An early good morning. I woke at 3 and could not get back to sleep. I forgot to take my brain out and put it in the formaldehyde jar on the dresser! My bruised leg was also giving me grief although it's moving from deep purple into blue.

We got more glorious rain yesterday afternoon. It made for a perfect afternoon of relaxing after a difficult morning. The dogs and I read on the front porch and drank tea and watched the drizzle. I need to do more of that to offset hassles with auditors, car mechanics and replacing a mat that Disney insists on killing.

Bought a lovely eggplant while in town yesterday and plan to make ratatouille today. I bake it rather than fry in tons of olive oil and it's so good with a poached egg on top for dinner. I also need to do the Mill paychecks. Darn people always want money!

So what's happening in your life this Thursday - or Thirstday, as Jenne puts it?

Hey everyone,
Wow, what a week so far. I did my fast on Monday and I'm not sure I was physically/emotionally in shape to do so, but it seemed to sort of bring so much to a head for me. I juiced and drank kefir all day. Monday night I was so hungry that I could literally not sleep. It had been such a stressful week last week, between the fallout from my mom's genetic testing (good results on Parkinson's, not so good results on other things -and I decided to have myself tested too, which is scary, and so has my husband), being stood up by my sitter, realizing I have yet another ovarian cyst, etc. etc. You know the drill. I had a great weekend away with my girlfriends but came back to a son who might have strep again and the full on start of the school year at work. My fast broke me physically and emtionally and I came to a startling realization - startling for me because I actually emotionally realized (rather than just intellectually knowing) that it's my response to the stressors in my life that is the problem, not the stressors itself. This was landmark for me.

So I decided to take action around each problem. A little voice in my head kept telling me that that wouldn't work out, things were only going to go further downhill. But I did take small action steps in each area and magically (and I really do mean magically) things resolved in each area. I hooked up with two new babysitters, our ENT who couldn't see my son about his tonsillectomy until late September had an opening today, and several other things.

And TOM came today so now I can call and schedule my ultrasound to see if the cyst remains after this cycle. I've been on plan food wise so that's good but can't tell if there's any loss because of TOM. Maybe tomorrow I'll know.

Whew!! Anyway - hope everyone has a great day.

Good morning Sleep visited our house last night and everyone is in a much better mood this morning. Today I'm off on visits in a different section of the mountains. SHould be fun and perfect weather for it. Then tomorrow is my weekend! Sadly I have to work Sunday but I'll be with people I like so it should be fun.

Ruth - Bruise? What did I miss? ouch! I really like the little gourmet and Japanese eggplants on the grill. I usually spoon a little tapenade or pesto on the top before I take them off. Might have to do that tonight with some of my CSA loot

Matilda- There is something about making a plan with baby steps that I find really helpful. It just gets me out of that headspace where everything seems huge and insurmountable. Hope it gets you back to a more level place too. Do you have an hour or two of you time planned for the weekend?

Okay, time to get my map for the day in order. Once today is over I only have 11 scheduled work days plus the two added weekend shifts.

Good morning!

Ruth - OUCH! That bruise sounds nasty. Silly me, I like money too ...that darned paycheck!

Matilda - wow. I keep trying to tell myself, I can't change "that/person/etc", all I can do is change my reaction. That is hard to remember. Sounds like Monday wasn't a good cleansing day, maybe later when you're mentally in a better place. I can't even imagine school starting...we start the day after Labor Day here.

Cyndi - glad you finally got sleep!! And I noticed the ticker....it sure is creeping down!

The house closed yesterday! Only one mortgage payment! I often ask myself, if I had known, would I not have moved? I think I would have still. I love, love, love it here. And God provided, we were never deprived of anything. Now that that monkey is off our back (much larger than a monkey...an ape? A whale? LOL...), there's other things we'd like to address.

Had a lovely in home euthanasia (I hope my death is that comfortable..) that the owner gave us double choco chip ghiradelli cookies as a thank you. I of course had to have one! Then it spiraled down from there, although not horrible. It's almost like a domino effect. Better day today, right?

Have a great day!

The bruise was a stupid thing. I took out a heat register on the floor to clean it in the utility sink and forgot it was out. I walked back into the bathroom and my leg went down the hole. I was lucky I didn't go through the metal pipe or I could have been minus some blood. I should have elevated and iced says my doctor who finally saw it six days later. Duh! It's still an ugly sight and swells by afternoon. Sitting with it elevated helps but is a bit hard to do if you drive a car or walk around.

Good morning, Chicklets! I was up bright and early but was waiting for my laptop to install some updates, which took forever. So I took my mug of coffee and walked around the garden while I was waiting.

Ruth, is Disney still worrying that poor rug? It does keep her busy, but I hope she doesn't start on the pretty one on the front porch. I was hoping your leg was about healed by now. Did you have the doctor look at it? I have 3 lovely eggplants sitting here on the windowsill and have been wondering what to do with them. Ratatouille sounds good, I'll have to look up my recipe. I have several more coming on the plants, too, and am thinking of dehydrating them.

Matilda, I'm glad you're having some breakthoughs and hope it makes life a lot less stressful for you.

Cyndi, there's nothing more restorative than a good night's sleep to put things in perspective. You sound like you're in a good place about your decision with your job.

I had a pleasant afternoon yesterday with Amber and her friend, who came over to swim. Their summer is about over with their school starting on Monday, and they're trying to squeeze the last few precious vacation days out of it. Most of the other schools around here don't start until the 29th, though. Later, Dustin, Andrea and Tyler came over and brought supper to cook on the grill, and we had a nice evening.
I don't have any set plans for today, but the kitchen floor needs a good mopping and I want to go through the house with the dustcloth. I really should harvest the beets, too, but I just don't feel like dealing with them right now. Next year, I don't think we'll plant as many.

Hello friends! Life is starting to settle down a little bit, though I'm still dealing with a few hard family things and not quite ready to commit to posting every day again yet. I try to read the daily thread a couple of times a week, and think of all of you often even though I just can't squeeze enough time for posting in right now.

Be safe and be happy!

Good morning,

Sorry to hear about the bruise Ruth- my DD1 went through the one in my bedroom as my DD2 decided to pull it up. Not sure why she did that?

Twynn- so happy to hear about only 1 mortgage that does make such a difference.

to everyone else

I got to get ready for 8 a.m. call. We are all packed and almost moved out of our office for the two weeks of renovations- it will be nice to come back to completely redone office- We are picking out paint colors today- I did not want beige walls again.

Have a great day everyone

Heidi! I've missed you. It's nice to hear from you whenever you have a minute. Hope the rest of the summer provides some respite from the stress.

Let me give you a hug, too, Heidi! I've missed you!

Heidi, I've been sending supportive thoughts your way. You are missed here but we certainly understand.

We're all tired and trying to get a plan going which makes everyone happy.

Have a great day!

So glad to see you pop up, Heidi. I've missed you and wondered how you are.

I am procrastinating instead of my afternoon workout. This morning I had so little mojo doing my cardio. Not sure what was up. Did more work planning for the upcoming road trip. More hotel research and looked for some options for lunch on the way out of LA. I like to have some ideas ahead of time if possible. Not so good at flying by the seat of my pants Teen still has a long way to go before he is packed. I suspect it will be a stressful weekend here. My other son flies in late tonight for just over 2 weeks. Okay... no more procrastinating. Treadmill, then shower, then green bean fries, then more errands to run. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

Worst day ever So much drama and so much uncomfortableness at work. I didn't overeat which is good. But I DO need a glass of wine, STAT.

Hope you are doing well ( Heidi)