May Flowers - Week 3

[rustop59]

Good morning everyone

Thought I would start us off on our 3rd week.

Good Luck Papmom - thinking of you today. Glasnevin cemetary is on my list of places to go one of these days!!

Chill - hope you made it home ok. You must be exhausted after your course. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

Sunni - your week-end sounded so interesting.

LBH, SD, Sooty, Dill, Star, Cyn, Jolie, Lav, Blonde and anyone else I missed happy hump day.

Rustop

[Janice]

May Flowers - Week 3

Morning everyone...a quick check in from me today but just wanted to say a big thank you for all the encouragement this last week, it has really helped!! Have a great day everyone, hopefully will get back on later. xx

[Chillgirl]

May Flowers - Week 3

:waving: Hi Guys

Rustop thanks for getting us blooming into week 3 :flower:

Sorry I have been MIA but its been insanely hectic! Wow, my brain is still in shock from all the information the NLP course provided and I have SO much to study and practice. We had an amazing time on our final day on Friday with team games and our mock graduation as the NLP class of 2012.

I flew back to Scotland on Saturday and slept on that damn blow up bed for 2 nights on my Parents floor. I then had the 6 hour drive on Monday back to Birmingham and was punch drunk with fatigue when I arrived. It has taken till today to feel normal again. I also forced myself back to the gym this morning and can feel the aches already!

I need to get back to my Nutrition Course and will hopefully get time tonight to read back and catch up with you all. Today I am feeling grateful for so much and that includes you guys.....:l

[Beck]

May Flowers - Week 3

Good Morning All,

Quick check in this morning. Seems if I don't do this before I get my youngest out the door, I just don't get around to posting.

All is well in my world. The "have a drink" voices quieted as they always do - UNLESS of course I drink. Then they become really loud and are back in charge.

Janice, great job gettting to that first week. Rustop that for restarting us. Chill, good for you for forcing yourself to the gym. i will be doing that in a few hours myself.

Best,

[Lavande]

May Flowers - Week 3

Good morning May friends,

Week 3 already Rustop - geez, where does the time go??

Janice, glad to hear you are doing well

Chill, welcome home! Sounds like you had a great trip, good for you!

I had an exhausting 9+ hr day with my grandsons yesterday but it was fun.
My daughter & Lily are arriving today to stay for a few days, so the fun (and exhaustion) continues :H
Still itching way too much - hopefully the dermatitis resolves itself soon.

Wishing everyone a wonderful AF humpday!
Lav

[Stargazerlily]

May Flowers - Week 3

Good morning to all on Week 3...

May is flying by, and good luck to Papmom on her interview today. With a new suit and your recent interview experiences, you are ready to go and I know will do well.

Chill, what a great week you had. Good you are back in your nest.

Sunni, I so agree to listen to your gut. If it feels wrong, it is wrong. The experts sometimes lose insight and are not open to being wrong. When humility is lost, you don't learn.

Lav, loved your picture, Matilda is so lucky.

Rustop, cograts on reaching your goal weight.

To all, have a great day.

[Rusty]

May Flowers - Week 3

Hello May Flowers,

I just wanted to pop in and say hello, as I am flying out to Detroit in a little while. I am going to our annual conference, and it is the first time that I will meet people in the corporate office who are aware that I no longer have the industry 'status" (as in contract position) I once had due to not passing the exam last month. I will also be surrounded with people who DID pass the exam, and will proudly be wearing that status. I am filled with anxiety, and have had some rough days lately but fortunately, have maintained my AF status, although yesterday was a particularly challenging day as I was extremely depressed....but I made it. I am learning to cope with crises AF. I am deeply puzzled in that I had crises before my drinking got out of control and I never used it as a crutch. Maybe it's because before then, I had never felt abandonment and true loss, as in losing my best friend, my brother, my dad, and a dear friend all within 3.5 years. My vulnerability was exposed for certain then.

Rustop-thanks for starting us off this week. Can't believe it's already hump day. I think of you often, as my Irish heritage is never far away in that I have several things of my father's....and he so loved Ireland and the people there.

Janice-congratulations on a week AF!!!:goodjob:

Chill-I am so glad you loved the NLP course.

Papmom-I hope the interview went well and said a prayer for you today.

Lav-I hope your dermatitis goes away....SOON....and I am thrilled that your daughter and Lily will be with you.

Hello to Beck, Bouv, Star, Sooty, LBH, SD, Shelley, Cyn, Sunni, and anyone I may have missed...I hope you're having a wonderful AF humpday!

[Rusty]

May Flowers - Week 3

Lav, I forgot to tell you that my niece now has 29 chickens!! She e-mailed me and told me, "Aunt Rusty, my husband decided we were going to raise chickens while I was at work!" She's an ER nurse-12-hour shifts. Yup, I'm sure you remember them, Lav.

[Bouv57]

May Flowers - Week 3

Hello, Everyone,

Sorry to be out of touch; I got in over my head with work, home and a part-time job. And my wife's family is going through a crisis. But her sister is scheduled for surgery on Friday, and we're hoping it's the start of the healing process.

They are major worriers, and do not handle stress well. I need to refer back to some book recommendations that were mentioned last week.

Anyway, I'll catch up tomorrow, but I wanted to check in and say a quick Hello to everyone.

Made it through one week AF (for the first time since 2009), and carrying the momentum into Week 2. Have a great evening!

Love,

Bouv

[ladybirdheart]

May Flowers - Week 3

Really good to see you again Bouv, so sorry your wife?s family is suffering and so glad you managed to remain detached enough to stay AF. Welcome home Chill and hello to all. Just a quick check in as my energy level is really low and simply putting my thoughts together isn?t working very well. I did want to share a funny story, however, as last night around six thirty I was in a similar but more weary and discouraged ebb, feeling drained past empty and still facing some gardening and pet chores and then making a more complicated and time consuming dinner than I would have wished. I had not planned very well. I remarked bleakly to Lord Bird Heart that it was a good thing we had no alcohol in the house as I desperately craved the jolt of a strong drink, and at that very moment the door bell rang. UPS. A former house guest had sent me not only a really good bottle of champagne but a MAGNUM of champagne and not only a magnum of champagne but one that had recently been named by Wine Spectator as #43 on the top 100 wines for 2011 of any type in the WORLD. All I can say is at least it wasn?t cold. Or Scotch. I looked at Lord Bird Heart (who has been in recovery for over twenty years) and we started to titter, just a bit nervously at first, but then eventually dissolving in giggles, sliding down the wall and bouncing on the floor with laughter like monkeys. We didn?t drink it or chill it or romanticize it. It was just funny. Laughing woke me up. Dinner was good. Love, Ladybird.

[papmom3]

May Flowers - Week 3

CONGRATULATIONS LBH!! I think you have turned a corner Luv! :l

Congrats to Bouv for his 1 week AF-keep on truckin'!!

Congrats to Chill for finishing her course and surviving the dreaded blow up bed and the drive home!! I just know you are on a path to bigger and better things!!

Rusty-I will be sending positive pings to you in Detroit. I really really hope that this will be a networking opp for you instead of depressing reminder of what has happened. Be strong Red!!

Rustop-I've seen some more FB pics from my neph. One looked like thay were in a pub but didn't see any pints in front of them and the other was in a classroom where someone was lecturing-Paul Murray.

Lav and Star and everyone-thank you so much for the good wishes for the interview! So how did everyone think the interview went? I could barely hear the munching!! Did anyone else see the elephant in the room???? The woman who offered me the position last year that I turned down was on the committee as I feared she would be. I felt that she was cold and not at all happy that I was there but I just gave her a huge smile and made lots of eye contact. I even gave her an opportunity (twice actually) to mention it and ask why this time was different but she didn't take the bait. I'm debating on whether to include it in my thank you email to the committee chair. Other than that I think it went well. I believe I was convincing that I knew what I was talking about and could do this job effectively. Of course I have no idea if they have an internal candidate or not but I do know that over 100 people applied for the position even tho a Master's was required. The HR person I met with first complimented me on my suit and the color and remarked that it was nice to see someone who knew how to dress for an interview! Too bad she has no say in this :H!

They will finish up interviews this week and then present the finalists to the Dean who will then decide who gets a call back.

I did go into work after and stayed until 6:30. Made my daily goal as well. Also had a chat with my boss about the not acceptable changes the VP is making and asked him flat out what was going to happen to me and my position. He said he just couldn't get into it at that moment. He's very stressed as I think he is being forced out although how they can do that with all the union protections in place is beyond me. But I know he is scared. I acknowledged that he is between a rock and hard place and that it was OK for him not to discuss this further. I just have to let the Universe take over now.

So, feeling unsettled and anxious, I am going to crawl into bed with my kids and Klondike bars. Hopefully tomorrow will be calmer.

[Janice]

May Flowers - Week 3

Checking in so you know I'm still with you guys!!! I'm dashing though as going over to my mum-in-law's to take her out for the day & mght not get back till late. Will catch up later...xx (Day 9!!!!!!)

[rustop59]

May Flowers - Week 3

Good morning everyone

Quick check in from me too. Have a list of things to do. My daughter is 18 on Monday so need to get stuff organised.

Well done Janice, it is amazing how the days mount up.

Will check back later.

Rustop

[cyntree]

May Flowers - Week 3

Morning all -

After soft rains and big gushers we are in a moment of serene sunshine here. Still intensely working on the house purchase, meeting with mortgage people this morning, so need to get the finishing touches on financials.

Congrats Janice and Bouv on your accumulating days, wonderful. And LBH, special congrats on laughing away the magnum of poison that arrived - you are certainly being tested! SD great to hear from you. PMom sounds like you hit a home run, no matter the outcome, congrats. Sunni - fascinating stories of the horse work - this horse is molding you into such a fine trainer - a great reminder that change just takes awareness, time and dedication. Lav - sounds like MiMom needs so Mi time...great pics of matilda. Rusty - I'm sending you great energy for the meeting - you are FREE from all their constraints, free to create a new work life. Chill - glad you are home safe. Rustop - congrats on meeting your goals, you are a steady example for us all. Star, how is all going for you? Dill, are you there? Where is Sped - I am missing her... Hello, G-Man?

Gosh, I know I must have missed someone - so sorry if I did, I promise to catch you later. Off to bury my head in numbers for a little while longer. Many things are conspiring to make my heart and head feel very apart from one another, hmmmm. I long for some kind of emotional settled-ness. We'll see....

[Lavande]

May Flowers - Week 3

Good morning May friends,

I am thoroughly enjoying my visit with Ms Lily
She is a fiesty little thing, just like her Mama was at that age (and still can be :H)

Hello to everyone - Rustop, Janice, Bouv, Rusty, SD, Star, LBH, Dill, Papmom, Chill, Siunni, cyn & everyone!!!!
Laughing at a magnum of champagne really takes the cake LBH :H

Have a terrific AF Thursday.
Lav