Random 5 for August 24, 2025 – Changes, osteoporosis, clipart, care communities, weather

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You know you are old when – you recognize the location of funeral homes outside of your hometown. I’m on the Facebook page of a large company I worked for a long time ago. I worked there for 25 years and got to know a lot of people. They post stuff about former employees and old photos to reminisce. Unfortunately, there are obituaries, too. Too many obits. People I know! The company covered a large territory. I’ve become familiar with funeral homes within a 200 miles radius. That’s sad.

Finally…good news – I was diagnosed with bone density issues in the 1990s. (No, that’s not the good news). It started with osteopenia. Once you start to lose bone density, you could only slow it down. At least that’s how it was. I’ve been taking medications for almost three decades. The last one I’ve been on for ten years. When I started it, they said there would be some bone building but not to get too excited about that. I had a dexa scan two weeks ago. I’m no longer classified as having osteoporosis. The increase in bone density since my last test (two years ago) is considered significant. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have to take medications. I’m waiting to hear from my doctor. It may mean that the protocol for treatment will change. When I started this journey, they said this could never happen. You can’t just “grow” bone. Things changed. Now that’s science.

Calling all bloggers – Does anyone have trouble finding free clipart these days? It used to be available for non-commercial purposes with credit to the artist. Now everything requires a credit card. I should start sketching my own (oy vay)! If you have any tips, please share.

The first visit – This week we are visiting a continuous care community. We aren’t ready to make that change (most people say that at the beginning of this journey) but we want to have information in case things go south fast. Our financial guy says real-feel age and capacity can change quickly. Best to be prepared. I’ll report back on our findings!

Seasons – I whine about weather a lot. This clipart (a free one I found on Facebook) gives you an accurate account of weather in our area!

So how was your week?

 

60 thoughts on “Random 5 for August 24, 2025 – Changes, osteoporosis, clipart, care communities, weather”

  1. That is wonderful news about your bones! Medical science is amazing. As for the free clipart, ask Google Gemini AI to create it for you. I made sure to ask Gemini the source afterward to confirm I wasn’t stealing, and I used a Google image search too, because AI cannot be trusted. But in this case it seemed to have worked.

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  3. Your seasons are similar to ours, except we have the added season of Construction.

    As far as Clip Art goes, there are a couple of things I’ll mention, but don’t know if they can help you. First, I found some free art at Canva a few years ago when creating my book cover, but Canva has changed, so I don’t know if they offer that any longer. Unfortunately, it’s yet another password account needed.

    I don’t know what browser you use, but if you’re searching images, there is usually a drop down menu where you can choose “free to share and use.” I use the Brave browser. I took a screen shot but WordPress won’t let me insert it in this comment box (or maybe I can’t figure it out). I’ll attempt to email the screen shot to you.

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  5. Congrats on the bone gain. How did you do it? What is this wonder drug? And so funny about the weather. So true. That first false spring drives me nuts every year! But how I love the fall. Can’t wait for it.

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    • I’ve been on Prolia for 10 years and other drugs before that. Boniva (a pill) and Prolia (an injection) are the only two that improved my density. Technically you don’t grow more bone, it retains the bone longer. That along with a lot of walking and eating calcium products helps. I will have to stay on maintenance meds because left to it’s own devices, my body will go back to losing more bone than it’s making.

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  6. LOL! The one I see most often also has “Hell’s Front Porch” after Second Summer 🙂 It is definitely a good idea to look into the continuous care community before you have a need. Then you will have a good idea of your options and don’t have to just rush into something.

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  8. Congratulations on the improvement in your bone density! My mom had serious osteoporosis, and I’ve had osteopenia for years. This week I’ll be making another appointment to see how I’m doing. I’ve been losing height. I know that.

    I also have a hard time finding images for my blog. Sometimes I use Wikimedia commons. Those are free. That not always very interesting, though.

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  9. I hate thinking about my mortality and I’ll be 70 next year so I suspect I’ll be dwelling on it even more. That’s great news about the bone density test – I’ve never had one of those and probably should. My focus has been on finding a handyman and a GP, though I’ve been dragging my heels for both items. The crummy weather all Summer and the lack of my normal routine has not been good in many respects. I have always loved dairy products, so I told myself all these years that I should be fine, but I know strength exercises are good for you too and I don’t lift weights or do exercises like that. As to the free clip art, I thought WordPress offered free images through Pexels, but that may not be true now that you can generate an AI image just by using a description. I did it last year for my scarecrow post that I wanted a scarecrow to look like me and had a lot of fun with it and best of all, it’s free.

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  11. I also have been diagnosed with osteopenia. I started taking a weekly medication and my fingers are crossed that I will have good results. I understand that it can take several years. In the meantime, I continue to walk and have recommitted myself to the gym.

    I will be so interested in what you find out about continuous care communities near you. We recently had (older than us) neighbors move to a local one. I was gob smacked at how expensive it is but they are happy. I think we might look in a less expensive area/state if/when we are ready.

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    • The buy-in is typically around the cost of a house (which you no longer need). I was gobsmacked when a neighbor moved into one about 15 years ago. They were around 70 and I thought it was premature. A few years later (not very long), the wife was diagnosed with dementia. I think the husband saw the early signs and decided to make the decision while they could easily get in. She is in full care and he has an apartment so it worked out well for him. Had he not done that, he would have had to pay until his asserts were down to Medicaid level before he got any assistance and his choices would have been limited. End of life care can cut through financial resources quickly.

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  12. We need to start thinking about continuous care communities at some point too…maybe not just yet. But we met with our financial advisor recently and he says we can afford it, which is good news. And hooray on the bone density. My last scan was osteopenia…not sure when my next scan is, but focusing on strength training a lot these days, which I’m told is helpful for bones. Time will tell.

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  16. Great about your bones getting stronger. Never say never. Happy for you. You made me think about my mother who always read the obituaries afraid she’d miss one. My dad called them, the Italian Racing Form. Again, clapping for your bones. No small thing. 🙂

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  17. Yay, you!

    I’ve been using Power Plate at the gym . . . the intense vibrations are a boon to healing after workouts and also are designed to increase bone density. Plus, it’s fun. I just get on it and DANCE!

    Good luck with your CCC search ~ make sure they give you a FREE lunch so you can try out the cuisine.

    And keep off those OBIT lists as long as possible. 😀

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  19. Big time congrats on the osteo report. I was diagnosed with osteopenia years ago but have not taking any medication yet. Have always had soft bones and keep hoping weight bearing exercise and a good diet will keep me from needing to take meds but if there’s something that might actually give density to bones might make me reconsider. Bravo, Kate!

    Yeah, seeing folks you worked or went to high school with appearing in an obit section is unsettling. This is one of those times when so much info is welcome. Nobody like to see mortality front and center especially on social media.

    Had to chuckle with the 12 seasons meme. Clever, funny and probably true all over the country (except the humidity part in the West).

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    • You are lucky. Even though I started taking meds when I was at the osteopenia stage, I continued on to osteoporosis. When I visited my new doc (for osteo), she talked about changing protocols so I could “take a break” from meds. I’ll always have to be on top of it but I’m hopeful. I do a lot of walking and dairy! 🙂

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      • I will look forward to your findings. I have a good friend who moved into a senior apartment complex, and she loves it. We live near a senior community with care, and the price tag blows your mind along with the number of years for the waiting list.

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        • The buy-in is usually close to the cost of a house which technically you won’t need anymore. It’s an adjustment to live in a more campus style with close neighbors. We downsized from a single home on a big property to a town house end unit. We love it here. Less work, less taxes and great neighbors but not everyone likes the closer contact. It was the right move at the right time. When I was younger I loved the pond, gardening and generally being outside.

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  22. I use clip art and check images for copyright etc. Most of my images now are mine though. Hubby used one of his SWMBOs in a comment and it was deleted due to plagiarism, yet it was his own work!!!!!!
    My bank newsletter has an obit page for the entire company, not just the operations centre I worked in, and there are many names on there that I knew.

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    • My old company has changed considerably. It was bought out, merged, spun out so there isn’t a newsletter. The Facebook page (run by former employees, not the company) is the best I can do.

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  23. When I need clipart I just put my specific need (what do I need to picture/say) in my search box and let it rip – I get ALL free stuff. Haven’t run into anything I needed to join to use/pay to use, etc. There ARE websites that come up too and they may charge, but just using “Images” gives me free stuff. We probably SHOULD start looking at continuing care places but our desire to stay HERE in our beloved small town has kept us from doing much in the way of research. We really REALLY want to stay here. We may have to just downsize considerably vs. move into an “elder community”. Nobody said getting older would be easy (nor did they say much about how tough it can be!!).

    Hugs, Pam

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    • I’ve had less luck than you on finding free stuff. I would prefer to age in place but sometimes health doesn’t let you. We are just at the checking out stage so we’ll see.

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  24. Current coastal SoCal Seasons are: Wet, Marine Layer of Clouds, More Marine Layer, Still Marine Layer, Marine Layer Except From 11-2 PM, Blazing Hot, Wildfire Smoke, and Now You’re Sorry You Complained About the Marine Layer.

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