Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

[Persephone1]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Hello Lovelies, just wanted to quick check in on day 9...so nice to wake up feelin' good! It's super blow sunday and wishing you all a safe one! Gotta read through and will catch up laters. Go niners!!!

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Hi Persephone!

You sound great....whoo whoo congratulations on Day 9! Yeah, I suppose I'll be cheering on the 9rs, too!

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Persephone,

I was just reading your 1st post, where you said you moved back to the midwest to take care of your mother until she passed away from cancer. I am so, so, sorry for your loss.:l I adore my mother and I cannot even fathom my life without my mother. Do you have kids or other family nearby? If I'm getting too personal, I'm sorry.

[ladybirdheart]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Hi sweeties. Just got back from Trader Joe's with my contribution to a Super Bowl wingding with Lord Bird Heart. Unlike Lord Bird Heart, I am not sure how much of the game I will actually watch but it is fun to make a little party. I now have chile lime mixed nuts, wasabi almonds, baked veggie chips, alcohol free beer, and a dark chocolate bar. Wicked:H. Along with a big green salad, the main course for this cold day is a "stew" (don't read this part Lav) with roasted vegetables, grilled steak, farro, and goat cheese--it would be the end of Lav what with the trifecta of wheat, beef, and dairy, but I think we can manage it for a day. I say NOW that I can eat any food group with immunity, but I do have yet another muscle spasm/pinched nerve along my spine which came on like a tsunami yesterday. I feel like such a pussy. I had the same sort of problem years ago and it went away seemingly spontaneously after a time. I really sympathize with you, Cyn, regarding these mystery difficulties. I am going to try adding more magnesium foods, more water (burble, glugg, slosh), more Chill's good thoughts and visualizations, more mindfulness regarding inflammatory food from Lav, and more spunk from Rocky Rusty to my days. I loathe being hemmed in by anything. Sending everybody much love and a big welcome to Persephone! Ladybird.

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

A Killer Trifecta for sure LBH :H :H :H
I sure hope you feel better very soon. Same to you Cyn :l

[papmom3]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Papmom Checking in! No Super Blow for this girl this year. I went wild last year with the Pats winning it and I'm sure my neighbors have officially labeled me a kook. And I was alone, and I wasn't drinking, AND I hadn't seen a game the whole year :H!!

TDN-Yes, I met Dave a couple of weeks ago and he was there again today. He is a charactor and I LOVE the fact that he still helps customers and that they know who he is. He definitely doesn't play the corporate CEO card. He showed a couple of us the new pic that is going on all his food labels. Wait till you see it -its so cute!! Actually, you can see it on his FB page. it's the one with probably a million likes. I too am sorry to hear about the young man's suicide. So incredibly sad. Hang in there.
Did you hear about the fishing hut blowing up on the lake? Was it Winnepesauke?

P1-keep on trucking! you're doing great!

Cyn-glad you're feeling a bit more awake today. Can you tell us more about the pet column? do you need a guest blogger? I can think up a few words I think about living with a reactive dog or a kidney cat if you're interested.

Lav-good YB! I too want to go to Longwood in this lifetime.

Chill-so glad you loved the hot yoga!! My crystal ball sees you getting your certification and eventually opening your own combo yoga/wellness studio. Here's the link to my friend's studio-her updates on facebook are super cool!! I never knew she had such great business sense!!
Mind Body Flow Yoga - Heated Vinyasa Yoga Classes in East Amherst

Rusty-OMG your exercise routine and then hot tub sounds so good!! jealous.
I can totally see why you feel you would have been vulnerable to AL again if you had stayed in that field. You had no control and the abuse was horrendous! Now you are in control and your clients love you!! You rock!!

Sooty-how was the girls' weekend at your house? Is it over?

Star-gosh, seems like you have snow everyday? That drove me crazy 2 years ago. We're getting more tonite but only a dusting so they say. But, it is cold!!

LBH-I could read your prose forever!! I also could smell the food you and Lord BH had tonite LOL!! I sure hope that pinched nerve goes away soon!

I miss Kas.

Fun day at the demo. Very busy. Looking forward to work tomorrow (although not getting up at 5). Haven't been able to say that in about 10 years!! I also decided my budget could handle a mid priced juicer and ordered it from Amazon last nite. It's coming out of my vacation pay. I will start a 28 day Whole Foods Challenge on Thursday since the Juicer will get here Wednesday.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/28DayWholeFoodChallenge

The person who started this page is a fellow agility classmate and personal trainer. I did a mini bootcamp session she offered us right before agility class every other week last January. Unfortunately that bootcamp resulted in a chronic achilles heel problem that is just now going away a year later. but, I really like her and she is very supportive. I would hire her if I could afford her.

time to feed the wolves and tigers.

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

I live only 60 miles north of Baltimore so I guess that makes me a Ravens fan today :H
I really could not care less about football, baseball ~ any of that stuff.

Sent my DIL & 2 semi-sick kids home at 9 pm. They are in the getting better stage but the younger guy was a cranky pants, geez.

Papmom, my daughter bought a juicer recently & really likes it BUT she said living on nothing but juice for more than a day or two made her crazy. We humans do like to chew
Replacing one or maybe two meals a day is OK.

Having frequent snow flurries but nothing major, thank goodness. The kid across the road knocked on the door this morning, asked if he could plow my driveway. I didn't think it needed it but the sparkle in his eyes got me laughing so I told him to knock himself out :H
He's upset that we haven't had a real snowfall yet this winter & he has a brand new plow attachment for his John Deere tractor :H

Wishing everyone a cozy night!
Lav

[Persephone1]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Haha, Super Blow...that was a funny typo!!

Good evening lovelies,

Thanks to: Papmom, Ladybird, Rusty, Lav, Chill and any others (slow learner) who sent welcomes and words of encouragement. Someone (I've looked a few times and can't find who, so please forgive me) gave me feedback on the hypnosis CD's and I appreciate that. I think I will stick to the free meditations, etc... on YouTube, I've had GREAT success with them The binaural beats are really cool.

Hope you are all having a fine evening. My Niner's were gettin' spanked, but now...we'll see, they may have a shot!! It's so nice to watch a game, sober, present...dare I say happy!?!?! Sober is the new drunk, I like that.

Rusty - yes my mom passed a few months back. I am incredibly close with my daughter, but my mom and I were never very close. She was a pretty major alcoholic, mean and isolated herself a lot over the past 10 years. However, she was my mom and had no one else to care for her. I left my life in Colorado to come here and I knew it would be life altering. It was. I'm surrounded by family (came back to my home town) and it's amazing after 20 years to be near family. I moved to CA when I was 17, had to get away and it was good at the time. Now, I feel like I've come full circle. I could not have gone through all that with my mom without family support.

Thanks again for welcoming me in, it's a cozy group. Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. Xoxo

[papmom3]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

LOL P1! I thought you were being funny with the Super Blow so I stole it!! It's fitting I think! I still know know who won-no TV in the morning at this house!!

Lav-no way can I juice 3x/day for a month. I'll use it at least once a day. Fingers crossed!!

[dill]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.

I don't know to whom this quote belongs, but it is succinct and I like it.

Welcome Persephone, I'm glad you have joined us. Well done on your progress. Your resolve is awesome!

Chill, thanks for the link to the interview with Gangaji. Very interesting.

Just a quick check in for me, Greetings to Rusty, Star, Pmom, Lav, TDN, Kas (hope you will rejoin us when you feel safe), LBH,(feel better soon) Cyn, TT, .....

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good morning friends!

Frosty but sunny this morning

Ravens won the Super Blow papmom :H
Have fun juicing!!

Dill, your quote is very similar to my basic thinking style, like that

Persephone, I'm the one always recommending the MWO Hypno CDs because they worked so well for me. I was particularly fond of the clearing CD - really helped me to clear the junk out of my head & shut up the monkey mind once & for all. Sorry about your Mom, I lost mine way back in 1986. Her passing created a giant hole in my life, made me really feel like I was alone on the planet. I wasn't alone, I had a husband, 2 kids, extended family but the aloneness really got to me.

I hope LBH & Cyn are on the road to recovery today!
Greetings to everyone & wishes for a fantastic AF Monday!

Lav

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good Monday Morning Friends,

A quick check-in today because I have to catch a plane to Canada.

Persephone-so sorry to hear about your mom's alcoholism. Good for you for moving away and making a life for yourself, and I am glad that you are surrounded by your supportive family now. I can relate when you say your mom was a mean drunk. My mom's 3 sisters were all mean alcoholics....two of them drank until they passed away from cancer. My Aunt Rusty forced her 4 children to live in an isolated world to protect her daily all-day drinking habit. My cousins couldn't have friends over to the house, couldn't get involved with school activities, because of my aunt's neediness. When Aunt Rusty died, her daughter simply said, "it was time."

Pap-:h you bundle of energy. I'm glad the demo went well.

Lav-I bet you would like to have the whole day to yourself, free of sick kids, etc., and I hope you get your way. I would not use a juicer....I like to chew, and Lord knows, I was on a liquid non-diet diet for WAYYYYYY too long.

Dill-thank you for the quote. Very pertinent for me today.

Chill- I agree with Pap. I see you owning your own yoga studio and wellness center-your energy lifts even the most lethargic of people.

Star-I do believe in guardian angels. I'm a practicing Catholic and the bible talks about the angels quite a bit. The reason I believe I have them looking over me is because in my 3.5 years of heavy drinking, I drove under the influence many times.:bang Every time I got into my car I prayed to the angels to keep me safe and I was. I still pray to the guardian angels all the time, but now it's to keep my family and my loved ones safe, especially when I am traveling. Also, when I suffered that concussion in October, I was unconscious for five hours, and the ER doctor told me I was lucky to be alive because it's very rare for someone to be unconscious that long, unattended, and without help to wake them up. My faith in the guardian angels has never been stronger. I must have at least 100 of them. Rustop would be a good person to pose this question to as well as she is a practicing Catholic, and Dill is, too, I think.

LBH-that pinched nerve sounds so painful...I hope you are better today and your stew sounded heavenly. This carnivore would have had two bowls of it.

Did I say QUICK check-in. Yeah, right. I can never keep a promise to myself.:H

I'll be back later....happy AF Monday to everyone I didn't mention.

[Persephone1]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Hello Lovelies, thanks for the kind words re: my mom. I must say, it was an amazing experience being with her when she left this world, she took her last breath with her head resting in my hands...I didn't think I was strong enough, and her tired and weak body held on for 2 days while I sat with her and found it within myself to stay by her side. It was a gift really, if that makes sense.

I have had one crappy day...

I posted in the NN earlier the struggles I was having at the onset of the day, then I received a phone call from one of my biggest triggers. And THAT added the 'A' to my HALT...I tried to address it, but ended up sleeping for several hours, DID NOT DRINK. Honestly, I'm over that now struggling with emotions related to the phone call. I MUST learn to stand up to this person, hold onto my Self: my Self respect and dignity. I somehow give them the power to bull-doze me down to a remnant of my Self. I don't like admitting this, I don't like it's a struggle that I have. Fortunately, this person is several states away and when it get rough I can hang up the phone...I feel small and weak and discouraged with myself... Trying not to beat myself up.

It is day 10, the day is kicking my ass, but the alcohol isn't and that's a GREAT thing! Love you all & thinking of you... Thanks for your support.

[papmom3]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Great job P1!! AL won't solve anything or make the trigger go away and you've come to accept that. Dealing with these things without the "help" of AL is tough but it does get easier and easier as we find new ways to deal AND we find that we really are strong. I am constantly amazed at how differently I deal with conflict now than when I was drinking. Even if I hadn't had a drink in 24 hours, I could never think rationally and always reacted as if I was being attacked personally. And of course 99% of the time I wasn't. Now I can step back and see the situation for what it is and figure out how to deal instead of being reactive. You will like the new you, I promise!

Well, it's almost official. As soon as the new job descriptions are signed and delivered to HR, I will have my first employee to supervise in over 20 years. Luckily she is a contractor so no evals are required AND she is an extremely hard worker with no time/attendance problems. She is a bit OCD and set in her ways but I think I can deal with that.

Speaking of jobs, does anyone have a good mouser they can lend me? Apparently neither cat cares that there is one running around the living room tonite. I'm still hoping that King Freddy will rally later on. In the meantime I've got that room sealed off and the cats in it. I am not happy that this mouse is in the house in Feb instead of Oct/Nov when they usually come in. Guess it's time to get out the mouse traps as this is the second one in little over a month. The little buggers must have made themselves a new entry point in the foundation. Haven't seen them in a few years I don't think.
Most likely will be a long nite if the cats do decide to give chase. The dogs will bark like crazy. :upset:

[papmom3]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Rusty-you do indeed have a squadron of guardian angels!! I myself have wondered frequently how you survived your head banging fall last year-now I know!! Hope you got to CAN safely. What part?

Lav-how did you day go?

Dill-that quote might be the best yet!!