January Jewel

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, I'm with you guys on thinking it through the end but of course there's been times I thought it through and in the end just did not care, that's what I hafta be vigilant on,Star,alcohol makes my heart race too,the very first drink! Then I start sneezing,get a stuffy nose so I drink more,throw up,drink more,bleh,can't eat anything at all,so I know it doesn't agree with me anymore, dunno if it ever did,think I just drank past the discomfort, anyways, hubs has to work today and I feel a bit lonely but I hafta get to the grocery store and have Louie all afternoon/evening, thank God for grandbabies truly little blessings, stopped by my favorite thift shop I hadn't been to in a looong time yesterday and bought some Irish coffee mugs I've been searching for, I'm so excited they had some cuz I was gonna order some off amazon the night before for $20 for 4,at the thrift store they were 99 cents a piece waves to Cyn,Lav,Liz and Dill(can't wait!!) Back later probably, wishes for a blessed AF Sunday

[Lizann]

Yay on the mugs Pauly! Gotta love a bargain! The girls and I went to the thrift store and found some vases to use for the centerpieces for Cjs engagement party. It's fun to hunt for stuff too, at least I enjoy it!

[Lavande]

Good evening friends!

No snow here & the sun was out most of the day - nice
I am in no rush for a snowstorm, believe me.

I spent the afternoon in the kitchen too making some things I've been craving lately like potato leek soup (non-dairy), a loaf of pull-apart bread with a cheesy topping (non-dairy) & a pot of chicken cabbage stir fry (lots leftover of everything). I still stick to my old motto - cook once eat many times, ha ha!

Glad you are enjoying your weekend doing nice things for yourself Star!

Dill, you will need a week to recover all the energy you have spent the past few days. Glad you are enjoying your crew

Pauly, my daughter is a big thrift store shopper & has been finding good stuff for her house. Glad you found your mugs!

Liz, sounds like you lucked ot on the thrift store finds too, very nice.

Cyn, glad to see you. We knew you were busy this past week. Glad work is going well!

I had planned to start stripping off wall paper in my dining room but ended up guilting YB into getting it started, ha ha. I hung wallpaper (under the chair rail) in there years ago but several of the edges kept popping up. My grandsons decided it was fun to pull pieces off while they were sitting in 'time out', LOL I am tired of the ghetto look in there so it's getting a make over. I ordered a slipcover for the loveseat in my living room. After 13 years I just can't clean the fabric anymore so I am going to cover it up for a while. At some point (after the kids are grown) I'll start replacing furniture pieces I guess. The dogs & the cat have been hard on the furniture too.

Well, I wish everyone a peaceful night!
Lav

[Snoopy56]

Good morning...

Thanks for the feedback on the drinking thoughts, they come and they go and it is up to us to manage them so we stay AF. Off today for MLK day, driving to my daughter's to see my grandson.

Lav, your recipe's sound really good. Enjoy.

Pauly, bummer to be alone on Sunday, grandkids are great company.

Dill, thanks for stopping in.

Liz, hope things are going well.

Cyn, good to hear from you.

Let's have a great AF week. I will be five months AF on Wednesday, woohoo!!!!

[dill]

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

Pauly, I had to google Irish coffee mugs because I really didn't know what you were talking about! Once I googled and saw images I remembered seeing them long ago but had forgotten. Great for you getting such a great deal!

Lav, I remember when we got all new furniture because our kids had left the nest. Now the process is starting over! Ha! The furniture takes a beating when there are kids around. Walls and floors, too!

Star, Have a great time with your daughter and grandson! Will Mr. Star be along with you? It was wonderful seeing my daughter and her son. I wish she wasn't so far away. I am grateful that she makes the trip to see us at least twice a year. It is quite a trek. We help with the expense tho.

Liz, thanks for your two cents worth on the thinking thru the drinking. I was having drinking thoughts yesterday then I found myself briefly doing the "mindful" thing, quite unintentionally. I focused on my immediate surroundings, my hand picking up my coffee cup...I dunno, but for some reason it helped. But as I say, it was done unintentionally. I am going to try to focus on doing that intentionally next time.

Cyn, Are you watching "Victoria" on Masterpiece Theatre? It started last night. I haven't seen the episode because we recorded it. Mr. D was watching the Steelers/Chiefs game. Anyway, I've heard that it is good, but haven't seen it yet.

ABC, thanks for your comment here too. My son is going thru a difficult time and it is his love for his son and daughter that is his lifeline at the moment. Your son's words mean the world to you, I am sure. Do you mind my asking how old he is?

Enjoy and af Martin Luther King Day everyone!

[Lavande]

Good morning friends,

I was up early with the old dog so I thought I'd check in & say hello
I think the sun is trying to make an appearance but it's chilly at only 20 degrees, Brrr!

Star, you are doing great & I hope you enjoy your extra day off.
Drinking thoughts will come & go & the trick is to recognize them & then push them away. The less time they spend in your head the better. I still like Daniel Amen's 'ANTS' (automatic negative thoughts). Get into the habit of killings the ANTS & you will find they come less frequently!

Dill, I'm glad you had such a good visit with your daughter & grandson. You will have good memories to keep & cherish, that's for sure :hug:
We are enjoying fresh salad greens from the greenhouse & that's a unique thing this time of year. Any little thing to help beat the winter blues is a good thing in my book.

Hello to Liz, Pauly & Cyn!
I'll stop back later tonight to say hello again.
Have a great AF Monday everyone!

Lav

[abcowboy]

Enjoy your day off my stateside friends! dill, we've just the one boy, Adam, and he's 34...

[treegirl]

Morning all! Sorry, yeasterday got away and I didn't get back on here. So good to see all focusing on the ultimate self-care... not drinking. And so much good life going on. Love the Thrift Store stories! I encourage my clients to get their excess into thrift stores, and I always assure them that those object will be loved by someone else who actually wants them! So you guys are proving my theory, thanks!

Lav, good luck on that wallpaper project. I have a big one to tackle at some point - sealing the bedroom ceiling somehow - with special paint I guess. It is probably the original 1965 semi-textured (not popcorn) ceiling, and I think it's decomposing... incredible dust every couple of days. Gotta figure it out! Dill, so good to hear that Mindfulness moved you through an un-useful thought. Way to go! I didn't see Victoria, though I want to ... I don't have cable; I though about trying to stream, but too complicated for me, and I had a project to finish last night. So I'll probably wait until it's on Netflix. Liz, it sounds like the wedding planning is fun - so glad. Stay well and don't get HB's illness! Pauly, always love to hear your dining out stories! And I think you are right, we are all allergic to AL, or have a issues with detoxifying many substances. I know I do. Take good care of yourself. Star, I hope you have a wonderful day with your daughter and grandson! Wishing you safe travels.

Did I say that I have a big presentation next Saturday? So I'm off to get some clients going and to print materials, etc for Saturday. Must get my little website whipped into shape also... bye for now! Wishing all a great AF day.

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, had the worst wave of depression yesterday and I just could not shake it,I dunno if its cuz I felt sad hubs had to work or what,even Louie couldn't get me out of my funk so we just hung out all day,those days are awful cuz I'm so scared of feeling like that again I kinda think myself into it again! I still think eggs might cause something in me cuz I had this last summer when I tried to go low carb,defo time to order the food sensitivity kit,I'm over all this guess work,I also highly suspect coconut, tomatoes and maybe even nuts,we'll see.Dill,the mugs make me feel fancy when I drink my coffee,you see those a lot around the holidays with hot chocolate in them,got me remembering I used to have some,Cyn,sounds like you're working hard Star,enjoy your day off,I'm working but it'll probably be annoying cuz kids are out of school so we'll get a bunch of them Liz,how's Erin feeling? Lav,the kids peeling the wallpaper while in time out made me laugh haha,I hope we all have a nice AF Monday

[Lavande]

Back again:

YB has half of the wallpaper stripping done, ha ha! Glad I suggested this project to him. It would take me forever & my hands have been bothering me more lately with the weather being cold so damp.

Cyn, your ceiling is probably real plaster that has gotten wet at some point I assume. We went thru that in a couple of our old houses. The best fix was to just pull the ceiling down & have someone come in & dry wall it, honestly. In some cases the guy was able to just get the dry wall up without having us take the plaster down. Let a pro take a look & if there's a roof leak that has to be fixed first, of course. Good luck with your presentation Saturday

Pauly, get the sensitivity kit & find out what foods could be affecting you. It's hard to guess what you may be reacting to, there may be some surprises. For now try sticking with whole foods, eliminate processed stuff. I think the additives make me feel as crummy as anything.

I didn't accomplish a whole lot today but that's OK, there's always tomorrow, LOL

Peace to everyone tonight!
Lav

[Snoopy56]

Good morning...

Had a great MLK Day, my grandson is so fun and loving. The drive went well and came home and just chilled out. Lots of sleep, but think I needed it in the doldrums of winter.

Pauly, hope you get out of your depressive feelings, that's tough. My husband works alot so I have had to get used to being on my own alot, make plans for at least part of the day. Hope you find out your food sensitivities, it really helps to avoid what you are sensitive to.

Lav, great your are putting YB's energy to good use. It will be great to get that wallpaper down.

Cyn, and Dill, great we are busy and useful. Let's keep the AF time flowing.

[treegirl]

Morning all - so glad that you had a good day, Star! It must be really fun to see you grandson grow and develop, and see your daughter as a Mom...

I hope everyone's day went well yesterday. I am off for another long one today, so will just wish everyone well. By the way, on my drive 2 hour drive on Sunday to the train and back it was chilly but sunny , and the light was so golden and friendly.. we have definitely turned the corner! And I saw robins, and a bluebird flew across my path, so beautiful. So I think we're on the way to a distant spring. Good to have signs.

PS Pauly - I was a little relieved getting my HB on the train back to NYC. Since he works from home when he's here, it is always a big disruption! So funny, we are like the story of the three pigs... looking for 'just right'. I adore my HB, but I'm also a little happy for some peace and quiet and room to think!

Wishing all well and AF today.
To the light!

[paulywogg]

Morning friends,Star I think I'm just not used to him working on Sunday and my mind started doing that loopitidy loop thing,also do think it was food related,usually if I feel down its caused by something I've taken or lack of sleep,too much sugar,etc,trust me I've journaled everything and know that's the case,was talking to Kells bf yesterday and he said my crazy brother is supposed to be coming down this month, hmmm,I told him to tell him we're all going out of town haha,I don't feel like dealing with it,my brother traded in drinking for even worse drug use plus all that weird spiritual internet lady crap!! Not for me right now at all,hopefully he doesn't come,Cyn,your description was beautiful, although its been cloudy here practically non -stop this month, the last two days have been sunny and pretty although chilly(for us) glad I don't live where they're getting all those ice storms! They were showing coverage on the news last night and no way! Waves to Lav,Liz and Dill,I'm really hoping for a happy day,I hafta work with a snake today so crossing my fingers haha,at least it will be AF and that makes a great day for us all

[Lizann]

Good evening. Lav, we no longer have any wallpaper in the house. That has got to be the toughest job ever. Grew up with wallpaper too and every few years we had to help scrape it off. I'm sure everything will look nice when it is finished!

Cyn, your description of the train ride sounds lovely! I don't like the snow or wind but I must admit I enjoy a cold brisk day, especially for taking a walk. It's so envigorating!

Busy day at work today. There is apparently unsafe levels of lead in the water at work, so no coffee! I bring my own but that only lasts for like the first hour. I have resorted to drinking instant, ugh! I don't think there will be a quick resolution to whatever the problem is. Life must be good if all I have to complain about is coffee! Tomorrow is an extremely busy day! Thankfully there will be two of us, that makes a huge difference.
Wishing you all a relaxing AF night!

[Lizann]

Pauly, let's hope your brother doesn't come by. You sure don't need that stress in your life. Why would he contact Kelly's bf and not you? Does he expect to stay at your house?