so glad you are going to do such a normal, american thing - getting the girl's ears pierced. when my daughter decided, at age 11 or 12, we made it an outing as well. i have a picture of on one side, her clutching my hand, and her best friends surrounding her. your girl sounds sooo cute.
i shared the pill bottle story with abf. he kinda went "oohhh" in a low foreboding voice and said, "yeah, you do not wanna get in the way of an addict's pills." just his tone kinda sent chills. then i said he takes xanax and once again i got the low, doom-y sounding, head-shaking "ohhh". it sounds very scary.
when abf was using last year and i figured it out (was out of town for four months) i got more peace from not having contact than trying to communicate with someone who seemed so out of touch with reality. i remember when he tried calling me and i just walked away from the ringing phone. i felt sad, but i felt a sense of power. that little action was really something for me.