February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

[Stargazerlily]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Good morning...

Work went well, it will take time to get started but that is OK with me. My new office is very nice,that was a relief, as spending a lot of time in a space that is comfortable is important. So, off again today, it is nice to have somewhere to go.

I am rushed this morning so wishing you all a great day.

[Lavande]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Good morning all,

I am awaiting the heater installers - today is the day!!!
I think I'll go find a space heater to keep my shop toasty while they do this job. Can't work with frozen fingers

Have a great Tuesday everyone, I'll check back later.
Lav

[Doggygirl]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Hi all!

P3 - WOW - GORGEOUS quilts! (and gorgeous paps ON your first quilt!) Where do you get your ideas for designs? Do you visualize them in your head or do you find ideas somewhere else? I'm not creative at all so I sit in wonder at people who are!! Good luck with your search for what will be satisfying work wise. I feel lucky I found the path for me. I dont' qualify for the accelerated BS to MSW as I don't have a recent (or any) BS in Social Work. So I'm on the long path which will be either 3 or 4 years part time. I'm currently in the 3 years track but looking at the expectations for next semester, I think I will drop back to 4 years as I don't want to give up any of my other life activities to make more room for school. Sounds like you are an "over achiever" in rehab LOL! Funny how that works.... I like the saying "we have the disease of MORE." That sure described me.

Lav - so where is this heater going? Is it in your shop where you make the T-shirts and stuff? Are you still doing that?

Dill I'm sorry to hear about your son and his X and the pill problems. That is an addiction that really sneaks up on people. Especially since the perception is that things coming from a doctor are "safe." I'm glad your son is doing well - it's wonderful you are able to help him and the g-kids with housing and support for now.

Yesterday I met with the Director of a Men's recovery program at one of the local shelters. It's a 6 month live in program. Housing (dorm), food, clothing etc. are provided at no cost to the participant. They have to work, and work hard (preparing food and cleaning in the kitchen is where they all start, then some move on to doing maintenance work, driving trucks for the mission, etc.). It's a good program and relies on a lot of volunteers. I used to serve food at the mission and I've also done work in the women & family shelter, but never before the mens recovery program. I have the opportunity to develop a 6 week group class focusing on addiction. The Director would like a class focusing on educating the men about the effects of various substances on the body including topics like PAWS. I think I want to do this! I'm going to put together a proposed 6 week outline and see where we go from there.

Well - I gotta zoom. Monday is my LOOOONG school day and then today I work all day. Things ease up towards the end of the week.

Have a great day all!

DG

[Lavande]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Evening folks,

The new heater is in & working great
There's still a brand new AC unit sitting in a big box in the garage. Installing that out in the snow is going to be a bit of a problem so that may have to wait. That's fine!
Grateful to be feeling safe once again!

DG, what a great opportunity for you, developing a group class. I'm sure you will do great
My DIL was recently called back to the university where she did her undergrad work. She did a guest lecture in one of the social work classes. She said she was scared shitless :H

I hope everyone had a great day!

[Lavande]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Great job on the quilts papmom!!!!! :wd:

[Stargazerlily]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Good morning,

PAP, you are a quilt artist! What a lovely way to express your creative side and great heirloom gifts. Hope you are feeling well and have a good week.

DG, you are soooo busy, isn't it fun? I loved school, campus, classes, and found most things good. I did not like homework of course, but that is part of it. It seems you have found your calling, to be asked to create a program is really great. I know you can do it.

Lav, how wonderful to the new furnace system in, hopefully your bills will be significantly lower. We have really cold cold weather today, it is getting old. March is next week, Yay!!

Have a great day.

[Lavande]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Good morning all & Happy Hump day

There is a light snow falling but it's not supposed to be a big deal. The house is warm & quiet too. This new heating system runs much quieter.

I'm still awaiting a jacket to fulfill a customer order. It's a problem when your wholesalers run out of an item you've ordered & have to wait for the manufacturers to make more
In the meantime I have all sorts of non-work things to keep me occupied

If anyone is interested & has a few hours to devote to a kitchen project - these were excellent
Gluten-Free Spinach Gnocchi - Free EatsFree Eats

Star, Dill, Papmom, DG, cyn & everyone - have a great AF Wednesday!

Lav

[papmom3]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Evening all!

DG-thanks so much for the kind words. Believe it or not I was NEVER creative growing up or as an adult. I started the quilting class 3 months before I quit AL for good and something inside just opened up. Maybe being free of the AL chains, maybe being older and not so concerned about being perfect? who knows! But i do love it. All of the projects but the T shirt quilt came from patterns but I had to pick the colors and materials. The T shirt quilt for Jay was my own design that revolved around the fact my sister saved 9 of his Tshirts over the years. It was probably the most fun project I've done so far!!
Congrats on being asked to create this 6 week program for the guys at the shelter! Are you surprised you want to do it? You will do great!!

Dill-Yes, i just found out about this woman last week! I "liked" her FB page and I've been on her website. Haven't looked at the You tube videos yet. She's gotten a lot of press lately, national too. She hit the jackpot that's for sure!! Of course that link was for everyone! I thought I had posted it before-glad you weren't bored if you're seeing the pics for a second time!!
Hope you had a nice lunch at CB. Great you were able to carve out some "me" time!!

Star-you have an actual office? that is so cool! I miss my tiny but functional office. I absolutely HATE working out of a cubicle!! Glad the day went good for you. Thank you too for the kind words!

Lav-new heating system in!! Whoo hoo!! You'll really notice the difference next winter that's for sure. and yep, the AC can wait!! Did your jacket finally come?

Well, the week is almost over and I have a whole weekend off plus I'll still have money in the checking account when payday hits on Friday! Whoo hoo! Whoops, probably shouldn't have jinxed myself LOL!!

I have touched base with the woman at Umass who initially contacted me in early December about applying for her job when she retires this coming december. She is psyched I'm still interested and we are making plans for me to go out to meet her, her boss and the staff in mid April. This will be under the guise of a common transfer project all the state schools are working on. I've been doing it for a year, Umass is a new player. I'm actually getting excited about this possible opportunity!! I didn't think I wanted to pursue it but I'm feeling more and more confident in my abilities to not only run and office but to handle anything that is thrown at me. Hope this isn't the Pred talking :H!
More cold cold weather on the way and they are hinting at a major snow event next week. Sigh. This. Must. End.

Have a great nite all! Cyn, hope your mom is feeling better. Can't wait to hear from you again! Rusty-thinking of you and wishing you'd come back! I wonder where all our "newbies" went?

[Lavande]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

On a 'roid rage' papmom? :H :H
I hope your possible opportunity turns into something real good for you

No jacket delivery today, I sent my customer an explanation on the delay. I hate it when that happens but it's something out of my control

Be warm everyone!

[Stargazerlily]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Good morning to all...

Hey Pap, cool opportunity on the job front. Hope it works out. I like the fact that AF and now working on health issues, you are growing in confidence, not living in fear. I think part of drinking too much is living in fear. What are your thoughts?

Lav, loved the website, Free Eats, thanks for sharing, you find the coolest sites.

Hello to Dill, DG and Cyn, don't know what happened to the other newbies, hope Rusty comes back too. Have a great day.

[Lavande]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Good morning friends,

Frosty & only 9 degrees here but the sun is shining
I am trying not to listen to the weather people.......something about ice & snow this weekend

Star, I have to agree with you. Drinking & living in fear & with anxiety seem to go hand in hand.
I am so grateful to be done with all that! Just the thought of returning to that miserable existence keeps me away from the wine store. I also know that if I light up one smoke I'll end up back in that smoke filled hell as well. QuitNet uses the acronym NOPE - Not One Puff Ever &I'm onboard with that

OK, yesterday ended being a total dud, hope to catch up with life today. I went out but the roads were so bad I turned around & came home. There was not one snow plow or salt truck out on the roads. The snow wasn't supposed to be that big of a deal but it turned out it was afterall.

Wishing everyone a great AF Thursday!

Lav

[dill]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Hi Friends,

It's cold here too Lav but no snow. I'm not sure Spring will ever come! I decided to take the bull by the horns and head south! Mr. D and I will be heading to New Orleans to see our daughter and her family in mid March. We've booked a bed and breakfast. That's a shame about the jacket, but you can't really do much about it short of notifying the customer as you have.

Star, I agree that anxiety and drinking to excess go hand-in-hand, but I wasn't sure exactly what you were saying. Were you saying that because of the drinking one lives in fear and anxiety or are you saying that because of fear and anxiety, one drinks? I think for me drinking was a cause for fear and anxiety, not the other way around. I lived in fear of being found out. I lived with anxiety because of situations that were brought about when drunk, like forgotten conversations/phone calls and whole evenings! I lived in a constant state of depression caused by the al itself. Can anyone remember an "up side"? I guess years ago there was one, but it was certainly not worth the agony al caused in the end.

Papmom, I don't remember seeing that link before. I must have missed it somehow. That's great news on the job front. Even if you end up deciding not to go for it, it is still a feather in your cap and maybe could be used to negotiate a highter wage where you are currently.:goodjob:

I ended up not having lunch with my GF on Wednesday because she called off with sever bronchitis. I talked to her yesterday and it had morphed in to pneumonia. This is the friend I have mentioned before that drinks and isolates. I think her health issues are a direct result of her drinking. Her immune system is compromised.

Let's all have an AF Thursday. What a gift to be free!

[dill]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Lav, I thought you'd like this article. There is an upside to the severity of this winter after all!

Why Is the Cold U.S. Winter Killing Off Stinkbugs? – News Watch

[papmom3]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

oh Dill! that link is hysterical!! Can't believe there's an upside to this weather and that it's the killing off of stinkbugs!! Lav-you must be doing the happy dance!!!

Dill and Star-yes I agree. I was so anxious and fearful by the end of my drinking career. Same as you Dill-discovery, forgotten conversations, financial, job-you name it!!! But only the past few months have I felt the confidence come back. My weight and inability to kick the sugar addiction took the place of what AL had done to me 3 (and many) years before. Now I feel free of addiction finally on all fronts, although I would like to feel addicted to exercise for once! :H I feel lighter, I smile more, I'm calmer, less angry. I let most annoyances roll off my back and I'm really really trying to listen better.

Lav-I'm counting on you to "forecast" the weather for New England this weekend. I'll need to know Sunday nite what to expect on Monday!

Dill-I am so happy you and Mr. Dill are heading south and taking some time for yourselves!! You so deserve it!!

Tonite I got a pedi for the first time since October and it was heavenly! It was in my regular hair salon instead of the assembly line place and it was a special price for the month. It also included a glass of champagne but I declined politely . But the best part was my sister found out about it and paid for it! When I walked into the room, the girl said "I have a surprise for you!" and handed me a gift card that paid for the pedi and tip!! I have the best sis in the whole world!!
Work went well too. It was the last curriculum meeting of the year and we got through everything on the docket. This is directly related to the project I manage but now the hard part of entering all the data begins. We have 2 weeks to get it all done but I refuse to stress about it.
Looking forward to a free weekend. My sis and I may go material shopping for my dad's new valences and start the sewing. Should be fun.
Have a great nite everyone!
Shout out to DG, Cyn, Rusty and everyone else who is MIA!!

[Lavande]

February Freedom Fighters ~ week 4

Thanks for the link Dill!
Interesting article & research but I'm afraid they didn't look in my backyard & house. I am still removing stink bugs on a daily basis
I think I must be stink bug central or something equally as awful. And to think a few years ago I had never even heard of them let alone seen one, yuck.
Sorry to hear your friend is so ill. Do you think there's any chance she might want to give it up? It's wonderful that you are getting some time away to go see your daughter in NO, very nice.

Papmom, nice on the prepaid pedi
I'll get you the details on this storm as soon as I hear them. I did hear that it was going to be a 24 hr ordeal starting here Sunday evening. And I heard that it's going to be pretty big - swell.

My daughter & granddaughter came for a visit & they are spending the night too. I love having some friendly company!
Greetings to everyone else!