Genuine January, 2016

[Lavande]

What is it with all the 60 somethings dying over the past week or so?

Dill, I am extremely nervous about YB retiring again. To be perfectly honest, he's hard to be around & has a history of destroying my mindpeace. I have strongly encouraged him to go ahead & build the damn greenhouse he wants, it will be attached to his garage/workshop across the driveway from the house. You see, he thinks this greenhouse will make him happy but nothing ever really does. His brother was the same way, spent his whole life gathering 'things' but nothing ever made him happy either. I have to stay on my toes & stay detached. I will not be dragged into his darkness & chronic negativity again - I swear!!
I am basically a happy person when I am not being emotionally assaulted, ha ha!!

Pauly, there will come a time when Louie will just want to stay overnight - they all do eventually

It is still way too cold but it is winter!
I have to leave at 7:30 tomorrow morning to go watch my younger grandson until 11:30, his drop off time at preschool.

Peace to all tonight!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning....

Snow here, I have to put together my crock pot meal, so off I go. Have a good one.

[treegirl]

Hello all - just a quick jump on righ tnow to say that all is OK here. Dealing with a sudden mouse infestation in the KITCHEN as a result of some repairs that were poorly done. Making me pull my hair out. Girl dog is doing OK so far, now i'm taking boy dog to vet/chiro as he can barely walk - must have injured his previously broken leg. My blessed neighbor called, and she has to take her pet in to put her down today, so I'm hoping I can be with her and support her (her birthday today, aaargh)...

More later, but just wanted to say hi and wish all a beautiful day...

[paulywogg]

Morning friends,Cyn,how old is the dog having all the problems? I never understood people loving their animals as family until I got my last dog Cookie(Rip) and Winslow,now I understand the love we have for them,so deep,hope everything is ok Dill,I've spent hundreds of dollars on b.s vitamins and supps that I've tossed out! If anything makes me feel odd I throw it out,I've made the mistake of holding on to some and trying it again,feeling weird and looking back in a journal and seen it didn't agree with me,duh,why I don't remember these things I don't know,Star,I agree on boundaries, yes we're the grandmoms but it can get overwhelming at times, yesterday Kell and Lou were over and she said she needed to go see if her check came real quick,hmmm,an hour and a half later she shows up,kinda bugged me,while Lou's the love of my life and I don't mind watching him,I don't like being taken advantage of either,I hate admitting that but its true,Lav,I really hope YB doesn't invade your mind peace,I understand you can block him out but sometimes that gets exhausting, I can block out peeps who bug me but if I had to do it in my home day after day it would piss me off! Not to be nosy but do you ever wish he just would have stayed gone?alrighty, off to dry my hair, I relaxed that hideous perm but now my hair gets greasy faster so I hafta wash it everyday,annoying, hope we all have a wonderful Wednesday

[Lavande]

Good luck with the snow Star - we get it Friday night & all day Saturday!

HA HA Pauly - sometimes I do wish that 3 or 4 times/day!!!!
If he only knew just how hard he is to live with......
I did the morning shift with my grandson & now I am just hanging out at home with no one to pester me, Lol
Pauly, about the supplements -
A good multivitamin is recommended by most docs, regardless of how well you eat. The foods we get these days are nutrient deficient as compared to the foods our grandmothers ate.
Women really need to be careful about getting B vits, especially if you are on the pill, etc. Calcium is still recommended for our bones whether it actually works or not, who knows? Vit D3 is another important vit for our bones & mood
I wouldn't bother with any other supplement unless you are trying to manage a particular problem (like arthritis or something) without Rx medication.

Cyn, a mouse in the house? I have been there & done that in our last older house. Now I only see evidence of them in the chicken coop. Mousetraps are effective & safer than poison. I used to just pick up the trap, mouse & all & dispose of the whole thing, yuck.
I hope your neighbor is OK. I'm sure you will be good support for her :hug:

Hi there Dill, any snow yet for you?

Have a great rest of the day everyone!

Lav

[dill]

Hello All, late check in for me. It's been a nice day here, not counting the weather!

Cyn, EEK! There's a Mouse in the House! LOL, that was one of my favorite books to read to the preschoolers when I was still working. The kids loved it too. However, outside of a children's book, there's absolutely NOTHING cute or funny about it! Good luck. I feel for your neighbor. I hope she can find comfort in her memories. I just wish dogs had longer life spans.

Lav, we had snow today and schools in the area were closed. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and no snow. I'm going to drive over to my son's apartment and see if I can help him with any organizing tasks now that Christmas has come and gone.

Pauly, I've spent my fair share on supps and vits too. I agree with Lav on the calcium, vit D and B vitamins, but right now, I don't even take those. My doc recommended that I take the calcium supps so I hope she isn't too upset with me when I go back. I don't know if this is normal or not, the it seemed to well, cause constipation. OK. TMI. Sorry!

Star, I finished A Drinking Life. I liked the beginning and ending sections of the book. There was a lot in the middle I had to skim bc he was kind of an A**, especially when in his late teens and early twenties and I couldn't stick with it. But there was a lot of good stuff in that book. It was interesting how he made his decision to quit drinking. He decided at the age of 40 and he wrote the book 20 years later. But when he decided, it was amazing. He just slammed the door on his drinking and never picked up again. He was so happy to have a second chance at living authentically.

Have a good and peaceful evening everyone.

[paulywogg]

Dill,in the book I read Rational Recovery, he states that most people simply just quit and I think its true,even though a person works AA or takes meds or whatever a person is using its ultimately up to them to say that's it enough is enough, all the counseling, meds,AA isn't gonna do a thing if a person won't listen,isn't ready whatevs, I don't take calcium either, seems to cause a low mood,I take magnesium with some almond milk and call it a day,take my mutli,was using turmeric cuz of the claims but I'm still not sure if I'll keep on it or what,I have been able to lay off booze cuz my moods been better but it seems to be not too good,could be PAWS but who knows,also I think former drinkers have a false sense of what happiness is supposed to be, being euphoric isn't normal,is it?

[Lavande]

The weather folks are talking about this possibly being one of the biggest snowstorms to ever hit the east coast - I doubt that. So much drama

Dill, calcium can cause constipation in some people. You can offset that by getting a lot of fiber in your diet & increasing your water intake. I have been taking an organic plant based calcium for the past two years & have had no problems. Have a good time organizing your son's place. I ended up washing dishes & emptying the trash at my son's house this morning while watching my grandson, ha ha!

Pauly, taking magnesium without taking calcium & Vit D3 is not going to do any good. The three work together to do the most good for your body. For me happiness is PEACE. Stable moods, no highs or lows is my euphoria these days!

Wishing everyone a peaceful night. I am up & out of here at 6:15 tomorrow morning - oh boy!

[SnoopyC]

Wow, lots of good posts, I will try and reply to all. Good morning...

Cyn, your sweet neighbor, hope you can be there for her. What is going on with your pets? Darn, I hope they both heal and get back to normal. Yuck with the mouse infestation, I had mice in my silverware drawer years ago, it was disgusting. I used traps too, lots of them. That was before I had cats in the house. Good luck with getting rid of them. Hope you have time to do something for yourself today.

Lav, marriage is an up and down thing, I think. If my husband and I were home all the time, it might get ugly at times, too. Big projects sound like a good idea, so keep the ideas for buildings coming. You may end up with a town on your property. HaHa. Hope the snow storm isn't as big as deal as they predict, but it is annoying how media are always saying, biggest storm of the century, ever, etc. They blow up normal weather conditions. Gee, snow in January, what a surprise. We got about two inches and it was no big deal to me, but again, the media made a drama out of it.

Pauly, I take multivitamins sometimes, not on a regular basis, just try and eat well mostly. Have you read on this site the 3P stuff? It kind of put things in perspective for me, moods, feelings, thoughts, they come and go. Just go with it. It will pass. If I notice I start thinking negative angry thoughts, I have been thinking, it will pass and try to distract, focus on something positive and the mood leaves, sometimes right away, sometimes in a while. What I really like about it is that I was brought up Catholic, and that bad thoughts were sins. Are they? Thoughts come and go, sometimes crazy, stupid thoughts, but they are just thoughts, not real, and will pass. So, when I have bad thoughts, I am not bad, everyone has them and we don't know why they occur to us. Does this make sense? I agree with you that we will not be happy all the time for whatever reason. Different times of the day are harder than other times, so maybe realizing this and knowing it will pass can be helpful. Being AF makes things alot simpler, physically and mentally. But we will still have low moods. Let me know what you think, I hope I didn't bore you.

Dill, sounds like a good book, you got alot out of it. I too think many people just quit drinking. Period. For all sorts of reasons, without hitting rock bottom, too. Getting older is a good reason to make healthier decisions on a daily basis. I have just noticed, most people don't drink or drink one drink on occasion. Period. Otherwise it becomes a problem. My son is moving tomorrow, so I will be over at his house at some point, helping him if he wants it. Have fun with your son. We are blessed to have them live close to us.

Have a good one.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends,

I am at my granddaughter's house. The commute in the dark wasn't too bad, ha ha!
Sunny & cold out now, snow starts tomorrow around dinner time. I can wait!!

Star, I am going to do all I can to keep the grownup child out of my hair, believe me. I think, on some level, that he knows how difficult he is (always has been). But he thinks he can't help himself & that is just wrong! Or is it just lazy? Either way, I am reinforcing my boundary lines, keeping myself in 'safe mode'

Hello to Dill, Cyn & Pauly! I hope everyone is OK.
We are watching Daniel Tiger & Curious George this morning, my favs.
Have a wonderful AF Thursday everyone!

Lav

[dill]

Hello Friends,

Lav, I have never watched Daniel Tiger but I hear he is a big favorite amongst the preschool set! I remember the days of the original Daniel Tiger a la Mr. Rogers. My kids (and I) loved that show! I can still hear him singing, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...." Did your kids watch it? My daughter just the other day was talking about how great his show was and she came across an episode somewhere and watched it with her son. She said her son was really into it. It was an episode featuring David Copperfield where he taught the kids a little magic trick. My daughter said she hopes nothing ever comes out about him (as in Mr. Huckstable) because it would devastate her. I told her that would not happen! But geez! Such a sad thing to have to worry about!

Pauly, I agree with you that former drinkers have their perception of happiness kind of screwed up. We do seem to have to work at finding our old joy. I remember once years ago on this thread we talked about trying to remember ourselves before we ever became drinkers. That exercise made me realize that at least for me, alcohol changed my ability to experience authentic joy in some ways. But I am sure it can be found again. I have had glimpses!

Star, you reminded me of the old religious teaching of sinning in thought, word and deed! But we all know that we are NOT our thoughts, we observe our thoughts. The observer of our thoughts is the "I". Isn't that one of the things we got from Eckart Tolle? Anyway, I think that even as a child tho I was taught in religion class, that I was not responsible for random thoughts in my head, but that I was responsible for not dwelling on the sinful ones, and not letting them lead to actions. Perhaps I lucked out on my religion instructor! :happy2:

Cyn, I hope doggie is well and that you are too. Thinking of you. :hug: I saw a news story that made me think of you. From now until late February Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter will be visible simultaneously 80 minutes before sunrise!
See all five bright planets simultaneously! | Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky

I got one of the Alan Rickman films from Netflix yesterday and it was SO good that I wanted to tell you all that it gets 2 thumbs up from me: Things the Lord Made. It was an HBO movie from 2004 with Rickman and Mos Def. It was really well acted and interesting, based on the true story.

Have a good and peaceful af evening!

[Lavande]

Dill, my kids used to sit in front of Mr Rogers completely mesermized
PBS does a great job with the Daniel Tiger series, the little ones seem to love it too.

Well, the weather geniuses have upgraded the snowstorm to a blizzard & have been sending out text alerts all day. Ho hum!!
I am actually watching my grandsons for a few hours after school tomorrow. My DIL better not waste anytime picking them up at dinnertime. I really don't want them stuck here all weekend, ha ha.
I guess we will have to wait until after the blizzard comes & goes to see the planets. I have read about that event - sounds pretty cool.

Hello to Cyn & Pauly.
Hope everyone has a peaceful night!

Lav

[SnoopyC]

Good morning all...

It's Friday and my son is moving today, I have to work and we are not getting snow. There, all the news in one sentence.

Lav, hope the blizzard doesn't dump too much snow on you. I heard it called this morning, "the storm of the century." Oh, brother. Then realized is is only 15 years into the 2000's. I know you'll keep warm and safe, with lots of good hot food planned. Snow storms can be kind of cozy.

Dill, I'm not sure what teacher taught that our thoughts could be sinful. I remember worrying as a kid when my mind wandered or my thoughts were not what they should be. It is a relief to know that they come and go randomly, and I get to focus on what I choose.

Hello to Cyn and Pauly, have a good day.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends!

No snow yet, it's supposed to start around dinner time.
So, I am going to get out to Curves this morning & maybe stop to see if there is anything left on the store shelves. I'm usually not a big panic shopper but I actually could use a loaf of bread. I can always bake a few loaves this afternoon.....maybe I will.

Have a nice snow free day Star & probably you as well Dill & Pauly.
Cyn, it's just the two of us against the storm I guess - be careful!!!!

Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, Lav,I hope its all hype and isn't as bad as they say,hell I could be a weather person as accurate as they are most of the time haha! Lou loves Curious George and Daniel Tiger,which is good but sometimes Daniel is a pouter and Lou starts acting like that as we're watching it, kids hmm,the only thing that surprised me about Mr.Rogers is that he was a marine,can't see my sweet Mr.Rogers as a tough military guy,actually I bought Kell a T-shirt with him on it for Christmas, I guess he's a "thing" its little Bobbi's birthday in a week and a half,I'm gonna send her a card with some cash and some red velvet cookies through this catalog I buy from,should be a surprise for her as I usually just send the card,Cyn,you be careful in the storm too,not sure where Star and Dill are but be safe where you are regardless have a fab Friday peeps