May Flowers - Week 2

[cyntree]

May Flowers - Week 2

Hello MayFlowers all -

Sorry for the long absence - wild, exhausting, big big event time since I last logged on. Will explain more later, but in the meantime, just dropping in to say I'm alive and holding steady.

Psychic cousin very interesting experience, the powerful full moon, materials have gone out for new job opportunities, and we put an offer on a sweet house here and it was accepted.

Like I said, more soon. I was able to read back to see what happened in week 1, so will try to catch up with this week as well. 2nd strong cup of tea awaits me. Big hugs to all -

[ladybirdheart]

May Flowers - Week 2

Thank you Lav for reminding me that thinking about drinking is just another thought to be managed. I am rather good at it, I never romanticize them, they just float by in the overall river of beauty and trash. They only start getting to me if I get overly excited and can?t calm myself down or overly tired and feel that I have to keep going. My only answer to that at this point is just not keep alcohol around the house, just the same way I don?t keep potato chips, if I don?t prime the pump with that first bite, awaken those brain patterns with that first drink, it all falls into the river and moves on. Beck, I am with Janice in finding your words to be ?keepers?, you are also a keeper. Off to breakfast and shopping and then to clean up after a fortunately minor bout of hail, just pea-sized and relatively brief, in my garden. The tomato plants I started from seed and then buried deep in transplant are now two feet tall. One very early variety from Czechoslovakia is pumping out a little tomato already. Just before the storm moved in I had planted yet another flat of baby flowers which would be hating me right now but I had time to race around and place pots over them as my head was getting smacked. When the storm first hit, it is good I did not have a shot of whiskey at my clenched clawed hand:H. Have fun with your photos and guest dog, Bouv, and AF is very cool. Off to start my own AF day with peace and thanks for all I have today, Ladybird.

[Lavande]

May Flowers - Week 2

Cyn - there you are!!!!!
Can't wait to hear all the news

LBH, I have learned how important it is to saty out of my own head......if that makes sense
The more time I spend thinking about things, dwelling on the past or trying to envision the future, etc. the easier it is for me to get into the feeling sorry for myself state & that means trouble!!!!!
If we simply stay focused on the present & forget everything else then life seems pretty good afterall

Matilda barely made it in the door before she flopped down for a nap with her favorite stuffed animals. It's hard being a puppy :H

[Rusty]

May Flowers - Week 2

Good Saturday Evening May Flowers,

It's Mother's Day here tomorrow in the US. Happy Mother's Day in advance to all the mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, and furmothers on our faithful thread.

A cheery hello to Beck and Janice!:welcome:

Cyn-Congratulations on the acceptance of your offer on your new home! That is great news. Are you and your husband still the "commuter" couple?

Lav, I loved the pictures of your beautiful flowers and little Matilda. Hard to believe she's already 10 lbs. Lav, you are so right about this and I need to try and focus on my actions in the future instead of the past:

The more time I spend thinking about things, dwelling on the past or trying to envision the future, etc. the easier it is for me to get into the feeling sorry for myself state & that means trouble!!!!!If we simply stay focused on the present & forget everything else then life seems pretty good after all.

Rustop-I met these two lovely women from Ireland at O'Hare Airport. They own Causey Farm near Kells, Co. Meath. Here is their website: Irish Educational Tours, Irish Farm Tours, Corporate Activities Ireland, Team Building Ireland at Causey Farm

Today was a wonderful day. It was my monthly outing with my mother. She helped found an agency for adults who are both dead and blind, to teach them practical living skills. These people who are dually handicapped....deaf and blind....live in such a world of loneliness and isolation because there are so few outlets with which they can meet people and socialize. They always make my mom and me feel so welcome and loved.

Last Saturday, I was in Newport Beach, CA, enjoying a day at the beach, and I ate at a lovely harborside restaurant called The Rusty Pelican. After eating my dinner, I was signing the credit card receipt, which said, "Rusty's Copy,' and without thinking, I just put it in my wallet. The waiter came back and said, "Ma'am, I think you have my copy of the check," and I looked at it and thought, "No, this is my copy.":H:H:H OOOoopppps. Forgot who I really was for a minute.

To everyone here, have a wonderful AF Saturday night.

[ladybirdheart]

May Flowers - Week 2

Rusty;1315379 wrote: She helped found an agency for adults who are both dead and blind, to teach them practical living skills.

So good to hear from you Rusty. I love this typo and believe I share this disability. Your story about the receipt was so funny?I do recall those times when I have been both terribly confident and quite wrong, rather like those interactions that softly end with ?never mind?. You are a peach:l. Love, Ladybird.

[papmom3]

May Flowers - Week 2

Evening Mayfarers!!

I am just about to join Matilida only my stuffed animals breathe!!:H

Rusty-you are hysterical!! How close did you come to telling him YOU were Rusty!! Sounds like a wonderful organization your mom has founded-how fab that you can share in it a little bit!! I can't wait to click on that link you provided! It is my goal to visit Ireland before I become to infirm.

Cyn-what exciting news!! I'm so glad you and hubs have decided that you are comfy commuting to and from the NW Corner and will settle down there. To have your own house again must be so satisfying!! Can't wait to hear the details!!

LBH-HALT is such a trigger for just about everyone here. The better you get at recognizing the symptoms, the easier it will be to send those thoughts to join the other flotsam and jepsam that floats out of sight. I'm trying very hard to be prepared as much as I can with my busy schedule. I try to keep snacks in the car and I will sneak out of my office for 10 minutes and hide out in the ladies room to check email or FB or just close my eyes for a few. Anger and Lonliness still present challenges but I'm doing better on those fronts. You guys all are instrumental with that!!

Bouv-can't wait to see your avatar and pics!! Photobucket makes it very easy to upload pics and I've heard great things about Instagram but haven't checked it out yet. Have a blast with your guest dog!!

Janice-how'd you do tonite? Still hanging in there with us?

Evening Fabbers! I'm about to join Matilda in dream land, only my stuffed animals breathe! :H

Wonderful day at the demo even if it was 1.5 hours away and I had to leave at 8am. I truly enjoyed the atmosphere (hybrid of garden center and pet supplies)-we were set up outside under a huge roof so there was nice shade. The day was gorgeous, the birds were singing and everyone was in such a good mood buying gorgeous plants and soil and mulch plus pet food etc. The girl I was with was wonderful-totally down to earth with a style much more suited to mine than last weeks trainer. I'm with her next week as well and I'll be doing all the set up and it will be my demo. The store was pretty cool inside as well as outside and I managed to spend quite a bit of $$ after my shift was over AND the fish in my pond were identified!! They are called Comets and they are feeder goldfish!! Oh my!! Well, my little darlings won't be feeding anyone and now I know where to go if I want more! I also found out they are very hardy (good to have that confirmed) and they eat mosquito larvae laid on the surface of the water. Good fish to have I guess!


time to meet the sleep fairy and try to get more than 5 hours shuteye tonite!

[Stargazerlily]

May Flowers - Week 2

Good morning to all...

Lav, you are so right about not getting stuck in a bad thought episode, it is so useless to feel sorry for ourselves. But I do it from time to time and get miserable. Your little Matilda is adorable, that picture is just so cute. How great for your grandson to go to your house and have that baby to play with. Your flowers are gorgeous, thanks for sharing.

LBH, wow, you are doing so well, it is a joy to read your posts. Sounds like you get a lot of severe weather. A Czechoslovak tomato plant is something I have never hear of before, but I like it!!

Pap, HALT is a good thing to remind ourselves of, thanks for bringing it up. Nice to hear your new adventures.

Janice, those documentaries are a great deterrent, aren't they? How come it is so easy to forget the pain of drinking, and only remember the supposed good times? It's crazy.

Rusty, good to hear from you, you are so lucky to have your Mom around. I have been missing mine and feeling a bit sorry for myself. The proper thought pattern would be to be grateful that I had such a great Mom, who gave me so much. Again, it is important to control those thoughts.

Speaking of which, I have decided that one reason my evenings are so annoying at times, is too much TV. I want to take a fast from TV in the evenings. So, help me out everyone, what can I do. My husband watches crap, and I need to get away from it while staying in the house. I figured today I would clean up a closet and room, I have books to read but you can't read all the time, and maybe some yoga. Any other ideas? I seriously mean that the TV watching is a huge trigger for me, as I am so bored. Help.

I am up really early, drinking some awesome coffee, and have plans to pay bills, balance check book, take an early morning walk, dead head some roses a little later, and get out my yard decorations. It is time. I did a little Mother's Day shopping yesterday and bought a really cute blazer for work. Keeping busy is key to keeping AF, for me at least.

To all, have a great day.

[rustop59]

May Flowers - Week 2

Good morning everyone

Happy Mother's Day to all in the US. We had ours this side of the pond in March.

Cyn and Rusty - good to hear from you both. Loved the story Rusty and yes I have been to that farm, many moons ago when the girls were younger. Cyn - looking forward to a catch up on all that has been happening.

Papmom - your day yesterday sounded wonderful. You lead such a full and interesting life.

Lav - the photo of Matilda was adorable as usual.

Bouv - good luck with the JR. We had one for 11 years who only died at Christmas and he had attitude with a capital A!!!

Star - Sometimes I like mindless TV, other times I just like to read or what I have been doing lately is my meditation. I go lie on my bed and plug in the ipod and do my body scan for 40 minutes or a shorter one. I highly recommend it.

Had a really long walk this am. Big hello to everyone I did not mention. Janice, hope you are ok getting through your first week-end. If not just check in and let us know.

Rustop

[papmom3]

May Flowers - Week 2

Happy Mothers Day to all the human moms, furmoms, stand in moms, and surrogate moms on the Mayflower list! May it be a beautiful day and may you feel appreciated and loved!!

[papmom3]

May Flowers - Week 2

Well Star, there is this little Nursing Home I know that is looking for evening help.....

Do you knit, crochet, sew? My dream is to be home early enough to eat a healthy dinner and then sit down to the sweing machine for an hour or so after I've taken the pups for a walk. Sigh, not seeing that happening anytime soon!! However, I do know that Tuesday nite at quilting class the highlite of my week-have you ever looked into adult ed in your community?

[cyntree]

May Flowers - Week 2

Hello Mayfarers!

Another quick post - managed to read all this week's extraordinary events...

PapMom - CONGRATS, CONGRATS, CONGRATS. I echo everyone's sentiments, you are a great model for all.

Sooty - how good to hear that Mr S will soon have heart help.

Welcome all new voices - thank you for joining us here, and bravo to all for taking the step, and the next step, and the next step. We are all here for each other.

LBH - what a great victory to hear your plan for 'taking a step to the right' (brain). Inspiring.

Lav - painted walls and an adorable puppy. Life is good.

Rusty - wishing you well as you walk over that threshold into a bright future.

Happy Mother's Day all - I got a lump in my throat yesterday when a bouquet of flowers arrived from my husband's daughter (technically my step-daughter, though I'm not quite old enough to have had her myself - we are more a combo of friend/helper/nurturers). It said Happy Mother's Day to 'my other Mom'. Wow.

More soon - take care all -

[Rusty]

May Flowers - Week 2

Good Mother's Day Morning, Flowers!

LBH-thanks for editing my post and catching my faux pas!:H Unfortunately, I had waited too long so I couldn't go in and edit it myself.

Cyn-:h What goes around comes around, my dear friend. I was so touched by your stepdaughter's gesture of flowers. I know she was sincere. The memory of the surprise 40th birthday party for her really hit home for me. She had never had a birthday party for you. The positive impact you have made in her life....I am sure she is forever grateful. Happy Mother's Day!

Ok....now let me reread my post......um.....any mistakes?

Pap-you sound so energetic and happy....so good to see. How is your new PT job going? Also, sorry about your nephew missing his flight. Bummer.

Sooty-so good to hear the positive news about Mr.S. This has been a very stressful time for you.

Lav, Dill, Sooty, Star, Jolie, SD...Shelley (come out, come out)....and any other mothers out there....I hope you have a wonderful day.

[Janice]

May Flowers - Week 2

Hi, Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely Moms across the Pond!!! Yes, I'm surviving the weekend, watched 8-10 of the documentaries last night, I was speechless & spent the night worrying about my drinking so far & hoping I havent done too much damage already that will come back to haunt me in years to come...oh well, I cant do anything abt that now. Have had so much more energy & motivation to do things I wouldnt normally do....even tried out new recipes instead of dishing up the same old stuff!! Enjoyed my swim this morning & have had a few hours in the garden. Yes, life feels good....xx

[Lavande]

May Flowers - Week 2

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

It is a beautiful day in this neighborhood
My son & his family just left (excepts for EB). They came with gifts & breakfast!
EB decided to stay behind & spend the entire day with me. I'll be lucky if I can talk him into going home tonight :H

I hope everyone is having a great AF Sunday.
Janice, those documentaries are a bit harsh but they are very real & serve a purpose, don't you think? So happy you are hanging in this weekend

[Beck]

May Flowers - Week 2

Quick check-in today. Nice mothers day with the kiddos. Watched the EPL soccer, read in my hammock...other people grocery shopped...we should have more mothers days. Actually I did when I was in the UK. Celebrated both the American and Brit one.

Lav, love the pup pics. Star, I completely get the boredom thing. I started drinking during the day when I was bored doing housework. Next thing I knew I couldn't do a load of laundry without drinking to make it more "fun". This is really bad news when you have four kids and a small uk washing machine. Janice, you are doing great...

Coming back here and posting has really helped stabilize me somehow. I think it just really helps to remember how hard it was to quit. After a while I tend to forget that...

Be well,