June Jewels

[dill]

Hello friends, sorry to have to stop in quickly yet again. This day got away from me fast! I'm just back from a day on the lake with Mr. D and my widowed friend. I am getting ready to go right back out because there is a public meeting about the drug epidemic across the nation and state. The meeting is to discuss ideas and options and I want to put in my 2 cents if anyone will listen!

I'll be back tomorrow and again will try to do better!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning all...

Lav, you are right about family members, and we are hoping he accepts the agency that will come in and help with anything, to keep his independence. If not, he may end up in rehab or something. It is up to him. Have fun planting your veggies and fruit. It has been dry here again and warmer so should be coming your way.

Dill, are you going to a town hall meeting? Let us know.

Off to get ready for work. Yay, its Friday!!!

[treegirl]

Good morning all!

Thanks for the permission to do less, Lav! As it happens, so much of what I was trying to accomplish was stuff that I wanted to get done for us as well, but carving out the time has been tricky. But now things look so pretty! Screen porch all clean, deck set up and with flowers, deck tomatoes in their pots, garden things put away, one bed mulched (2 more to go, but oh well). All this in the last weeks and yesterday, and though tired, I am happy! (I thought of you all while I was ironing my guest's sheets - I think the last time I did that was last year when she visited!)

Star - I commend you for being so level-headed and open-hearted in this situation. Your Dad and the whole family are benefiting from your presence, I am sure. Take care of yourself through it all...

Dill - a town meeting, wow, that sounds interesting. Can't wait to hear about it, and what your 2 cents are.

Pauly - hope you are doing OK with your houseful.

Lav - that's the struggle I have with nature - it has its own timeline! I'm hoping to at least get the mulch down on the super-weedy garden beds (I'm putting down newspaper first) - otherwise in a few days they will be overrun.

Today is my birthday, so I'm going to try to 'chill' out. We'll be taking a nice long ride to show our friend a different part of the country - the Berkshires, where we used to live. That will be fun, that's where HB and I were married, so it will be a nice trip down memory lane. I shared my birthday with my Mom, so there will be lots of memories there too.

Grateful to have you all in my life!

[Lavande]

Good morning friends,

Cloudy & 55 degrees again, what happened to summer? I'm sure it will come back with a real vengeance as it usually does around here, ha ha!

Dill, do you live in an area patrolled by local. county or state police?
They have all been trained to handle ODs & every officer now carries Narcan to administer immediately. Some families of drug users opt to do the same. No more waiting for EMS to arrive. YB & his officers on campus carry it as well.
As a country we really need to get together & stop this epidemic! Hope your meeting was fruitful.

Star, it certainly sounds like you & your family are all doing the right thing for your Dad. I can't even imagine what it takes to process & accept the fact that you are nearing the end of your life. I've witnessed patients go through all sorts of emotions ranging from anger & denial to fear & defeat. That's why I am such a firm believer in hospice care. It provides care & comfort for the individual & for the family :hug:

Cyn, I am fairly certain pigs will fly before I ever iron sheets, ha ha! I do remember having to press pillow cases when I was a kid. Thank the heavens for permanent press these days!
We are waiting for drier weather so we can lay down a layer of black mesh before we plant the watermelon & cantaloupe. Otherwise the plants would get lost in the weeds. We have insane weeds in our gardens!!! Enjoy your VIP guest this weekend, be nice to yourself. Before I forget - HAPPY BIRTHDAY :love:

Greetings Pauly & Papmom - what's happening with the two of you?

OK, first I go to Curves then back here for some work.
This afternoon I am making my first ever batch of white bean 'meatballs'. I'll let you know how they turn out
Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[paulywogg]

Morning ladies, Happy Birthday Cyn! I hope its a nice, relaxing day for you Lav,I'm with you on ironing sheets,I didn't even know people do that haha,I don't even own an iron, if its wrinkled I spritz with water and toss it in the dryer,my mom used to iron T-shirts, I always thought it was weird, take a pic of the meat balls, I'm curious I'm going crazy with these kids,Bobbi's bf leaves tomorrow night, she leaves Wednesday but they're not the ones causing problems, its Michelle of course, the cable in her room is messed up so she mopes on the couch all day,can't stand looking at her!she's always stoned and irritable, I wish she'd go back to her creepy boyfriend, then Kellie told me she's struggling with depression and I think she's been drinking to deal with it this is Louie's mom so I worry,she hates her bf,doesn't want to be with him,but doesn't want to leave cuz of Louie,meh,then I overheard Brady telling Bobbi that he took a shot with his friends, he didn't know that I was coming up the stairs so of course he backtracked and said that he was only kidding,grrr,I just keep telling myself these are small things, sorry for unloading all this here, just wanted to get it off my chest,i just feel guilty, like my drinkin caused my kids to be little shits and now its karma time anyways hello to all,I hope we all have a decent Friday

[dill]

Happy Birthday Cyn! Hope you enjoy your drive down memory lane. I had not forgotten your ironing of sheets last year and I fully expected you’d be at it again this go round! LOL. Isn’t it funny how different we all are, and yet so much alike in the important ways. The differences come in how we express the important things I guess. I’m grateful to have you in my life, too.

Lav, it’s interesting you brought up narcam. It is not readily available around here. Paramedics use it, and maybe police, I’m not sure. But it is only now becoming available for regular folks and families of addicts. That is one of the issues I brought up last night. I want to see that happening faster. I also shared this article and asked the group if we could look for ways to local law enforcement on board with this: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/ar...ddicts/392873/ Some in the group had seen the article and were following the story but most didn’t know about it so it turned out to be an important share. I urged the group to invite members of law enforcement to the next meeting to discuss it.

Pauly, I’m sorry to hear of all the difficulties you are facing. All the more important for you to stay AF! Don’t beat yourself up. Most kids will experiment and I doubt it’s because of anything you have done. I wish I had some easy answers or advice for you in how to deal with your issues, but aside from telling you to not beat yourself up, stay calm, carry on with your own goals and be there for them when they need you, I got nothing. I’ve been thru my share of problems too. I actually sat down this week and did a timeline of the last 4 years since my granddaughter was born, drug addicted, (that is the point at which we learned our DIL was opiod addicted) and afterwards I asked Mr. D how on earth we ever got thru it. I think the key for me was staying even keeled and positive and keeping the faith that we would get thru and would eventually have a return to normalcy. We aren’t quite there yet, but we are ever closer!

Star, :hug: Still sending you hope and strength. I hope your Dad gets his needs met. Yes, I did indeed go to that meeting and I'm glad I went. I think by being a new voice at the group I managed to inject some new enthusiasm. I was surprised to see I knew some of the participants from my past years of employment. In a way it ended up being a bit of a 'coming out' for me, admitting my family has been affected directly by drug addiction in the presence of people I used to work with.

Hello Papmom, come out, come out where every you are!!

Must get busy around here!

[Lavande]

Just saw Papmom on Facebook - she is super busy as usual & behaving herself

Dill, I have been following that article & I truly hope that every community in our nation gets on board. Jailing users is not the answer. Cutting off the international supply has to be top priority. Local law enforcement needs to take the lead.
Obviously your granddaughter is lucky to have you & Mr D looking out for her. Sadly not all babies are that fortunate. You have done a wonderful job, be proud :hug:

Thinking of you Star & Pauly. Cyn, are my sheets ready yet? Hope you had a wonderful BD!
Pauly. first of all - your adult kids are making their own decisions, you are not responsible for their decisions. Your younger boy can be managed with appropriate age measures. When my kids were in high school they pulled their shares of stunts & we responded with age appropriate punishments. Think in terms of 1. losing their freedom, 2. taking away driving privileges, etc. In other words - hit them where it hurts! And btw - karma doesn't work like that. I just read an interesting article about that so don't worry. Perhaps you can assist Kellie in making a life plan for herself & Louie in case she does decide to make a break.

Peace to all!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Happy Birthday Cyn, belated. Hope it was a wonderful day. I have never ironed sheets as an adult, but remember in the 60s, helping my mom on Tuesdays with the ironing. I was allowed to iron pillowcases. They used to come out so wrinkly, and there was something soothing about ironing back then. I have an iron now, but my husband is the expert. My sheets are ok, never noticed if they are iron worthy! I love the Berkshires, the beauty of the area is so wonderful, have a good time. We are slowly working on our yard, still some to get done, oh well. I am going to look for some tomatoes in pots today.

Lav, I know jailing people is not the answer if they are addicts, they need help. It is so sad. I think the war on drugs was about cutting off the international supply, and has not been successful. Thanks for the support regarding my Dad, he is home now and has been offered help, up to him if he takes it. It must be scarey to get old and sick. I know getting older has been no picnic for me. We need rain, they keep predicting it but it just keeps passing us by. No need to even mow. I have been watering my new plants, I love June weather.

Pauly, my kids continue to make mistakes and create drama. My son's car was totalled this week, he could have been killed. I was so upset, it took time to even digest what had happened and when I saw the pictures of the car......whew, he is lucky to be alive. My daughter had drama too this week. You have four kids so twice as much drama as me. Seriously, some weeks are harder than others, this is a rough week for you. Sending you strength to get through it.

Dill, how interesting to attend the town meeting and contribute. If people were honest, almost every family is affected by addiction, unfortunately it is so common.

I am going to do a little shopping this morning, try to get in a bike ride or walk, and go to the pool this afternoon and enjoy. Carry in for dinner, the Saturday tradition.

Have a great Saturday, AF.

[Lavande]

Good morning Star & all friends!

Still waiting for the sun to make an appearance - hopefully by this afternoon.
We have been thoroughly watered this week, the lawn & gardens are satisfied.

Star, so glad your son is OK, geez. My daughter had a serious accident in my car many years ago, what an awful feeling
I hope your Dad feels safe & comfortable at home. He may very well accept services as time goes on & he comes to grip with everything. I will keep all of you in my thoughts & prayers.

Pauly, I want to share a timely email I received from Eckhart Tolle this morning re Karma Unfortunately the link won't work here. I'll see if I can find it on Facebook for you.

I love the reminders that we do indeed have a choice of how we react to things happening in our lives.

Dill, Cyn & Papmom, I hope you all have a great day today.
I hope to get some outside work done later. For now it's me & my coffee!

Lav

[dill]

Hey there!

Lav, did I share that article here before or did you come across it some other way? I can't remember how I first was made aware of that article. Anyway, I have been following along too. I read a story about the first person to take them up on it! A 31 year old male showed up at 3:30 in the morning and turned everything in. They took him in right away, took him to a hospital for assessment and treatment and called in an "angel" who actually got up out of bed at that hour to meet him and sit with him at the hospital! Truly amazing because it was a volunteer, not a paid position! I hope this is ground zero for turning this heroin beast around.

Star, I used to watch my mom iron and was always wanting to help. She didn't iron sheets tho! But she did iron my dad's handkerchiefs so she allowed me to do that. Funny memory you shook loose! I'm really glad your son is ok! Hope your daughter's drama was resolved, too.

Hello Pauly, Cyn and Papmom!

Nice day here, but nothing remarkable. Have a good peaceful Saturday evening.

[Lavande]

Dill, I've been following that article lately on Facebook 9of all places).
I also listen to npr in my car & hear a lot of talk on the topic. God bless those volunteers huh?

I harvested the first yellow banana pepper today - man that was quick, ha ha!!! I guess I'll scramble up some eggs with it in the morning.

Have a peaceful night one & all.

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Lav, hope the weather improves, we had a pretty nice day, sunny by afternoon, but still no rain. I have been watering my new plants.

Dill, I was thinking about how much daily life has changed since we were kids. Wow. Nobody spends their entire day ironing anymore. We are all so lucky that housework takes so much less time.

I hope to get some more yard work done. I am looking on gently improving my diet again, I want to eat more fresh fruit and veggies, this is the perfect time. I also want to get some yard work done, I want to be done, just maintenance. Hope you all have a great day. Hello to Pauly, Pap, and Cyn,

[dill]

Star, I think about that a lot. Things have changes so much in our lifetimes! I remember talking to people of generations before us about what life was like for them growing up and marveling at how much things changed for them in their life times. Now I see it in my own life time! Activities of daily living are so much easier and more convenient, yet the pace of life seemes to be quickening so much that all the time saved doing those old taskes seems to be sucked up with more stressful things somehow. I mean, a pile of ironing finlling your day is soothing in some ways, don't you think? Real physical work with a feeling of accomplishement at the end of the day. It's hard to find that sort of thing in today's world. Perhaps that is one reason why drug abuse and alcohol abuse are so rampant.

Lav, I will look at the Gloucester PD facebook page and follow the story there. If I get anywhere with my local group in getting our local PD to adopt some of their measures I will make sure to let them know on their facebook page.

I have a baby shower to attend today at 1:00 near Cincinnati which is about an hours drive for me and in some city traffic which I am not used to doing. I am curious to see if alcohol will be involved as the venue is a restaurant. Of course, I won't drink one way or the other, but I find it interested to watch others and see what they do. The other night at my friend's retirement party I was keenly aware of the presence of wine and I watched the normal drinkers and will admit I was envious of them. The party was held at a winery, of all places. I almost didn't go because of the venue, but I decided I really didn't want to miss this particular celebration. I didn't have too hard a time with it but I did have a couple old colleagues as me why I wasn't having my white wine as was my usual at those sorts of work related gatherings. I said that I was driving and that alcohol affected me more as I am getting older so that I didn't feel I could handle the driving. I thought how silly that I even had to talk about it! What a funny world we live in when we have to explain our beverage choices! The retiree was drinking tho and she gets very emotional when she drinks. We had a brief conversation about a sore subject and she teared up while talking...right in the middle of her big celebration!!! Time to change the subject, I thought, and so I did.

I hope everyone has a safe AF Sunday.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends!

Sunny this morning, yay!
I wasn't the only one around here complaining about having too many dark days in a row - geeez! I helped lay out the heavy black plastic last evening so we can finally get the melons in the ground this morning

Star, I am more & more treating meat as a side dish & making salads & veggies the main event at most meals. It definitely is easier to pull off this time of year. The farmer's markets are busy already. I love using what's in season & locally grown.
I hope your plants get some rain soon.

Dill, enjoy your baby shower today. I have been surprised watching people drink at showers (now that I'm paying attention to that sort of thing). I don't ever remember alcohol being served at baby showers in the 'old days'.
Your PD should be proactive in preventing unnecessary drug deaths. It doesn't take much to train & equip officers with Narcan. There is also a problem with getting an OD victim to agree to go to the hospital after being miraculously revived with Narcan. My son has mentioned this for years. It happens all too frequently where he works. People have to want to quit using & be ready to accept help. All we can do is keep trying.

Greetings & happy anniversary to Pauly (yesterday).

Papmom, you & your doggies are definitely winners. Loved your video on FB

Cyn, I hope you are enjoying your VIP guest & not working too hard this weekend.

We will be heading to our daughter's later on to help out with a house project. Looking forward to playing with my granddaughter too.
Have a great AF Sunday everyone.

Lav

[paulywogg]

Morning ladies, Lav,how did the meatballs turn out? Snoop,how old are your kids? Dill,have fun at the baby shower, interesting you bringing up watching the normal drinkers,last night we went to the cheesecake factory with Bobbi's bf's family and his dad and his wife were the only ones that had al,1 beer each,then drank coffee, I was in awe that people can do that! If I had drank yesterday cuz my nerves were crazy,I'd have drank at least 6 before dinner, been antsy on the way there, probably stop at a gas station and chug one in the parking lot, then ordered 2 during dinner, come home and had more of course, it was a wake up call yesterday as to how free I felt, a relief,a peace that I've never had before,I told Bobbi how surprised I was that they only had the one and she said"you could probably try to drink like them" I shuddered, noooooo! I couldn't do just one or two,it would irritate me,hello Tree,and Papmom, more coffee! Hope we all have a nice Sunday