Saturday Morning It Is

Good Morning OFF,

Quick check in.  Got groceries yesterday.  Toe hurts where he dug for the pin.  

Be back later.

Hugs

I'm back.

Seems as soon as I started posting, Utley decided he wanted to go out.  He had been out back first thing this morning.  Then, he decided he wanted to go out front.  Silly puppy.

I forgot to post something important yesterday.  Yesterday was my six year anniversary of sobriety.  Six years ago yesterday, I was in a psychiatric unit, and from there I went to a drug and alcohol rehab.  It was the lowest point in my life.  I had truly hit bottom.  God was so good to me in those three weeks.  I learned so much about myself.  The most important thing was the importance of staying on my right dose of meds, and keeping the lines of communication open with my therapist and psychiatrist.  When I didn't take my meds right, I drank because I felt so self-destructive and unable to deal with reality.  At that point in my recovery journey, I no longer lashed out at people, I turned my anger inward, and wanted to just escape.  I also learned that I can learn something from everyone.  

I finally got to take a shower yesterday.  I bleached my bathtub, and washed my towels and bathrug.  Then, when I unwrapped my bandages, my toe started bleeding again.  Oy ve!  What a mess.  I took my shower, and rewrapped my foot as fast as I could.  Now, it hurts like crazy.  

I have a project to work on.  I'm making stuffed cabbage to freeze, coz I ran out of what I'd frozen in November.  Colleen lent me her crockpot, since the crock in mine cracked and leaked.  It was old.  I need to see if I can find a crock, or if it's just as cheap to replace the entire system.

Then, if time allows, I need to run an errand.  If not, I can do it tomorrow.

I need to get to work on steaming the cabbage.  That will take some time.

Hugs, Love, and Prayers,

Trish

Hey Trish,

You have a busy day today. I love stuffed cabbage and have been working at making a replacement for the rice and meat. I love cabbage stuffed with shrimp but have never made enough to freeze. I might give it a try. 

Removing pins can be a pain. Back when I was young, real young, I was riding my bike down a huge hill and had a wreck on the bike and ended up with a broken arm, my femur on my right leg was broken in two places and one of the breaks was so bad the bone shot out through my skin, and I broke the small bone in my lower let...They had to put pins in my femur and there was this bar on the outside that kept everything in place and after a few weeks, they removed the bar but left the pins sticking out of my leg...it was so gross and itched worse than the damn cast on my arm and lower leg...finally the day came when he was going to remove them and not one of the pins came out...he dug and dug and dug and I cried and finally he told my sister, let's put her to sleep and take them out and he did...knocked my butt out and when I woke up, the pins were gone,the cast was gone, and I had a few little stitches. LOL  

Addictions are so hard to break. My daughter struggles so much and I know her addiction stems from her bipolar disease. I once told her that it is so hard to feel pain and I am sorry that I didn't prepare enough for feeling pain and disappointment and for one moment of emotional clarity she said, mom, it's not your fault...I struggle with feeling happy too...it has nothing to do with how well I was prepared but how little the chemicals in my brain can respond...and for that short time I really got what she and other folks with BPD go through...when I am sad or happy or anxious, my body reacts appropriately so happiness doesn't go into mania and pain doesn't become so devastating that I cannot handle it...but my daughter and probably many others use illegal drugs or alcohol to try and level out those emotions...I am so happy you have been sober all this time. It is a testament to your strong constitution and your ability to control your life and deal with your emotions...even when they make you feel bad.  

I recently replaced my crock pot...I had one of those huge old ones and gave it to my daughter...and I bought one of the more trendy ones and it is so light and easy to clean after use. I think it was like 29 dollars or something like that.  

Hav a good day and take care of that toe. 

Good morning Jeannie!  We were posting at the same time.

Dear Patricia,

My heart goes out to you regarding your suffering, and cheers on being sober for so long. Some people self medicate when there are underlying psychiatric causes.

I am so happy you are in a great frame of mind. Sorry about the toe.

Oh Trish, one other option for the crock pot...you can buy cooking bags to go into it to line the crock. I think a new crock pot will be your final solution but this could work for a while. I broke the edge of my crock pot and can't seem to even find a replacement pot. I think if I do it will cost almost as much as a new crock pot.

Good morning Trish and my sistas!

Aww, Trish, I'm sorry for the bleeding and the pain.  Prayers for quick healing time!  You must be feeling rather miserable, I imagine.  BUT--PRAISE GOD for your recovery from alcoholism!  You are a hero in my book!  I'm so very proud of you. 

I'm gearing up for keeping the boys this afternoon.  Just found out I need to keep them on Monday, too, since it's MLK day.  And it's inventory time at Hobby Lobby.  Chris says their schedule next week is "horrendous", so I imagine I'll be on call most of the week.  So much for having all week to sew.  I jinxed myself by saying that, didn't I?  LOL!

I am trying not to think too much about the people who are coming to look at the lake house today.  Every time my mind starts to go there, I just say "God is in control" and try to turn it over to Him.  I know He has a plan for my life.  I just have to relinquish control and not stress over things.

I have decided to sell Butch's pickup.  Chris is going with me tomorrow to get it.  It's parked in the driveway at the lake house.  I need to move it here before I advertise it.  I blue booked it yesterday and wow! was I ever surprised!  I was thinking it might bring $6 or $7 thousand.  Oh, no!  It's worth $13 to $14 thousand!!!  Wow!  It's because of the very low mileage.  It's a 2006 Ford F250, but it only has 65K miles on it.  Hallelujah!  Please pray that I can sell it fast.  That money would go a long ways towards reversing my negative cash flow situation right now.

I did pretty good with my eating yesterday.  I allow myself one refined processed carb a day.  Yesterday it was a cinnamon raisin English muffin.  I did eat it with no butter.  Score a major victory for me!  And it is whole grain.  But I'm trying to move away from eating baked goods and processed white flour.  It's hard.  Last night I ate the last of my boiled shrimp and the okra and tomatoes.  So I need to cook something today.  I'm toying with the idea of roasting some onion, peppers, and zucchini and making tortilla roll ups with the veggies and some cheese.  I might even get the boys to try those.

This morning I'm having "power oatmeal" as Jeannie calls it.  

Well, if I'm going to get any sewing done before the boys arrive, I need to get to it.  This morning I'm making a fleece blanket/play mat.  With all the dogs we have at both my house and Carrie's house, I feel like we need a clean, hair-free surface to lay the baby on, you know? Carrie has engaged a "deep clean" service to come and clean her duplex before the baby gets here. $75/hr for 4 hours, but I think it's worth it. She's lived there for over 5 years, and the dog hair and dander are bound to be everywhere.  My house is pretty clean.  I run Roomba daily and it gets the dog hair up pretty well.  But still, you just want a clean soft surface for the baby.  Later on, it can be a picnic blanket for when we go outside.  I'll post a picture when I'm done.  It's just going to be one of those "tied fringe" blankets.  No real sewing involved.

Love you all, dearest sistas!  Have a great Saturday!

Vic, I jinx myself every time I plan something for just me. I had thought I would have my grand babies this weekend but they have ball games.  I may run down and watch my granddaughter play and bring her back for one night...it's just so far to drive for one night.  

My great, great, great niece is having her first baby girl and she wants her infant carrier to have one of those really girly cushion covers.  What is it with girls and leopard print?  So, I bought the leopard print in a really nice fleece and today I am going to look for either a white with roses or dark pink with roses.  I am making this without the car seat and I hate trying to figure it out based on the ones I made my grandkids, so I hope it will fit. I may even breakdown and buy a new car seat and make the cover for the new car seat and send them all to her...she can have one car seat for her car and one for her husband's car. I don't know....if I buy the car seat, I can also make an extra one too...I got a really pretty pink for the cover...the cover will connect to the handle so when they carry her from the house to the car or the car to the house, she will be snuggly inside the car seat...

And, I like you, love making those cotton receiving blankets. I make the larger than the typical receiving blanket and I do solid on one side and print on the other and the blanket is pretty whichever side shows. I don't bind the edges because a nice seam around the edges works fine.  

So, today will be of and on sewing and tomorrow will be all day sewing.  I'm off on Monday and will probably use Monday to relax. 

I love those fleece blankets...I still have the ones I made my grandkids and they use them when they are watching TV...I don't know what it is about kids and the floor but they always end up on the floor looking up at the TV...it would kill my neck. 

Have fun with the boys...and I hope you get some sewing in sometime this weekend. 

Hi Vicki,

Congratulations on keeping on plan diet wise. I am still reading, a little at a time, the information you posted regarding the vegetarian diet.

You sound so busy, watching the grands and sewing. Sounds like you will be busy this week with both. Also, I am happy you will get a great price for Butch's truck.

I cannot believe that Carrie is almost due. I am sure you have mentioned it, but when is her due date. I cannot wait to see the pictures of Caralee when she is born.

Love and prayers to you always.

Arlene

Hi Arlene!  Caralee is due on Feb 16th!  Just one month from today!  We are all getting pretty excited.  Of course, she probably won't come on that exact day, but it's getting close.

Girl, I cannot tell you the difference between the me as of today (Jan 16) and the me last month on Dec 16.  It is like night and day.  I DO NOT HURT ANYWHERE!  It's like a miracle.  All I did was stop eating meat.  The aches and pains are gone.  I've only lost a couple of pounds so far, but honestly, I feel so much better I don't even care.  My brain fog is gone.  My energy level is UP. The main thing is I stopped gaining and I stopped hurting.

I just joined a private FB group for Proteinaholics.  I'm waiting to be approved.  I will check it out and then, if it is worth it, I will invite others to join.  It's supposed to be for an exchange of information, ideas, recipes, tips, etc.  I hope it is a good group!

Gotta run.  Love you!