About Mom

Arthritis Yuk!

September 13, 2012 by Diane Brogan Leave a Comment

Back in 2007 when I was experiencing wrist pain, everyone, including my primary care physician, said I had carpal tunnel. I didn’t really think so because my pain was not located in the region of the carpal tunnel. Thankfully I did not go to a quack doctor who operated on my carpal tunnel.

I went to Dr. Debra Mulley, an Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in the treatment of the hand. When I told her where the pain was and how extreme it could be, she instantly diagnosed my problem. She did the surgery to release the first dorsal compartment to correct my deQuervain tendonitis. It was a quick operation and I was all better in a couple days. Thankfully the pain never returned.

When my hands started developing thick knuckles, I assumed it was arthritis because of my age. The curious thing is the ring finger on my left hand. One day it just went crooked and it hurts. My other fingers do not have exceptional pain.

Because I TRUST Dr. Mulley and I knew she wouldn’t just give me a fluff answer about my age, I wanted her opinion before moving to Las Vegas. Dr. Mulley gave Steve and I a great explanation and options. She also gave us the name of a hand surgeon in Las Vegas she recommends. Trust is a powerful component of what makes us human.

Do you have any tips for me about living with arthritis?

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

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Meditation Secrets?

August 1, 2012 by Diane Brogan 4 Comments

Photo by Chris Brogan

On occasion Steve will ask, “What are you thinking?” When I tell him, he says he finds it mind boggling that I can process so many thoughts at such a rapid pace. That just happens to be how my brain works. I don’t have a problem with that until bedtime when I would like to go to sleep and my brain keeps on thinking.

My amazing care giver, Dr. Marney Roemmelt, says I need to meditate. Believe me I have tried. I have read many books looking for the magic. I may have found it.

We are all unique individuals. That is what makes us all amazing. The other day I wrote “Life Is So Amazing – I Love Myself” telling how life is clicking into place for me.

I read the book Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It and think I have found the secret to meditation. I have been working on the techniques suggested in the book. They sound so simple, but they are difficult. Adding the music to the meditation has been helpful. Why is meditation so difficult for me?

Do you have any meditation suggestions?

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

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Migraine

March 19, 2012 by Diane Brogan 4 Comments

Day 77 - Migraine (Photo credit: Auntie P)

Saturday morning I had many plans. I had several things I wanted to accomplish. I had the whole day planned. It was going to be a great day. As I awoke, I became aware of pain above my left ear. The pain was like a pea trying to push through a straw that was too small. The pain was excruciating. Oh God no, I pleaded, not a migraine today.

If only I could take a shower, I thought, I would be all right. I forced myself from bed and into the shower. By the time I finished, the pain had spread to the whole left side of my head and left eye. I took a pain pill and crawled back into bed. This was going to be a bad one.

Everyone is different with different DNA so I think that everyone must experience migraine differently than I do. Personally I have different levels of migraines. I gauge them like an earthquake. All are bad, but some are more debilitating than others. Saturday’s migraine was a level 9. I was in severe pain and barely able to function all of Saturday and most of Sunday. Like an earthquake, I experience after shocks until the migraine has run it’s course.

The good part of the story is that I didn’t miss someone’s big event. No one was depending on me to do something. I didn’t disappoint someone. My Saturday plans can be done another day. Fortunately I was able to lay around and wait for my body to rebound.

If you have never experienced a migraine, I hope you never do. If you know someone with migraines, be kind. Trying to explain a migraine to another is very difficult.

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

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What makes the perfect gift?

April 28, 2011 by Diane Brogan Leave a Comment

There are several occasions throughout the year when we give and/or receive gifts. For the most part, there are no right or wrong gifts. Some gifts are just more appropriate to the person.

When the boys were little, I collected frogs. An amazing (and scary) thing happened. My friends, family, and acquaintances started giving me frogs. It didn’t have to be for an occasion, such as a birthday, it was just because I collected frogs. The frogs I collected came in glass, pewter, wood, soap, rugs, blankets, and many other materials. The frogs were taking over our home. The most memorable gift I received in the shape of a frog was from Chris.

The four of us were out fishing one day. Chris rushed up to me with his hands cupped together in front of him. He was so excited and his face shown with pure joy. “Mama, mama” he said in a loud excited voice, “I have a gift for you.” When he got right in front of me, he carefully opened his hands to reveal the frog he had caught for me. Sadly the joy went from his face as he looked up at me and said, “Mama, he isn’t moving any more.” The outcome was sad, but it remains in my memory as the best frog gift I ever received.

A game to play

All three grandchildren

Now I prefer personal gifts like the hand prints and the cloved apples we receive at Christmas. As Mother’s Day approaches, I am looking forward to receiving a new treasure. My definition of treasure is the scrap books we receive from our children and grandchildren.

Scrapbooks can be made of anything; pictures, drawings, ticket stubs, or whatever captures a memory. It is nice if they are not too large and can fit easily on a shelf in the bookcase. When you give a scrapbook to someone, you are giving a part of you to that person. You are taking the time to make a unique gift.

I am blessed to have received several treasures. They were enjoyed on the day I receive them and when I shared them with my friends. A true joy explodes when I see our grandchildren review the older scrapbooks. There is usually that excited squeal “I remember that.” or “Really, I did that?” Those books just keep on giving.

Please share your perfect gift ideas in the comments section. What do you consider a perfect gift? Do you tell others what you want?

PS – It should be noted, I am spoiled by Steve,Chris, Thom and their families.

This is how we go to Gramma Poppy’s house.

It’s a Masterpiece!

Notice Diamond laying on top of the treasures. It was his way of helping us shoot the pictures.

Don’t forget

to include

Spade and Diamond

Life is a wonderful adventure with lots of happy spots!

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

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Filed Under: About Mom, Brogan Thoughts

Poker with my Best Friend

April 4, 2011 by Diane and Steve Brogan Leave a Comment

Steve said Pete and Betsy were going to be at The Poker Room on Sunday afternoon. They are a couple who live in the North Country of New Hampshire, some two and a half hours north of The Poker Room. It is always great to meet “on line friends” in real life. Steve asked if I would like to go to The Poker Room to meet Pete and Betsy.

Steve is my husband and my best friend. We vacation together. We watch the same TV shows. We cook together. We clean house together. We enjoy our family together.

Some people believe that married people should have a unique set of friends. That way if something happens to your spouse, you will still have a support group. That may be fine for some folks, but I enjoy making memories with my husband. We will worry about it later when the separation date happens. (Till death do us part…)

Having said all that, I am a poker hold out. I do not enjoy poker the same way that Steve does. I don’t know all of the reasons and rules of why and how one should play poker. I just play. As silly as this sounds, I sometimes stay in the game, just because it feels right. I seldom remember a hand after it is played and I certainly don’t remember what other people had.

Steve enjoys poker so much, I encourage him to read, to play on line, and play in person whenever possible. I don’t have to play an active part in that portion of Steve’s world. Being the gentleman that he is, he invited me to go to The Poker Room – and I accepted.

We have a few rules that we live by when we play poker.
Play with your own money
Play to win
Have a good time
When your money is gone – leave

So I took my own money and went to The Poker Room with Steve. We met Pete and Betsy there. They went on to play the tournament. We decided not to play the tournament. It is a six or seven hour commitment and we just didn’t think that was best for us this time.

We played cash games. Steve and I started on the same table playing Texas Limit Holdem. Steve went on to play at a mixed game table: Seven card stud high low and Omaha high low, also known as Omaha eight.

Steve and I had a fun time. I brought home a few extra dollars. Steve brought home a few less dollars than he started with. We had entertainment and made money at it too.

Do you like to play poker?

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Maintaining Twitter streams

March 29, 2011 by Diane and Steve Brogan Leave a Comment

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Both Diane and I are on Twitter, @DianeBrogan, @SteveBrogan. Currently we each have over 700 plus people that are following us and we follow over 300 or more people as well.

We both check our direct messages and our mentions daily. Each of us read our Tweets in a particular manner.

While Diane uses her iPad to browse through most of her Tweets, she also uses her Mac Pro and iPhone as well. She goes through them looking for items of interest and will share those gems with the rest of us.

I use my Droid phone to read Tweets using TweetCaster. I use both Twitterrific and FlipBoard on the iPad

I tend to use the “List” function of Twitter to go through my Tweets.

Twitter gives you the ability to create lists and to assign people you follow and people that follow you to those lists. You can keep the list private or you can make it public. You can even use someone else’s public list as well. So if your list is public, you might have to defend your choice of list assignments.

I am not usually current in reading my Tweets, meaning I might go a day or two before getting to them. (Don’t worry- direct messages go to my phone as well).

I am apt to go back to the last 24 hours and scan what has been said and what is perhaps trending in each of my lists.

For lack of anything better, I have a list for people that I find funny (yes, @Grundy, you are there!).
I have a list for politics and news, a list for Social Media folks. a list for family and friends.
I have a special poker friends list as well as a poker pro list.
For those that defy categorization, I even have a “rest of” list.

How do you manage your Twitter account? Do you try to read everything? How do you filter out what is meaningful for you?

Mom Pop Pow – where you can do it if you try!

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A healthy gluten free breakfast with Mom Pop Pow

March 24, 2011 by Diane and Steve Brogan 1 Comment

Growing older is something that happens to practically everyone at one time or another and is somewhat unavoidable.

Sometimes you get challenged by unexpected life changes.

Just two years ago, Diane was diagnosed with having food allergies, including those foods containing gluten. It turns out that almost all grains have gluten but it is the gluten in wheat, barley and rye that affect her the most.

We were able to find some gluten free rice flour, which has helped us to convert our recipes to something that both Diane and I could eat and enjoy.

What follows is a gluten free recipe for Crepes, a thinly made pancake usually made from wheat flour.

Click here if you cannot see the video.

Here is the recipe we used:
Baked Crepe

Preheat oven to 350

1 cup of eggs or egg substitute
1/3 cup rice flour
1 tsp. baking powder – aluminum free
1/3 cup half & half cream – fat free
2 tbls. canola oil

Combine liquid mixture in bowl or measuring cup
Combine dry mixture in a separate bowl
Mix together dry and liquid mixture

Grease baking pan with spray cooking oil

When oven has reached 350, give mixture a
quick stir and pour into pan.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes

Mom Pop Pow – where you can do it if you try

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Filed Under: About Mom, About Pop, Baby Boomer learning

Oh the games we play…

March 7, 2011 by Diane and Steve Brogan Leave a Comment

Steve and I have been married a long time. We love each other and are happy. More importantly than that is the respect we have for each other. Before we were married, Steve’s mother gave us advice: “Never call each other names that you would not use during your most intimate moments. We have lived by that advice. Having set the scene, let me tell you about the flip side.

Steve and I enjoy games. We like card games, board games and strategic games like chess, checkers and cribbage. We always play to win. No favors are given or received. Games like these let us express our aggression without making it personal. We also have a lot of laughs along the way too.

We play cribbage nearly every morning during breakfast. We like the many nuances of cribbage. The battle cry is never give up. Some hands let you do all the pegging while your opponent stays anchored in the same hole. The whole game can change in one hand. Some hands have so many points that you can fly by your opponent and take the lead. Ah ha!!! Sometimes just turning over a jack can give you a win.

Our friend told us the story of her first chess meet up with her nephew, David. She, like us, plays to win. As the game was about to start, a family member whispered in her ear that they always let the boy win. Ha, that wasn’t going to happen. She would treat him as any other opponent she met. Our friend won the game. David ran around gleefully saying “Auntie is the best chess player ever!!! Auntie is the only person who has ever beaten me.”

This may seem like an odd post, but it does have a point. If you live with someone and want to add a little extra to your day to day living, we recommend that you play a game such as cribbage.

Click here if you are unable to see the video?

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

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Cribbage Games

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Filed Under: About Mom, About Pop, Transgenerational

Save the date for Chris Brogan

February 28, 2011 by Diane and Steve Brogan Leave a Comment

We don’t talk a lot about him here at Mom Pop Pow, but we are very proud of our son, Chris Brogan and what he has done and is doing in the social media arena. We are proud that he is being honored at a charity roast.

He is being roasted by his social media friends on May 11th in Chicago, IL

Cd Vann, @thatwoman_is is the mastermind behind the event. The event is being hosted by: unGeeked Elite Retreats. Check out their website. Jason Falls will be the Roast Master.

When: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 from 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM (CT)

Where: Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro
733 W Madison Street
(312) 829-5000
Chicago IL

The proceeds of the roast tickets will benefit the charity SitStayRead.
Monies from auctioned items will also benefit the charity SitStayRead.

We wanted to let you know so that you could save the date and get your tickets before they are gone. There is a limited supply and you can get yours at Roast Brogan on EverBrite.

We hope to see you there. We have our tickets and are very excited.

Mom Pop Pow where you can do it if you try

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Filed Under: About Mom, About Pop

Arthritis Yuk!

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

Meditation Secrets?

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

Migraine

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

What makes the perfect gift?

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

Poker with my Best Friend

Maintaining Twitter streams

Mom Pop Pow – where you can do it if you try!

A healthy gluten free breakfast with Mom Pop Pow

Mom Pop Pow – where you can do it if you try

Oh the games we play…

Mom Pop Pow – Where You Can Do It If You Try

Save the date for Chris Brogan

Mom Pop Pow where you can do it if you try

Deal of the Day! Click on the shirt!

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