May Mojo ~ AF

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Hey Beagle, welcome. I try and check in here every day, sometimes with longer posts, sometimes with a brief hello. Hope you are doing well, this thread has been around for a while and we always welcome any and all posts. Is there anything in particular that is going on with you at this time? Let us know and we will send support and be there for you. Feel free to share or not as you are comfortable. We all have varying times of AFness, and it is important to us as we know we can choose health and happiness or booze and a nightmare life. Again, welcome!!!

Lav, how fun to be at a cute graduation! Did any plans pop up this weekend? Just a cookout for us on Sunday, otherwise we can take it easy.

Dill, so sorry about your husband's mishap, ouch. Your dog is naughty! I can't have any plants inside, my cat ruins them. I think we have chances of rain this entire weekend. Hopefully some sun in there.

Cyn, the backyard renovation has not started, still waiting on the HOA to approve it. They are taking there time, that is for sure but the landscaping company told me that they have several jobs before us so I am trying to just let it happen when it is supposed to.

Pauly, are you going to miss Brady or is it something else? Hope you have a fun weekend ahead of you.

Yay, it is Friday, and I love Fridays!!!

[treegirl]

Morning all - Star you are up early again! TGIF --

Beagle, welcome! I echo Star's beautifully written hello and explanation of our little thread here. Lots of comfort and support.

Dill - I meant to say how sorry I am about Mr. D's thumb. That sounds like a terrible cut - it may be awhile before he's back to all of his outdoor work, eh?

Lav - what a cute idea, the kid's graduation. So glad that you are having quality time with your little girl -- and that you'll have some time with your big girl! Has your daughter finished up with finals yet?

Pauly - hope you are hanging in there, and enjoying your family time.

It's off to the races again today... it's HOT here, and we don't have whole-house air conditioning. So with a guest on the way, time for the bedroom air conditioners to go in, and the screen porch to be cleaned. I even bought a bigger fold-up banquet table in case we have to eat out there; dinner for 6 is scheduled for Tuesday night. I did manage to hem some light and heat-blocking curtains for the guest room, hopefully that will keep it a little cooler. (That's been on the To Do list for a few years now, so that was a victory)! At noon we drive to the city -- I would give a lot money to get out of this dinner! I just want to nap and read and work on the landscape. Hopefully that will happen soon. I'm very, very grateful to have AL out of my life at this point!!

Wishing all a great AF day!

[paulywogg]

Morning friends,hi LB I usually check in throughout the day/evening so if you ever need to do a check in,I'm here,well Brady is oofficially going to Portland plane ticket was bought yesterday, so I'm evaluating my ffeelings on this
1.am I jealous?
2.am I sad cuz he'snever been away from me ever!?
3.it changes my routine and that freaks me out?
4.scared of him flying back alone?
5.I'mscared of being alone during my witching hours of 1 to 5,Iwould give Brady my keys on rough days
These are selfish but kinda valid reasons,iIhate this empty nest b.s but its life,its reality,meh at least iIhave Louie,hello to all,hope we all have a fun Friday

[Lavande]

I can't believe the whole day got away from me - still busy!
We ended up having the whole crew here for a quickie cookout tonight. My son will be working this weekend & my daughter & son-in-law are dealing still with his Dad's hospitalization (going on 4 weeks now & not looking good). So we did the best we could & enjoyed the evening. Hot & humid here too, the kids were red faced & overheated by the time they left, ha ha!

LB, glad to see you posting here, hope you are doing well

Star, the rest of my weekend is looking quiet now. Hopefully we can get some outside work done between the predicted rain storms. Hope your weather is not too bad!

Cyn, I am completely spoiled by central AC. I am sure your guests will be quite comfortable after all your preparations.
My daughter is finished with finals & is now doing her outpatient clinical requirements to complete her program by the middle of August. She says her state boards are scheduled for October but she can work on a provisional license until then, she is happy.

Pauly, sounds like Brady has an exciting adventure in store for him & that's a good thing. How about if you use us for your support system while he's away? Adjusting your plan & filling your free time with healthy things would be a good idea too.

Hello to Dill. I hope you & Mr D. are OK post injury.

Peace to all tonight & I expect to be posting during normal hours this weekend, yay.

Lav

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Cyn, I am up early AGAIN, too early, it must be hormones or something. Anyways, had a good Friday yesterday, went for a walk and met the people on the board of my HOA and hopefully will get the approval for my home improvements next week! Then I can call and try to schedule a more definite start date. Hot here and humid, I guess rain and sun all weekend. Sounds like a busy fun weekend and you are right. AF you can do all this entertaining, but drinking you would be tired, sick, and struggling. Nice to be strong in your sobriety.

Lav, how do you prepare a meal for so many people without a plan ahead? I never have enough food on hand, I always have to go to the store. Sounds like a wonderful time. Happy for your daughter too, she has worked so hard! If the weather holds out I am going to dig up some hostas and take them to a work buddies house and plant them with her. I love sharing plants with people, I have a history of people helping me out in that way so want to pay it forward. I am also going to a cookout with this person in June and offered to be the designated driver. It's a work thing and people are kind of being pressured to drink so I stepped up and helped myself, immediately!

Pauly, I think all your reasons are valid. Change is hard, period. I remember the first time my son went on a plane on his own and had to get a connection in Atlanta, I was really worried, as that airport is so big and busy. He connected successfully and made a friend on the plane. As Lav said, if you need us, we are here, always. When I am alone I always think, what can I do for me? Get a pedicure, go to the book store, take a walk, play the piano, read a book, create a new recipe,call someone to have a lovely long phone call? What do you like to do just for you? Now you can.

Dill shout out and hope you are doing well. To all, have a great Saturday.

[dill]

Good morning Friends, sorry to be MIA yet again yesterday. The volunteer job takes up a huge chunk of my day. Mr. D and I had some errands to do early in the morning and then it was off to the coffee shop.

Pauly, I completely understand your feelings about Brady going to Portland. When does he go and for how long? It's good for him to get to go but I sure understand your worries. I remember how hard it was for me dealing with the 'empty nest'. Star and Lav have both given good advice.

Cyn, you sound too busy! I hope you enjoy your guests and things go smoothly. Thanks for your concern about Mr. D. He is healing nicely.

Star, do you think your HOA will approve your plans? I've never lived anywhere that I had a HOA. I'm not sure I'd like it, to be honest.

Lav, glad your impromptu cook out went well. Sorry to hear about your son's FIL. I feel badly for anyone being in hospital for 4 weeks! It doesn't sound good. Is there any hope of him returning home soon?

Welcome, Little Beagle!:welcome:

Thank you all for your well wishes for Mr. D. His thumb is healing nicely. I don't have any plans in place for Memorial Day. I guess we shall see what develops! Let's all have a good, AF Saturday.

[Eloise]

i am going to join the June thread here, just because we are almost done w/May.
Hope everyone made it through, think so.
May has been a trying month for me and hope June will be a little easier?

[Lavande]

Good Saturday morning friends,

Glad you decided to join us Eloise, plenty of room here
I don't know if you looked back on our thread but we have been discussing the art of 'detachment' this month. In my opinion it is a life saving skill & my #1 self-preservation tool.

Dill, glad you & Mr D are OK.
No plan weekends have a way of getting busy so look out!!!
My SIL's Dad is totally deconditioned at this point & will be heading to a ventilator dependent facility at some point. They had to cancel plans to move him this week because he's still so unstable. He will never be going home again. This, of course has been very hard on his wife as she can be clueless. They are a large family so all of my SIL's brothers & sisters are helping out. It's very sad.

Star, I did make a quick run to the store yesterday to grab what I needed to feed the crowd. On days like that I keep the menu very simple, just the basics & everyone leaves well fed!!
I divide plants here & my daughter & DIL are happy to take them to their homes. They even have chunks of some of my crazy growing herbs like the chocolate mint & lemon balm. Enjoy your AF weekend

Pauly, what are you doing this weekend? Something good for Pauly I hope

I am just going to hang out around here & do what I can outside between rain storms.
Enjoying the peace & quiet so far, ha ha!
Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[paulywogg]

Morning friends,hi Eloise Lav,I'm working onddetachment but how do you not detatch so much that you don't care about anything? This thing with Brady is something I'm working on, rationally its ok but in my overdramatic thinking,its devastating why? Hubs has always called me "drama queen" and I think he's right,I know he's right.I've been in a blue mood for a bit now and every time I start to get out of it,I THINK myself back into it,overanalyzing why was I feeling sad,do I want to live in Vegas forever,my past mistakes,etc,where is this coming from all of a sudden? I hate it,can't control my thoughts but I need to,grrrrrrrrrr,I'll be alright,think I'm hormonely unbalanced or something, anyways PMA is my mantra for the day,hello Dill,Star,Cyn hope we all have a super AF Saturday

[Lavande]

Pauly, there could be lots of things going on causing you to have trouble getting yourself centered. Hormone imbalance is more common than you think.
I think lifestyle, poor eating & exercise habits all contribute as well. Do what you can to work on these areas & I loved the book 'Radical Forgiveness' by Colin Tipping. He focuses on getting you to move from victim thinking to seeing situations as opportunities to heal. This shift in thinking helped me out a lot!!!

Wishing everyone a peaceful night!

Lav

[dill]

Happy Sunday All!

:welcome: Eloise, it will be nice to have you join us!

Pauly, I hope you have settled a bit. Finding inner peace, or balance or whatever term best fits is sometimes difficult. Change upsets the apple cart and so I think your feelings are understandable. I remember once being told that being a parent is "one long letting go" and that is so true. But there are times when it hits us harder than others.

Lav, I've been reading a book about letting go of past offenses and throwing off that victim role. It was given to me by my neighbor because she said it helped her a great deal. I am getting some things out of it, but I am not going to recommend it here as I don't think it is all that good. Thanks for the book recommendation. You know, I've been thinking about it since my neighbor lent me that book and I realize that forgiveness is essential for living happily. I am glad that I don't tend to harbor hurts and resentments. Letting them go is essential to my sanity!

Star, Cyn greetings. Let's all have a good AF Sunday!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Welcome Eloise, great that you decided to post on our thread. Let us know what is going on in your life and we will be supportive in any way we can.

Does anyone have ideas for a June name? Joyful, Jazzy, Jubilee, Jumping Jack, .... need some more ideas.

Had a great day yesterday, it never rained, go figure. Today we may not have rain either, so good for us. Planted, sat outside, found a new recipe for an appetizer, and a new salad, two in fact, so I kept myself busy. Hope everyone is having a pleasant holiday weekend.

Pauly, I get into that way of thinking too and it brings me down, badly. That is why I am working on detaching. I will always care, I just can't fix people or control them. That ship has sailed for me as far as my kids go, they are adults. It is hard sometimes. I need to slow down and live my own life. I don't think it is selfish, it gives others the freedom to live their lives and make their own decisions. One thing I do sometimes is compare myself to others, really a stupid thing to do, it never goes well. We all have struggles and our purposes in life to figure out. It is ongoing for all of us. I think as we get older we are alone more, no school surrounded by friends, no little kids anymore and running them around. Work, family, maybe a few friends here and there. Is that how it is for you too? Hope your Sunday goes well and is peaceful.

Dill, good to hear your husband is healing nicely, I bet that hurt. Reading anything good lately? I just started a new book, but my tablet is having a hard time charging, I need to go to Best Buy and figure out what is going on.

Lav, the basics are the best at a cookout, glad you had fun. I am looking forward to ours today. First a good workout, it makes me feel great!

Cyn, know you are busy, so have a good one.

[dill]

Cross post Star! We both posted at exactly the same minute it looks like!

I have finally started reading The Source which I bought a long time back. I also found it in audio version at the library. It's over a thousand pages so I will probably not be able to sit and read it all. I'm going to read some when I have time and listen to the audio when I don't have time to sit. I still prefer to hold an actual book as opposed to a tablet. I like to be able to put book marks in so I can return to pages I want to revisit. I know that's doable on the tablet but it just doesn't feel comfortable to me. Anyway, I hope you get your tablet troubles worked out!

[treegirl]

Morning all! Happy Holiday Weekend --

I love what you just wrote about detachment, Star. You seem to have good plans in place at home and at work - I hope that you have a great time with all those new recipes!

Lav - you are party central! So sorry to hear the news of your SIL's father... that's hard. But glad to hear about your daughter -- you must be so proud of her!

Dill - are you doing anything special for the holiday? I'm sure you are helping your son in some way; you and Mr. D are always so good at that.

Pauly - I think all your reasons are valid! But I love Star and Lav's ideas from their experience... change happens...

This is short this morning - I am so tired I can hardly type. Long day yesterday, train back from city, cleaned house, set up the guest room, shopped for groceries -- and drove in the drive just before Mr. Tree and guest arrived! It is waaaay too hot here to entertain someone! We finally ended up eating dinner late on the screen porch - but even then I had to have a fan on, sheesh. I did some nice 'cold' foods, though, so learned a couple of new recipes for that. Now to figure out how to keep cool today - then it sounds like the heat will break.

Welcome Eloise! Star - I'll look again at the June names, sorry, brain is slow this morning. Wishing all a great AF last Sunday in May.

[treegirl]

X-post Star and Dill!