Shopaholics ODAT - Friday

Hello,

We are supposed to get up to 3 inches of rain so I guess this will be our drought buster.

I, too, don't have much going on today and I am actually glad about that. I am dealing with stressors related to an aging parent as it seems to be taking it's toll. I am looking for new ideas/ways to decompress so if any poster has a suggestion, please tell.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Good Morning/Afternoon! Thanks for getting us started Susan. Still warm out here in Arizona, but it is a little cooler in the morning. I prefer walking when it is in the low 70's rather than mid 80's, so I'm happy. No TSV for me either -- I used to try the different brands that they sold here, but then realized that I didn't really "love" any more than the others, and ended up with lots of extras (like you did.) I did some more weeding yesterday afternoon, and I ended up with a bunch of itches -- I think there were probably some bugs in the weeds. Oh well.....

Hi Gayle -- guess it is good to have drought-busting rain, but I hope there is no flooding in your area. Glad you are having a less busy/stressful day. I wonder if you have other family members who can help with your older family member. I know when I was dealing with my Mom, I felt that so much of the burden fell on my shoulders since my brother just didn't help much (very rarely).

In terms of ways to decompress, I found that it helped me to have something to look forward to like going to an art gallery or going window shopping by myself. Walking in the park (particularly with music from my i-Pod) also seemed to help. Something about nature calmed me. I did need to have the music most of the time since thinking about things was stressful for me. There are always massages/spa days which help many people decompress. You have probably tried these things, but.... I am praying for you. Not an easy situation. I know dealing with my DH's memory loss is not easy for me, and I do a lot of praying.

I plan to go to the grocery store and Curves later. Nothing much else going on here.

Waves to Jean, Kathleen, Arlene, Marijane, Karen, LindaR, twinny, Rosa, Sonya, Val, Gina, Kathy, Jules, and all of our posters and readers.

Hope everyone has a nice day!

Hugs,

Linda

ETA -- Not happy with my haircut -- it is too short for me. Oh well.....

Susan, thank you for starting us!! It felt cool out when I let the dog out at 5:30 - 75° and my little heart leapt for joy! I know you Eastern ladies are not looking forward to winter.

Gayle, I'm sorry for your situation. I think about that more and more as my parents age. Mom is on vacation and "sick as a dog" as I type this. She went to see her brother who is in a home now, with severe dimentia.

How to destress. I like to light a candle. I don't know why that seems to help but I do love my candles and I don't light them very often. I try to do little things like that. Sometimes I take a bubble bath. A good cup of hot chocolate (not in the Texas summer though ha ha). Perfume. 15 minutes of playing my guitar. I have a couple friends who love to color. They buy kids coloring books and enjoy themselves.

Not much happening here. It was nice to have DH home last night. Trying to not have any "needs" lol so I don't have to shop.

Linda we must have posted at the same time. I've never had an abundance of hair products but other things for sure. I used to have lots of lipstick, until one of my clients gave me a gift certificate to Nordstrom and I bought a couple Clinique lipsticks. I wear those same 2 shade to this day and have never bought another cheap lipstick. Although I have to watch it with the gloss - I buy extras here and there and always have an extra.

ETA: sorry about your hair!!! I HATE it when they get it too short. I colored my hair last night - just brushed strips of it and left some. I'm happy with the outcome - not perfect (could have used more on the roots in back) but for my non professional $10 it is fine. I will pay and get it highlighted eventually.

Gayle - Hope you don't get too much rain at one time. As for the destresser - Is there sibling to help you? If so, just tell them what you need, sometimes they need to be told because they just don't offer. Also, is there an agency that can come in and help out with your parents for awhile a couple times a week, this way you can get out and do something or just sit and read a book in quite for a short time.

Kathleen - Hope your mom feels better soon, I like 75 for a temperature that is comfortable for me. I bet your hair looks great.

LindaL - Sorry about the itches, if it gets too bad try some liquid Benadryl on it, that seems to help me. Hope DH is doing okay today.

Well the wash is done, last load in the dryer, so that means ironing on Tuesday for me. I know I am just too exciting for all of you.

Well off to get something else done here, not sure what, but something. Have a good afternoon everyone.

Hello All,

I did some light shopping today. One of the dept. stores had a coupon for 10 dollars off a 25 dollar purchase. Found 3 very cute items and it was only out 21 dollars.

I appreciate the thoughts/suggestions re: distressing. To answer a couple of questions, I do have 4 siblings and they are all GREAT so that has not been a problem. The problem is the selection of the city my mother wants to live in terms of an independent/assisted living center. There is one location that is idea but now she wants a different city and it is just not a good fit. The city that we siblings are pushing has good medical care, a great support system (4 family members there and 2 of her longterm friends are there). She now wants a beachy town that has limited medical care, the possibility of dealing with hurricane evacuation etc etc. She is so stubborn and can't see the big picture it is making us all crazy. She does not have dementia, this is just plan old stubbornness and her failure to plan in the best way will be someone else's emergency and we all know that. O>K> done venting.

I hope everyone has a good weekend, and again, appreciate your interest and suggestions.

I went bag shopping at lunch. I found a black Jessica Simpson for $42 that I carried around, but there were 2 of them so I put it back. At Marshalls I did find some MK but none beautiful and they were still very pricey. I found a black BMak that I almost carried out. It was very nice, had all the things I need, but on the way to the register I just kind of decided to come back if I still wanted it. For $60 wouldn't I rather wait and buy a beautiful bag for a bit more that I really want. I don't have a black bag so it was a difficult decision.

Linda I so hate being itchy, missed that the first time around. I have cortizone cream that helps a little bit.

Susan I have some ironing to do and will likely get to it tonight. Can you believe my dog gets all her bandanas ironed and starched? lol

Mom had an ultrasound today and feels a lot better. They think she might have passed a gallstone. My sister (the expert nurse, "Type A") told her she needed to go back home and get checked out. ETA: lol! I am going to have a time with her, as they get older.

Hi girls!

It's fairly warm here, and although the pool water is probably too cold to swim in, I think I'll go out and relax on the float for a while - I want to enjoy it while I can. A solar heater is definitely on my list of things to get for next summer.

I see there's a whole thread on ironing, Susan. I think I've ironed maybe two items in the last year! Usually I just spray some water on something and the wrinkles fall out; my friend sent me a steamer, so next time something is too wrinkled to just dampen I'll try that.

Sorry your haircut is too short, Linda - but hopefully it'll grow out quickly. My hairdresser usually does what I tell her, but one day she must have been distracted because not only was my hair cut too short, but when I got home I noticed that it was uneven in some places because some strands were behind my ear when she was cutting. She did fix it at no charge...but that meant it got even shorter than I wanted... Have you tried an oatmeal bath for your itching? I've been having a little bit of a problem myself, with my peeling skin from the sunburn I got, but it's finally getting better. My trip seems like it was such a long time ago! (And I need another one!)

Gayle, I know how hard it is to be a caretaker; I had first my former MIL, and then my husband. People have no idea of how stressful it is - it's like you're no longer a person with needs or feelings of your own, but some sort of different creature called a "caretaker." The best thing to do is try and get even a brief respite, either from a family member or even hire someone for a day. We used to get away from my MIL by traveling; of course we arranged for someone to come in and look after her. How about an adult day care - is that feasible? One landlord in Hawaii had a wife who had Alzheimer's, and he loved her so much that he couldn't bear the thought of putting her in a nursing home. He got around that by taking her to day care on weekdays, which enabled him to both get a break and do what work he had to. I'll pray for you; wish I could do more.

Just as an aside, that landlord was told by his doctors that he had six weeks to live at one point. He was determined that there was no way he'd leave his wife, and by sheer will he did live for several more years.

Well, I need to get to Publix. I'm really, really, REALLY strapped this month - I wasn't as careful as I usually am, particularly on my trip, and thought I had more in reserves than I do. I'm awaiting a large transfer of funds into my checking account and thought it would be there by now, but it wasn't sent over to the place that will transmit it to my bank until today - I hope and pray it's there by Tuesday, as I have to write checks for my utilities on Monday! I'm also out of cat food, which I never let happen - so I have to write a check at Publix. (sigh) I sure did learn a lesson!

Have a blessed day, everyone!

Good evening, everyone! I am back from the trip. I actually got into the "home" airport 78 miles away last night. Since we had gone over 24 hours without sleep, we crashed in a Red Roof that is highly rated on Trip Advisor and slept for about 12 hours. I then had to pick up my new glasses and do some odds and ends in the city near me, as well as picking up Midnight before coming home. I'm not happy with the glasses as they are off slightly. I'll be going back tomorrow to see what can be done about it. I like the frames which I discovered are Michael Kors but the brand name doesn't sway me if the glasses are a little off.