Good morning everyone!! Today is such a bright day for me thanks to all of you and to my family!!! Instead of waking up with a hangover because yesterday's stress really got to me, I am refreshed and ready to go. When I made my plea for help, so many of you were there for me and I greatly appreciate it!
Today, I have a busy day. My son gave me his final lists of schools and was not upset about removing some of the initial ones from his list. His counselor wants to make sure that he is not top-heavy in his applications to schools that are next to impossible to get into, but I think his choices are good ones. He has added Princeton (another top-heavy school) to his list, since I will now being working with a client 20 minutes away. But, there are other not so top-heavy as well -- what a process it is to get into college these days!!! Unbelievable.
I was thinking that a good topic to discuss today is family and friends that will be visiting during the holidays. I think we all love our families, otherwise we would just kiss them off. But you know during the holidays, they can really get bizarre. So, knowing this ahead of time, I think it would be good to think about what we will be doing with our families and how we will offset their "ideosyncracies" so that they don't take us away from our drinking goals.
I have four targeted areas (which I'm listing in order of stress level):
1. Visiting with my in-laws. This is very stressful for me -- I like to drink a lot before I go because they make me feel very uncomfortable. My brother-in-law is constantly pressing us about how my son should be a physicist and that I'm wasting his life by pushing him as a political scientific strategist -- which shows how little the idiot knows my son because he has a mind of his own! But we always get in a heated discussion over it. Then they leave me in a room with my sister-in-law, where there are these long spans of silence because we have absolutely nothing in common -- except -- yeap, you guessed it, she likes to drink. Then there is my nephew and his wife and their kids -- I do like them, but they are running around doing their thing, as we always meet at their house.
SO MY GOAL THIS YEAR IS NOT TO GET INTO DISCUSSIONS WITH MY BROTHER-IN-LAW OVER MY SON, AND NOT TO BE IN A ROOM ALONE WITH MY SISTER-IN-LAW -- I'm going to solicit my husband's help or I'm not going to go. I've made up my mind. We should go with planned topics of conversation.
2. My brother. I don't like him or his wife. They always think they are too good for everybody and I feel so uncomfortable around them. He has been pushing to get together -- it's driving me nuts. So, I've decided if they want to see us, it has to be on our turf -- that probably means they won't come -- hoorah!!! But if they do, I'll be in a better situation.
3. Christmas shopping and decorations -- we always do this Christmas Eve -- my husband and I always fight over how much we're spending. We get thrown out of every store as they are closing, and we are always exhausted putting up the tree, as it is a very long day. So this year, I'm doing most of my shopping by internet. We are going Sunday to get our tree and get into the spirit a Christmas nursery (this place is unbelievable). And we are going to decorate in accordance with the number of day sof Channakah (there will be seven days left after we get our tree). We are going to decorate a little each day -- lights one day, bulbs the next, etc.
4. My parents coming to dinner -- well Thanksgiving worked so I'm going for two for two -- plan a specific time for them to show for them to leave, and let them know the ground rules.
So, though I'm sure it won't be easy and I'll have to be on my guard, I'm entering the season less stressed about family since I have a plan.
Anybody else have any ideas how they are going to deal with the stress of relatiaves and friends?
Love to hear,
MM
Today, I have a busy day. My son gave me his final lists of schools and was not upset about removing some of the initial ones from his list. His counselor wants to make sure that he is not top-heavy in his applications to schools that are next to impossible to get into, but I think his choices are good ones. He has added Princeton (another top-heavy school) to his list, since I will now being working with a client 20 minutes away. But, there are other not so top-heavy as well -- what a process it is to get into college these days!!! Unbelievable.
I was thinking that a good topic to discuss today is family and friends that will be visiting during the holidays. I think we all love our families, otherwise we would just kiss them off. But you know during the holidays, they can really get bizarre. So, knowing this ahead of time, I think it would be good to think about what we will be doing with our families and how we will offset their "ideosyncracies" so that they don't take us away from our drinking goals.
I have four targeted areas (which I'm listing in order of stress level):
1. Visiting with my in-laws. This is very stressful for me -- I like to drink a lot before I go because they make me feel very uncomfortable. My brother-in-law is constantly pressing us about how my son should be a physicist and that I'm wasting his life by pushing him as a political scientific strategist -- which shows how little the idiot knows my son because he has a mind of his own! But we always get in a heated discussion over it. Then they leave me in a room with my sister-in-law, where there are these long spans of silence because we have absolutely nothing in common -- except -- yeap, you guessed it, she likes to drink. Then there is my nephew and his wife and their kids -- I do like them, but they are running around doing their thing, as we always meet at their house.
SO MY GOAL THIS YEAR IS NOT TO GET INTO DISCUSSIONS WITH MY BROTHER-IN-LAW OVER MY SON, AND NOT TO BE IN A ROOM ALONE WITH MY SISTER-IN-LAW -- I'm going to solicit my husband's help or I'm not going to go. I've made up my mind. We should go with planned topics of conversation.
2. My brother. I don't like him or his wife. They always think they are too good for everybody and I feel so uncomfortable around them. He has been pushing to get together -- it's driving me nuts. So, I've decided if they want to see us, it has to be on our turf -- that probably means they won't come -- hoorah!!! But if they do, I'll be in a better situation.
3. Christmas shopping and decorations -- we always do this Christmas Eve -- my husband and I always fight over how much we're spending. We get thrown out of every store as they are closing, and we are always exhausted putting up the tree, as it is a very long day. So this year, I'm doing most of my shopping by internet. We are going Sunday to get our tree and get into the spirit a Christmas nursery (this place is unbelievable). And we are going to decorate in accordance with the number of day sof Channakah (there will be seven days left after we get our tree). We are going to decorate a little each day -- lights one day, bulbs the next, etc.
4. My parents coming to dinner -- well Thanksgiving worked so I'm going for two for two -- plan a specific time for them to show for them to leave, and let them know the ground rules.
So, though I'm sure it won't be easy and I'll have to be on my guard, I'm entering the season less stressed about family since I have a plan.
Anybody else have any ideas how they are going to deal with the stress of relatiaves and friends?
Love to hear,
MM
Just getting ready to head for town & do some shopping, my Sister's B-day is this Sunday, so as usual, I'll probably get her gift to her in the traditional fashion.. LATE! We have a mutual thing about that so, I don't feel too bad.
zwink:
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