Hi Veiled and Thanks! :)

I finally finished the 'family' stuff (for my parents side at least)
and am back at home,
on the couch and hiding in the basement with my laptop, LOL
Mom, Dad, Brother and the dogs don't leave my house/town until tomorrow afternoon.
(gave up my room and the guest room for my family :p )

But at least I made all the necessary appearances for all the 'celebrations' and stayed at each one for a couple hours :)

I have mixed emotions about my parents taking the (or should I say MY) dogs back to their house (5 hours away).
My parents are attached to the dogs...
but they are my dogs.
And I miss them so much it makes me sick!

But... if I took them now,
the oldest is close to 14 which means I would have to directly deal with her passing...
Not something I think I can handle...
BUT I miss my dogs so much.

And it seems like whenever I bring up the subject,
my parents just guilt-trip me :(

Ughhhh... I need to start thinking happy thoughts... it's Christmas for goodness sake!!!!

(shakes my head and starts trying to focus on the positive points in my day)


Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Merry Christmas to you YA! You sound like you're doing great! So good to hear from you!

Made it through three Christmases and only two more to go. Having the newest baby in the family means I must make it to all places. Luckily, I have a really good baby that takes all the traveling really well. I can't say the same for my cranky five year old...hehe.

Hello Nam and Merry Christmas!!!
I am doing better now, thank you for such a nice welcome:)

I can't believe how long I was gone for though!
And you've already had your little one? Wow!!!

Today will be spent catching up on all I've missed ;)

Passed out shortly after my last post.
Wouldn't wake up until now!
Boyfriend tried several times yesterday,
but I would just mumble, curse, put my back to him and go back to sleep.

Now it's time to start the Holiday obligation to the in-laws...

Hi Y&A! So good to have you back!

A good knock-out sleep once in awhile is just what the doctor ordered! ;) I hope you were well rested afterwards!

Merry Christmas!

bec

Hope ya all have a Happy New Year.

No white Christmas for us again... darn.... Maybe next year.

Christmas was good. We had food to eat and gifts to hand out to family members, and our health is reasonably good.

best wishes to you all.....................

take care

donna
aka/wildcritter

Hello Bec and wildcritter!
I just came back from Ikea with the in-laws.
(for anyone that doesn't know what Ikea is...
it's a massive warehouse type store
which easily takes 1-2 hours to just get through!)

I just about snapped... several times... lol
Cranky, low on meds, in pain and broke.
I hate going shopping,
and especially when I can't even afford to window shop!
Thankfully she (mom-in-law) had given us giftcards for Ikea,
but it's not quite the same when you are limited by the card value

I managed to get a few items that I really needed.
So my mood was a little lighter on the ride home
(30 min drive each way!)

So now I'm back,
back in the basement and not coming out til forced to.
In-laws invited a friend of theirs over for dinner...
is that normal???
I feel sick with strangers in the house.

Take Care of Yourself,
YoungAndAngry

Today was a mix of emotions. I got to see my grandmother, aunt, and uncle. We went to see the lights display at Grant's Farm, and got to see the Clydesdale horses. This was wonderful. However, I have been on the edge of crying since. My mom doesn't want me to have anything to do with them, and won't even talk to them. She won't let my siblings see them, and told me not to talk to them about "her family." I am so saddened by this. I know that I cannot change her, and I just have to keep working on me. That is hard, somedays more than others.

My youngest daughter entered some of her art work from her commercial arts class into the Addy's (advertising awards) competition. Tonight there was a gallery showing of all of the work entered into the competition (from high school kids to professionals) at a gallery downtown.

With minimal prep to myself I was able to go there, be around a bunch of people (LOUD people!) I didn't know and in a place I had never been before. And I was able to get through the show in fairly good shape. My only 'moment' was when we went into an small room off of the main gallery full of people at a buffet. My brain said 'uh-huh' to going in and I listened and walked out.

But I'm pretty proud of myself that I was able to do something that not too long ago was a complete no-go for me. Plus I got to see something special that my daughter is involved in. All in all, a good evening.

Lisa

Well done Lisa.... your finding new boundaries for yourself through pushing yourself from your comfort zone. Well done and keep up the great work. Just getting out and experiencing new things itself is great for the mind.