December Determination - Week 2

[Lavande]

December Determination - Week 2

Good morning kids!

I admit I overslpt this morning! You don't know what a thrill it is to sleep thru my 5:15 hot flash alarm :H

Dill, I have a male Cockatiel - his name is Diz! YB brought him home in a shoe box almost 25 years ago. He was still on patrol duty back then & responded to a call of 'a shoebox making noise in someone's driveway'. Turned out the family had just moved out that day & for some reason left the bird behind. We thought we would just keep him until the family realized they left the bird behind but they never did call the PD. So Diz has been a big part of the family. He sits by the french door in my kitchen where he can look out at all the wildlife activity in the backyard :H

I opened a big bottle of Cranberry GingerAle last night - it was good :H That's the closest I will ever get to opening a bottle :H
Two years ago at this time I was pretty freakin miserable, YB was a disaster & I was trying toi blot him out with bottle after bottle of wine. I worked very hard to pull myself out of that hole - YB stayed in his. I will not go back - not for anything!!!!

Wishing a good day to everyone - I'll be back
Lav

[cyntree]

December Determination - Week 2

Morning Lav - glad you had a good sleep in - Cranberry GingerAle sounds good!
PMom - meant to say earlier that your 'kids' look adorable in their red bows -- hope the sick puppy is better. Good luck with your busy days --

Will check in later -

[spedteach]

December Determination - Week 2

Hey y'all,
Quick check in here as I am not on my own computer and MWO seems to only let me stay on briefly without signing in again.
Dew, I listened to E,P,L read by the author. Then I heard her speak in New Mexico. She was so witty and wise.

Star those sandwiches made even this vegetarian's mouth water. I do eat things like turkey based ham, pastrami. I used to love cooking for that load of boys my sons would bring home.

Pap and Cyn and Dew, how can I learn how to knit. I am crocheting lots. Still can only make scarves.

Lav, what a wonderful bird story.

Rusty, does your family all live close to one another?

SD, your hockey game sound like a riot. My boys all played roller hockey. The games were wild. How big is the town you live in?

Cyn, hope you sell that house today. Did you ever see the movie American Beauty, where the mom is a realtor? Can not seem to spell that word.

Dill, so warm driving up here yesterday, up to 44.

wherewithall what a great word

Thanks for the quotes Rustop

Check in Chill and John. Hi Soot

[rustop61]

December Determination - Week 2

Hi everyone

Just a quick check in from me as I am busy as usual with family things at week-ends. Brought my daughter to another University Open Day and she seems really interested. It is the closest to home and at the moment she is thinking about putting it at the top of her list. It is an exhausting process and I have to go through the whole thing again in 2 years with my other daughter!!

Brought the doggies for their first walk in about 2 weeks so they are happy. The road to where we keep the pony is still impassable but he is on full livery so he is being looked after.

Hope you all have a great AF Saturday. Off now to get a chinese take-away. After being out all day, dont feel like cooking.

Rustop

[Chillgirl]

December Determination - Week 2

Hi Everyone
Sorry I havent been posting, there has been so much happening this week i find it daunting to try to explain it all so I have decided I wont try for now. I have been exploring many options and I hope to know next week if they are going anywhere.

Hope everyone is good, Paguy where are you?

I have been on a 30km cycle with my group today and it always makes me feel great! We have our Christmas Party tonight and Im actually looking forward to it! They are a wonderful bunch of people and most of them already know I dont drink, there are actually 4 out the group including me that are completely non drinkers. One of the guys has already told me he is an ex addict and knows I am too so I feel more relaxed than usual about going into a party environment.

I should have some time tomorrow to read back and answer some of you guys posts but for now I wish you all a very wonderful sober and peaceful Saturday!

[Lavande]

December Determination - Week 2

Good evening friends!

Got a lot done today including some new chick pics:

December 2010 pictures by elkmills - Photobucket

My Cockatiel 'Diz' is actually enjoying the lights on his cage - I think
The chicks are now 13 weeks old - getting big! I added some pics of their house & yard too.
The dog is Maxie - my part time secuirty guard & full time PIG :H I'm still mad at her for stealing my dinner last Saturday night!

Chill, glad you had a good day & have found some understanding friends.

OK, back to cookie baking.
Wishing a cozy night for everyone
Lav

[cyntree]

December Determination - Week 2

Chill - thanks so much for checking in! Your ride and your friends sound wonderful - hope you had a good time at the party.
Rustop - you sound exhausted, hope you get some rest. I'm sure it isn't easy...
Sped - one of the best books around about knitting is 'Stichin' and Bitchin'. There are little caps that you can make for kids, that look like fruit (watermelon, strawberry) - easy and fun to do - that might be a good start. Or find a class; I wish that I had started with a knitting group when we moved here...
Lav - what kind of cookies are you making?
Our showing went well, the people are very interested in the house, we'll see --. I spent the rest of the day working on my HBs new website -- the learning curve is very curvy for me! But I made some headway - though I'm falling behind on other duties for an Association that I'm supposed to be writing Press Releases for....uuugh. Oh well, will keep chipping away...
Sleep tight/happy waking all -

[Chillgirl]

December Determination - Week 2

Good Morning Guys

Enjoyed the Christmas Party but left early as the dancing started and the alcohol was taking effect. We are meeting at lunchtime for a "hangover" cycle and I will no doubt get to hear how the evening progressed.

Lav - I had no idea you had a cockatiel! And for 25 years, wow! How long do they live?
I loved your photos, Max is a darling lump and boy are the chicks looking grown up!

Cyn - I hope your viewers get back to you. Where are you wanting to move to?

In all the madness that is Christmas I hope you all manage a peaceful Sunday.....:l

[cyntree]

December Determination - Week 2

Morning - Lav, I thought of you this morning, as I woke up at 4:15, and got up and started working. No hot flashes to blame this morning, just a kind of panic attack about all that has to be accomplished in the next 5 days. All professional obligations, not Christmas related - holiday stuff will have to wait.

Chill - enjoy your un-hung ride! Thanks for your wishes re: house. It sounds as if these prospects are very interested in our house. Their house is under contract as of last Friday - if it all goes through, they may make an offer on ours...they would want to be moved by January 15th! We will be moving into a rental here through at least June, not moving cross-country (probably east somewhere) until the summer.


I think that's what put me in a bit of a panic - we are ready to move, but I have a VIP client with a big move sometime in the first weeks of January, and there is stuff I want to get accomplished here at our house before new owners take over....so it might be a bit of a crunch. But hey, in this economy, it's good news to have someone interested.

Just let the dogs out, and saw that spectacular star in the east (no kidding) - must be a planet - does anyone know? It greets me each early morning.

Star - just went back and looked at your crock pot recipe. At the store, I didn't find the spice packet you talked about, but got a 'casserole' one instead. I need to have food taken care of easily this week - no time to spend on making breakfast and dinner every day. Thanks for posting it.

Greetings to all who come by today - will try to check in later -

[dill]

December Determination - Week 2

Greetings All,
Cyn how is the holistic treatment working for your Weimy? I hope he is doing well. I wish I could go out and look for the star you're referring to, but it is snowing pretty hard here. No stars.

Star, I too went to the store and looked for the seasoning packet you mentioned and couldn't find it. I'm doing chicken today, but I haven't decided on the recipe yet. Thinking maybe a curry.

Lav, I loved the pictures! Thanks for taking the time. Your hens look happy and healthy. Diz too. How do Diz and Maxie get along? Do you ever let Diz out to stretch his wings? I used to have a cockatiel and would let it out on occasion. Sadly, one day while it was out someone inadvertently opened a door. Out he flew, never to be seen again. I can only hope that he enjoyed his freedom that summer.

Chill, I bet you'll have the best time on the 'hangover cycle'! You'll feel so good. But you'll probably have to slow your pace to let the others keep up with you.

Sped are you in the blizzard like we are here in Ohio? It's beautiful, eh? It's possible schools will be cancelled here tomorrow.

Rusty, are you going to post that recipe? Pretty please?

Stay warm everyone.

[Lavande]

December Determination - Week 2

GM December friends,

I woke up with a headache (weather related not AL) but it's still annoying!

My bird friend 'Diz' is an old bird for sure. The average lifespan is supposed to be 12-15 years but they do occasionally live 20-30 years. I hate the thought of him being near the end. YB used to let him out to fly around the house but stopped doing that years ago. Diz seems to be happier at this age just staying put My dogs have never bothered Diz - they seem to know he's the 'Senior Pet'.

Rain here, no snow & I am grateful. The temp is supposed to drop drastically tomorrow & stay very cold all week.

Dill, & Cyn, I think that seasonong packet is made by McCormick - it's very good. If you want some just send me your addresses - I'll gladly send you some
Crockpot cooking rocks - I miss it.

My friend in MN emailed me about the blizzard out there - poor guy! I keep offering to send Maxie out there because she loves to eat snow (as well as everything else) :H

Hope everyone has a wonderful AF Sunday.
Lav

[papmom3]

December Determination - Week 2

Good morning Determinators!!
Freezing rain and horrible black ice here today-lots of accidents. I made it to work safely but it took me twice as long. My city apparently doesn't think it needs to sand any roads on Sundays!! Oh I can't wait until I can put my house on the market and get the Heck out of Dodge!!

Lav-so funny Max loves to eat snow! My little Loud Mouth does too! He runs through it lapping it up like it's his last meal!! The only problem is that he then goes a tad hypothermic on me. The first time that happened I didn't understand what was wrong. He was vomiting and shivering and very lethargic. I didn't get the connection until I was just about to scoop him up and rush him to the vet. Then something clicked and I swaddled him in the down comforters and put his sweater on him. He recovered very quickly after that. Now I'm forewarned and always have his sweater ready and cover him in blankets when he comes in after a fresh snow has fallen. Silly puppy!!

Chill-you executed your plan beautifully last nite!!:goodjob:. You will have a wonderful time on the "unhung" ride today! Still sending lots of pings your way. Give that big beautiful dog of yours a huge hug for me!!

Cyn-oooh that showing sounds very promising!! I'm sending "buy" vibes to the buyers. I'll telepathically let them know your house is "the one"!! It's nice to hear that in this economy there is still hope. Keep us updated OK? Would the star/planet have been Venus?

Dill and Sped-careful with the snow. I bet it gorgeous tho!! Keep warm!

Hi Rusty, Rustop, Star-enjoy your day of rest (yeah right!!). PaGuy where are you????

[Chillgirl]

December Determination - Week 2

hi guys
well no serious hangovers amongst my riders and we ended up doing a 42km cycle. Got home cold and aching, had a wonderful soak in a candle lite bubble bath and now in my pjs with the log fire burning. I suspect I will sleep very well tonight

[Dewdrop]

December Determination - Week 2

Evening all, I slept in this morning and have been a bit slow all day, I thinks I am recovering from having friends stay, because I live on my own I do find it a bit tiring having people stay although I do enjoy it. I spent yesterday getting the house back to normal cleaning, washing etc. I also took my granddaughter to a Christmas Fair for the local Playgroup and we had a lovely couple of hours together.

Cyn I hope your house sells for you it?s quite unsettling living in that type of limbo. The Buddhist books I?d recommend are Living With Awareness and also The Buddha?s Noble Eightfold Path both by Sangharakshita. The best Buddhist meditation one I have found is Change Your Mind by Paramananda, these were recommended to me by a practising Buddhist and I have always enjoyed his reading suggestions. Sped I think that Cyn is correct and the best way to learn to knit is if you can attend a class, I know in Scotland one of the large department stores John Lewis runs regular classes.

Rusty I told my friends from Spain that I have been on a healthy eating and exercise programme initially for 30 days and enjoyed it so much I have continued for over 3 months, I tell this story to a lot of people. Part of the programme was no alcohol and now I just don?t even like the taste of alcohol and feel so much better without it I don?t think I?ll ever bother again drinking. They were a bit stunned at first and I think they expected me to drink with them but realised quite quickly that I was not going to. They live surrounded by vineyards and go to their local bodega and buy their wine by the jerrycan, it sounds like they drink wine like water ? no kidding! I must admit I was surprised to see how much they have aged over the past few years and they do look like heavy drinkers; I hope that doesn?t sound mean.

Star I am finding my AF journey easier as each month goes by however I still have craving every now and again. I just feel so much better, healthier and happier without alcohol in my life. It?s the best thing I could have done for myself but it isn?t easy as you all know, the first month was very difficult and I don?t want to go back to Day 1 again. Christmas Day will be 4 months for me and I intend for it to be AF. My goal at the moment is to get to 6 months because everyone says that there seems to be a mind shift at that point, but at the moment I just take every day as it comes ODAT.

I've managed to get my Christmas tree up and the house looks lovely tonight I really love this time of the year. I have my coal fire on and Carols on the CD by Kings College which are just beautiful so I am happy and content. I am off to make a pot of soup for through the week and have an early night, have a lovely Sunday evening everyone.

Dewdrop :h

[Stargazerlily]

December Determination - Week 2

Sounds like Sunday has been a good, peaceful, lazy day. Except for Chill, with her cycle riding!! Wouldn't do that here, we are having a blizzard, with 15 inches of snow expected, very windy, and hazardous conditions.

Dill, I bet they will shut down the schools here too.

Dewdrop, my company left too and I have spent the day cleaning and recovering. I love this time of year too. So good you are having a happy eveningat home, AF. Thanks for sharing you story about your friends and the explanation you gave to them. It is true that heavy drinking ages the people overindulging, like us. So, I bet you are not only feeling better but looking better. Are you following an eating plan, and if so, would you mind sharing? So glad you have joined our thread, I appreciate your posts.

Thought of LBH and hope she is havng a wonderful trip.

Papmom, I thought you had decided to stay put, and not move. Have you had a change in plan? And your doggies are adorable. Love the red ribbons.

Wishing everyone a peaceful cozy evening.