New here and starting Topa and with a question

[sunshinedaisies]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

hey all - I am home from Bedlam !! It was crazy today but it still sort of dragged. And I left my cell phone at work AGAIN. It drives them crazy 'cos it beeps when I have a call..... I tell them just to turn it off. I could NOT be bothered to go back for it even though I was in the car park - I work early tomorrow so will have it soon enough - I have never been one to be tied to my phone.

Anyway - WTE - your work, as I have said before, is Beautiful!!!!! Thank you for sharing it with us. It was lovely to chat yesterday too. I miss chatting with my friends here. I will be glad when life gets back to normal.

Ally - I am sorry you are feeling in a dark place, but it is to be expected. You have suffered a loss and even though you try and make out it doesn't bother you, it was your mum. You need to grieve and that is going to put you in a dark place. Please share with us if you want to - PM or e-mail me if you feel so inclined - even if just to vent. I feel for you so much. It is a hard time you are going through right now and you of all people should recognize that or maybe you are too close to the situation. You will be in my prayers and here are some hugs for you :l:l

Well, I need to go and try and figure out how to hook up the wi-fi Tv thing in my daughters room - she was stumped last night and I woke in the middle of the night with a lightbulb moment and am hoping it will work.

Back later - love and hugs to all - and stuck - if you are reading this - please come and visit - we like having a chap aorund now and then.......LOL

Love, Sun XXX

[playland]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Oh Al, I'm sorry, of course I should have realized that losing your mother is probably just now hitting you. For me it was very much a surprise to feel the loss as much as I when my dad died. We were not close and barely ever sae each other but nonetheless it was a sad feeling that took some time.

Thinking of you,:h
Play

[sunshinedaisies]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Good Morning - gosh, I can hear an echo........ anyway - off to work.

Hope to see some posts when I come home..... love, sun XXX

[playland]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Dear WTE, yes your pictures are beautiful, you have a wonderful business going, I envy you in that respect, as well as you being 5 years younger than me and slim and Glam:H

I have a very independent spirit and would love to have my own business, the closest I come is selling collectibles and vintage stuff on EBay, I would say it is more of a hobby as I sometimes don't do it at all and others do it every day, I think the part I like best is hunting for stuff And at this point in life I would have no idea for a business other than doing home care as it seems that health care is all I really know, I'm trying to re-invent myself:H.

Sun and WTE both, Christmas must be really crazy for you guys, and the bad part is that you don't get much time off during the holiday either. Here in Spain just about every other weekend is a 4 day holiday for one Saint or another, that and the whole month of August off work, these people ave the right work ethic!! In the past I only had two weeks vacation and it didn't go very far with visiting my mother in the Midwest, my son in Colorado and Spain, there was never time left for me. Now that I am per diem, I still need to work all the time, but I can say NO if there is a day I don't want to work, and take a month off "IF" I have saved enough money to pay the rent and bills while I am away. I now need to stay home and work for at least six months, except for a weekend trip or two:h

I'm really tired tonight, I've pretty much had a cold almost the whole time I've been here and now my asthma is bad and making me tired. I brought an inhaler with me but it turned out to be empty and I had to go to the pharmacy today and get a new one, no problem, no RX either, they were very nice about it. Tonight is the first night that I have come to my room at 7:30 and just said that I am too tired to help with dinner or anything, the husband is helping. I'll still get up at 5:30 for the bottle and 7 to begin the day.

I'm craving really badly, before lunch every day, and having wine every night at dinner and in my room which hopefully nobody knows. I'm trying to keep it in check but I bet the day I return home it will be back to regular again, I've about given up.

Sun, was it Dec 2nd or jan 2nd that you and your brother are going to quit, can't quite remember, how are you coming on your preparations and mind set?

Dizz hope you are well.

Houtx, nice to see you and I need to respond to some things in your post, will try tomorrow.

I'm worried about Space again, haven't been in touch with her for awhile now, hope she is over the flu, I know it can last about two weeks.

Hey Stuck, you please remember this is the "safe thread", love having you here.

Bye for now, love to All, play

[StuckinLA]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

What's up, ladies? I would jump in but there's just not that much to say. I can't share pics of my Xmas decorations 'cause I just took down last year's in like October, and just don't have the energy to put them back up yet... Maybe I'll get to it before the New Year. Of course now that I look around the living room I see there's nowhere to put anything, what with the new chair and how I moved the futon around. Huh. Well Bah Humbug anyway...

But like I said, there just isn't that much going on here and so I guess that's why I've been fairly quiet all over, not just here. I've been working a lot at my online job, so I'm sitting in front of the laptop for four hours at a stretch, which is annoying. Annoying because I hate that job and responding to college student papers just plain sucks. My brain feels exhausted by the end of it, and these days the only way to make it tolerable is to work at the bar--not even to drink that much while I'm working, just maybe two beers over the four hours. But if I stay in the apartment I just go nuts trying to work. And then I think about how much of my own writing or grad school work I could've done with that time, though I wouldn't have done anything in reality, and then I look around at all the books on the shelves that I haven't read yet, and that then only reminds me of all the books at the library that I haven't even found yet that I need to read. Ugh. So the apartment is not a good place to be for too long, sometimes, but then, you know, since I've been sitting at the bar for four or so damned hours it's like well why not stay a little longer and relax after working... So by the time I get home there's little to do but go to bed. Bleh.

Anyway that's all not very cheery, sorry. Hang in there, everyone! Make it through the holidays and we can all have resolutions for the new year or something.

[sunshinedaisies]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Hi everyone - I am having to shout 'cos I have music blasting in my ears and I can't hear anything - LOL. Clocks by Coldplay - LOVE this song !!! I rarely play music - but just now and then the mood hits me! I left work 2 hours early 'cos there were 2 other managers there too and as we weren't REALLY busy enough for all three of us, and I was in early, guess who got to leave ......... SUN !!!!

So, I am feeling pretty good right now - one more day to go then I get a day off. Nice. I am trying to clean up here today so I won't have to on Tuesday! Just need to do Christmas cards and wrap a few pressies and sort out what we are going to have Christmas day - my wonderful M-I-L comes over.....

STUCK - so good to see you here. I so understand the book thing - I have so many that I want to read - have about 4 going on the night table! And SO many that I have on the shelf. Plus others that I would love to re-read.

Oh - Christmas decorations. yes, I suppose that has to happen sometime doesn't it? LOL Stuck - you took yours DOWN in October ??? :H:H

And it doesn't matter about being cheery - I am just happy to be able to have a post to reply to - although Houtx did post so I must check on that too. It takes so little to make me happy.

HOUTX - have you ever tried taking L-Glut - PROPERLY? When I take it PROPERLY, it works. Maybe you are one of those that just don't REALLY want things to 'work' ??? Just a thought as I find it very hard to MAKE myself take the darn stuff.

Play - sorry you are so tired but glad that you got a break last night. You needed it. Oh - as for the day that my brother and I are quitting - yes well, I can't remember what day that was.... watch this space - LOL.. I am SO bad !! Did you PM that person? Just wondering.....

Well, I need to go and hoover and finish tidying and put another load of washing in too. then I am probably going to iron and watch some TV that I have recorded. I will, no doubt, be back !!

love and hugs to all, love, sun XXX

[Ne/Neva Eva]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Morning! (For me, in Virginia)

Please forgive (again) that I have not read back enough to know what/how everyone is doing. I hope everyone is well, and coping with extra holiday demands.

I did see the pix. Holy Guacomole! That's awesome. (My husband and I started to put up xmas lights outside last night and then decided, "nah. Next year." Ah, well.)

Space, sister, what's going on? Back on the vodka and four days absence makes me nervous. When's the visit, Play? Miss you.

Again, sorry for not catching up.
:l and to all.

[playland]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Hi Ne, yes WTE is awesome at what she does.

The visit is supposed to be on Wednesday but I haven't heard from Space lately and I'm thinking it might not happen, kind of worried about her, will hope for the best.

Love, play

[DizzyBee]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Hi all

Just a quick drop in as I'm leaving tomorrow and I still have work to do and a thousand of other things to finish before I can go home. Had a lovely weekend with a friend over but that just took up all the time and now I'm so anxious I don't know if I'll get everything done in time.

Couldn't sleep again last night but then again I leave tomorrow night so somehow everything has a way of just falling into place at the end, hey? So I just have to do this dreaded assignment and get most of the packing done tonight, then I can spend tomorrow saying goodbye and doing a few last errands.

We did a three bird roast with roast potatoes, gravy, veggies, salad and then christmas pudding with cream afterwards for our early Xmas dinner. It went down lovely and there's still some leftovers in the fridge

I'll spend some time at home replying to everyone, just a couple of shout outs for now.

Space, I wish you would say hello and still make your trip but even if you can't just let us know how you are, OK?

Sun, sorry the thread was quiet for a bit and that you felt fed up but it seemed to have become a bit more busy over the last day or two. Hope you enjoy your time off.

Play, you are such a sweetheart to help your daughter so much and it sounds like you are coping so well overall. I'm going back to my family's watching eye and am a bit nervous about it! But I'm sure for your family its just a relief to have you there and it sounds like you are pretty much in control most of the time.

Lovely pics, WTE, do drop in when you have second to tell us how you are.

Nice to see everyone else checking in, will chat again soon, from Sunny SA. When I leave here tomorrow night its going to be minus two degrees (I always work in Celcius) and when I get to Cape Town the next afternoon (I fly via Johannesburg unfortunately) it will be 32 degrees! Jolly jumpers, poor me, we don't even have air conditioning at home. I love the sun but I can't say I'm looking forward to the heat!

:l

[Ne/Neva Eva]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Has anyone got a phone number for Space? And there was someone who had a relative nearby? "Back on the vodka" could be...

Is it too soon for me to freak out?

[playland]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

I don't have a phone number for her,

[sunshinedaisies]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

I have Pm'd you Ne.

Dizzy - I agree that everything falls into place when you are packing for a trip - but there is always that frantic feeling of not going to be ready!! Hope you have a wonderful flight and everything goes well. let us know when you arrive safely !!

I think I have cracked a rib - or something. I was reaching over the back of a chair behind it and my chest was against the chairback and I reached and reached - and suddenly something REALLY hurt where my boobs would be (sorry Stuck). And now it hurts to cough or take a deep breath. the thing is that they wouldn't do anything if it is a cracked rib, so I see no point in going to the doc - it is either that or a torn muscle. Which they also wouldn't do anything about. so, I suppose it will heal with time....

Hi Play - I am sorry that Space hasn't been in touch with you either. It doesn't matter if she doesn't make the trip - I just want to know that she is okay. I am pretty worried but would hate to have someone turn up at her door and she be fine. I am not sure what the best thing is to do - I suppose we all just have to wait until we hear from her.

I have to go and get some catfood as my daughter is out and the cats have NONE - she is at work - I don't work until 2.00. back later everyone.

love and hugs XXX

[DizzyBee]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Thanks Sun, I hope the rib gets better, that must be a very uncomfortable feeling.

Space, if you're out there, we don't mind if you're not up to going to Spain and will understand if you can't go, just drop us a line to let us know how you are doing so we can be there for you, OK? :l

A little bit of light relief:

My friend wrote this on Facebook about her little girl telling her about a song they learnt at school.

Mia: "We're learning a Tinkerbell song at the school"
Me: "Sing it for me"
Mia sings: "Tinker bells, Tinker bells, Tinker all the way"

:H:H:H

:l

[playland]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Love You Space

Hi All,
Sun, I once had a similar thing happen with a rib and I went to a chiropractor, he said it was kind of out of place and I swear after the adjustment it was a little sore from being sore but it was fine, yours sounds like that. Maybe you should give a chiropractor a go because as you said the MDs can't do a thing.

Dizz, it's always so good to have you posting again, you are dear to us. I will be thinking of you and please let us know when you arrive. I also can't remember if BF is going with you now or later for Christmas. It seems really great how things have been working out for you and BF, I haven't heard much of anything seriously negative about the living together, maybe it was just what you both needed.

Yes, I really think this time my daughter and son-in-law are really happy to have me here helping. Most times I am kind of the Mother and Mother in Law and they probably get tired of having me underfoot for such long visits. Of course the visits when helping them when the baby was born and then again when she was a few months old were totally appreciated I'm sure. I swear that my next visit is going to be totally Vacation, I'm going to do some traveling in addition to playing with my grandchildren:h

Now about Space, I'm as worried as everyone else and have assured her that it's totally fine that she doesn't make the trip, there is always next time, but I have heard nothing from her in spite of several emails and private messages, I don't know what to do except wait.

And yes, I think I'm coping here pretty well, not getting as much sleep as I need but I just keep telling myself that for me it is only a month here dealing with all the doctor appointments, physical therapy, listening for the monitor at night, and having my daughter on crutches and unable to do much at this point, but for my daughter and her husband this will be a lifelong situation, although things will get better with time. And it sure helps that the baby is absolutely beautiful with big blue eyes and the most darling laugh ever, and she has such a sweet, sweet personality. My little grandson just loves her and is not jealous at all and she loves to have him get in the pack and play and entertain her, it's really cute.

Ok gang, going for now but thinking of all of you.:h
Love play

[Bruunhilde]

New here and starting Topa and with a question

Drive by from Bruun here...

Ally, hope you're able to rise up to the top of the dark thoughts, I'm sorry for your loss, mothers are an intricate part of our lives and selves. I can't imagine.... Time will help! And talk about her and your relationship here more to vent, as Play and Sun say, it's the Safe Thread.

Which is why I can say I'm still drinking martinis, but had less last night and feeling great about that. Thought of you, Houtx! I'm wondering if it's the baclofen - I took a slug last night of a new batch (liquid baclofen) and it seems today like I'm still relaxed, I didn't keep waking all night which I have been lately, and I didn't drink that much last night. I am just being ridiculous though, because I've had much more baclofen, like three times this amount and never went down in my drinking. I do seem to have drinking cycles, as probably everyone here does. Unpredictable cycles where all of a sudden, one night or two, the alcohol loses it's urgency. I find chocolate smothered ice cream or cake helps. :H I have the theory of replacing one sugar with another and usually all it does is pile on the pounds for me, so again another fool theory.

The dog - I need to get him on the injection schedule. I need to call the second opinion neurologist to get his opinion. With people, they talk about the injection first, the surgery next, right? Minimal to maximum therapy, right? Gees, seems like animal husbandry is all about the money.

Dizzy, hilarious about the Tinkerbell song, so cute!

Sun, your rib? Did you remove a rib and give it to Adam in the garden of Eden? It's that time of year, giving and all the Jesus stuff. No offense to anyone - I believe Jesus was an inspiring and very important spirit in his lifetime and obviously, far beyond. IN fact, I wish more people would get with his message about serving others and stop self-serving selfishness! (Me included here). I guess that means I should be a bartender and stop serving myself, but just serve others! LOL

WTE, gorgeous creations, I want to follow you around San Diego secretly and watch you in action as you put these holiday decors in place into insanely priced mansions. It will help me work on my jealousy problem, seeing all those people who 'have it all' ... nothing like seeing too many 'haves' to make you want to help the 'have nots'...

Stuck, you have me wishing I had a bar I could walk to that was friendly and I could spend all hours there. All we have is a hipster Starbucks or Panera here and I can't bring my dog so that's out. I want a dog friendly indoor non-office space with people in it that are NORMAL. Dog beds and couches for us would be excellent ideas also. Something like Cheers, right? They had a NORM there, although maybe not much in the way of NORMAL.

Good day to everyone, hope it ends up being a good one.