Holly: Way to go on your workout streak!!! I'm sure your coworker's words were indeed a compliment, but I always overthink things and become a head case, too, so I feel your pain! So happy to hear that you are enjoying your flowers, your lawn, your motorcycle, and summer! Your Vermont summer weather sounds perfect! We have had some extremely HOT days in Ohio recently, but I am not complaining for a minute! I'll take hot summer days instead of cold winter ones ANY day!!! My hubby finally fixed the cloudy swimming pool situation, so I finally made my swimming debut in our back yard pool earlier tonight!!! My daughter and I had fun racing and challenging each other on laps, and hubby even joined us later. He is a great swimmer! Swam competitively growing up and was a lifeguard. I wish I could do laps as effortlessly as he does. Anyway, about my daughter, I think there IS some resentment about the time that our son is taking away from the family right now. This has been going on for a good 6 months now and she is just sick of his "sick" behavior and wants things normal again. She had to deal with my mental health challenges last year (along with my cancer), so it is really difficult to go through a similar crisis again. It really isn't fair for her to have to deal with something like this again. She already has enough of her own challenges (with her disability), but she rarely complains about that. Mostly, she has a lot of resentment and distrust for her brother and worries that he won't get better because "he is all she has" (in the future). It is a very scary situation for her. But we will get through this and be stronger because of it. I do hope my son and daughter's relationship can be fully repaired one day. It is just going to take some time. Thanks for asking about her!

awwww Kathleen, thanks so much.


I did the hardest thing tonight and talked to Jennifer. I wasn't going to tell her right now but she walked in the house and I started crying. I told her how unhappy I am and had been for a while. I told her I loved her more than life itself but the only way I could be happy was to get out of this house and move. She started crying. So we both sat here and cried. Man, that was by far the hardest talk I've ever had. It was awful. Just thinking about it makes me start crying again.


Much love to you all.

This morning Jennifer called in to work, she came downstair crying. She said she couldn't stop. She will be moving out soon and and I'm hoping once she gets settled in her new place. Well, I don't know....


I feel like the worst mother.

Kathleen - yay for getting out in the pool! You guys sound like you had great fun

Sorry to hear your sons situation is dragging on. It seems strange he can't get into the in-patient treatment, I thought they would have a voluntary aspect to them, but maybe it would do more harm than good. You just have to believe they know what's best and continue to pray for him.

OH's dad is 61, so not all that old. They did discharge him, and he's spent his weekend at home but popping back for tests every day. He's starting to get back to normal again, thankfully also on solid food again! We were quite relieved.

I'm thankfully not as sore as I thought I would be today, managed to arrange to work from home and spent my day with lots of cushions. I couldn't concentrate much on what I was doing, so many calls to make following yesterday. I'm constantly reading about what is happening with our government too, it has been a very exciting week.

Lisa - that must have been such a hard conversation with Jennifer. I'm sorry you have been so upset, but you will sort things through! She is finding her feet, it will be daunting, but we have phones and internet and planes and trains, you can be in touch constantly. Hope things pick up!

Hi Coop, thanks for posting to me. I know it must be tiring of hearing me so sad.


You are right, she is just now finding her feet. She is probably moving into her new place this weekend. I have already made up my mind that I am going to save most of the money from mom's estate. I want to be able to fly back to Ohio when she misses me or needs me, even if it's every month.

I am definitely going to have the internet and cable/directv/whatever, plus a cell phone so we can text.

I still feel guilty for wanting to move. I didn't know she loved me this much, she's cried and cried since we talked yesterday.

Have a great Tuesday.

I just slipped and fell on my left knee, in my living room. I'm afraid to look at it now.


Who is going to post with me today?

Oh gosh Lisa, I hope your knee is ok! Was it a bad fall?

It must be daunting for Jennifer, she'll be ok though. It's not like you're going tomorrow, she will have time to get used to it. It's really good that you are planning to come visit lots, she will appreciate that.

HI Coop, I hope you're right that she will adjust in time. I would move her in a split second, all she has to do is say the word.

Yeah, my fall was bad. All my weight landed on my left knee. I screamed for several minutes. Now, I can't get off my couch, the pain, well, it's just bad. Now it's aching. Hopefully, in a couple of days it'll be ok.

I hope you all have a great Wednesday. Much love to all.

Hi group. Today was one of the most stressful days ever. Thankfully I get off work in 10 minutes, but I have an hour commute home. Tomorrow is my Friday. I'm already walking into a LOT of work

I'm ready to crawl into bed already... I'm exhausted and want to cry.

Here's hoping I wake up in the a.m. feeling better. Just wanted to check in.

Hi Jeska, hi ladies,

Honestly, not much going on here, it's very quiet.


Jennifer is gone for the weekend. She'll be home sometime on Tuesday. She is gradually moving into her trailer.


My knee is REALLY hurting today. I think some of the swelling is going down and now the knee is showing me just how badly I hurt it.


Not much else here, I'm going to go through bags of clothes from Mom's house. I'm throwing mine out and keeping Jennifer's baby clothes. I'm not sure if I'm taking them to Kennewick or if I will get a small storage unit here. I haven't made up my mind what the **** I'm doing yet. lol


Have a great Friday and I miss your posts.

Lisa! i'm so sorry to hear of you hurting your knee this is a dumb question because I know you know medical stuff but I hope you're icing it, or at least cold compresses? and something like aleve for the pain and swelling? very sorry to hear you are in pain.

reading about your possible moving..sounds like you really miss Washington State and you're right, the only thing that was keeping you in Ohio was your daughter, but once she's settled in her place, do you think you might make the move? we will be behind you all the way and Big BIG congrats on losing 6 pounds!

Coop so sorry to hear of your car accident!! are you still sore? and yes that sux that you don't get to take your time to choose a car, it's more a priority now! best wishes with that. Oh and once I re-read your post, I could have kicked myself, yes I had certainly heard of your MAJOR world news, I hope it doens't affect your livelihood !! and glad to hear OH's dad is doing a little better.

EasySpirit sailing along the coast, you do live up to your name

Kathleen I'm so sorry to hear about the most recent frustration with your son I don't know how you have been able to keep your sanity, girl! I'm glad your daughter is trying to hang in there too. and how is YOUR health? do you have regular visits to make sure things are doing okay? BEST wishes and love to you

Hi JesikaBeth, good to have you check in , though I'm sorry it was so stressful for you at work. I hope that gets better.

MY wonderful kitchen workplace has taken an abrupt change my co-worker, who I liked SO much, did something REALLY dumb, and subsequently broke his ankle, and he might be out of the job now. He has to have surgery in a week and you just can't work as a cook when you are on one leg recovering from surgery! So we have a replacement guy, he is well-meaning, but he TALKS NON STOP and doesn't manage his time, and panics, and there goes my tranquil kitchen I know I can't change him, so I have to change MY perspective of what's going on, and that isn't fair, dammit.

I am also stressing about some aspects of my responsibilities as our motorcycle organization President; I have been TRYING to contact people about our events and when I don't get a response it is so frustrating. Because then I feel that my members will think that I haven't been trying hard enough.

OK enough complaining I was doing so good with my workouts, then skipped 6 DAYS so I finally did a workout this morning and hope to do so again tomorrow.

Jessica - it sounds like you have some really long days at work! Do you think maybe your work/life balance is a bit off? I can easily get caught up in the stress of it all too, but I'm working on it.

Lisa - wow, your knee sounds bad. I agree with Holly, try putting ice on it and taking some ibuprofen. Knees are the worst! You sound like you're getting really excited about Washington, it's great to see you perky about something!

Holly - what a nightmare losing your colleague! Maybe the replacement is just settling in and over-eager to impress? I hope so! It can take a while to get used to other people's working styles, but you'll get there. Congrats on getting back to the workouts too, you have so much commitment.

I am still just a little sore, but pushing through. It's like I've slept on a really awful pillow, I am half tempted to visit a physio and claim it on the other drivers insurance. I probably haven't helped myself because I've not really taken any time to rest up.

Saw 2 cars I like now, but I'm so torn. One car is just a touch better, but the other is an amazing colour, and I'm so tempted to pick the car that's a pretty colour! Having a real battle of impulsive side vs practical side...

Hello,

Coop, I have sailed since I was a child. A cousin had her boat repaired and stored in Connecticut for the winter; her son dropped us off to get it and sail it back to the Cape. The weather was so good that we went right through the canal, up to Maine and back to the Cape. It was a great, relaxing time, but I ate way too much - being on the water can do that to me. This cousin and I are very close- she is the one whose husband fell at their Florida home and passed away in February. She is still having a tough time, but we had a lot of laughs on the sail.

Holly, you are a strong person and a good leader. Sometimes when I am in charge of a group, I make sure everyone knows exactly what I have done - "I called four restaurants to find one that would accommodate our needs ....." "I went up and down the mall soliciting donations for our raffle, and only got two responses" But, in reality, the others are just relieved they are not the ones in charge. When someone else is in charge, I never question how much work it was for them to get an event organized - I know how tough it is!

And, Holly, I think you should use your leadership qualities at work. Are you comfortable talking to the new worker? You might just come right out and tell him that you see that he is struggling with time management, and you think the two of you should organize a schedule to make it easier for him. You could also tell him your ears are blocked from allergy problems and apologize for not answering his constant talk!!!

Kathleen, you are in my thoughts and prayers. When your son realizes how badly he needs help, he will get it. It seems to me he still thinks he is okay, or that he will be okay when he goes to school - he is not at the point yet where he understands the problem is within him, not outside factors.

Lisa, I feel you can never go back to the same place in time. When I graduated from college, the girls I graduated with and I all went back to our sorority house for a weekend the first year - we all agreed it was a weird feeling - almost fitting in, but not quite. Nothing stays the same. You might want to list your reasons for moving to Washington, your reasons for moving anywhere, and your reasons for staying in your area. You might decide to move, but not as far away. I built my home on the Cape almost 30 years ago and used it on weekends and summers while living in Boston. When I took early retirement, I decided to sell my condo in Boston and live on the Cape. I wrote the pros and cons of both over the period of a few months before my final decision. Sometimes I wish I had kept the condo and rented it out, but I had decided that was too much work and I did not want anything that resembled work at that point! Good luck whatever you decide.

Hello to everyone else. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Oh yes, definitely I do. I am working on that as a matter of fact. It is easy to get caught up in it all