Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

[eustacia]

Greetings everyone,

I decided to start the Saturday thread early because I am unable to sleep because of the lingering side effects of some meds that were prescribed to me yesterday. Thursday was the first night in three nights that I got more than an hour or two of sleep and that was thanks to a friend who let me sleep in her dust free guestroom. Then I hit the cold streets of NYC and ended up in the hospital until noon when I was stabilized and able to return to work. Aargh . . . I love it here but I can see why people move to Florida!

Tomorrow, hubby and kid have promised to pitch in with the clean up. We'll see:H ! Some good has come of this hassle, though. At least 1,000 books have gone to charity. I found my favorite discontinued shade lip gloss (guys don't even try to understand the importance of this) under a sofa. I've been treating our family to really good meals delivered by local restaurants. I've not been drinking except for a couple of glasses of wine Thursday night with my friend.

So, all in all, not much to report. I hope everyone is doing well. Hawk, I've been thinking about you and sending you peaceful vibes.

All for now!

:h E

[Waves 2]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Hi all,
Have not had time to reply for a day or two and cannot believe how much there is to reply to!

Hawk,- I hope things go well for you on the 20th.

E - I?m so sorry that you are having all these difficulties with your asthma. Hope the new meds start working properly soon. You are amazing with your drinking self-control.

SM Mary -The Mary and Joseph idea is brilliant. I wish I?d done that when my children were small. With all the people who are going to adopt this idea it could well soon be a brand new "tradition".

Paul,- sorry I missed your birthday, hope it was good.

Becca,- when I was on my 30 day abs I found that I was very emotional after 5 days but then that eased but around day 15 to 17 the cravings were really strong. I know you?ve a lot more to be emotional about at the moment than I had so I am praying for you to keep strong. Are you still exercising? How are the shins?

Fsophiah - I think it?s lovely that your son makes that connection with you at Christmas. I felt all choked up when I read it.

Denise- welcome.

Lush- I sincerely hope you did well last night. But I have to say it. I bet I have MORE trophies than YOU!!! ( but not for baking).

Fan- what are sloppy Joes? Excuse my ignorance.

Rachele- It?s amazing how many people on here enjoy candles. I collect them. Some of my favourites are the scented ones, but have also got lots of animal shapes, two from Jerusalem, and even one that is the spitting image of a Moet et Chandon champagne bottle. Several visitors have looked longingly at it not realising it?s a candle.

Mkr- pm on its way

Ivy ? congrats on not buying- good strategy

Allie, Di, Laura, Hilary, MM, Judie, Tracy, Gypsi, Tu Madre, Jen, Macks , Mary Anne, Trish, Precious, Dove, Paula, and anyone else I have missed ( there are so many of us now that it is easy to miss someone and remember them later)

Love to you all as always
Waves

[Hawk]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Hello everyone -

Today we are taking my husband's granddaughter (Munchkin #1) to a Christmas play and then for cookies with Santa at my office. Its always nice to experience Christmas through a child's eyes. She's 4 so it's a perfect age. I am looking forward to it. Tonight we have a Christmas party to go to. I am planning to have no more than 3 drinks and not stay late. Husband is very social and loves to stay ang gab so I'll have to be very clear I'm not up for an all nighter.

E - So glad to hear you finally got some rest and the troops are pitching in to clean up. Its great that you are getting a chance to purge some stuff though I'm sure you would have preferred a different way! And woo hoo on the lip gloss! That's the best feeling! Take care and watch the asthma.

Waves - Good to see you. I agree - so much goes on in a day! Have a good one.

Ok everyone - have a super day. Thinking of everyone here and hugs all around. Time to feed the munchkin!

[Allie]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Good morning!

I'm trying to cram in a "catch up" here on reading what's been going on and posting for a minute before the kids wake up! I've got a house full as my brother and his wife, and four kids all arrived last night for the weekend. At the moment all the adults (except me) are still sleeping, but I hear something that resembles an earthquake happening in my son's room upstairs with all the little ones, so I know my time here is short!

Eustacia -- I hope you will get some sleep here soon, and yes I guess you can see why people move to Florida...(like me!) BUT, when I logged onto my home page this morning, one of the headline stories was about how "Old man winter" had sent a deep freeze all the way down into Florida. And its the truth! Yesterday was the coldest day since we have lived here. It was retarted! We normally are in the sixties and seventies, but we dipped into the 20's. That just aint right!

Hello to Denise and Dove, and any other new ones I've missed -- welcome!

I dont have much time, so hello to everyone else and missed you guys!
Love ya ~ Allie

[Preciouspinot]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Hello and good morning!

E- sorry to hear about your asthma troubles and yes, I too live in Florida and am quite grateful

Allie-I love having a house full of family too, especially around the holidays. The weather is colder here too. It's in the 50's and the wind is howeling and my crazy hubby is in a fishing tournament today :nutso: But, there is a specially tagged billfish that if anyone catches that particular fish they win a million dollars so, I let him face the rough seas

Hauk- enjoy your day!

Waves- nice to see you stop by

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!! I'm off to shop and get a pedicure....

[fsophiah]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Good morning! My kitchen will be finished on Tuesday, thank God! I know this matters very little to you guys, but I just want to get all the crap out of the den and into the shelves, and I'd love to be able to decorate a Christmas tree. It's one of my favorite things to do, although this year there won't be the usual bottle of chardonnay to drink while I'm at it.

E, I'm thinking of you in the NYC cold. My son lived there until he went to Japan to teach, and we would go there on Christmas day. I thought of it as camping because we had to hike up four flights of stairs to his railroad apt on the upper East side. Then, there was the cat, which I am allergic to, and the year his wife left him, when he was in a state of fugue, there was a blizzard. When you said asthma in New York it brought up a whole, complete scenario...asthma in New York...April in Paris...

This year I won't see the tree at Rockefeller Center. Go by and think of me for a second. Then, tell me about it.

Allie, it sounds like you have a lively home, especially on Sunday afternoons.

Has anyone heard from gypsi?

Have a wonderful Saturday. It's cold in Dallas. I hate hot Christmases.

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Happy Saturday everyone!!

E-I am glad you're on the mend with the asthma..and yea for the lipstick!!

Allie...yesterday was Way to cold for us Floridians!!

Hawk- Enjoy your time with your grandchild..that sounds so lovely!! All good thoughts for the 20th!!

Great news here!! My daughter got into her first choice college. Univ. of Florida!!! GO GATORS!!! WE are VERY excited!!!!! (but wait!! wasn't she just learning to ride that 2 wheeler???)

Everyone else....have a great day!!!

Beth

[Quiescent]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Oh Beth, Congratulations! Go Gators!

E, I hope you're getting lots of help today with the chores.

Allie, I hope you enjoy your time with family.

Hawk, have fun with Santa today and the granddaughter today!

Hi Waves:l

It's holiday time a the restaurant......urrrg!a I have to go in early and I will get off late......we will be super busy. It's just that time of year, wish me luck and lots of cash!

Have a great Saturday all:l

[gypsi]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Hi All!!

Sorry I've not been around - I've just survived six weeks of being in undated by relatives from the Lower 48. The last round was a week of four females in my house!!! :egad:

I did real well with my drinking goals through most of October, then as the stress accumulated, I slipped. And slipped, until I'm pretty much back where I started from. I can say with absolute conviction that the supps are very important. I stopped taking them when we went to the hospital, as things were just so crazy there wasn't time to even grab a change of clothes, much less pills. When we came home, I was so overwhelmed by his pill schedule (pills to take every six hours, 24 hours a day for a month) that I had no energy left over for myself and my needs. Needless to say, I went from two chosen days to drink to three, then four, and then everyday. So, I am back at square one with my goals. And to be honest, I'm struggling with myself to regain the control that I had. My husband's situation is very bad; not only does he have the lung cancer that spread to his brain, but we just found out last week that it also spread to his skull, which means it's in his bones now too. I am so upset and depressed with the whole thing that all I want to do is drink. Somehow I've got to find a reason to not drink. Before, my reason not to drink was wanting to enjoy my life with my husband, but since he most likely won't even be here come next spring, I'm not fighting a "why bother to stay sober?" attitude. And I know, I should stay sober so I can enjoy what little time I've got left with him, but even that has degraded to the point where I am little more than his unpaid nurse.

Arghhhh!! Ok, done with the pity party. Now I gotta try to figure out what to do next...

Hope everyone has a good day.

[Quiescent]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Oh Gypsi,

Thank you so much for the update. Everyone has been asking about you almost everyday someone asks if you've checked in. Just so you know that you are in our thoughts and I am defiantly keeping you in my prayers.

I can't tell you what I would do with such a struggle, just devastating.

I am so sorry to hear the severity of your husbands illness:l

I saw somewhere on here once that someone said "consider yourself embraced" Please do, from me. Attached files [img]/converted_files/161557=165-attachment.jpg[/img]

[Waves 2]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Gypsi, this is no pity party. I'm so sorry that it has come to this so quickly. It's going to be extremely tough and my personal view is that you have to survive one day at a time when things are at their worst .

Sorry I can't be more help. :l Love Waves

[lushy]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Gypsi, My heart and love goes out to you so much during this time. I don't even know what to say, it is just so sad. You know what? Do the best you can, don't worry about your drinking goals right now. Just do the best you can. Consider yourself embraced my me as well. And thank you so much for taking time out of all of this to keep us updated. We really care. :l

[lucky 2.0]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Ditto to the others offering your support Gypsi. I offer you my support too-

[Mighty Mouse II]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Hi Everybody! Wow, so much going on!!!

E - I'm so sorry you had to go to the hospital!!! But, I'm glad you finally got some sleep and I am so proud of you with your commitment to yourself about staying in control. I don't think there are many people with the strength and fortitude that you have shown. Hoorah!!!

Bak310 - Congratulations! I think it is great that you child got into the college of their choice!!! Big Accomplishment! I am currently right in the same boat, as we are waiting to hear whether our son was elected to early action -- but we don't hold out much hope as, even though he is qualified, there is stiff competition -- I am so proud of you and your child for the accomplishment!!!!

Waves2 - It was so great to see you posting on the forum -- I think you are so special -- I remember all your words of encouragement when I first started -- it is always a delight to see your postings!!

Gypsi, so sorry to hear that you are going through such a tough time. We are always here for you; don't feel that it is a pity party -- you have legitimate reasons to express your grief!!! I think you will find that we are great listeners BECAUSE WE REALLY CARE ABOUT YOU!!! We want to hear how you are doing -- don't stay away. Have you talked to the social worker or your husband's doctor?? Usually grief counseling is available to family members of terminal patients. Maybe they could help you find some answers to your questions.

Imagine, I think of you now everytime I light a candle! That is one of the first things I do in the morning is to go around the house and light all the candles in the different rooms. I used to make candles when I was young -- that is hard work. I really admire your talent!!!

As for me, things are going great! I have to admit, I was a little concerned about my son going off to college next year. We are so close. I was concerned as to whether he could adjust, even though he did extremely well at Georgetown last summer. You know, the typical over-protective parent; I was worried it was the exception and not the norm. I was also concerned whether I would go into some deep depression in what is known as "empty nest syndrome". I love my son so much. My husband and I had elected not to go away alone without our son throughout his life, so I was wondering if we would be able to adjust with just the two of us in the house.

Well, I'm loving life because I know now we are going to be just fine. My son left Thursday morning for Princeton Model UN. He didn't call Friday night (but that is not unusual with these political studies extra-curricular activities, as they work around the clock). My husband and I have had a great time! We were married eight years before we decided to have a child, and I was amazed when my husband, who is as doting as I over our son, said "I think its time we start thinking about getting back to that fun we used to have"!!!! It isn't that he or I don't love our son, or that we wouldn't just love to have him in our pocket, it is that part of good parenting is knowing when to let go. So, the only decision is whether to feel miserable about it or get on with the next phase of our life. And I was so relieved that we are both in agreement that we are going to have a great time together. So, we have had a fabulous couple of days. And last night, we watched all the cartoon Christmas specials. I made spiced tea and then during frosty, I made hot cocoa (now shown to be healthy for you -- though my little marshmallows probably aren't). But just when we were feeling that we were missing something, the phone rang and it was our son. He was so excited about how great things were going for him. He enthusiastically told us about his experience there. We were so happy. And my husband is more open to healthy eating in our "alone years". I have a new attitude, which is helping my goals So things are really looking great.

I cannot thank all of you enough because I would not be doing this well without all of your support. I don't divulge anyone's names, but I share with my husband some of the remarks you all make about me. He asked me to tell you all how thankful the whole family is for your support -- he said he is very happy that I found you and that all of you have made a big and wonderful difference in our lives!!

With much love and gratitude,
MM

[Hawk]

Saturday . . . is it the 9th already?

Gypsi -

Wow. I am terribly sorry to hear about your husbnd. That is a tremendous load to carry. Do what you can as far as meeting goals but I do think you are right - not drinking now will allow you to be with your husband now. Its tough, but being there is important. I wish I could do something to help you. Please know you are both in my thoughts and prayers.