General Topics Good morning everyone

[AJ]

I just thought I'd start a new thread to see how everyone is doing. It's summer and the forums are generally quieter, but I thought I'd say hello to everyone.

I'm doing ok. My Pdoc is away for the summer (very sick son) but I'm holding my own at the moment. We all know how fast that can change, so I'll appreciate it while it lasts!

Hopefully the rain stops and I can take my dog for a run at the park. I hate being stuck indoors. The fresh air always helps to ground me.

[Determined]

Hi AJ. Glad to hear you are doing OK. I've just been keeping track of all of the wild weather happening down that way, especially near my home town of Walkerton. I hope your wellness holds out for a very, very long time!

[AJ]

Thanks Determined. How are you doing?

[Lea_]

I just thought I'd start a new thread to see how everyone is doing. It's summer and the forums are generally quieter, but I thought I'd say hello to everyone.

I'm doing ok. My Pdoc is away for the summer (very sick son) but I'm holding my own at the moment. We all know how fast that can change, so I'll appreciate it while it lasts!

Hopefully the rain stops and I can take my dog for a run at the park. I hate being stuck indoors. The fresh air always helps to ground me.

Rain, eh? Where are you situated? I'm in the Vancouver area of BC. It's been bone-dry all summer. So, the rain is most definitely appreciated right now!

I'm actually going to be starting to volunteer with the MDSC as soon as they place me!

This is my 1st post on here. I haven't been a member of a message board in quite some time, although I use Reddit daily. I am glad to hear that it'll pick up once summer ends - although I wish it could be summer weather more often in Vancouver, BC!

edit: P.S.: How do I put on a display pic? I'm guessing I have to be a member for x amount of days, 1st?

[Fighting back]

Great idea AJ, welcome Lea and how're you doing Determined!

Staying busy myself. It's employment season for me and it's been a busy one. Great way to keep my mind off of more troubling things. You know what is said of idle hands. My aging body is having a little trouble keeping up the pace, but my doctor is always thrilled when I get out for a little exercise.

[paul m]

Hello Lea_ and welcome. We do try and be friendly here so please feel free to ask questions, answer other people's questions and/or use the forum to vent out some of life's frustrations. Take Care. paul m

Hello AJ. How am I doing? In some ways it's been a horrible summer and in some ways it's been great. Horrible because to start with both my neurologist and my psychiatrist are off work for quite a while due to personal illnesses, my mother-in-law has early dementia and we have been driving to help look after her 2X per week (1 hr drive each way) and my wife only gets 2 days a week off. Our vehicle's transmission quit working and that cost $2700 to fix and we were without a vehicle for a couple of weeks. To top it all off, two wks ago I had all but two of my top teeth out and I have been unable to eat anything solid since. Plus overall the weather has been lousy.

However it's been a great summer because, We had the money to pay for the vehicle repairs my dentist and denturist, which until recently wouldn't had been the case. The one brother who I do talk to, did lend his vehicle for a wk to help us out. My mother in law has shown some improvement with the extra care and meals my wife has been providing, I'm not in serious need of an appointment with either of the specialists that have been off work and although it hasn't been the most pleasant experience losing my top teeth, it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Plus as a bonus I've dropped almost 20 lbs.

Not to mention the fact that if you are going to have a summer that isn't overly enjoyable, then you really don't mind how rotten the weather is (sorry about that, for all of you who would have liked better weather).

Of course the real bonus for me is that my moods have been relatively stable through all of this. I'm really get tired easily, but having bipolar (currently a bit depressed) and Parkinson can do that without any help from stress, pain etc. But I'm enjoying life most days in spite of what's going on. At one time, not so long ago, all of the above would have left me bed ridden and crying in my soup (which is about all I can eat these days LOL) or flipped me to being really manic and nasty towards the world.

So for me, it's been a great summer. Take Care. paul m P.S. oh yes, my cell phone finally died of old age and our lawn mower quit working, but that's ok because I'm not talking on the phone much anyways these days and I always did hate cutting grass LOL

[AJ]

Welcome to the forum Lea. Congrats on your volunteering for MDSC. I live in southern Alberta. We have been hit with rain, flash floods, hail and some tornados. There has been property damage including a lot of hail damage to vehicles but no one has been hurt. Do you want to add a picture to your profile or to a post?

Fighting Back I hope you're not run off your feet at work but it sounds like a good distraction for you.

Oh my Paul. I think I might be crying in my soup if I was you. Things usually go wrong for me in threes. So far I'm at two and that's enough. Your sense of humour about the whole thing is truly refreshing. Would you like to borrow my lawn mower? It's electric and parked at the moment due to the rain.

[paul m]

Hello AJ. Thx for the offer AJ. However being a good environmentalist I am just letting my grass grow or at least that is as good of an excuse that I can come up for not fixing/replacing it LOL. I truly hate cutting grass.

However I suspect there is nothing terminally wrong with it and I will get around to fixing it when either of the following happens: A) the landlord raises a fuss or B) My wife kicks my butt and makes me repair it LOL.

However thx for your response and the offer of the loan of your lawnmower. Take Care. paul m

[AJ]

Okay so my latest news is that four letter word and the colour white in some parts of the city yesterday. Crazy weather. We are supposed to climb back up into the high twenties. I'm so glad. I'm not ready for winter. The winter months are the worst kind of weather for my moods. Maybe avid outdoors type of people like it but I think most of us just hang on for better weather. Of course I can be depressed in plus 30C weather too.

On another subject entirely, we have had a leak under our kitchen sink, for some time apparently. We just discovered the black mold under there. Yikes. The counter and back splash have to be changed and while we're at it we're changing the kitchen sink, faucet, and refacing the cupboards. This has required a lot of shopping and decision making. I have a really hard time shopping. It feels like my space is being invaded. The noise and the aisles of products overwhelm me.

Then the workers have to come. Different people for different jobs. It could take up to two weeks. Ugh. My dog will have to be at a friends house during the day and I'll miss her. Our walks help to ground me and she's my best friend. We won't even be able to start the renovations until all the products come in, many of which take 6 weeks to arrive. I'll be crawling under the sink to empty the pot collecting water every day until then.

How do you guys deal with chaos in your own home? I'm not sure what I can do that will make a difference.

Sorry for the long post! Thanks for reading it.

[Determined]

Usually I'm creating the chaos AJ. I have projects on the go all the time so it's like things are never complete around here. But then again that is how I stay somewhat stable.

[AJ]

Hey whatever works for you Determined!