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Send.....thank you so much for asking "where I am"......truly appreciated, BUT.....I'm still here, just not so much since Mom's passing......too busy dealing w/social (Celebration of Life) and legal (settling the estate) issues.....

And the social was lovely.....I truly think Mom (who had the forsight to have a Will and Trust and, share in her hand-written notes, how she preferred her her final remembrance to be.....every detail.....yesss....).....would be pleased....very....it was truly lovely.....

And then there are the lovely little vagaries of life that always manage to hit you at the worst possible time (my beautiful, pristine, 10 YO SUV w/only 40,000 miles and many years paid-for vehicle, blew up....well, the d*mn computers blew up and turned off ABS, Stabilitrak, and Traction Control.....in 20" of snow and ice)......

So.....2016 has not been my favorite year.....my response: Since after 4 days in the shop, no resolution: screw it.....I just traded in for the most beautifiul, loaded brand new 2017 Buick Encore.....I love it.....and, after 10 years (such a great little truck)....I just deserve it!....hey, I can afford it, am pushing 65 YO, have no immediate dependents and......late to the game.....have, in Mom's demise, realized that I better enjoy the fruits of my own labor, much as I can now......because plenty of charities (that I already contribute to) will be enjoying all that's left of my worldly estate all too soon......

I can guarantee you....I'll still be around.....but thank you so very much for asking....

xo.....mina
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Stadium concert would be interesting from acoustical standpoint, I would think. Hm. I think he played Dodger stadium a year ago? Or was that Yankee stadium...

I saw him at the old Anaheim something-something Center, now I think that's Honda Center? That was great! The other time I saw him... I'm not even sure where. Maybe at Hollywood Bowl. I think that was it. Both fantastic shows. I would go see him again, given the chance. He still puts on one heck of a performance.

The stadium venue is interesting, but could be a lot of fun. It's different. I've never been to a stadium concert, I don't think. I hope you go if you've always wanted to see him. Never know when he's going to retire for good, or die. Ack. If "only the good die young," I don't know why he's still around, haha. He's a goodie. But he's only 67, and with the way he exercises his lungs and heart, hopefully he'll live to a good old, old age. ;-)
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Billy Joel is playing dodger stadium this May. Tickets go on sale tomorrow- I've never seen him but have always wanted to although stadium concerts aren't my favorite venue - ha ha
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Madge, I've been fortunate enough to see him twice in concert, the last time was about 9 years ago. Are you thinking of going to a show, or you've been to one?
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FF you bring back so many memories.
Drop off the list on Monday and the groceries were delivered on friday. The baker came three times a week with the bread still warm. The milkman came everyday and you put out a note with the empties if you wanted extra. Fisherman came on fridays. Don't remember how often the butcher came but I am sure he did. Of course the postman came every day and knocked on the door if he had a parcel. He rode a bike. The village policeman also rode a bike and knew everyone. We also had a district nurse/midwife and naturally the Dr made house calls if it was something the nurse could not cope with. No school buses we either walked or rode our bikes. My gma had a phone courtesy of gpa's employer but we could not use it. If you needed to get in touch with someone you walked to the post office and sent a telegram. neither of my parents ever owned a car. Mom couldn't drive but Dad could drive anything & did. He was a driver/mechanic in WW11. Mum never owned a TV but she did rent one or a washer and dryer. Gosh how things have changed but I am glad I still know how to do things the old fashioned way
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cwillie, in my grandmother's little town, about the size of Mayberry, a certain sound of party-line telephone rings would indicate that the local grocery store was calling the housewives of what items are on sale. It's interesting back then there was home delivery.... you'd call the grocery store, the clerk would write out the items right on the grocery bag, fill the bag, and hand deliver it.

LOL, the party line was the Twitter of 60 years ago :)
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I haven't, MsMadge, but I'd go. Have you been offered tickets or something?
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Has anyone seen Billy Joel in concert?
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Ah ha ha ha, the party line, I bet young people today don't even know such things ever existed. When we would come in from outside Mom would rap her knuckles on the wall to alert us that we had to be quite, she was listening in on the party line LOL
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And today, hubs time is spent replacing the insides of the toilet....forced to ignore the urgent repairs that were already on the list. We don't know how to survive without the toilet.
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Katie, my Dad also rode horseback... as did most of the kids his age going to and from school in the 1920's and 1930's in the mid-west of the U.S. I thought that was so cool, I was jealous. The local sheriff was none to happy with my Dad, as Dad's horse would run the STOP sign... well, the animal was standing all day in the horse shed at school and was soooo happy to get out and gallop home :)

Imagine kids today using a crank telephone on the wall, which was a party line. Or that little house behind the the big house on a cold winter night.... or using a chamber pot which was hid under the bed.

My parents didn't buy their first car until 4 years into their marriage. Ha, imagine young couples doing that today? Dad took the bus to work, and Mom walked to the grocery store.
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There were not many cars in the area my Dad lived in in Europe and he had a horse through the 1930s. He didn't buy a car until he lived in NY, a 57 Chevy. He was born in 1915 and was middle aged when my parents had me. It often seems like more has happened in the last 10 years with technology than in all the hundred years before this. I marvel at old movies that were made the years my parents were born...even the year I was born, and how much has changed since then. I'll bet not much changed between 1615 and 1715 as far as people's life styles are concerned with washing, cooking, sewing, etc. It just goes to show how very quickly things are changing now.
I love Ontario...the air is so clean and the land is beautiful. I love woods!
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Ontario is so beautiful, any time of year.
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Oh, and I think they closed the last one room schools around the centennial in 1967, I was bused to first grade in a brand new central school.
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Ha ha ha, rural Ontario (heck most of Canada I think) was decades behind our cousins to the south. My own grandparents didn't get indoor plumbing until the early 1960's!
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Good grief cwillie you must be even older than I am.
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I've always had an appreciation for the vast changes there have been in my parent's lifetime. They started out with outhouses, coal oil lamps, the house heated with the wood burning cook stove, one room schools, horsepower really came from horses, no vaccines, antibiotics a newfangled rarity, people born, died and laid out in their own homes..... yeah, I'm a history nerd.... lol
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Gershun, you are right, the little things. I think our parents were deliriously happy just to have a house and kids. (I am 65). They survived the Great Depression and WWII. Food was on the table. The lights worked, the toilet flushed and the heat was on. Life was good.
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Actually, speaking of appreciating things, taking care of an elderly person really makes you appreciate the little things that we take so for granted like, feeding oneself, going to the bathroom, taking a dump, you name it. I find myself doing that a lot lately, (not taking a dump) Lol, but appreciating the small things. Puts a whole different perspective on small tasks that we complain about having to do. Just think if you lost the ability to do them.
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I like Sue too, never have see The edge. I like Bush People, even though I know alot of it staged!
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Me too Pam.I like to watch Sue on Life Below Zero but my favorite Alaska show is The Edge of Alaska in McCarthy~
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I like the Alaska shows.. same sort of thing on some of them!
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Speaking of good things to watch - I am a real nut for those reality shows where they take modern-day folks and drop them smack dab into another century and make them live there for a while, with no modern conveniences. I discovered another one on Hulu the other day that was filmed in 2000, but I never saw it until now. It's called Pioneer Quest: A Year in the Real West. It was filmed in the wilderness of Manitoba, Canada outside of a small town called Argyle.

I binge-watched all 9 hours of it in 2 days. LOL (I mean, I'm stuck working from bed, so I might as well have something to entertain myself when I'm not working.) It's really, really good. I happened to think about it today after I watched the last of it - this show can really make you appreciate all that we have. As hard as the life of a caregiver is, can you imagine how much harder it would be to care for an incontinent, sickly elder in the 1800s - in a cabin in the wilderness? No doctors nearby, no Depends undergarments, no Ensure shakes to help bolster their nutrition. No nursing homes, no hospitals, no pharmacies.

As hard as it is these days, there's something to be thankful for....
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Sounds good Ms Madge. My Hubs is going to be gone for 7 weeks. While he is away I plan on wrapping myself with blankets and eating lots of soup. Oh, and watch good movies. Yippee!!!!!
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If anyone is in need of a 2 hour respite then try to watch the film Our Little Sister

I downloaded off of cable tonight and it was a pleasant evening wrapped in a blanket and a bowl of soup
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Hi Mina!
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Where ya been?
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......................................................................................................that's all folks!
It is midnight and I can only listen one dot at a time, whereas Gershun most likely gets to post her listening dots a whole line at a time.............. ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................!!!
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Hey all,
Just stopping by to recommend everyone check out an article in today's New York Times, titled, "One Man's Quest to Change the Way We Die". Very well written, touching and some great reader comments, also.

There is a link at the top of the Home Page for NYT online (I believe, if you are not a subscriber, you are allowed free access to 10 articles per month). Everyone should read this.....
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Thank-you Send! I guess I should check in now and then more often to see how the thread is going. I'm not the hostess with the mostess if ya know what I mean. LOL

I hope ye all had a good New Year's Day yesterday. My new year's resolution is to listen more, talk less. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................These dots represent me listening more.:)
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Hey Madge, saw that!! My dad liked it!
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