We have 60 mil rubber...mostly one sheet, covering the entire roof and out beyond the sides 8 feet to create an umbrella. It leaked by the chimney when I first built it, but we only had 10 mil plastic sheeting on, and I hadn't done a good job of flashing the chimney. That was two decades ago. No leaks since we replaced the plastic with rubber...and I'm certain that it will outlast a couple of generations. It is a nice feeling to be tucked in like this. Regardless of the weather, it seems pretty much the same inside. Quiet and secure. Warm in winter, cool in summer. Thanks for the compliment. Those photos are 10 years old.

You have to have a schedule and you have to adhere to it as best you're able. Sounds really draconian, but it isn't. It's the schedule that will keep an elderly person on course (esp. if they are losing mental capability), allow you to accomplish that which you must do, AND schedule help/respite. Help/respite. You must have this. Trust me on this. I have had Mum with me for nearly 3 years now. For fully 2 of them I did it alone. After her stroke I knew she was no longer able to bathe alone. I hired a woman to come in thrice weekly and assist her. Smartest thing I've done in a long time! I don't have to do it, it accords Mum some privacy, and she has another person with whom to interact. I calmly told my brother he had to step up to the plate and do some caregiving, too. It wasn't fair that I gave up my former life and he had to give up nothing. He now takes her for a month at a time; usually every 2-3 months. I'm OK with that arrangement; but know if he scheduled a "bath lady" it would be easier for him to take her more frequently. Try to incorporate them into your daily errands. I pack Mum into the car (along with the dog) and she "rides shotgun". She is perfectly happy to go for a ride, wait in the car in the sunshine while I dash into one place or another... sometimes she wants to go in, too... so I usually allot enough time. If I haven't, I simply say, "No" and explain why. I will grab her a "treat" if she must wait in the car. I make sure we get out to do something "fun" at the next opportunity. It takes practice to venture out with an elderly, infirm person. You will learn the places that easy to access, have comfortable bathrooms, have help that is willing to move slowly and patiently with the elderly. Mum goes every month for a shampoo/haircut/manicure. The woman is a delight; warm, patient, and gives Mum her undivided attention. We are "regulars" at several establishments BECAUSE they are willing to make time for a slow, old woman. It's hard work; not always fun. I miss my freedom terribly, if you want to know the truth. But I can do this and feel it is important for me to do it. She ain't gonna live forever, afterall. (Hi Connie!)

I hope everyone will pass the link on to someone they know. Nanny, sorry about your friend. Are you comfortable printing the article out and bringing it to them? I printed it out for a neighbor & left it in her mailbox today for her MIL who was just diagnosed with lung. I'm sure everyone remembers me second guessing where hubby was going to be treated; it still makes me hyperventilate some days! After reading the article, I'm glad that I said no to the local biopsy because they mentioned that too that some are not competent to give a good pathology report. (page 3) A few interesting parts With a slim, otherwise healthy man with testicular cancer, he explains, it's easy to remove a dozen lymph nodes (to check for metastasis and therefore the need for chemo and radiation). But in a 300-pound man with fat everywhere, lymph nodesand therefore metastasiscan be missed, with consequences that can be fatal. Another good part - page 3 talks about misdiagnosis Another caveat is that to know which cancers can be successfully treated in a community setting, you must have an accurate diagnosis. Here, unfortunately, the disparities between elite cancer centers and everywhere else can be stark. "About 75 to 80 percent of cancer diagnoses can be done correctly" in settings outside specialized hospitals, says Thomas Burke, physician in chief at M.D. Anderson. He estimates that patients traveling to M.D. Anderson have an incorrect diagnosis from a community pathologist about 5 to 10 percent of the time. Although many of those patients have rare cancers that pathologists have little experience with, some have all-too-common ones. A woman in a small town in Texas recently called Raymond DuBois, executive vice president of M.D. Anderson, after being diagnosed with an eight-millimeter ductal carcinoma in situ, a treatable form of breast cancer. DuBois said it never hurts to get a second opinion, and referred her to an M.D. Anderson oncologistwho determined that she actually had a five-centimeter breast tumor that required "much different treatment than what they were planning," says DuBois. "She required total mastectomy, radiation, and adjuvant [chemo] therapy. I think we saved her life." When it comes to outcome disparities, he says, "diagnosis is where the biggest problem is." That has long been recognized as the weak link in cancer treatment. As far back as 1997, scientists at M.D. Anderson examined pathology reports for brain and spinal-cord cancers in patients who had been diagnosed elsewhere, mostly in community hospitals. Of 500 cases, there was serious disagreement (meaning it had significance for what therapy the patient should have) in 44, and substantial disagreement (affecting the type or grade of tumor) in another 96. The scientists called these "clinically important diagnostic errors." "Little delays with a nonaggressive cancer might not matter, but a two-week delay with an aggressive cancer can mean the difference between life and death." At M.D. Anderson, the breast-cancer department alone has 24 medical oncologists, 13 surgeons, seven radiation oncologists, 16 radiologists, and 13 pathologists. "For every new case, 24 medical oncologists sit around the table and discuss it," says Jennifer Litton, one of the 24. "That's 23 second opinions straightaway."

I'll be shocked if Lee's new single is a hit b/c I didn't think it was very good. I don't mean the way he sung it, just the melody of the song itself. It was rather boring/blah. That song was released by U2 in 2000 and has been one of their most successful hits. It was surprising to me that AI chose songs that were previously recorded instead of a new song written just for the contestants as the first release. I think it is a good move though cause I've hated all of the first releases from the winners... none of them were written for a particular person, but just whoever ended up as the final contestants. I didn't think it worked well.