4th June

[NoSugar]

Thanks for the tips! I can now find the thread but I still think it is weird that it doesn't show up in the New Posts search on the Home page anymore (it used to). I had thought for a long time that the thread had faded away since it no longer appeared in the list.

I'm so glad to see that some people I thought had stopped posting are still are at MWO! Like Steady said, it might take awhile to catch up on peoples' stories but I really appreciate the warm welcomes.

I've been retired since the end of 2022 and am really enjoying it. I have 2 grandsons who live in town and 2 who are a few hours away. They range in age from 4 to 8. It is nice to spend more time with them. Mostly I'm grateful to have stopped drinking before they were born! I also do some volunteer stuff and like Lav, really enjoy making things. Currently quilting and knitting are my main creative interests. I've been married over 40 years and have a 2.5 year old Golden.

So, there's the basics. Have a good day!

[Lavande]

Greetings friends,

Now we have a nice big group of folks to keep us company, nice
Didn?t accomplish much today, just did what I had to do. Sitting outside right now watching the hummingbirds fill up at the feeders. They are such amazing little creatures.

Steady, welcome, glad you decided to join us here.
You know, I?ve been wondering about G myself! Time for you & Ava to take him out for coffee & a lecture maybe, Lol. I hope everything is OK with him.

Wags, we are rock solid here & pretty honest with our feelings. Anything you need to dump on us, we will listen
I hope Dad is happy & settled this week. Mick is going thru the same thing right now with his father-in-law & hoping to get him settled too.

Mick, you & Wags have similar situations going on, good for bonding. It?s staying cooler after that one super hot day last week & I?m OK with that. I have to replant my zinnia bed because not a single seed germinated, strange. I always have a big bed for the butterflies & bess to enjoy. Picked up 2 seed packages today & will get the planted.

NS, I?m trying to get some crafty things done ahead of a Sept 30 craft fair I signed up for but now I?m getting calls & orders from previous customers needing gifts, haha. Guess I?ll have to devote more time in my workshop. Do your grandsons do summer camp or anything? I have no idea what mine will be doing all summer except the oldest (14) is talking about getting a job, haha!!

Pie, thinking of you

Hello to PQ, Cyn & Slo, hope you all had a good day. Did I miss anyone?

Have a nice night all!
Lav

[porqoui]

MAE ALL…

Lav…I think the heat you sent to Mick yesterday took a small detour as it was mighty hot out there today. I’m glad you clarify “close the nest”, and of course you’ll keep an eye out for newcomers. Glad you invited everyone over her, now I get to see a lot of people I haven’t seen for a while. Had a really nice time out with my brother and family but was too bushed to post when I finally got home. It’s great to have more people on the thread. I accomplished a lot today. Went in early to work on the Craft Fair registration and that’s the one thing that didn’t get touched. Tomorrow, first thing is Craft Fair, I don’t care who phones and I’m not opening my email till I get it done. LOL

Steadfast…welcome to this thread. Mr G pops in now and again but I haven’t seen him for a while. I’m sure he’ll show up again.

Wagmor…glad to hear you’ll be helping Lav keep the light on in the newbies nest. People really need a landing spot when they come here. I thought I had to tell my story right off and then Lav directed me to the newbies nest and I’m not sure how I ended up here but have been here about 10 years. Good planning on the lighter workload during the summer.

Slo…good to hear you made it to your friend & husbands place safe and sound. I’m sure the rest of your trip will be good too. Wow, dancing without drinking, you’re braver than me and I bet you felt great waking up the next day. Sounds like you had a lovely time and being able to sit and watch the sunset and moon rise over the mountains must have been very peaceful. So the toothache has subsided so I’ve started procrastinating. At least it’ll give me some time to organize my money.

Mick…I don’t believe the work does not have a booze issue either. What would you like to change the name of the thread to? I had a very nice weekend, thanks for asking. It was nice to do something different for a change. Yup, back to work and Wed is the re-scheduled CPR class, nice break during the week. Sending positive vibes for you and Julie on Thursday.

NoSugar…we may be getting older, but we haven’t gone anywhere. LOL All kinds of names are coming back to me from the nest so I sure hope more migrate over. Just early retired, eh? Glad you’re enjoying it. I’m living my grandmother days vicariously through all of you so glad you can add to that. Where abouts, roughly, are you? I’m a news freak and hear about all the weather everywhere and like to keep track of what’s happening with the people I know.

Shout out to Sam, Pi and TG, hope all is well with you guys.
Time for relaxing before the dreaded dinner cooking. It’s chicken wings and French fries tonight so at least I know what I’m cooking. LOL Have a peaceful evening all…PPQP

[wagmor]

Pie - I'll have to read back for details, but it sounds like you're tending a pup at end of life? Such a hard responsibility - one that forces us humans to do the most compassionate thing for our fur companions even though it's gonna hurt like hell for us. Sending you support

Mick - Lav said you and I are going through similar situations right now. I've just had a rough two months with my elderly father, and I spend a ton of time and energy on finding then moving him into a Memory Care unit in an Assisted Living community. Prior to that, he lived with me and my wife for 6 years. It was a very sudden decline and only now is he starting to adjust and become more stable in his new home. It has been a lot to manage almost all by myself, so my "planned lighter summer work schedule" turned out to be fortuitous but not in the ways I expected. I'm happy to offer you any support I can as you navigate a similar path.

Lav - that's so great you have hummers you can watch from your porch. They are amazing and so fun to watch. We get them in our backyard pretty frequently too and always love having them here!

Slo - great job having a fantastic AF weekend at the wedding. The good thing about everybody else drinking is that eventually they don't notice you haven't been, so you can dance like nobody is watching

Steady - so glad you hopped over here too! We'll have to real G-man in and see if he'll catch us all up on his travels and music and senoritas

PQ - nice to meet you, and glad to hear your toothache has eased up at least for now. Are you selling at a Craft Fair? Sounds like you and Lav have that in common, and NS too (although not sure you sell, do you NS?)


Ok, I know I haven't acknowledged everyone but I've been teaching all day and am mentally out of gas for now. Will be reading back through the last few weeks to get a better feel for all the great folks posting here, and I look forward to "meeting" all of you!

[Mick]

hiya all, how are we doing then? hope all is well.this is a pretty short post as we have a lot going on...Julies dad was possibly moving into a care home on Thursday ,but that has been brought forward .He is going today ,does not want to go but is not really capable of looking after himself anymore ,despite the home visits and care he is getting at the moment .It was discussed previously ,but he was adamant that he wasnt going in ,but 2 minutes later he has forgotten the conversation ,and indeed who he had it with .Julie is really upset ,but the care home is the best option,the initial thing is to put him in there for respite ,and if he adjusts over time then become a permanent resident .Obviously there is a lot more to it than that ,that is just a brief outline ,but I guess today is going to be pretty draining emotionally.

Wagmor ,firstly thank you for your offer ,in a pretty similar situation ,If needs be I will take you up on it .

big shout to everyone ,see you tomorrow ...be good!

[NoSugar]

It is nice to be in a busier thread! Glad to see Steady and Wags here. Hope @available and @KENSHO (and any other nesters!) make it over. And it would be extra great if ex-nesters also appeared!!

PQ, it sounds like you organize rather than participate in craft fairs, is that right? I do some commission pieces where I pretty much get my materials covered. I like to use really high quality fabric and yarn so getting that back is nice but there is just no way to make $ knitting or quilting because it takes so much time, no one (with any sense) would buy the product if I charged for my time! I'm usually doing these things because I enjoy the process and am not too caught up in the product so it is fine not to profit when they are for someone else. I used to make sterling silver jewelry. That also is an expensive raw material but since the time commitment isn't so intense, I was able to sell pieces in some boutiques and at fairs. It was a fun side job and at some point I might get back into it (especially b/c I have a lot of SS wire and beads, gemstones, etc. waiting!). I was doing that during the last few years of my drinking career and had pretty good success. Who knows what might develop now!!

I live in central Illinois, US. Much of the weather we have heads over to Lav so I often know what is in store for her! I'm not sure where most of you are.

Wags and Mick, my sympathies are with you and your families. A year ago we were in a similar situation with my mom but my dad was absolutely determined to care for her at home, which came w/ its own set of challenges. It was of course sad when she passed last summer but a relief that my dad accomplished his mission of keeping her home until the end. He is 89 but at this time is fine living in his house on his own. I hope he is able to continue there. All the best to you with your dads. xx

Lav, our grandsons are doing a variety of camps this summer. I'm glad to be able to help w/ the transport - some of them start and end at inconvenient times for working parents.

Slo, sounds like a fun trip to NC. Glad you could be with your family and enjoy the festivities. I actually like dancing sober better b/c you don't have to worry about being uncoordinated. But why does everyone bring their drink to the dance floor these days? I don't like getting spilled on and that seems almost inevitable now.

So good to see you, Pie. You are one of the people that I did not realize was still here! I'm so sorry if you are losing a beloved pup. It is so hard and full of tough decisions. With all your experience with animals, you'll know what to do.

I'm trying to get organized for our trip. UGH. Packing is just not my favorite thing!

[Lavande]

Good evening everyone,

Still having nice temps here but the air quality took a major hit. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires hit hard this morning, can’t spend more than 5 or 10 minutes outside before your eyes & throat start burning. I’m sure we will get an orange sunset, I’ll try to grab a pic.
Got myself organized. Have been working in my shop all afternoon

PQ, sorry the heat bounced back to you haha!!
I hope you got your craft sale work done, it’s important for all the people working on their stock right now. Yep, I’m happy we have expanded our group here, we needed that

Wags, hope your day was good & not over tiring. No sitting outside with the hummingbirds for me tonight. I hope all this smoke doesn’t drive them away.

Mick, sorry you were pulled into action today. You have to grab those beds when they’re open because there’s always a waiting list. Give it a few days, he will likely settle down & get comfortable. Having you & Julie nearby for visits will help a lot too.

NS, I’ve done more driving since my grandkids arrived than I ever did, lol. It’s fun to be able to take them where they need to go. It’s especially nice to be doing all that without the dreaded hangover, right? I’m glad you’re able to help them out.

Slo, what’s happening with you this week?

Cyn, I imagine yo are keeping busy with on project or another.

Pie, thinking of you

Hello to anyone else popping in & wishing everyone a nice night!
Lav

[Slo]

MAE, all!
So glad my Nest friends are here now!
I am home as of last night. It was my ex-husband’s family’s wedding, so, some weird feelings and sadness (like, all the daughters & sons-in-laws & grand babies were staying with him in one big house, and I wasn’t included there or in their events) -but I stayed positive, and everyone from his extended family were warm & welcoming towards me. And I got to stay in a peaceful place with just my adult friend who accompanied me, so didn’t have to deal with the chaos of endless babies endlessly!

I got out for a bike ride this morning! That was such an stress-reliever after not being able to exercise for a week.
It finally rained today! So I don’t have to water the grass today!

PQ, did you get the craft fair registration done?

Mick, oh, I hope it all goes well today, and that Julie’s dad will adapt quickly. It sounds like Wag’s dad is settling in at his place. Good plan to start it out as respite care.

Lav, I hope these next zinnia seeds will take. They will be so pretty! And good for the bees & butterflies. The bride & groom raise bees, and everyone’s party favor at the wedding was a small jar of their honey!

NS, yes, somebody spilled their drink all over the dance floor. And a former drinking buddy of mine knocked her glass of red wine to the floor while I was visiting with her -red wine & shattered glass all over the floor. So glad that isn’t me anymore!

Pie was gone from MWO for awhile -but she came back! And she’s over a month AF now!

[porqoui]

MAE ALL...

Wags...I like that shortened version of your name. I usually shorten everyone's but thought I'd let the newbies get comfortable first. Not a crafter, I work at a community centre and am in charge of the annual craft sale. Last year was the first sale after covid and a couple of years of an ex-coworker who rubbed everyone the wrong way and it was well received, could have sold another 30 tables. So I've ordered more tables and am sorting out where to put them all. LOL

Mick...been thinking of you and hope everything went as good as it could have today.

NS...was Molly still on the newbies nest? Hope she makes it over. Yup, you got it right, I'm the organizer. Sounds like you always have a fall back plan if things get tight money wise. I get a lot of jewelry at the sale just imagine what you could bring in now that you're not drinking anymore. I used to cross stitch but haven't for years. Maybe if my life ever slows down I'll pick it up again. I'm in Calgary Alberta and Lav blames me for all her weather woes, now I can tell her you sent it. LOL

Lav...we had a lot of smoke yesterday too. They're getting the fires under control in northern Alberta but British Columbia and Nova Scotia are now dealing with them.
We're headed into another heatwave this week so I'll be happy to be in my CPR course tomorrow. I have a Community Garage Sale at the community centre on Saturday just before the memorial so may not get a full work free weekend.

Pi...thinking of you and hope you are ok. Check in with us ok?

Shout out to the rest of the gang. Have a good night all...PPQP

[treegirl]

Mae all -
Hello to all you newcomer-old timers! So great to have you here? I remember your names from when I first joined MWO years ago.

Typing on my phone, and may lose this post, so I?ll keep it short -

Treegirl here, used to be in the East but now in the Midwest. Widowed during COVID. Love animals, music, my friends here, and the happily-sober journey?

More soon - wishing all well (sending energy your way,Pi and Mick; good luck).