November -Week 1

[Lavande]

November -Week 1

Wow, nice to see you FlyAway
So Rusty has been out drumming up business for our thread, huh? :H :H
I truly hope everything is OK with you. We all need to be taking extra good care of ourselves! Hang out with us, we're all nice, but you already know that

DTD, everything comes to a stop when the power goes out around here...everything. We invested in a generator a few months after moving here so at least now I can get a glass of water & flush a toilet during a power outage :H I use my grill all year long - even in the snow! Anytime you're in the mood to help out with the chickens, just let me know!!! I think I have everything ready for the winter now for them!

Hey Sunni!
When I finally heard from my DIL today it was to ask if I can be there at 7:15 tomorrow morning to watch the boys. There was no thank you for yesterday's performance/fiasco. She is one self-absorbed young woman these days. I only hope she improves when she finishes her studies in the Spring.

The good news is that I think my sofa is going to live :H
No stains apparent & repeated scrubbings & a touch of Febrez has everything smelling nice.

Rusty, I almost never pick up what the kids bring in (I say that knocking on wood of course).
I'm not going to worry ahead of time!!!

[DreamThinkDo]

November -Week 1

MAE all

Good to meet you too, Fly. And yip, you've got the braai thing right.

Lav, I knew about the generator, but assumed it was more for chickie heating. The needing it for water and the loo is a different matter. I'm lucky to have an indoor braai area - the owners had converted an old bathroom into a braai room; with the incessant Cape winter rains it comes in very handy - not only for braaiing - a crackling fire is so comforting. (Oh, and they did remember to put in another bathroom:H.)

Sunny, Rusty, Dill - you all content?

Lots of fog this morning, but the sun seems to have won. Going to be a hot one, I think.

Everybody - have a good Monday when you get there!:l:l

[Stargazerlily]

November -Week 1

Monday again!!! One hour later. It was so nice to get that extra hour yesterday. I loved my yoga classes, on Saturday and Sunday, and feel sore. Lots of holding poses. Must be what I need though, slept well last night. House is put together, lots of work, took a few days. But, back to normal, whatever that is.

Rusty, are you looking to change your work? I have also mentioned changing my employment but it is risky and would involve reinventing myself, too. I am not sure I have the energy. One thought, you said you do not have the minimum job experience. Sometimes, it does not matter, if you find the right job. Your current experience might be enough. Hope the workout helped your mood, it sure helped mine. Then there was some leaf raking and hauling, and it was fun. The little girl next door followed me around, talking a mile a minute. I loved getting exercise, it helped.

Lav, sorry about your day, sometimes our kids or in-laws don't appreciate what we do. Being taken for granted stinks. Hopefully today is better. I read something that said that coffee is not good for us as we get older...I only have a cup or two, then no caffeine for the day. I think in moderation it is probably OK. What are your thoughts on caffeine?

Fly, nice to see you. Stop in any time.

DTD, your lazy day sounded lovely.

Sunshine, your journey is going well, and you sound great.

Have a great day.

[Lavande]

November -Week 1

Good morning Star & everyone,

It's a chilly 28 degrees this morning!!!
I was up at 5:30 & will be leaving soon to go watch the boys.

Star, I know for me caffeine helps drive up my blood pressure. I have one cup of regular coffee in the morning then switch to half & half. I go through a quart of decaf green tea each day which is supposed to lower your B/P

OK, I need to feed all the hungry dependents here then take off.
Have a lovely AF day everyone!

Lav

[dill]

November -Week 1

Hi Everyone,

Star, That day doing outdoor chores and listening to a little girl chatter sounds delightful. It's nice to have children around for brief periods of time.

Rusty, I am sorry you don't have the qualifications you need. Are you going to go for training to get them? You are such an amazing person, I can't see you letting this slow you down! I hope the workout put you in a better frame of mind. Oh, I got a copy of Lance Dodes' book from the library and started reading it. I'm finding it pretty interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

DTD, so I had to look up braai, snoek and while at it I decided to look up gaol. All 3 were unknown to me. So, now I see, braai is barbecue, snoek is a marine type animal in the snake/mackeral family and gaol is another word for jail. Now I get your signature line!:H I wondered about it for several days.

Sunni, so what was the character anyway? We just watched Despicable Me this weekend. The little minions are cute. Was it a minion?

Lav, so sorry to hear about the puke incident. I myself was on puke patrol yesterday. It's amazing how much can come out of a sweet little 2 year old...Ugh! As far as DIL goes, I think it is time for you to say, "No, not today, I have other plans." She doesn't seem to appreciate what she has!

Fly, thank you for the quote!

...there's no way I'm going back. Life is too good now to screw things up!

Good to see you.

Another beautiful November day here, watching the birds gathering to fly south. I am sure dreading the winter. Wish I could fly with them.

[DreamThinkDo]

November -Week 1

Star, wish I could motivate myself to get in some exercise - even just walking. The excuses vary from too late to do it now in the morning to too late to do it now in the afternoon. Kick up the backside would be much appreciated - all of you are welcome to join in!

Dill, that's the joy of such an international site - I keep on learning new things too!

Lav, something I've wanted to ask for quite some time now: is EB just your abbreviation of your grandson's name, or does it mean something, like YB (and did I laugh when I read what it stands for!). and if I'm too nosey, just tell me so. And I so agree with Dill: I know you love your littlies dearly, but you are being taken advantage of.

Had a not too bad Monday, ready for supper now, then a bath and bed.

Stay well, all!

[FlyAway]

November -Week 1

Happy Monday friends.

Lav-I agree with Dill. Your DIL doesn't realize how good she has it. I'm glad to hear that she'll be finished with school in the spring. I know you love watching your grandsons, but they are a lot of work at that age! I should know, I have 2 myself. Hooray for clean, non-smelly sofas.

DTD-How interesting to hear about the indoor braai room! How is that ventilated?

Star-Glad to hear that you got to do your yoga. The time change always messes me up. It's a bit after 5pm now and dark. I'm feeling like it's bedtime! I love my coffee; it's my only vice (other than using foul language). I usually have about 12-16oz. in the morning and none after that. I can't sleep at night if I drink too much.

Dill-Puke patrol, huh? I hope you don't get sick too. I noticed lots of birds migrating today as well.

Well, looks like I managed to run off Rusty! :H

[Lavande]

November -Week 1

Off puke patrol duty by 8 pm tonight so it was only an 11 hr day :H :H

DTD, EB stands for Energizer Bunny..... his real name is Matthew!
Energizer Bunny - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He was such a busy toddler - the name just fit!

Greetings FlyAway, Dill & everyone.
Rusty, where are you off to this week?

I need to get some rest - Good night all!

[Stargazerlily]

November -Week 1

Good morning to all...

Dill, I hear you about winter, yuck. So far, the weather is pretty nice, 50s and mild, but I dread lots of snow and cold. I too like little kids for a short time, then it is nice to have quiet.

Lav, sorry about puke patrol, hope today is an easier day for you.

Fly, Rusty is usually working, so visits a few times a week, you did not chase anyone off!!

DTD, greetings.

Have a great day.

[Lavande]

November -Week 1

Good morning friends

Sunny, chilly, OK for this time of year

I have no kids on my schedule today, just work & a trip in for a B/P check & flu shot. My life is so exciting :H
I do have plans to meet several old work friends for lunch tomorrow. One of those girls will be leaving soon for Florida where she roosts all winter while we shovel snow......jealous :H

Greetings to everyone, sending wishes for a terrific AF Tuesday!
Here's my TUT....Note from the Universe for today:

When the fear of "things staying the same" exceeds the fear of "failure," stuff happens.

Ch-ch-changes...
The Universe

[DreamThinkDo]

November -Week 1

Fear of failure - my worry at the moment. Not that I'm thinking of actually drinking, but there are so many "repeaters" here, or people who never get past a certain number of AF days, people who just don't get it, that I fear I will fall into that same trap. Almost a case of fear of failure breeding failure by association. And yes, there are the stars - like Nanette who has more than a year AF, all of you here, but they seem to be in the minority. Or is it that they are AF but don't stay active on the boards, so one doesn't really know about them? Sorry to be so less than positive.

Star, thought about you in the shops today - the grocery store has some beautiful stargazer lilies for sale! As soon as I know where I'm going to plant them, I'm definitely going to buy at least one pot.

Lav, hope you managed to stay off the puke patrol today! Love the EB explanation - we have Duracell bunnies here.

Dill - there's a spare room here if you (and everybody else) want to escape the cold... I am a summer girl - much prefer heat to cold.

Had lunch out: the waitress normally brings me a glass of wine as soon as she sees me but today she came to double check. Had about three glasses of water with lemon and my usual lunch there: chicken burger, chips, cheese & garlic sauce, salad.

Did some callanetics - not the entire programme, will probably split it in two and do over two days. I did it years and years ago, and it really works.

Have to think about supper - probably pasta, then bath, then book in bed. Thank heavens I had such a busy social life when I was younger - I'm certainly nobody's idea of a party animal at the moment.

Stay well, all

[dill]

November -Week 1

Late check in here. I dunno how the day got away from me but there you are.

DTD, don't fear. You will keep going a day at a time and you will achieve. Everybody's journey is unique, but the important thing is to just keep moving forward. Are you having a hard time right now? You sound like you are at a similar place in life as I am. I socialized a lot when young, but now (age 61) I love the quiet life. Tonight we are having a Thai Chicken soup and then like you, it's bath, book, some TV and then early to bed. Can you tell us a little about yourself? I'm recently retired from school based speech therapy, two adult children, 3 grandchildren. Our son is currently living with us with his two little ones while he sorts his life out and gets back on his feet. He and his wife are separated.

Lav, have fun with you girl friends tomorrow. I have not made any plans for tomorrow because I have been summoned to jury duty for tomorrow. I have to call the court after 5 tonight to hear instructions as to whether I have to appear or not. It's grand jury duty. I've never done this before, kind of excited about it. Thursday morning I'm on volunteer duty at the Food Pantry.

Hey Star, hope you had a good day at work.

Fly, I guess with the name "FlyAway" you would be noticing birds1:H:H

Hey Rusty, Cyn, Witts, Papmom, Hope all is well!

[Rusty]

November -Week 1

Good Evening, Friends,

I am pulling myself out of a blue mood as I am focused on my vacation in South Carolina on Thursday. You all know that I've been trying to break into the environmental field, and since I don't have a degree in environmental engineering or science, I must have a few years work experience in that field and I don't have it. Well, I got my first rejection letter today. It was from a company where I worked for 8 years and I was so confident that they would want to qualify me and hire me on in the environmental field, and they just flat out said they had a ton of people who had the required work experience and the degree, and I wasn't one of them.:damn: I guess I will continue working as a generalist. The work can be rather boring but I suppose I will focus on getting more consulting clients close to home. On a positive note, I haven't even given drinking a thought.


Dream:I had that fear of failing at this, too....especially last year when I flunked an exam that my lucrative career depended on, and my self-confidence took a major nose-dive. One day at a time works the best, I think, and for me, sometimes it was one hour at a time in the first few days that I was AF. I thought I was absolutely going to go bananas. I think that fear of failure is very common when it comes to drinking because so many of us had been drinking for years, and it was a long-time habit. I think the reason some long-term AF people don't post anymore is because AF is a way of life for them now and they don't even think about it. Our threadmate, Papmom 3 doesn't post anymore because she has over 3 years AF and she doesn't even think about drinking/not drinking....her sobriety is as natural as walking down a hallway but she guards her sobriety like a hawk. Others don't post because they have started drinking again and are too ashamed to come back on here for fear they will get yelled at by other members. Stick with us for support. Could you tell us a little bit about your history and what lead you to want to stop drinking? I am a single, never-married 52 year-old woman who owns a consulting business in the quality assurance industry, and I work as a contract QA auditor. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, where I still live. I have no pets, nor a "special someone" in my life. My "special" people are my older sister and my mother, and my two older brothers. My oldest brother died of a heart attack 7 years ago, and my dad a little over 9 years ago. I have 12 nieces and nephews and 28 great-nieces and nephews and we are only half-way done.

On a different subject, I am so glad Dill took the time to look up snoek, braai, and gaol. I had no clue what the words meant either.:H Thanks, Dill! :-)
Great job on ordering water instead of wine. I smiled when you mentioned the server usually brings you wine without asking and was surprised when you ordered water with lemon. My usual server at one of my regular drinking haunts would automatically bring me a glass of Chardonnay. She must think I died because I haven't been there in so long.:H

Dill-the Thai Chicken Soup sounds delicious. Please share the recipe when you have time. This is so coincidental....I was summoned for jury duty, too...the first week of December. I asked for a postponement because I have 5 days of work that week. Grand jury duty sounds fascinating. A nice and welcome change to your routine, right? How are you finding the food pantry work? Is it rewarding?

Star-you asked if I could get more training in lieu of job experience in the environmental industry, and the answer is, yes, I could get more training but no, it will not satisfy the work experience requirement. You must have been jumping up and down since the Bears won last night, huh?

FlyAway: I think I know you chose your MWO name. You swoop down into threads and then Fly Away before people get a chance to respond to your posts.:H I am so sorry you are not feeling well. Is it you who suffers from fibromyalgia (sp?) or is that our beloved Cyntree? Do you care to share what is going on? For those of you who don't know Fly, she is so very kind to Newbies who are struggling to be AF, and people who have been AF for a while and have stories to share....we are so lucky when she stops in to see us. As Star said, I am really busy working, and commuting long distances so I don't get a chance to post much....and my posts are never brief....they're more like written docudramas!:H I've tried to make them brief but it's never worked out.

Lav-I am soooo relieved you didn't catch whatever bug EB caught. As far as your DIL goes, I guess I would set some boundaries when she asks you to babysit. Could you say, "I am sorry but tomorrow will not work out. I have a strict deadline I have to meet with Customer X's embroidery designs," or something like that? Dear Abby once said, "no one can take advantage of you without your permission." I kind of like that saying.

Big hellos to Cyn, Witts/Corgipups, Papmom, GG, and anyone who stops by...thank you for being here for me, and I hope you're having a peaceful evening/morning (Aussie friends).

xoxox

Rusty

[Rusty]

November -Week 1

P.S. I've been working on that past since 7:30 this morning!:H

[Lavande]

November -Week 1

I'm back, nothing much going on at the moment & that's perfectly OK with me

DTD, I just checked in on the EB by texting his mother......he is better now, thank goodness.
His 5th birthday is coming up on the 28th & I just picked up a nice winter jacket for him today to go along with whatever toy thing I find for him, yay!

Dill, I always got myself excused for jury duty because of YB's job. They figured his attitude would influence me or something :H
The time I was summoned for Federal jury duty in Philly though was a different story. I had to haul myself into the city for two days & just sit there until they questioned me about all the answers I put on the questionnaire, then excused me from jury duty. The case had to do with some drunken asshole complaining that the Philly police had roughed him up a little while in custody, which they very well may have but..... He was claiming that he was injured & unable to work - he looked perfectly fine to me :H :H
I hope your experience is better than mine!

Rusty, happy vacation! I'm just a little jealous!!
Try to relax & forget about the stuff (and people) you just can't control. Our sanity is more important.
I absolutely do put my DIL off at times, sometimes out of necessity & sometimes because I don't like feeling used. My focus is on the kids & what's best for them. She has way too much going on with her graduate work & she actually had a book published last month. I sometimes feel like the kids really need some extra attention, they didn't ask to have such a busy mother.

Wishing everyone a good night
Lav