360shoes

Life, xoxo extra extra hugs. I believe in you and always will. I sent you a message. You are amazing.

Duff, You have had several tough things to deal with. I'm sorry about your Dad but I'm so glad he is better. He sounds like a really strong man. I'm glad you have him. I'm sure the move is stressful. They usually are on a good day. Think of all the new memories you can create in your new home!
You are spot on. I know I will have to be mindful everyday. This is my second chance to get it right. I think you sharing with the people in your life how stressful your year was will good for you. I know that part of me feeling better has a lot to do with me not keeping everything in. You all helped me with that. Once I let the gates open here it continued on in my personal life. No one thought I was weak or not perfect which was always my big fear. Weird how in my weakest moments my friends told me how strong they thought I was. I kind of get it now. You have put in a lot of hard work on yourself. I'm proud of you.

360shoes

Life,
(((((((((Hug))))))))

xoxo

MeSoSober

We are.

It's a funny (not haha funny) thing about funerals -- people have to be "on" and around large groups immediately following the death of a loved one when I suspect that that is the LAST thing most of want to be doing, preferring instead to be in our pjs alone or only with our very nearest and dearest.

But I suppose having to attend a funeral can also be a kind of temporary distraction?

I hope you're able to carve out some beach time for yourself, lifetplant, and WAY TO GO staying sober. Stay strong and know we're here for you!

joygirl

Good morning Lifet! Thinking of you at this moment, as I know things are probably moving quite fast today. Big hug from Joy!

Saskia

MeSoSo, love the pic of the cat hugs. That's us :-)

Duffster

Love the hugging cats!

Shoes, thank you for your words. If I'm making any progress it's from you guys here. Shoes, I know you're dealing with a tough time with your own parents but you never whine about - just handle it head on. And LifeT, the way you are handling your mom's sudden passing - and so many more examples from this group.

tootsl1

Hope the rest of today went ok Lifetplant,keep strong, I'm sure your mum is holding your hand too
Duff, funny how differently we deal, I too tend to keep stuff to myself whilst it is going on, talking about it only when things are easing and I feel able to take my hand off the rudder for a while. Good luck with the move, lor, but it is never easy, but it is nice having a new house to get to know! Plus isn't it great to be leaving the annoying wee things about the old house or yard behind, like that gate you never got round to fixing or the bathroom you never really liked the layout of!
Shoes you sound like you're enjoying the job.
Joygirl hope life is staying good for you.
Saskia, how are you doing these days? Fully recovered from the op?
Mesoso, love the cuddling cats!
dee how are things with you these days?

Saskia

Hi Toots, I can so relate to your comments! I'm doing well, thanks. Still a bit more tired than I'd like but as they say "all good things come to those who wait" or something like that. I'm starting to think of alternatives to my current temp part time retirement gig. I've been doing this for too many years and am mighty tired of the know-it-all docs telling me how to do my job when they don't have a clue about what I do. They just ASSume that if one doesn't have MD or PhD after one's name, then one doesn't know anything! Oh well, so what else is new! Rant over.

Outside of work and recovery, I'm good. Time to get some gardening done :-)

Hugs,
Sass

tootsl1

Oh, Sass I know that one, I ran a home for 9 mental health clients, mostly schizophrenic, but some of the community psychiatric nurses believed that as I had no formal training, they knew they'd people better than me who had lived with them for 12 years!! Thank goodness some respected my more in depth knowledge of the clients and any minute changes in their behaviour which Might indicate an impending psychotic episode!

Marcher13

Hi peeps. I had a long trip up to the northern side of Sydney today, the traffic up there is getting worse. I allowed myself an hour and a half to make the trip but it took me two hours each way! When I got there I was offered a glass of wine, it was sooo tempting because I was so fed up with slow city driving but I resisted. Thought about one when I got home then thought of all of you. I missed SR today, it's a comforting check in.

Duffster

Traffic can be beyond stressful!! It seems to be getting worse in every city. Thoughts of this group have stopped me more than once too. So glad you resisted, Marcher!

Toots, yes, definitely am able to ignore the issues in this house now. The worst of which are the scratches all over our stainless steel fridge - makes me cringe every time I open it. And I'm sure you can guess who those scratches were from! Luckily both boys are past that stage so hoping the new one we're having delivered to the new house remains scratch free.

Sassy, please go easy on yourself. You only just had major surgery! It takes time to get your stamina back but I know how frustrating it feels. You'll be back to 100% soon enough.

Another hot hot hot one here in FL. Our winters might be paradise but our summers, not so much.

tootsl1

Well done on dodging temptation Marcher, it's the sneaky wee ones that slide under the radar that can catch us out! The difference in traffic up in my part of Scotland to what volume there is in the south of England is phemonemal, I would hate to live back down there again! It's not just the amount, it's the rudeness of drivers! Plus as I am the only decent driver in the whole of Britain 🚙 ( obviously) I get so annoyed at everyone else!! Pet hate is bad driving! I have to be careful when the grandson is in the car for fear of saying anything he might happily repeat to his mum or teacher!!

Saskia

Marcher, yes, temptation is stronger when we are frustrated and it's right in front of us. Good for you for resisting!

Toots, of course we are the only good drivers around, lol. And yes, I can totally empathize with your job experience!

Duff, thanks for the thoughts and reminder. I'm not 100% yet but getting there. I'm only working 2 days a week and if I'm feeling lazy, I do one of them from home so I can take a nap if I want to. It is sometimes hard to remember that as I get older it does take more time to recover.

I was just thinking that we are missing some of our "regulars" but then realized it's the weekend and things do tend to get slower.

Have a great day to all!

Hugs,
Sass

lifetplant

HI Marchers, i dont have much to say. I've another day and a half of this to go before we can even get mum as far as church. I'm weary of checking in to you guys with updates because I don't want to sound like Miss Misery guts, in the same time, I love taking the time to withdraw from everything around me and speak to my 'friends', I truly think of you as my friends but no one else knows of you. I have a new crisis to add to the pile. I went on a crazy 5 hour mission when arrived home to an empty house back in Scotland. I decided I would immediately start clearing bags for charity, my friend came around and we lit a fire with non charity stuff late at night.......since coming here I can't find my passport anywhere, we've searched everywhere, we both surmised it's on the fire, you've no idea how much this is going to mess up the basic logistics of sorting the next few days/weeks out, plus, I also need to get back to Oz,.....and me residency vis is with my passport. OMG, if ever there was anything to try my strength.

I hope the next few lines do not disturb anyone:

I Slept with Mum last night,........I slept in her room in a camp bed. People had been visiting her all day, it was time to close the door for a few hours. This morning after my shower I just made sure she was presentable for her public, she would expect nothing less. She looked all the much better for me just opening the blinds......once again, the lady and I are entertaining. 24 more hours and my beautiful lady gets to sleep undisturbed again.

joygirl

Life, I think that passport will reappear. It will be somewhere obvious, yet unexpected. That's where I always find things. I'm good at finding things, so I wish I was there to help you.
You are a precious daughter. Your mum would be so proud of you!
Keep posting!

Quick hello to Marchers! I have to get ready for the big day today, so I won't be on much. I had a dream about using, and if that's happened to any of you, you know the relief of waking up out of that nightmare!
Have a good one all!

lifetplant

I've done that Joy. I've dreamed about drinking, in some dreams i've dreamt i've gotten seriously drunk, in others, i've dreamt i've only had the one or two. I've been so disgusted with myself but more so, i've been in bits trying to work out how I am going to tell you guys that once again, I have to start again. It is the best feeling ever to wake up and know it is just that, a wake up! Hope you have a good day Joy. Sorry, I haven't read back, hope your busy day is busy for the right reasons.

Saskia

LifeT, I think you are incredibly strong to deal with all you have on your plate right now and not drink! Please don't worry about needing support. We all go through times when we give more than we receive and others when we need to reverse the sequence. I don't find it at all disturbing about your sleeping arrangements last night. You do what works best for you and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. I hope you'll find your passport and other paperwork soon. If not, I know you will cope with that, too. You are a Marcher, through and through

Hugs,
Sass

360shoes

I love your picture avatar Life!

You do whatever you need. What are friends for. We ain't here to make life harder for you for sure. We are hear to help you with whatever you need.

I think that is beautiful with the sleeping arrangements. Anything we do from a place of love is beautiful no matter what.

The passport may show up or it may be in an ash pile. I'll bet it isn't the first time they have handled replacing a missing passport. Explain the situation and ask for help and maybe there will be a kind person who will go the extra mile to help. Angels seem to appear when you need them most. Keep your eyes open to them for help.

Duff, you made me chuckle. Never whine about my parents?? OMG I have ranted and raved and cried and bitched until people were sick of me. I just kept doing it anyway whether I liked it or not. Which was good. I learned I can do things I don't particularly like and not collapse or drink.

Joy, really half a perco? Oh the dreams are just funny sometimes. I love how I wake up all panicky and then go whew..just a dream. I haven't had one of those for a long time but I've have had some doozys with just plain monsters and serial killers!

Sassy, how long you got going now? It's got to be adding up.

Big love high 5

tootsl1

Hey lifet, good to hear from you. Have you tried praying to Saint Anthony? He is the saint of lost things. You sound strong and focussed, keep it up sweetheart, you are doing your mum so proud.

Joygirl, your day will be wonderful, tell us all about it later, as for the dream, I haven't had one for a while, thank goodness, but I don't suppose I've had my last!
Sass, Marcher, Shoes, Duff, hope your weekends are going well.

Saskia

Shoes, you are almost smack on time - it will be 60 days on Saturday!


S