Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Good Monday Morning Friends,

I hope everything is back to normal for our friends in the Northeast. Here in Wisconsin, the wind was howling so loudly all last night it kept me awake.

Chill-let us know how your new job is going....we miss you.

Rustop-fetching your daughters at 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. Wow! You are a fabulous mother, and I suppose the early early morning pick-ups really keep you AF.

LBH-thank you again for posting that beautiful picture of your living room with that beautiful fire blazing. I envision you spending hours reading in front of it. I wish I could be there with you.:h

Lav-I am watching the news about the pope stepping down and I didn't know he had been ill. Seems kind of abrupt. I wonder if there is yet another Catholic church scandal brewing.

I forgot to mention that in the Chicago Tribune, February 6, there was a very good article written by Toronto writer Soraya Roberts, and the title is "A Toast to Those of Us Who Just Don't Drink." She has never liked the taste of alcohol, and she has tried everything: beer, wine, liquor, and she just doesn't like it, but she writes about the non-stop stupid comments people make to her. She said that alcohol is considered a rite of passage into adulthood, but her parents were not big drinkers and never had alcohol in the house. Her brother, also a non-drinker, said this was a key factor in their decisions not to drink: "They tended not to keep alcohol in the house, so it's not something we associated with adulthood or anything else." It was a rite of passage at my house....my parents drank, and so did my older siblings, and there was always a fully stocked liquor cabinet at our house. If I knew how to post the link, I would. If you can google it, the article talks about the experiences she has had with drunken co-workers and a drunken boss, making inappropriate comments and phone calls.

Is anyone planning on watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show tonight? I am...I just love seeing different breeds of dogs.

Off to the gym....I hope everyone has a fabulous AF Monday!

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Chicago Tribune Article-February 6, 2013

Hi Everybody:

Instead of trying to relearn how to post a link to a website...I thought copying and pasting the article would be much easier. Here you go:


By Soraya Roberts, Slate
February 6, 2013



TORONTO?

? I don't drink alcohol the way other people don't eat oysters, or don't start the day with a cup of coffee. I don't drink because I don't like it, I never have. But the difference between me and people who don't eat oysters is that I have to explain my choice ? and I've had to for 20 years.

Alcohol isn't just a drink, it's a rite of passage. Forget getting your period, or your voice finally breaking ? being an adult in North America means being legal. The irony being that alcohol is essentially childhood in a bottle. For a few bucks, you get a trip back to the carefree days of slurred speech, impaired balance and nonexistent inhibitions. Who'd turn down a bargain like that?

"You just don't like it or ..." is generally the response I get when I abstain. The ellipsis, along with the furrowed brow, covers everything from a bad case of alcoholism to a bad case of religious zealotry. A female friend of mine whose uncle owns a bar and who recently stopped drinking, added, "People always ask me if I'm pregnant, which makes me want to have a drink."

It's not that I haven't tried alcohol. I have. I've tried it more times than I would ever try anything else I know I don't like. And I still don't like it.

My mom recently told me that when I was a toddler she was once in the bath with her eyes closed, and when she opened them she found her glass of Bailey's gone. Apparently, when she asked where it went, I yelled from the hallway, "Chocolate milk!" (Despite that bathtub cocktail, my parents barely drank. "Neither mom nor dad were particularly big drinkers," my brother recently reminded me as we both considered why neither of us drink. "They tended not to keep alcohol in the house, so it's not something we associated with adulthood or anything else.")

In addition to that premature shot of Bailey's, I've given beer, wine and hard liquor a chance. And I still don't like to drink.

In high school, I lied about why I never drank. "I don't want to lose control," I said. The truth ? I don't want to be like you ? would no doubt have been less palatable. I remember one kid, eyes filled to the brim with Molson Canadian, asking me, "Don't you want to know what's going on in my head right now?" And, well, the joke kind of wrote itself.

According to my best friend at the time, whom I consulted for this piece, I spent my teen years looking "uncomfortable and a little bit disgusted" with everyone.

I never grew out of the disgust. When I finally elbowed my way past the high school meatheads and into university (more meatheads!), I still couldn't stomach the flavor of fermented what-have-you enough to benefit from the euphoria it afforded. These days, I use that excuse more than any other because it seems to be the one that everyone can understand.

In an episode of the British sitcom "Peep Show," for instance, socially awkward anti-hero Mark Corrigan, struck with a case of insomnia, bemoans having to suck down fermented grain mash instead of something a little sweeter. "Ahh! Horrible whiskey," he says. "Still, midnight down the bar, can't exactly have a chocolate milkshake, can I?"

I am the midnight milkshake drinker. According to my boyfriend, I regularly replace alcohol with food. Apparently I ask to see the dessert menu every time I accompany him to the bar. Presumably, the drunker he gets, the fatter I get. When I asked if he ever wished I drank, he emphatically denied it.
br />"I see it as a bonus that I don't have to worry that you are choking on your own vomit down an alleyway when you're not back 'til late," he said. "I just know you've collapsed in a cake shop." (I never said I had self-control ? sugar is my drug of choice.)

In Chelsea Handler's 2005 memoir, "My Horizontal Life," she quipped: "There are two kinds of people I don't trust: people who don't drink and people who collect stickers." I can't help but take Handler's statement personally. How does not drinking make me less trustworthy?

Being sober doesn't mean I don't know how alcohol works. I would not phone a co-worker's wife if he drunkenly told me that he liked me more than he should. (This happened, and I didn't). I would not assume my married boss had a crush on me if he were three-sheets to the wind and proceeded to give me a lap dance at a staff party. (This also happened, and I also didn't.) I knew that at the time, my co-worker's and my boss' GABA and serotonin receptors were going haywire and that their NMDAs and CACNL1A3s were dozing off.

Trust me, I'm not the one you have to worry about.

Roberts is a Toronto writer who contributes regularly to the Toronto Star and is the author of the film blog Incinerater.

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Good article Rusty
It's almost rare to find a person who never drinks yet I actually have two friends who never touch a drop. Oddly enough one of them had a fairly serious drug habit at one time, the other had a step father who drank non-stop & eventually flipped his truck over & killed himself on the road.

I am actually watching the Westminster show now
I can't get either one of my dogs interested in watching though :H

[papmom3]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Pooh.I am reduced to watching the dog show on a station that must have hacked into CNBC and it's horrible! It keeps buffering every 2 seconds and at one point completely crashed right as the judge was making the Toy Group decision!! Argghhhhh!

[dill]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Greetings,
Rusty, thanks for the article. It was an interesting read. I know lots of people who don't drink. I used to think they were missing the boat, but now I realize they were ahead of the game.

Pmom, I didn't watch Westminster because I was watching the epi of Downton I had recored.

Rustop, your weekend walks sound lovely. Is it part of a new exercise routine or just nice weather beckoned?

Lav, I'm really interested in the resignation of the Pope. Conspiracy theories are starting to fly but I think it's obvious that he is just becoming too feeble to fulfill his duties. The Pope is no longer just a figure head. This Pope was on a mission to represent the Church in a positive way and spread Christ's message throughout the world. He can no longer keep up the pace.

we are blessed each and everyday we are AF.

Yes, Star, yes. Staying close to this site and reading about people's struggles is a good way to keep on track.

Off to work and then afterwards, to visit the doc to get blood work results. Happy AF Tuesday.

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Good morning kids!

Up in the darkness this morning, heading out soon to go watch grandkids until my son gets home from work.

Papmom, I did watch the dog show & saw the Pap - looked good but didn't win anything.

Dill, I have no involvement in church affairs anymore but seeing the pope resign is unique. I just wish, for everyone's sake that his replacement would be more openminded & sensitive to women's issues.

Well, have a great AF Fat Tuesday y'all :H
Lav

[Chillgirl]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Hi guys

A quick hello to say all is well with the new job, lovely co workers and once I learn the ropes I think I'm going to enjoy the work. It's a hard adjustment and I'm setting the alarm an hour earlier than need be to fit in a workout in the garage before work as well as having to walk Elle. The weather is bitterly cold again and it's tough getting home in the dark and having to walk her again but I know spring will grace us soon!

Thanks for the copy article Rusty, I really think in not too many years from now more people will have this opinion and like smoking, drinking will become less socially accepted. We are of course just ahead of our time

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

That's good news Chill

[dill]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Chill, that's really good about your job! And you are right, Spring will grace us soon. It feels very, very close.

[Stargazerlily]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Good morning to all...

Rusty, great article, lots to think about. It is really hard for younger people to not start drinking when it is so expected, as this author noted. The good thing about getting older is that more people just quit for all types of reasons, as we know. My brother was telling me about his Super Bowl Sunday and told some story about watching his friend who usually never drinks, be drunk. It sounded horrible to me. I loved my night, watching the game, clear headed, healthy snacks, and then a good night's sleep. I would be horrified and sad to see a friend lose it. The mentality of drinking...

Chill, it IS a hard adjustment to get up and go to work everyday. I feel for you. I forced myself out of bed today, wishing I could just call off and sleep longer. But, here I am, with a little coffee, getting ready for my day. So lovely your fellow employees are friendly. Thanks for letting us know you are doing well.

Lav, I need more coffee too.

Dill, the poor pope, 85 years old. Let him retire!!! He has guts to resign and ask for what he needs.

OK, must get ready for work. Have a great day all.

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Greetings kids!

Sunny & 23 degrees at the moment!!!!
Warming up then a rain & snow mix for this evening - oh yay (not).

I'm so happy to see my kids pay so little attention to drinking. They never got into for 'sport'. I think their generation has been quite a bit smarter than mine.

I read where the pope's brother made a statement about the sudden decision to retire. Maybe that will help silence the conspiracy theorists. The pope is an old man & has every right to step down just like everyone else.

OK, I have hit Curves, then back here for some work then back out to meet friends for lunch. No diaper duty for me today :yay:

Have a great AF Wednesday/Hump Day!
Lav

[cyntree]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Morning all - happy hump day! I'm writing this in the dim light of my computer, trying not to disturb the dogs so that HB can still get a little more sleep...so far so good...

I've been having flat-out days here; I logged on early early yesterday morning to post, and things started happening, and I didn't get back to the computer except to close it down late last night...

Happy Belated Birthday Rusty! It sounded like you had a good day, so glad. I send you best wishes for a great year to come.

Dill, hope that your labs turn out well. Pers - shout out to you, take care! Star - spring will come, it will, it will. Lav - so glad that you don't have diaper duty today. PS, I do use mineral makeup, but thanks for the idea, it does save time and energy. You see what a makeup wimp I am...but right at the moment I'm still playing paint-by-number with the rosacea acne, grrr. Its my eyebrow painting too that really gets tiresome...I'd like to have them 'permanently' applied, but what if I ended up looking permanently astonished?

Oh darn, here comes the man...dogs will be up now, and I have to walk them outside on leashes here, so I'd better put on my walking clothes...

Cheers to everyone for a good day (and special happy hump day to you Sooty...)

[sooty]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

I'm smiling now Cyn, thanks for that message

Well it's the horriblest day ever here, so much for spring Dill, you would not believe how much rain has and is falling. It hasn't stopped all day and i've had to have the light on all day too, I hate grey days :sigh:

Oh well onward and upward I suppose, i've done some cleaning and prepared dinner and I made a rather wholesome lentil soup for lunch - vegan of course Lav

Ok off to jump in the shower now, see you all later :l

[dill]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

I've had a crazy busy day today and haven't had time for a proper check-in until now. Little Kylie was here today and she is non-stop, but SO CUTE! I had the day off work so was able to spend time with her.

Cyn, my labs were excellent! I'm so blessed. My SIL has her eyebrows tattooed on and they look great.

Hi Sooty, sorry about your soggy weather.

Star, I'll bet your brother's friend regrets drinking like that. He probably doesn't remember the game or the commercials or anything. What a waste.

Lav, It's great that your kids have the sense to keep alcohol at arms length!

Good night to all.

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships ~ week 2

Hi there cyn, sooty & Dill!

The weather kinda continues to suck as it's snowing here

C'mon Spring