Mindful March!

[papmom3]

Evening all! The start of Spring here was cold and snowy! Drove through a light storm on Saturday morning. The more south I got, the worse the snow got! By the time I was on the road again at 4pm not only had what fallen melted, but it was warm enough to melt even more of the left over snow!! So wierd!!
had a nice but really nice weekend. Work as I said on Saturday-slow due to the weather I'm sure, then lunch with my former colleague. It was so nice to catch up with her! Then home to let out the pups and then off to dinner with pap friends in town for the obedience and rally trial my breed club put on the next day. Ate way too much!
Sunday was fabulous at the performance event. My dad came with me and suffered through 5 hours of what I'm sure was very boring obedience runs before I had my time in the ring. Good thing I brought a chair for him and he brought the NY Times! He did get a super delicious free lunch out of it tho!! So how did DD and I do? Absolutely Fabulous!! Shocked the shite of me actually! If you recall, I mentioned I had never ever even practiced rally before, never mind competing. A couple of very generous people worked with me in the hours before my run and interpreted the directions on the signs for me then walked me through them. I have to say, I was surprised at how quickly I picked up the moves so when I went in the ring, I was just worried about DD. He doesn't know how to heel and the leash has to be kept loose. He did stop and scratch a few times and tried to go off course to sniff the floor (apparently there had been a mouse running around earlier) but all in all he stayed with me and followed my lead. The judge was VERY forgiving and was thrilled to have a true novice in the ring. When I was done I was told my score but it didn't mean anything to me. Then all of a sudden I was called back into the ring and the judge announced that I had a gotten first place (well, I was the only competitor in my class LOL!) AND a qualifying score!! I was presented with 2 beautiful ribbons! Here's the pic I like the best. I think DD is pretty happy too!
our first Q in Rally.jpg
Here's the boy with his ribbons:
Koby and his ribbons.jpg
Needless to say we are both pretty pleased with ourselves and I have a new respect for this dog!! I'm looking forward to entering more Rally trials in the near future.

Star-sorry your GS was sick and you couldn't have your dinner but you will soon. Glad to hear you've joined a local book club. You are really settling in quickly so this move was definitely meant to be! I'm so jealous of your 60 degree weather!! Congrats 5 years later on your cooking contest win! how cool is that!

Dill- Happy to hear you are sticking to the walking program! And you're in a book club too! How is your son doing? Has he totally recovered?

Cyn-I saw that moon and star/planet last nite too as my dad and I were driving home from dinner at my Sister's house. It was gorgeous and the sky was brilliantly clear! Haven't seen that in a while! Good luck with all that tax stuff. I don't envy you. How is girl dog doing?

Lav-I remember the day you told us YB had walked out on you like it was yesterday. I was so impressed with your strength and resolve-you refused to let this event push you off track and I remember telling myself that no matter what was happening to me and causing me to think about relapsing, it wasn't nearly as horrible as what you were going through and if you could stay AF through it all, so could I. I am so happy we are here 5 years later stronger than ever and living life to its fullest. You rock lady and are a huge inspiration to us all!

Oh my, its 9pm all ready. I need to try to be in bed before 11 so I'll say goodnite!

[Lavande]

CONGRATS to you & DD Papmom :yay:
I don't generally like surprises but that was a good one for you! Glad your Dad was there for the event as well.

Dill, my 'tenacity' is also known as 'Lavan-ittude', Ha Ha Ha!!!
It used to get me into trouble as a kid but as an adult - it really can be a useful tool

Star, I am never fully awake when I post in the mornings. Congrats on your cooking contest win - nice!!!

Well ~ I just thought you guys would want to know how the girls liked the sun chokes. They cleaned out the bowl in about 15 minutes & none of them c/o a belly ache!!!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Thanks for the congrats on the cooking contest such a long time ago. It was fun. I love to be part of fun activities at work. It makes it less like work, you know? I also love to cook, and that coddle, if you can take all the meat, it good.

Lav, I think reason you were able to follow through is because YB DID leave. He sounded like a smouldering presence, "I don't trust happiness," means what exactly? So let's trust depression, sadness, grumpiness, that doesn't even make sense. Like all of us, he has changed too, and I give you both credit for staying the course. I'll be married 32 years this week and I know that loving someone means forgiving horrible faults; both ways. None of us are easy. I love how you found positive ways to think, retraining your brain. I admire your assistance daily to all on MWO. Thanks for all your efforts, they make such a difference. I know what you mean about missing a strong older female in your life. I miss that so much. WE are the strong older females now. It can be a lonely place to be, and I love this thread because all of us are around the same age and have formed a bond to be those strong females in each others lives.

Dill, thinking about the absolute obsession with alcohol and then the compulsion to drink....what a burden to bear. Did you ever take all the vitamins recommended? I did , and they really helped. Never the topamax though, the side affects scared me. Isn't that funny? The side effects of alcohol I could accept, but topomax? No.

Pap, what a fun weekend, DD is so cute and what a smart dog. So happy you had fun!!!

Hey Cyn, hope you are doing well.

I get to go to a conference the next few days, in my area, so a nice change of pace for me. Have a good one.

[Lavande]

Good Tuesday morning friends!

Cloudy & a chilly 30 degrees at the moment, oh well. I think the sun will get here eventually!

Star, I really do looking forward to checking in here each day. Focusing on the health & welfare of my virtual friends has been an important Tool for me. I guess you can imagine why I fell into a prolonged self-pity party long ago. Too many years of dealing with a depressed & dark thinking husband, on top of everything else was just too much for me. Anyone else would have just packed up & left I suppose. I never, ever do anything the easy way
Considering YB's brother's suicide 4 months ago I guess you can see that chronic dark thinking is a strong family trait of theirs - sad to think about really.

I hope you enjoy your conference this week Star. I used to enjoy a day away from the hospital setting even when it meant being served 'rubber chicken' for lunch at the event, ha ha.
Wishing everyone a good AF Tuesday. Greetings Dill, Cyn & Papmom
I'm off to Curves then back here for a bit of work.

Lav

[treegirl]

Hi all - I love all this talk about ribbons!

PapMom, the pics are great, and what a wonderful story - it's so fun when we find out new good stuff about our fur-kids. (And btw, you look great in the pic!)

Star - can't wait to try your blue-ribbon Coddle. Sounds perfect for the wintery-spring that is still here. High of 20 yesterday, woke up to 15 degrees this morning, but it's supposed to top out at 30, that's an improvement.

Dill - you have stayed the course in all these years, always plugging along no matter the ups and downs of the quit. Congrats for that, plus you are a blue-ribbon mom and gmother to your lucky family. I know that Wolf Hall is coming up, but after reading the book, I don't think I miss not watching it (I never seem to have time to watch anything). The book is so fascinating in how she tells Cromwell's inner life - flashbacks, in tiny pieces, it's like a mystery that comes together piece by piece. The writing is incredible. I'm sure the show will be great too - historically, the times were in such upheaval, and the Henry/Anne story is almost unbelievable, but it's more in the background when you read the book. Anyway - enjoy, and tell me all about it!

Lav - we all remember and respect 'Lavanitude'!! I'm loving this countdown to your anniversary - this is really exciting for us all, since you are an inspiration. Love the pic of the chickens - yeah, I guess if you eat gravel, sunchokes are no big deal!

Well, despite the cold (or maybe because of it), the sky is a spectacular color of blue today. Blue-ribbon worthy!

Lots of deadlines to meet today - girl dog had another bad evening last night, so I dropped everything and sat with her. Poor sweetie, she is exhausted today. And boy dog is limping much more recently so I took him for a laser treatment yesterday. He's pretty knocked out too. They're piled into my office, and we'll work it all through today.

Star - have fun at the conference. Wishing all well!

[papmom3]

aww cyn-so sorry to hear about the pups. I hope today improved for you all. So stressful when they don't feel well. I'm in constant fear that Mickey will have a relapse but I can't keep him in a bubble I guess. The sky was gorgeous this morning. As cold as it was, the walk to work was beautiful.

Star-I LOVE conferences and off campus meetings. I will be off Campus for the next 6 Fridays and one Thursday. Important work that I was involved in at my former job and I am grateful my new boss has elected to have me continue with it, just representing a different school. It will be fun to see some former colleagues and old friends. I hope you have a good time at your conference!

Lav-I loved the pics of the chickens chowing down on the sunchokes! did you see the pics of the chunnel going around FB? Hysterical but I could see how it would work.

Dill-hope you had a good day today!

Like I said, cold walk to work but it warmed up nicely (if 40 is warm!) for the walk home. I made it to the gym for a 30 min walk on the treadmill at lunch. Nice opportunity to feed my new Good Wife addiction!
Got great news from the AKC this morning-they accepted DD as a true Papillon so we can now compete in all AKC performance events. Why didn't I do this years ago???

I'll be getting new tires on Friday. My dad was at the mechanic this morning for his car and asked him how bad my tires really were. Ken told him I could have a blow out any minute or at the least a flat so of course my dad has made arrangements to pay for the tires. Grrrr-there ought to be mechanic/customer confidentiality!! I know my dad can't afford it any more than I can and I'm 58 for god's sake!! Plus I still owe him $900 for last year's repairs. I just need to get a couple of months of no vet and no car bills to get back on my feet and see the commuting savings start adding up!! Sigh.

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Well, the conference was not pertinent to anything, another day today with it. Grrrr. The food was good though: sandwiches. So, up early today and off to the races. It is nice to get out of work though. Supposed to be warm and we have thunderstorms, one woke me up in the middle of the night.

Lav, I appreciate your daily posts. Your faithfulness and steadfastness have and continue to help many. Your willingness to share your story and struggles keeps the threads and site going. Plus, you are fun.

Cyn, sorry your dogs are sick. Take care.

Pap, you are so lucky at your new job. This job change did the trick!

Hello Dill, hope your week is going well.

Have a happy hump day.

[dill]

Hello All,
Papmom, I'm so glad you got the new tires before anything bad happened. Just think if you had a blow out while on the road! Not only would you be needing new tires but there would be other repairs and God forbid, personal injury! Your dad loves you. Just don't worry about it. Pay him back when you can, he understands. Congrats on the AKC decision!!

Cyn, The book sounds like a much better choice than the TV miniseries. Books always are, if you have the time to fit them in! Time is the problem which is why I often do the audio books. The problem with audio books is that if there is a passage you want to revisit it is much more difficult to do than if you have a book or kindle in hand. Hope your doggies are feeling better!

Star, in the early days I tried some of the supplements but wasn't consistent. I tried Campral but it didn't do much for me that I could tell. Who knows tho? Perhaps it would have been worse without it! I tried therapy, but the counsellor was not experienced enough with addiction to help much. Also I was just so ambivilent about quitting. There were lots of factors involved as is true for most everyone. I'm just glad those days are behind me.

Lav, thanks for the pics of the girls. Looks like a big hit with them! Looking forward to your big day tomorrow!

I had a nice lunch yesterday with some old colleagues/friends. I'm so grateful to have kept some of these work connections. Today I may have to go to my son's to stay with gson. He went to the doc yesterday and was diagnosed with flu. He's on tamiflu and doesn't seem to be feeling too terrible, but I may have to go sit with him so my son can go to work. Always glad to be free (alcohol free, that is) to be there for my grandkids!

[Lavande]

Good morning friends & happy Hump day!

Too chilly for my likes but at least it's not snowing, ha ha! We ended up lighting a fire last night to take the chill off.
I will be watching my younger grandson for a few hours today then dropping him off at his preschool. Looking forward to meeting my old work friends for lunch this afternoon. We always seem to energize one another
My sleep has been messed up ever since we changed the clocks. I hope it settles down soon.

Papmom, glad you are getting those tires! I am a maniac about car safety especially now that I transport little ones so frequently. Congrats on the AKC decision, nice. I showed my son the pic of the chicken chunnels & the video of the guy who made them. I told him he owes me for 6 years of free babysitting, ha ha!!! I'll never get them but a girl can always hope!

Star, glad you weren't served the rubber chicken for lunch - sandwiches are OK.
I hear we may have thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. It's only 25 degrees here this morning! Weird!!

Dill, so you may be on kid duty today as well? Have fun, I hope the kids feel better soon.
I really enjoy getting my old friends together - good for the soul!

Cyn, sorry your dogs are having troubles. My big dog is having so much trouble moving around & I 'm doing everything I can to help her with supplements & a new orthopedic dog bed & all that. She is just getting so old, I feel for her :hug:
Hope you are doing OK!

Better get ready for the day!
I'm trying to figure out how much virtual cake to make for tomorrow's virtual anniversary party, Ha Ha!!!

Have a great AF Day everyone!

Lav

[treegirl]

Hello all -

Lav - you are going to need a SERIOUSLY big birthday cake for all of us to help you celebrate! Have fun with your work friends, that sounds great.

Dill - one of my New Year's resolutions was to read more books (fiction). I did that one book in the early months of the year, and that may be it for the year! But I'm glad that I fit it in. I think the miniseries will be great, just different from the book. So great of you to be on-call for grandson.

Star - sorry that the conference isn't exciting, but at least it's a break. Hope spring continues to spring up where you are - there is some talk of thunderstorms here as well, we'll see what happens.

Pap - Dads love to do things for their kids - it makes them feel like super-Dad, and powerful, which is a gift in and of itself. You'll be able to pay him back, no worries there. So glad to hear about the Pap decision!

Hey all - re: sitting and health risks. I followed a link in an article I read about 'risky sitting' (!) and it stressed that just 2 minutes of activity for every 20 minutes of sitting is all that's needed to be a big help. Here's a link to a site that gives you stuff to do, depending on where you are: http://www.abeforfitness.com/ (Activity Bursts Everywhere). I've added a standing extension on my work desk - I'm standing now!

Enjoy your AF day, everyone -

[papmom3]

Evening all from the very rainy Northeast!! Rain started around 6:45 and will last all day tomorrow with torrential downpours and T-storms. Car is going in at 8 for the new tires so I'll be all set for traveling on Friday and Saturday.

C yn-how are the pups today? I'm totally all about the activity at work now. Trying to get my cubical mate to get up every hour or so. I'm constantly getting up to get water, hit the ladies room, going to meetings plus yoga or the treadmill twice a week at lunch. Definitely more active than I've been in the past 7 years. Plus I get my 10K steps in most days. I may up my goal to 15K just to see if it motivates me to do more.

Lav-so sorry to hear about Piggy Swissy and her troubles. Mick seems a little confused lately. I'm hoping getting out in the fresh air will help him. How was lunch with your friends?

Star-I agree. Even if the conference isn't particularly interesting its good to get out of the office. I can't wait for Friday!!

Dill-hope you GS feels better soon! did you have fun at lunch?

Today I had trouble understanding something and my boss was so patient with me!! She's a true teacher and there wasn't one iota of impatience in her demeanor. I am so blessed and grateful.

Time to feed the boyz and head to bed. Early morning tomorrow. Hoping the weather won't be so bad I can't get to water bootcamp tomorrow nite.

Nite all!!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Congratualtions Lav.:sohappy::sohappy::sohappy: SIX YEARS WOW!!!! It must feel great. Thanks for everything you do for all of us and modeling where we should go. Plus, you're fun and good to talk to daily.

Dill, hope that tamiflu helps your gson.

Cyn, take care of yourself. I don't get to read as much as I would like to either, but books are breath of life to me, so I always try to have at least one going.

Pap, how great that your boss is patient and kind. I value kindness more than anything. I have to have some things explained to me to, and take notes. But, once I get it, I usually get it. Sounds like the work front is positive. I like your ideas of moving alot at work. I have been doing that more and it helps not to get stiff and achy.

Back to work today. Then out to dinner. Have a good one.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends & happy Thursday to all

Happy 6th anniversary to me, ha ha!!!
I am happy today Star & feeling proud! Thanks everyone for being here to help make my journey a pleasant one :hug:

Star, enjoy your day!
Papmom, I had a real nice lunch with the old friends yesterday, thanks.
Dill, I hope your grandson is feeling much better today!
Cyn, I used to read fiction, one book after the other & somehow I just got my fill. I read mostly health related stuff these days. Just the way it is I guess.

I'm off to Curves then my daughter & granddaughter are coming later this morning, yay!
Have a great day everyone!

Stella is wearing her party hat today!

[dill]

Happy Anniversary, Lav!

You rock!!!:welldone::welldone::thumbsup::thumbsup: I hope Stella let you borrow her crown! LOL!

Papmom, who is Piggy Swissy? I think it is great that you focus on the 10K steps and on moving thru out the day! You and Cyn are both right on. Thanks Cyn, for the link. Pappmom, it's so great that your boss is a kind, well-adjusted human being ad that she treats her employees with common decency. It's kind of sad that you comment on it as if it is a rarity. I guess maybe it is too rare these days.

Star, I read that book for the library discussion group, but when the appointed time came around, I was unable to go! At least I got to enjoy a good book, even if I didn't get to discuss it. with others.

Gson is better and back to school, thanks everyone for asking.

[treegirl]

CONGRATULATIONS LAV!!!!!! You are our model, our guide, our sister on the journey. Thanks for everything. And nice crown on Stella!

Geez, I tried one of those videos I linked to yesterday - that man moves! I thought I would be sore, but no - and I felt better this morning when I woke up...hmmmm, note to self! Lav, I rarely read fiction any more. I agree - mostly health books and articles; it seems like there is just so much to learn out there, and it keeps changing. I just picked up an excellent book at the library - I was there working (out of the house!) and just was walking along the stacks. I went by the cooking section, and found..."Fermented Foods for Health". Not a jazzy title, but a beautifully photographed, attractive book with both serious health information and great-looking recipes for make at home fermented foods. It was published in 2013, but she is already at that point talking about the microbiome. It's the most complete discussion of that crucial health info that I've found.

Pap - SO glad that you have a wonderful boss. You SO deserve it. Glad that you're getting your tires put on, whew.

Dill - hope all is well with you - will Tessa be able to go out and enjoy the spring anytime soon? Glad GS is better.

Star - hope you are enjoying a nice dinner out!

wishing all a peaceful evening...