As we get older and consider moving to a smaller home, we start to Downsize.  This week I've been going through my book collection.

In recent years, I had already pared down my once large collection.  I'm fairly certain that I won't be rereading many of my books. But still--how do I choose which books to keep and which can go?

For now, I'm first trying to choose favorite authors: J.D. Robb, Tamar Myers,  Carolyn G. Hart, Diane Mott Davidson, Nancy Atherton, etc. Some of the books by these authors are hardback and some are paperback. So I can't choose just hardback books to save.  

Plus, there are numerous books by various other authors I also like.  This isn't going to be easy!  

Thank you all for your comments!  I had been donating them for the annual Hospital Book bazzaar; I don't know why I never even thought of our library!  I just now checked & they do still accept donated books--so I'll be taking the hardbacked books there.  

As I mentioned in a private message to one of you, I now have 600+ eBooks in my personal library; so obviously, I've got plenty to read for the forseeable future! And now that I've mastered the 3M online library system, I can always find/borrow books from our public library as well as  getting them from Amazon.  

As for other downsizing: the one thing I really don't want to 'downsize' is my dvd collection of movies and favorite tv shows--many of which are no longer around!  Hmm...I guess I'll have more shelf space for them now, won't I?   

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Yesterday I decided I wanted to listen to some of my Irish music--which is on cassette tapes.  I hadn't even had that huge box of tapes out of the closet for well over a year, I guess.  But today I dug it out & quickly found the 2 tapes I wanted.  They didn't sound very good; I could hear a kind of noise in the tapes. I wasn't sure if it was those particular tapes, or the player.   I know I've got a 'hand held' player somewhere; but I don't know where it is. So this big 'combo' player (Tape, CD, radio) is it for now. 

So I got out a few more tapes to listen to. I've been listening to Phil Collins for the last hour.  Next will be some Moody Blues.

Does anyone else still have cassette tapes? If so, do you ever listen to them?   I did a quick count: I've got about 60+ tapes.  At least half of them are 'self made'--I think they call them 'mix tapes' now, lol.   And now that I have that box out, I plan on listening to my tapes.  By the way: apparently the 'bad' part was just on those 2 Irish tapes.  The pre-made ones sound fine.  Next, I'll check out some of my own mix tapes. 

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I guess I'm showing my age, but I really dislike texting!  My 'kids' (both in their 40's) seem to actively dislike using a telephone.  They only want to 'text'.

 Now, I'm a pretty good "typist", except when it comes to those tiny buttons on my cell phone! Yes, it's fine for short messages: Ok, call me, etc. But when you are trying to explain something, it's a royal pain!

 Today I sent a text to my son, telling him that a piece of mail he'd expected to come here, hadn't come. My husband had talked to the mail lady & got some good information from her; I tried to convey that to him in a text & got the response of: "?"

So I was in the midst of trying to explain, via text, when he sent me another text; apparently, that caused my message to disappear. So I decided to just phone him.   We were in the middle of a conversation when we lost touch. I waited, thinking he'd phone me back--he didn't.

Finally, I got a text from him: "I lost you". Well, tell me something I don't know!  I decided that if he really wanted to finish the conversation he would phone me back--he didn't.  So that's that; I'm not going to try texting again.

What is it with this generation?? Personally, I would rather "speak" to the person. But apparently, all they want to do is Text. Sigh. 

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Have you ever done something that caused you to say "I had a duh moment"?  Well, after I got my new laptop, I was exploring a bit to see how it all worked.  And I had a really "duh moment"!  

I saw this Key that had a 'letter' on it, with another smaller letter, as if it was "squared". Hmm, I thought....wonder what that is.  I initially thought maybe it was a 'squared' thing.  So I hit that key...a few times, lol --and my screen went black, every time.  Now, you probably say, well of course--but not me.  It took me a minute to figure out it actually meant SLEEP!!! Yes, it was a Z...like in "zzzz". So each time I hit that key, I was telling my computer to 'sleep'.   It's also labled "F1"...so obviously, F1 will put your computer to sleep.

 Lesson learned. 

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I started to write this as a Topic in my computer group; but since it doesn't actually have to do with 'how to', I decided it would be better as a Blog.

When my desktop pc 'bit the dust', I ended up getting a laptop this time.   I must admit, that really surprised me.  I really loved my desktop pc;  I had expected to 'upgrade' it any time it needed something--and keep it for many more years. 

Between the fact that I hardly ever "travel"--and therefore don't really need something portable--and the fact that I never really liked my old laptop, I never would have  imagined getting a laptop this time.  The old laptop was very slow; I only kept it as a 'back up'.  I didn't even like using it when my desktop quit!  But then I found this one: it had all that I need, plus it was in my price range.

I'm finding it very easy to get used to.  Today I carried this new laptop into the living room so that I could curl up on the couch and read.   You can't do that with a desktop, of course.  And, contrary to my old laptop, this one doesn't get over heated!

I haven't had any real problems with this at all. It came with Windows 10 Home; my desktop had been upgraded to Windows Home Premium. I think I'd have to Google it to learn what difference there is between "home" and Premium, because I can't tell the difference. 

Getting used to a laptop hasn't been hard at all.  I really like the 'keys'--I think the new type is called Chiclet. I do notice that the 'touchpad' is more to the left of middle--and with me being a Lefty, it doesn't give me much space to rest my arm. But I don't suppose that's very important.

I will admit to not wanting to 'abandon' my desktop. My husband says to 'pitch it'!   I find myself wanting to 'keep' it--in case I can ever afford to have it looked at  & possibly 'fixed'.  Of course, not only does it need to have Windows re-installed, I think it also has a hardware problem. So am I being silly to even consider keeping it?

Now, looking at this objectively: my new laptop has a faster processor. It doesn't have as much RAM as the desktop, but still, at 6GB of RAM, it's 'fine'. So, why can't I just embrace the new one and forget the old one? 

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This Blog idea started because I wanted to write about my colonoscopy experience so that others will understand it's not such a big deal--and keep putting it off!    I'm almost 67 & had never had one.  As I started writing, I realized there were other things I'd been putting off. 

I've had 2 phobias: going to the dentist and anesthesia. But I decided that now that I'm "older", I'm going to catch up with all the things I've been putting off.  

 Nearly 2 yrs ago, I went to the dentist for the first time in 5-6 yrs. I finally found a really good dentist, who takes the time to understand & help patients get over their 'phobias'. Mine was due to a bad childhood experience with the only dentist in our small town.

 This lady is fantastic. She explains everything & assures me we can 'stop' anytime I need a break. All I have to do is raise my hand as a signal.  At least two of my appointments have been 2+ hours; so yes, we do stop for a bathroom break as well. She also prescribed something for me to take an hour before my appointments, to take the edge off my 'nerves'. It works great!  I don't feel 'out of it', or anything like that; I feel totally normal, except that I'm calm. 

 I've spent the time between now & then taking care of all the problems with my teeth.   Next week, I will have the 'final' tooth taken care of. I'm also on a 4 month schedule for "Periodonal Maintenance".  I don't want to chance having more problems now that I'm finally getting everything caught up.  

 That brings me to my other phobia: being put under with anesthesia. I've only been in the hospital twice: when I had my children. They used Ether for the deliveries. I didn't like the feeling at all. I think that just blossomed into a fear of either not getting enough anesthesia or getting too much.   So, naturally, I avoided anything that needed anesthesia.

  However, a few years ago I found a new doctor, after having to change due to starting Medicare; I was very happy that he didn't push me to have the colonoscopy, although he did recommend it.   This year, at my check-up, he asked if I was ready to do it.  I said yes. I was determined not to let fear keep me from doing what was necessary.  

 So here's my Colonoscopy experience. As everyone had told me, the 'worst' part is the Prep, lol.  

Surprisingly, not having any solid food all day yesterday didn't bother me at all.  I've always said that if I don't "start" eating, I don't feel hungry.  I did have 2 glasses of Pepsi, which was on the approved list, as well as some water.  Then at 6pm, I started the Prep liquid.  

The first two glasses weren't too bad, even though it didn't taste good--not remotely like "cherry" as it was supposed to. By the 4th glass, I wasn't sure I could keep it down! But I did. I set my alarm for 3:45am, so that I could be wide awake in time to start the last 4 glasses at 4:30am.    

I actually woke up at 3am & decided to get up. I played games on the computer before starting the Prep stuff and whenever I wasn't in the bathroom, lol.  We arrived at the ambulatory surgical center early--and sat & waited...and waited, lol.

They finally started giving me the 'sedation' via IV half an hour after my scheduled 'start'.  The doctor & the anesthesia doctor talked to me before that & I felt calm, surprisingly.   They had me roll over on my side...I closed my eyes as they started that IV, thinking maybe I'd dream, lol.   The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room. It was all over. It  felt like I was asleep for maybe a minute, lol--no dream either.  (Oh, well...George Clooney can wait, sigh)

As for me--they found & removed 3 polyps.  Dr said two looked like  "no problem". The third one looks like it might have developed into something bad in 3-5 years. So he's glad I didn't wait any longer. So am I.

So, if  you've been putting this off for whatever reason, do it now--to be safe.  You'll be glad you did.  

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Today is my 6th anniversary here on the Hill.  I honestly can't imagine what I'd do without NOTH. I've met so many nice people here.

And I've learned so much about how to do so many things: design my profile page, add graphics, make my own graphics, and much more.  Thanks to all those who taught me those things--and made me want to pass on the info to others!

  Special thanks to Eightball and Thundercloud for giving us this marvelous site.   I hope we'll be here for many more years to come!

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I know most Americans will have the traditional turkey--or maybe ham. But does anyone prefer something else?  

My husband will eat turkey, if we go somewhere; but he isn't wild about it. So I usually fixed ham in the past, when we stayed home.   

However...in recent years, we've gotten much 'bolder'--and decided on something entirely different: Italian Spaghetti.  The 'Italian' refers to the homemade spaghetti sauce, originated by my great, great uncle, who was a cook in the merchant marines. Actually, my family will only eat homemade spaghetti sauce now--& by the time you buy all the different spices, it is a lot more expensive than just buying spaghetti sauce, lol--so it's become a 'special' dinner.  

But it's worth it: you can't beat an 'old family recipe' for bringing back fond memories of the past--and memories of family members who are no longer with us. 

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