding behavior and now he cant blame it on someone else.I wonder what the house brother and SIL looks like. He most lived at our mothers home and it is packed with junk. His wife lives at “their “ house a mile away. I wonder if the hoarding goes on there too? And then to see my sisters house look awful too!! Awful in a different way but in need of big dumpster. We were not raised like this??where does it come from.
We flew in a slightly upgraded section. Pay for food but free drinks. I had two glasses of white wine in a four hour flight plus DH would be driving. a guy in the row ahead got stinking drunk. I thought he was already lit up when he boarded but he had quite a few more until they cut him off. I’ve flown lot and never saw that and glad it didn’t devolve further. He was calling his girlfriend telling her how He was driving over and would be there in an hour. Great !! we need him on the freeway. Hopefully he fell asleep in the parking garage. Scary but he got his bag from the overhead bin and walked into the masses. No way to do anything except hope he couldn’t find his car.
 
Today I did Step Blast, definitely an oldie, using a 4” step. I did a premix with combos 1, 2, and 3 and no challenge. That was 41 minutes and 285 calories burned. My average heart rate was 127 and maximum heart rate 141.

Our neighbor covenants are very thorough and can sometimes seem ridiculous depending on the person tracking them. Generally I don’t mind and I find them helpful in maintaining the appearance and atmosphere which brought us here in the first place. Some people don’t keep their property maintained which affects all of us. With the mailboxes, if the paint is peeling and the wood is starting to rot and looking gray instead of white, someone usually notices.

Valerie, I don’t blame you for choosing an upgraded seat on the plane. Plane travel has become so uncomfortable that I don’t think my husband could stand to be cramped into a standard seat these days. We will probably do the same for our next flight. It’s good that you were able to talk with your brother about seeing his doctor. Just having a conversation with you was probably helpful.

Deb, every few years there is someone on the HOA committees that takes the responsibility too far.

Judy, it’s always nice to have a rest day. It’s funny that you mentioned the person going around with the clipboard. That’s how we joke about the obsessed person on the committee.

Diane Sue, that’s terrible to come home from church to see damage in your yard. I am slowly trying to clean out some of the clutter that we have collected over the years because I don’t want to leave it for my children to handle. No one wants “mom and dad’s stuff” seems to be a common feeling these days.

Lori, great job getting back to Lekfit workouts.
 
Today I did X Train Cardio Leg Blast with Core 2, 69 minutes, 396 calories, heart rate average 116, max 153, 3,607 steps. I used Cathe's weights or around 5# higher. No workout cards for this one. I then attempted to do Tracey Long Core Movements bottoms up just core. I got through 5 minutes and 32 calories watching her, but it seemed what she was saying had nothing to do with the workout. It sounded like it would be the hips and bottom moves she was talking about. I am going back and preview the disc. It was given to me so I won't be returning it or anything. Total time was 74 minutes, 428 calories. April sure did fly by. May is a month full of extra activity for me.
 
Lori, that is wonderful that Madeline continues to have hope with her treatment.

The electric company did come out and they put in a whole new box and chopped off and dug up the bulbs that were growing around it. I didn't plant them there though as they were there when we moved here. Two types, one is naked ladies and the ones that came up now I am not sure of as they have leaves. I took some of the bulbs with roots laying on top of the dirt and stuck them in a pot.

Deb, the box being knocked over did not affect our service which is a plus. My husband detests HOA's . We have always kept up our property where ever we have lived. I don't understand why some people have no pride in their homes though. It was complicated right off when we moved here and had paid ahead for a storage shed in the back yard and the HOA said nothing could come above the top of the fence. We had to cancel and get our money back. This is crazy as most of these homes have smaller garages and driveways. Where are they supposed to put their stuff. We have an awful low profile sort of a vinyl shed that was left here that I put garden stuff in. It leaks and everything. The larger stuff is in the garage and my car sits in the driveway :( Most places we have lived have not been this stiff on their rules. They want to know exactly what you are doing to your home. A homeowner up the street complained because they replaced their shake siding with new and did not get the okay and the HOA told them they could not do that without the okay. I think that is absolutely ridiculous.

Judy, I often over do caffeine on weekends. When I go to families homes for brunch coffee is caffeinated. My older daughter has started drinking decaf after her morning coffee as she has started having sleep issues. I make two pots when everyone comes to my house. Decaf in the french press and caffeine in the brewing coffee maker. I can always tell a difference on the higher caffeine days. Right now I have a little first thing in the morning in my Protein Burst pre-workout from Dr Axe that I am using. I don't think it is a lot of caffeine as I don't notice the usual symptoms. More like green coffee bean and ashwaghanda, and ginseng. That sort of thing.
Our first home here had a neighborhood association, but it was not in our contract. It was more of a voluntary thing to help take care of the entrances and any problems that came up. Most have not been strict at all, but you never saw a bunch of trash or ugly stuff around. This neighborhood is a mix of townhomes, condos, and homes. Fortunately we are on a corner in a circle and not attached to our neighbor. Our homes are close together and that is it. The walk way to the back shrinks to about 4 foot across between our houses. I do wish their kitchen window did not face our dining window and doorstep though. I guess it is better than about sharing doorsteps like the homes across the street. My husband would like to live somewhere less crowded without traffic than where we are. I hate traffic, but I like being near decent shopping.


Valerie, I bet you are ready to settle in to your comfort zone. It sounds like you still have some things to get done first. Thinking of the clipboard person, we have someone in an office the HOA has. They say to call before you come in as they may be out patrolling the grounds! I never seen anything quite like it. They also hired an agency to come by and monitor the pools.
I really dislike it when I see people having drink after drink and you can see there is no designated driver there. There is nothing you can do. I would like to whack them with a fly swatter and give them what for. What a lucky girlfriend the guy has!! She should run for the hills.

Carolyn, I suppose that the HOA is one thing that keeps our area nice. They do the lawn in front and maintain well and it is an area that is know for how nice it is. We have walking areas, bicycle lanes that go to the park, they put benches along the way on the main street and somewhere they put up a gazebo which I have not seen. I think I would have to go the opposite direction that I usually drive.
It seems the children do not treasure things as much as they used to. My husband was ridding himself of special things he has received on his travels from other countries. I had him keep some of it. They mean a lot to him, but probably not the family. I finally pulled out dishtowels that my mother had embroidered for me and started using them. I have kept them for years and decided she made them for me to use and they bring pleasant memories. Not something the children would appreciate as much. I had to explain where they came from. Just lots of things like that. Some things we have asked and not one child or grandchild wanted them so we got rid of the items.
 
Good evening ladies,

This morning was SB Arms followed up with a LEKfit Bounce that had upper intervals and my arms were exhausted. Loved it. I am enjoying LEKfit a lot. Took me a bit to warm up to it and glad I continued. 44 mins / 343 cal.

Deb...so sorry for your sleepless night. So hard to function when you do not get the sleep you need. I take my Apple Watch workout info with a grain of salt. It helps motivate me and I like I can keep track of my workouts.

Judy...Great job with Body Beast! Funny...today’s workout I used 3 and 5lb weights and I was exhausted! Lol. I need to be careful with caffeine after 4pm. Working out in the evening does help my sleep.

Valerie...not sure how hoarding happens. But sad for people that have this issue. I think they get so overwhlemed they just can not stop and do not know how to get out of their situation. That is horrible about that intoxicated person. The thought of him on the road! Crazy.

Carolyn....Step Blast is an oldie! What fun!

Diane Sue...good you saved some bulbs. Smart thinking. I completely feel the same way that our children do not treasure the sentimential items like we do. I have so many hummels from my mom that I treasure. My son could care less. Do people still even collect hummels?

Have a great night all.
 
Lori, I need to do some rebounding workouts again. Maybe I will do some this week. I haven't formed a plan for this week. I just know shoulder and chest are going to be light or not at all. I used to love the Hummels. My mother collected carnival glass. I was able to pass that on to my older daughter who keeps it in her china cabinet. I have a niece and her mother that have loads Hummels and Precious Moments figures. We have a pottery Schmoo that was passed down in my husband's family. Most don't know what it is. I saw one in an old life magazine in a remember thing. From my understanding some relative had something to do with the design. Schmoo is the ham that runs in the old Lil Abner shows that I think Al Capp did. Most people have no idea what it is. :) The sad thing is most of those things will get tossed carelessly.
 
Had a difficult day. we didn't get enough sleep. yesterday ran way long. tonight the PUD has a scheduled long power out to replace some electrical grid section.
I called sister this am to see how she was doing. (she went off the deep end later today) I said we met cousin and wife for late lunch after late hotel check out yesterday. we did a workout, long talk with brother, who was in need of some help. we arranged the lunch later, had to fill up car, drive to cousin's house, then to a restaurant that got us near the airport. the rental car return etc., I do not like to do that with time being tight. I am not that familiar with this city or airport as it has changed in the last 50 years!. we were not pressed for time but it's easier not to be counting seconds, and we were both burned out/tired.
my sister lives way on the other side of town. she went bat shit crazy after we had talked. I should have "offered to come take her grocery shopping" on sunday because it is so hard for her to do it. Please!!! we are the ones who traveled across the country, picked her up when no one else would, and took her home. I did not hide or feel wrong about how DH and I spent the last few hours there. this morning, after I left to do grocery shopping, she apparently called back and told me or us exactly what she thought of us and that we had lunch instead of taking her shopping. DH deleted the message so I did not have get to hear it. it was probably pretty awful. she has done this to many people, like brother, his wife. this is the reason she has no one in her life who will deal with her anymore. I'm the last one. I'm ready to block incoming calls from her number. I will let it slide for a few days and when she calls back to apologize, just not pick up.
DH and I talked about her before this happened. She is crazy and always has been. meds don't help. all is fine until it's not. not only did she go nuts over how I should have spent the last few hours taking her to the grocery store, but she also called mothers estate attorney and left a message demanding to know about disposition of mothers will. OMG.
Doc put brother on some anti depressants. this might help with the hoarding thing to. will wait and see.

diane sue, Carolyn, Lori, no affront to you intended, but I think hummels/moments are grotesque. I hate those things! I would not throw in trash but give away or donate. someone gave us a bunch of hummels. I know they are worth money. we gave them our neighbor that watches our house when we're gone. she loves them so they went to a good home. I dislike them so much I could not sell them. just get them out of my sight. so there you go!!! different strokes for different folks!! I detest fussy little things like that. I have no artistic taste.

we heard enough of the talk from the drunk to know he was headed north from the airport, so we hustled like maniacs to get to our car and get on the road northbound. the guy was a wreck waiting to happen, unless he fell asleep in the parking garage, the best outcome. I considered calling the airline and complaining about him being over served, but IMOt he was drunk when he boarded and the flight attendant probably would not know that. she had 75 other people to deal with. we were right behind him. I did not see him before we boarded, just a judgement call on my part.

I am OK with HOAs having rules because nobody wants a pig farm or an outdoor wedding venue going up next door. seems it can get too controlling though. I see it as a protection of my property values as long as rules are reasonable.
 
Valerie-I'm sorry you have to deal with your sister. It sounds like she is bipolar or something like that. It's no wonder she doesn't have anyone in her life. It's good that your brother has anti depressants. I hope that helps him. I do agree about the good parts of having an HOA. They take care of things that need to be taken care of and they keep things looking nice.
 
Thank you Judy. she has a long time mental/behavior disorder no one can fix. She goes to counseling, on numerous meds. DH is right, though. I need to step back from it. i keep thinking it can be worked with logic and “talking it through,” but no.
It helps me put it in perspective by talking about it here. I am letting off steam. I don’t expect solutions. Thank you all for listening.! I talked to my brother and he sounded less stressed. he and his wife are talking about it sanely. They have been thru the wringer. sister lobbing grenades into the mix randomly added stress. Anti depressants may help. I warned him sister left message with lawyer

We have scenery pics all over our house of places we’ve been. We see the memories when we look at them. They may not mean much to anyone else. Little figurines mean something (i think). in the same way. my photos are good memory triggers for me, like hummels are for you.
I need to get some exercise today. Too little lately and it will help deal with everything.
 
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Good morning,

Yesterday I did a treadmill walking workout, 32 minutes, 196 calories.

Judy, I hope you got a better night's sleep last night. Mine was horrible again. I am not sure what it up with this now. I don't think I would like that "clipboard" person looking at what I have done to my house.

Valerie, its funny how just a few days away can throw things off. Glad you are getting back to normal. That's awful about the man getting drunk on your flight. I hope he got home okay and did not kill anyone. We had one of those on a flight from Mexico once...she was drunk getting on the plane, yelling and screaming at her boyfriend who apparently left her behind on the beach and was going home without her. She caught up with him somehow and was screaming at him at the gate. They had to separate them, her in the last seat in the back. She ended up passing out for the whole flight. I was wondering why they even let her on the plane, but I am sure Mexico did not want to keep her there any longer either. I agree with Judy, I think your sister is bi-polar. Assume no doctor has ever assessed her.

Diane Sue, that is strange about that DVD not workout not matching what the instructor was saying. Do you think it was a copy that someone maybe messed up? That is not good about the storage situation at your place. You should not have to use your garage. I am surprised that they are not complaining about you leaving your car in the driveway all the time.

Carolyn, good job on Step Blast...a definite oldie. I can't say "goodie" since I never have seen the workout. :).

Lori, I know we have a lot of things that no one would want if something were to happen to us. I don't even want the stuff anymore but don't have the energy to get into it. LOL. I never knew anyone that collected Hummels. John's Mom used to collect a type of figurine ( Yadro sp?)... and she gave me a really pretty one of a little girl sitting with a puppy on her lap. I liked that one a lot, but not enough to start collecting others.

Take care,
 
Deb I used to think a flight attendant job was glamorous, but look at what they have to deal with! pathetic... some passed out woman stowed in back by the bathrooms. lucky she didn't upchuck all over the place.
Sister has a seizure disorder. she has been on meds since 16. they don't stop all seizures anymore. Her inability to get along with anyone existed when she was small. it has never been called manic depressive or bipolar as far as I know. she has anger issues and poor impulse control. she has been to many doctors, neurologists, psychiatrists, counseling and nothing helps much. It's weird because she lashes out at people who are necessary to her own best interests. she left a nasty message yesterday, and I know she needs dog food, cat litter and books. so I am the last and only person who got them for her. so she will eventually apologize and then ask me to order them, if I pick up the phone.

I am acting a little crazy myself, feeling the need to explain why we could not take half a day to take her grocery shopping. She asked me earlier but I told her right away, no. too much driving opposite end of town from the airport. funeral was stressful for us too, not to mention normal travel stress. I'm sure she thi9nks I should have stayed longer so I could help her more.
 
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