Army June 22

[IamMary]

Re: Army June 22

Im a bit MIA myself this week, great to see you [MENTION=11158]stirly-girly[/MENTION]!
Starty pops in every now and then and doing well i think, but Bridge has been quite for a while, not a dicky bird.
My teens all grand, all coming to Greece with us next month! I may pick your brain before we go :happy2:

Did YS read tabbers post [MENTION=9094]satz123[/MENTION]? Hows he doing? And you and mr S?

Really enjoyed reading your posts [MENTION=15430]lifechange[/MENTION], your doing so well. And today is another day done and dusted, well done you!

[MENTION=22839]brit[/MENTION], great you have good friends and family, new meds might need some time to settle or maybe a tweak as Rustop says. Its still v early days without Mr A. X

[MENTION=7008]JackieClaire[/MENTION], your head must be in a spin!! Countdown now..

Last exam for middle, then shes off to france for a week. Calm and order will be restored.

Rusters, send us a card from Malta. How hot will it be? Molls, a rollercoaster week, but its all falling into place :welldone:

Watching love island for the first time, its so bad its addictive! Who else is watching it, fellow addicts:haha:

[lifechange]

Re: Army June 22

good morning, Army!
just a fly by for me this morning as i'm running a bit late for work.. will check in this afternoon.
sounds like the move down went well, Molly.. hope you had a good night's sleep..
wishing everyone a lovely Thursday and see you later!xx

[satz123]

Re: Army June 22

Morning all
Elsie it's great to log on early and see your post.
Remember consistent posting here (no matter what) is what I found is one of the secrets to success.
We all got sober in fits & starts.

The 'Birds of a feather' saying is true - we need to continually stick with like-minded people to reinforce what we know - "alcohol is the devil's work" ( as my DD says).
She says it about mashed potato too :haha:

Elsie arrives in the Army barracks.

[satz123]

Re: Army June 22

Evening all! Well the big move took place today -- everything down and almost put away -- van ready for returning tomorrow... so yeah -- we are literally waddling round in a big empty house tonight - will move ourselves the dog the car and the bike finally Friday morning and that's it.... so very very tired but well worth it..

So Molls can we officially call you a 'culchie' now :egad:
May you have many happy years in the new gaff !

[stirly-girly]

Re: Army June 22

Good morning Troopers!!

Elsie - what Satzy said - stick close by and post no matter what. Just the fact that we have all been where you are helps. We all understand so very well.

Mers - what part of Greece will you be visiting? If you're going to be in the Athens area and want to - we could meet for a coffee or whatever. The Irish girlies (and a couple of lads) plus Jackie and Mrs. A have had meetups in Dublin Town. I haven't managed to get together with Satz yet when she's here in Greece cause she's always far away. But it would be really cool to see you if you want.

Molls - sounds like you did an enormous amount of work in one day. Last day today - hope all goes well.

Waves to everyone - back to the filing. Where is Jacks to give me a hand/

Have the best day you can!!! inkele:

[stirly-girly]

Re: Army June 22

Don't know if you guys check out the other threads much but on Cowboy's Cafe thread, it was mentioned that Paulywogg's husband passed two days ago. Just thought I'd let you know since I remember that she used to stop into the Army once in a while. So sad....

[JackieClaire]

Re: Army June 22

Apologies for being late.................I was in the back bedroom tidying the wardrobes..............thought it would be a 10/15 minute job turned into a proper over two hour crap chore. Then there was the trying on stuff.. One dress I tried on reminded me of my school summer dress......(I loathed school)............into the charity bag it went and wondering wtf was I thinking when I bought it

[MENTION=8529]mollyka[/MENTION]...........I'll wish you luck for a smooth move today . You'll be running round like a headless chicken tomorrow so I'll say it now. I hope you happiness and relaxation and all you wished for in your new place.:hug:

[MENTION=15430]lifechange[/MENTION]...............there's always room for you or any one else..................... its a strong branch that Satz posted.

So, so sad for Pauly. Will donate later.

[lifechange]

Re: Army June 22

hi again!!:happy2:

yes, Stirly, so sad about Pauly's husband.. Lav mentioned it yesterday in the nest.. 51 is much to young to go.. she used to have a thread of her own here, but i haven't seen it a long while.. i hope she'll be alright.. i don't know too much about her but i know she has a grown daughter and a/some grandchildren.. i hope she has enough support.

what sort of work do you and your son do in Greece? was he born there? how did you end up there such a long time ago? and where are you originally from? we actually cook very little german food.. we work with a local organic farm and cook according to season.. in the winter it's a lot of roots, cabbage, potatoes.. now we're waiting patiently for the really fun part, tomatoes, paprika, cucumbers, zucchini, aubergine.. we do a lot of middle eastern/israeli/southern european dishes.. my main colleague is a baking fiend and we tend to bake some sort of delicious sourdough bread every week or two..yesterday it was a roasted almond/rosemary loaf which may have been one of my favourites ever.. it's a lot of fun as we're allowed to cook whatever we want and the surprise delivery from the farm each week, leads to having to be creative (its a csa farm so we don't order, we just receive our number of shares of what they're growing at the moment.. right now we're also cooking 2 days/wk. for local Ukranian refugees which feels good.. to be helping out a bit. we've got perfect weather here right now.. 26° and sunny with a nice breeze.. but it's meant to be 38° this weekend.. egad! if i understood correctly, you're in Athens?

thank you for that lovely space on the branch, Satz!:love:

Jackie, i looked up where you live and it looks beautiful.. with Scottland and the North Sea fairly close, i imagine.. how long does it take to your place from York? a bit of a drive, i guess? so lucky for you and your son/DIl to be so close.. my family is in Arizona and though we visited a lot and my kids have a close/strong relationship with their grandparents, i was always envious of my sister living so close to my mom.. i would've loved/still would to have her closer..

so my morning began with me being quite stressed out.. but signing on here and writing a bit, then going to work helped to bring me back down..
i really look forward to checking in with you all a couple of times a day.. it's definitely helping to keep my spirits up and stay on track! thank you..xx

[stirly-girly]

Re: Army June 22

hi again!!:happy2:

yes, Stirly, so sad about Pauly's husband.. Lav mentioned it yesterday in the nest.. 51 is much to young to go.. she used to have a thread of her own here, but i haven't seen it a long while.. i hope she'll be alright.. i don't know too much about her but i know she has a grown daughter and a/some grandchildren.. i hope she has enough support.

what sort of work do you and your son do in Greece? was he born there? how did you end up there such a long time ago? and where are you originally from? we actually cook very little german food.. we work with a local organic farm and cook according to season.. in the winter it's a lot of roots, cabbage, potatoes.. now we're waiting patiently for the really fun part, tomatoes, paprika, cucumbers, zucchini, aubergine.. we do a lot of middle eastern/israeli/southern european dishes.. my main colleague is a baking fiend and we tend to bake some sort of delicious sourdough bread every week or two..yesterday it was a roasted almond/rosemary loaf which may have been one of my favourites ever.. it's a lot of fun as we're allowed to cook whatever we want and the surprise delivery from the farm each week, leads to having to be creative (its a csa farm so we don't order, we just receive our number of shares of what they're growing at the moment.. right now we're also cooking 2 days/wk. for local Ukranian refugees which feels good.. to be helping out a bit. we've got perfect weather here right now.. 26° and sunny with a nice breeze.. but it's meant to be 38° this weekend.. egad! if i understood correctly, you're in Athens?

thank you for that lovely space on the branch, Satz!:love:

Jackie, i looked up where you live and it looks beautiful.. with Scottland and the North Sea fairly close, i imagine.. how long does it take to your place from York? a bit of a drive, i guess? so lucky for you and your son/DIl to be so close.. my family is in Arizona and though we visited a lot and my kids have a close/strong relationship with their grandparents, i was always envious of my sister living so close to my mom.. i would've loved/still would to have her closer..

so my morning began with me being quite stressed out.. but signing on here and writing a bit, then going to work helped to bring me back down..
i really look forward to checking in with you all a couple of times a day.. it's definitely helping to keep my spirits up and stay on track! thank you..xx

Oh - long story about how I ended up here but will try to make it short. Came on a back-packing holiday with my sister when I was 20 - met Mr. Stirly on the island of Crete - spent 6 months there. Went back to Canada - he followed 15 months later, we got engaged at Christmas, married the next April. Older son born two years later - younger son 2-1/2 years after that and then when younger son was 3-1/2 we moved to Athens (Mr. Stirly's home town) and we are still here almost 40 years later. Younger son and I have a business that mostly has to do with building safety products - window safety films, non-skid tapes and mats. Quite a variety really and for us, our passion. Mr. Stirly bought the business in 1990, I joined him in 1991, then I took it over when he retired in 2016 and with son's help, we opened in new premises in 2017 and have expanded it to a rather thriving business, if I do say so myself. Quite proud really of what we have accomplished in just 5 years. However, your job sounds fascinating. I love the idea of cooking with produce that is in season - all the veggies at their top flavour and colour. One thing I love about Greek food is that there are so many veggie dishes and the Mediterranean food is so healthy. Not that I don't love a good feed of grilled lamb chops but give me piece of veggie moussaka any day over a big steak.

Good that you are checking in here everyday - and as often as you feel you need to. Like I said - we've all been where you are and someday, you will be where we are - with a good bit of sober time under your belt and realizing how much better life is when you take AL out of the picture.

Edited to add - I got sober in October of 2015 - at the tender age of 63. There is no way on earth that I would have managed to do what I did with our business if I had still been drinking. I got a new start, a new lease on life and even braved separating from Mr. Stirly after 43 years of marriage - something that should have happened many, many years ago. What I'm trying to say is - life is a journey, not a destination as Aerosmith say in their song. It's never to late to do things you dreamed of as long as you have banished as many negative things as possible from your life, starting with AL!!!

[stirly-girly]

Re: Army June 22

Lyrics from the song "Amazing" by Aerosmith. Steven Tyler's story of getting sober....

I kept the right ones out
And let the wrong ones in
Had an angel of mercy to see me through all my sins
There were times in my life
When I was goin' insane
Tryin' to walk through
The pain
When I lost my grip
And I hit the floor
Yeah, I thought I could leave, but couldn't get out the door
I was so sick and tired
Of livin' a lie
I was wishin' that I would die
It's amazing
With the blink of an eye, you finally see the light
It's amazing
When the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright
It's amazing
And I'm sayin' a prayer for the desperate hearts tonight
That one last shot's permanent vacation
And how high can you fly with broken wings?
Life's a journey, not a destination
And I just can't tell just what tomorrow brings
You have to learn to crawl
Before you learn to walk
But I just couldn't listen to all that righteous talk, oh yeah
I was out on the street
Just a tryin' to survive
Scratchin' to stay alive
It's amazing
With the blink of an eye, you finally see the light
It's amazing
When the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright
Oh, it's amazing
And I'm sayin' a prayer for the desperate hearts tonight
Desperate hearts, desperate hearts

He also said this in an interview with a magazine....

On the importance of sobriety
For Tyler, getting sober opened his eyes to new possibilities, both within the band and for himself.

"What makes me an alcoholic is not how much I drank or how often I used, or who I did any of that with," he told Haute Living. "It's what happens to me and who I become when I do, and I don't like that guy."

He added to GQ: "I was just an angry f— when I got high. And holding on to anger is like grabbing on to a hot coal with the intent of throwing it to someone else. You're the one that gets burned."

In finding sobriety, Tyler said he emerged from a fog he hadn't even known he'd been in.

"The confusion goes away. Your friends come back. You can keep a little money in the bank. You can plan things and make them work. You get physically healthy," he told GQ. "Once you start getting high, and you stay high, you're in a different reality. And if you live in that reality long enough, that altered reality becomes your reality. And then when you're sober, you find out that was a false reality."

[rustop59]

Re: Army June 22

Afternoon everyone

Arrived safe and sound and it’s hot, hot hot. Not sure I would like it all the time but makes a pleasant change.

Thanks for letting us know Stirly, so sad. We never know what’s ahead. Thinking of those of you going through stuff at the moment, Satz, hope you have managed to get some help. Keep running Mary, you need it with teens/exams etc. Brit, hope you enjoying a run or two as well.

That set up sounds amazing LC and well done on helping the Ukrainian refugees.

Good decision moving west Molly, lots of advantages. We flew out of Shannon this morning. Parked literally across the road from departure door, that’s where the short term parking is. 10 minutes and we were through security! So much less stress than Dublin.

[JackieClaire]

Re: Army June 22

[MENTION=15430]lifechange[/MENTION]..............about two hours and a half from Scotland, and the same to York and the son and heir about half an hour.
Seaside is less than an hour.
One teeny problem is it blooming freezing up North a lot of the time.
Saying that its a beautiful warm evening today. Mr JC bought me a hanging bucket chair for my birthday. So going out for a sit..................its a rare warm evening.

@ stirly-girly..............the churchy craft place. I take my knitting, there's a woman crocheting, a woman doing embroidery and a woman who's forever cutting shapes for something she hasn't let us know what its for. Some just come for the coffee.

[IamMary]

Re: Army June 22

That's awful about Paulys husband.. same age as me
Stirs, I would love to meet up for a coffee. We have a full day in Athens, have no schedule yet and it might be tricky with the 3 teens but sure we might figure if out. It could be completely accidental, o.m.g, imagine bumping into you :haha:

Jacks I think we are in for a week of mad heat, even in the North of England!!

[IamMary]

Re: Army June 22

How hot is Malta [MENTION=15758]rustop59[/MENTION]?
I was struggling to cope with dublins humidity today!

[lifechange]

Re: Army June 22

Good Morning, Army!

sounds like you'll have the same heat wave in England that we're up for here in Germany.. supposed to be 38° this weekend!:egad: but thank goodness we don't have the humidity! at least not this weekend..

Stirly, if i'm calculating right, you were backpacking in Greece around 1970..? gosh that must have been an amazing time back then! good on you for building up such a successful business.. and how nice to be able to work together with your son! my youngest's (17) best friend is half Greek so she's been there several times.. the first time she went with BF and mom when she was 10 and i had/got to go to pick her up and stayed a week.. we were on Aegina, where BF'S mom had lived for 20 years when she met her husband.. they're now divorced but after 17 years away, she's back living there again.. it was such a beautiful time and i look forward to visiting again sometime soon.. i do love Greece, and as you mentioned, i don't think i've eaten yummier, fresher food!

Molly, good luck with the rest of your move today! may it be easy and uneventful!

i'm heading to my best friend today.. she lives 1.5 hours outside of Berlin and i'll go by train and bike.. she's already informed me of all the gardening jobs (she already harvested 8kg of strawberries this week!) she has lined up for me! ha.. it's always a working vacay when i go there.. she has a lovely lake at the bottom of her property and forested area for long walks so i'm excited!

won't be able to post again until Sunday.. as it never works when i try with my phone.. but i will check in and read.
wishing all of you a relaxing and not too hot weekend..xx