A new new HAPPY/UNHAPPY thread

Because I can't find a new one and the old one is getting on in length...

When I woke up this morning, I knew it was going to be "One of Those Days".

So far I have...
- Hit my head hard on the wall in a routine I do at least a dozen times a day.
- Slept badly.
- Fallen back asleep when my intention was resting and lazing until it was absolute time to get up.
- Woken back up after the first possible train to catch would have me at uni after my class ended.
- Managed to spill right-out-of-the-pan-hot molten cheese not only on my only pair of winter-season PJs* but also on me. Ow. Like really, really ow.
- The book I was hoping to read with my cousin to help her with her English is, indeed, as of yet (far) too difficult for her.**
- Been the one to find the cat vomit on the very top of the staircase. (Thankfully I walk with my eyes down, but still icky even if you don't step in it.)

* My room doesn't actually do temperatures lower than 30 degrees in winter it seems, so this isn't as catastrophic as it may seem.

** Worse yet, when she gets to secondary school it'll be around the level kids are supposed to be at. But it's been a long time since I heard any child or parent say something good about English classes, and they've never been particularly stellar to begin with. (Far too few exercises, for one thing.)

Small things all but they do add up. (And, really, never spill molten cheese on your body if you can humanly help it. It hurts and getting all the dried cheese off you again is Nasty.) I did have a cool dream about suddenly having an English-language library, though... Unless that was the night before.

It's been a great day for me so far, all things considered.

My wife, a school bus driver, is off this week for Fall Break, so I took today & tomorrow off. Long weekend - whee!

I slept in until 7am! Usually 6 is the best I manage. I woke up with 2 dogs & we all stretched. I scratched their bellies & they wiggled on or next to me. They've now taken off to go sleep with my wife.

We had planned to take the horses down to Taylorsville Lake Park & ride around today, but it is cold & raining. Yuck!

Plan B - go out & play in the shop for a while. Maybe I'll take Marg down to the city (Frankfort is really more of a town) & we'll visit the Historical Museum & get lunch. Make a date of it. Then take a nap.

Wonderful day for me so far. Sorry to hear yours isn't going well, Shanra.

good,I get to go to work!

I am very happy as my friend from California (I only have one) is visiting and I'm getting caught up on his adventures rowing through the San Juan Islands this last summer. Unhappy because my lap top and the wireless router in my house are not talking to each other. Hopefully, My niece, the IT pro, can help me boot it all up together again. Ah! reunions they are so much fun.

Off for a day as the Nanny. Love them little baby kisses and hugs.

Oh Shanra... *hugs*

At least with everything that's already happened, your day should only get better now. Hopefully that's the case!

Not really happy/unhappy, just trying to cram an insane amount of school, work, teaching, and family events into a very small weekend. Maybe we should start an sane/insane thread....

Misswoodhouse, that is not a bad idea for a thread. I am taking 31 middle schoolers swimming today. Insanity here I come!

(((((Shanratje)))))

With a start like that, your day can only get better ...

#7 I agree. Let's hope all the nastiness are out of your way now. Take a deep breath, think a good thought, and start over.

The small stuff continues! But I think I'll follow Jennie's advise and think good thoughts.

At least mum was happy with her chocolate present and I got my game working on a computer. (Not that I've been trying hard to get it to work, mind.)

Maggie, I hope your computer troubles can be solved soon!

Happy: I received a the best package from Amazon today with Graceling, Fire, 84, Charing Cross road and limited edition The Wizard of Oz ultimate collector's edition. Can't wait to get started on it all

small unhappy: I have to wait until tomorrow getting started since today is super busy

#4 - maggie! What are we, chopped liver? With love from JPB, littlegeek, MrsLee, Esta, aviddiva, and all. ;)

hfglen - Way to go, jinxing the rest of Shanra's day with a phrase like that. *Tongue in cheek*

I just had a long, busy, tiring day, but not unhappy. Not especially happy, either. I had to evict a guest today, but the mechanic/pool man ;) stayed to make sure all went well. It did. I also had an angry man call about charges to his credit card, but he became reasonable as we talked and got it all sorted out. Being management is weird. It's been awhile since I worked the afternoon shift and I'd forgotten how tiring it is.

Happy, as I have worked so many extra hours this week I get to leave before lunch to start an early weekend. I have convinced H to do the grocery shopping today, so the next two days I will stay indoors, nice warm and dry, to do my reading, my stitching (it is finally cold enough to do it!), my Wii-ing and my sleeeeeeeping.... :D

#11 Now don't go blaming hfglen for my super-crappy day...

Today seems to be shaping up better, though. No hot, molten things all over, no head injuries, working TV... I'm alive and healthy (if feeling a touch queasy). Managed to read a little too. So far it's a pretty decent day. ^-^

MrsLee, about msg. #11, of course I know you all are the best computer geek gurus in the entire universe and on the internets; however, I must find effective means to entice my youngest niece to come visit. She is in her "so busy" stage of life and could easily forget to pay any attention to family for months on end. As she recently was promoted to be an IT gal at her work, for twice the money she expected, I thought it clever of me to have needs.

In the end, she also help navigate Vista's quirks while we loaded all my photographs onto a portable hard disk so I won't be singing the blues if ole desky or lappy decide to crash.

It was a nice visit and I am happy. Also, visit with friend from California continues to be very nice. Life is good. I have three days off.

I don't post here very often, but please know that I think of all those going through tough times, hold you in the light and cheer for the happies too.

I have a big happy I want to share with my Green Dragon friends. I was in Ottawa last week and my husband and I attended our daughter's boyfriend's military basic training graduation. Our daughter was there too. It was momentous for her on many levels, it was the first time she'd travelled by herself, stayed in a hotel by herself and there she was seeing her boyfriend starting off on a new career. Very exciting.

Immediately after the ceremony, we were ushered off the parade square by one of Rick's training sergeants and taken to where Rick's platoon were all lined up at attention. Amber was invited to stand in front of the platoon, with the sergeant. Private J was then called out and this happened:



Amber didn't have a clue! There were tears in many of the platoon members eyes as well as her parents I can tell you!

Whew! I'm just glad I don't have to keep it a secret anymore!!!! LOL.

But I am unhappy because she will be moving to Ontario in a few months, far away from me, and I will miss her dreadfully.

Congrats to you and your daughter!

That's so sweet, katylit! It's hard to have a child far away, I know, but visiting back and forth is very nice.

Oh, that's so sweet, Katylit! Congratulations to you and your daughter!

(Minor unhappy: I really, really, really hate Excel.
Happy: Now I never have to touch that row again!)

Beyond that the day continues a-pace, it seems like. Also nummy food is expected for supper this evening. ^-^

Ah, katy, how awesome! It should help to remember your daughter is with an obviously superior young man. And a romantic, as well. How nice!

Possibly unresolvable lurking background unhappy: I know myself well enough at nearly 28 years old to realize that I'm never going to be the enthusiastic volunteer/activist type. My girlfriend is very much of the volunteer mentality, and I pick up on her sadness & disappointment with my attitude. All I want is to spend time with her, but she gives so much of herself to others.

I simply don't feel an incredibly strong pull to do good in the world. Mind you, I don't want to hurt anybody or do bad either. I suppose you could say I'm a 'live and let live' type. Maybe I'm just apathetic. So, I feel sad about that. I feel sad about letting people down.

Sorry for unfurling my existential despair so early in the morning, and on a Friday, nonetheless...

Yea! Katylit. I am so glad you didn't accidently spill the beans and that the planned event went as planned! good job done by all. I am delighted that your daughter had such a nice, romantic moment.

Monohex, just food for thought: most couples who I know, who get along well with each other, have some very definite activities which do not include their "significant other". Everyone needs some time "away" as it were. Perhaps as a young, newly in love, couple you two have not yet discovered the freedom of letting each other go do something else for a while. Try it. You might like it.

Awwwwww, thats so sweet Katylit! Congratulations to the happy couple.

I wish I had a guy who would do something as sweet as that for me!

*hits head into wall*

Six hours dealing with the public. It's enough to drive you up one wall and down the other.

katylit, how exciting! I was wondering the other day whatever came of the long-awaited proposal.

Happy :
- the work on our back garden is going well so far.
- it's Saturday and Strictly Come Dancing is on tonight.

Unhappy :
- my job is so frustrating and BORING BORING BORING.
- I couldn't get past page 100 of my reading group book The Black Book.

Extremely unhappy: I have an accounting/ marketing exam next month in Hongkong. On every reminder, every paper I wrote the exam date as 12th November. So, yesterday I bought some great discounted flights tickets (really a good deal) going there on the 11th, going back on the 13th.

...just to come home, open the University homepage again and find out that the exam is on the 14th. Lets just hope that the airline is nice and doesn't charge too much on changing the flights.

Awww Katy big congrats for your daughter!

My unhappy: i currently ache rather considerably after 2 hours of cricket training last night and it's making me rather apathetic to doing anything today but since i need to do some laundry urgently and iron the laundry i did the other day plus clean my room which i've been putting off for a while i'm gonna have to suck it up and get moving. But i do feel terribly old right now even though i'm just 19 - i suppose it's my own fault for being awfully lazy and letting myself get this unfit.

My Happy: erm well I guess the one thing I have to be happy about is that despite the strain put on my muscles yesterday I have realised that my lack of playing cricket for two years has not completely destroyed my ability to bowl somewhat accurately even though it'll still take some time to get it accurate the majority of the time. Unfortunately I can't say the same for my batting skills :(

I'm now gonna hobble off and get dressed as i've been very lazy since i got up at half 12 and done nothing productive

Bleah. I have a killer headache (sinus, I think) but I have soooo much work I need to do in the garden. Trying to figure out what combination of treatments will get me up to functional level. So far have tried tylenol sinus and nasal irrigation. Neither has seemed to do much. I think I'll go back to bed for a while...

Hope you feel better soon, tardis. Hopefully a good sleep will help dispel the headache.

Congratulations to your daughter and future son-in-law, Katylit. Wishing them many years of happiness together.

I'm happy as I've just found out that my brother and SIL are having a little girl! The sonogram picture that they emailed to me was amazing. Totally blew me away! I can't wait to meet her in March when I become an auntie for the first time. :)

The nap did help, but now I've lost 2 hours when I should have been outside working. Oh, well. I'll get more done now I'm feeling better. Good theory, anyway :)

Unhappy , its "Sweetest Day" in Michigan today and I'm alone . :( This is a silly "holiday" that isn't even celebrated nationwide .

On the plus side, I feel almost rested for the first time in nearly a month.

On the minus, my temp job has ended and it is bill-paying time. Sigh.

Oh dear... Well, here goes:

On the plus side, I have joined this happy band and have been reading posts all evening.

On the minus side, my days are going to be shorter from now on, I fear. Might need very strong discipline.

It is now half-past midnight UK time and I am shutting down and going to bed.

'Night, Joanna.

On the happy front: I've had a very enjoyable if not somewhat surreal night out with my flatmates at the Headphone disco up at the student union.

On the unhappy front: I am perhaps more drunk than i'd like and i'm also rather cold and i would so hate to have caught another cold after just getting over the last one. I should be getting to bed as i have cricket training tomorrow at noon and it's now 3am :S night to whoever's mad enough to still be awake

'Night, LadyV. Put one foot on the floor to stop the room-spinning.

#15 Congrats Katylit! WOOOO-HOOOOOO!

#30 - Wow, I've never heard of Sweetest Day, but HAPPY SWEETEST DAY to you, AquariusNat!!! Wikipedia tells me more about it, it's a, ummm, sweet idea, I wonder why it only caught on in some places?

I tend NOT to read as many threads in the Green Dragon lately as I have in the past, it's just so hard to keep up! I don't have as much internet time to spread around as I used to!

Nowadays I usually just click on a few threads here or there. I actually usually avoid the happy/unhappy thread, because I've been struggling a lot more with depression lately than I have in the past, and I'm an empathetic soul who sometimes finds myself more down reading about everyone's troubles. It's not that I don't care, rather that sometimes I almost care too much, if that makes any sense.

I've struggled with chronic depression all of my life, it's pretty irrational, really, but most of the time I can pull myself up by my bootstraps and soldier on. A lot of the online silliness you guys have seen from me in the past has been as much about cheering myself up as anything else, and it does generally work. I love it here and really enjoy everyone's company!

I'm just a little more tired lately, and a little more blue than usual. Nothing to be alarmed about, it's just a phase that for me goes in cycles. I'll snap out of it.

Well, it's 4:50 am here so insomnia is one reason for a deeper shade of blue, LOL! I'm itchy from a rash, have a stomach ache, and thus can't sleep!

Oh well, time to try for some shuteye again! Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!

Oh cripes i had actually forgotten that i'd posted on here whilst mentally compromised *shakes head in shame* I'm turning out to be a proper student getting sozzled on a saturday night.

Unhappy/dang it for today - after last night's escapades i was too tired to get up in time to go to my cricket training so now i need to fill the rest of my time today productively with chores and uni work which i so desperately need to do :(

Happy: erm not sure - i don't have a hangover is always something to be happy about i guess :P

Oh, mrgroo... *gives hug* I'm sorry you're feeling blue. I hope things brighten up for you soon, and that you were able to get some sleep!

Awww, Groo. *hugs* You make perfect sense, don't worry. I'm sorry to hear you're feeling blue, though, and hope things'll brighten for you and that you'll feel better soon!

--

I'm sad because I'm slowly reaching the end of Stargate: Atlantis season 5. That show makes me stupidly happy, but in a few more episodes I'll be without. Nooooo~! (This is a small, small thing, I know, but things that make me stupid happy aren't plentiful. Well, at least not amid everything I've experienced.)

I'm happy because there was a huge booksale in town today and, while this was the last day and their English selection was tiny to begin with, I still managed to find some books! (Better yet, mum paid!) It was a good time. ^-^ We also went to see my grandmother. She's such a sweetie.

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!! This hellacious weekend is finally over! Since Thursday I took two tests, researched and wrote 2 7 page papers (12 pt thank you very much), wrote two classic-form essays for a final, and wrote another 1,000 words in response to other people's mangled thoughts. Oh yes, and gave MLA assistance via email, worked full shifts, organized an employee's going away "party", found and vetted reading material for a nursing home read, and worked on course evaluation surveys.

I deserve a nice hot shower and some sleep.

Instead, I have to clean house and teach children tomorrow. But the worst is over!!!!

*ahem* I will now recommence acting my age. ;)

So, what did you do in your spare time?

;-)

Hugs all around! My good news: I have lost 13 lbs! the bad news - I am hungry ALL THE TIME! And crabby/depressed as well. But I am determined to lose the weight. I am tired of always having to squeeze into my clothes. I want things to FIT. And I want to go clothes shopping and not have to automatically try on the largest size.

Lots of other stuff going on, mostly unhappy, but I don't want to think about them, so let me just say hugs all around for my Green Dragon friends!

Back atcha, my dear.

Happy - I now have a diagnosis.
Unhappy - there's not much I can do about what ails me.

I've come down with chronic tonsillitis, caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Now, in medicine 'chronic' means something that's long-lasting, not permanent as a lot of people think, so it's not forever. Bad thing is there IS a kind of antibiotics that would help but after 3 rounds of antibiotics my body cannot take any more so I will have to wait this one out. Another bad thing is that the by-products of the bacteria can cause permanent kidney damage. I try not to borrow troubles from the future so I'll just hope that will not happen.

I have a referral for surgery, to remove the tonsils - there's where the bacteria nests so removing them would remove most of the problem. Now, there's a queue... And the referring specialist is so old school he sent his referral with actual snail mail!!! so it will not arrive at the next clinic until Thursday.
I want this done yesterday >:(

In the meantime my body battles both bacteria and the onslaught of antibiotics, because I'm supposed to finish this last round.

Not feeling very good. Even if it's good to know what the problem is - we humans somehow thinks having a name on something makes it more tangible and manageable ;-)

I'm so sorry, my dear. I'm holding you in my heart.

I'll be thinking of you, Busifer.

Congratulations, cmbohn! That's a big drop.

Mildly happy today. First substitute teaching I've done in quite a while. It's been a nice day, and everyone seems to be glad to see me back. HOWEVER...

I end my day with 7th graders. *sigh* It is good to remember what part of their brains develop last. (logic, reasoning, coherent thought) I don't think these munchkins have even the nubbins of that part of their brains yet.

This too shall pass.

Busifer, *hugs* I'm so sorry to hear the bad side of that, but also happyish to hear the good news in your post. I hope things will look up for you soon!

Cmbohn, CONGRATULATIONS! That sounds fantastic! (the drop in weight that is, not the bad things happening at the moment. *hugs*

I am stupidly excited and have been all day, but... I'm going to be mean and secretive about it. ^-~

Shanra, you tease! And thanks!

#44 - Since i had my tonsils out a few years ago my annual bronchitus attacks are now ancient history! GOOD LUCK!!!

#50 - Thanks. Given I have a history of tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and what have you since being a small child I am amazed that my tonsils are still in my throat. Until about a week ago I had no idea why some people had them removed - now I'm resenting all the doctors of my childhood who didn't send me to surgery. Would had saved five (now six) weeks of infirmity, pain and worries. Not to mention the prospect of kidney damage...
*grumble grumble*

I got back from vacation yesterday and am trying to get caught up here soooo

Hugs to all who need hugs.

Get wells to those who need those.

Congrats to...you know...(katylit, that was too cool.)

Today is my 20th wedding anniversary! MrCal and I are so happy!

#52 - Congratulations to you both!

Congratulations!

Congratulations cal!

Unhappy - I feel as though a bug is coming on and we can't afford to loose any more workers right now, so I will have to work through it. I like to go hide in my bed for three days when I'm sick.

Happy - This would seem to be an unhappy at first. I looked at the black pants I had just washed a couple of days ago and had planned to wear today and they were muddy paw prints and cat hair all over them. They had been draped across a table in my washing area, and apparently, so had a kitty! The happy part is that the disaster was discovered in time for a rewash. :)

Unhappy - I discovered I had a flat tire on my way to pick up my daughter from school. I did have another vehicle to drive, so it wasn't so bad. Stupid nail in the road!

#44 Glad you have a diagnosis, and sorry you still have a lot to deal with. I'm not sure it's naming the illness that we humans like; it's that by naming it we only have one illness to worry about instead of all possible illnesses. I hope that made sense. Anyways, lots of hugs and hopes that you start feeling better soon.

#52 Congratulations!! That's wonderful!!

Mostly blah here--just down and tired as always, and I have waaay too much to do-. And I have a sore ear. The cute, adorable, fluffy guinea pig was sitting on my shoulder and decided to turn carnivore. I think it's finally stopped bleeding.

unhappy - younger son's math average is currently 40% and he doesn't seem to think this is a problem so there's not much I can do about it.

slight happy - my digital meat thermometer got left out in the rain beside the barbecue and seemed to be dead, but now it is dried out and a new battery put in, it works!

Currently unhappy and somewhat embarassed as due to my own lazy nature i fell back alseep this morning and as a result i'm half an hour late for my 9am class (why am i not there now you ask?) well truth be told i'm too nervous to go in there now as my french teacher has made it previously known that he has no like for people who turn up late as it means he has to repeat himself which is annoying. Plus it would be pointless now as i've already missed half the class I may as well go the whole hog and miss the lot. I hoping to beg the mercy of a friend who is in the same translation class and hope she can explain to me what went on. It's so irritating that this class is only fornightly and the only other group has their class later today at the same time as my spanish speaking class which i *have* to go to. Gah i'm so annoyed at myself- I've never had a day of school sick or skived from lessons and now i miss a class from pure laziness!

On the bright side though my cousin is coming down to visit later today!! :)

LadyV - did I miss the rest of the story about your room mate? Did you ever get that resolved? Hugs for all who need them.

>No you didn't miss it booksloth, we're having trouble finding a time when all three of us are in the flat while the office people are still working to go and speak to someone so the FFH is still stomping about and trashing the bathrooms. But since my mother is coming up this weekend (if you knew my mother then that should fill you with a sense of dread ) and if we haven't done something by then I fear she's going to lay into the poor chap and frighten him into cleaning up after himself. As much as it would amuse me greatly to see her shouting at him it may have unwanted consequences like him complaining about *us*!

Oh, go on - that's what mums are for! Good luck with that anyway, I'm on tenterhooks for the rest of the story.

My unhappy is a big unhappy...I just got a call from HR.. and I've lost my job :( (someone with higher seniority is taking it) I have two weeks left in my school then I don't have a school to go to...

Oh my... I am so sorry Ashley ((((Hugs))))
I am rather crap at thinking up comforting thoughts that don't make things worse so I shall leave that to others better qualified than me. But you have my deepest sympathies.

Big hug for you, Ashley. I know how hard this is.

I'm so sorry Ashley. That stinks.

Oh no! I hope everything works out for you!

Ahh, Ashley, I am sorry.

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it..

So sorry to hear that ashleyckrr. I'll be keeping fingers crossed for something better to come along very quickly.

I'll leave my unhappy and send out (((hugs))) to those who need them

wishing everyone health; happiness and their dream jobs :)

LadyV, if he does complain about your mother, he's got no grounds to stand on. You are not responsible for her and, anyway, if he wasn't such a filthy creature, she wouldn't be yelling at him. He goes to the office people, he'll only shoot himself in the foot. (Which I'm kind of hoping he'll do, as that might speed up the process a little.)

Ashley... *hugs* I'm sorry! I hope something better comes along soon!

Unhappy - I have a cold. Again. Happy - it seems to be clearing up nicely already. Seeing as I'm scheduled to read as much as I can on Saturday/Sunday, this is a good thing.

Unhappy/happy - my boss called earlier this evening whether I'd be willing to take on another student for tutoring. I know I'll enjoy it once I get to it and I know the money's welcome, but... I hate being out after dark. It's bad for my nerves. And it's cold and I don't handle cold well.

Hugs to all who need them (and doesn't everyone, really?). Random reactions to reading the past 72 threads in one go:

>44 Busifer: Busifer--had my tonsils out as an adult; not fun, but much better after having them out than before, when I got sick two weeks before the end of every term at university. (And, more recently, I feel the same way about having my gall bladder out. So much better than when I had it.)

>20 Glassglue: Monohex--I feel much as you do; maybe it's rationalizing, but I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not at that place in my evolution--maybe in the next life I'll be a selfless saint, but in this one, not so much. On the other hand, we all have different strengths to offer--mine seems to be a sympathetic ear for a relatively small number of people, but I know they need me and I'm doing something for them (free therapy!). I'm also cynical enough to think that people who volunteer get something out of it themselves, whether it's feeling good about themselves for being good people or maybe enjoying the contrast between their lot in life and that of those less fortunate. (Which doesn't at all alter my admiration for them.) So don't beat yourself up about this!

>30 AquariusNat: Groo, extra hugs. What more can I say? I know a little about fighting that particular beast. Keep up the good fight, we need you here.

My unhappy: my niece is seriously ill. Even though I don't think she's been honest with my sister (her mother) about it, my sister has figured it out just from how bad she looks and the array of symptoms/problems she's had. Worse yet, she has an eight-year-old daughter. The kid should be with her dad in Florida so her mother could be in the hospital--or hospice--but I don't think my niece wants to send her because she's probably aware she'll never see her again. Several other layers to this mess, but you get the general idea.

Eep! *hugs for ejj and well-wishes for the niece*

So sorry to hear about your niece, ejj. It's at times like this I wish I could honestly say 'I'm praying for her'. You probably know I'm not, but I do send her and all those who love her positive thoughts and hopeful wishes.

My (relatively small) happy of the day: I found sample sentences! I may yet prevail in my tutoring!

Oh, ejj, that's so sad. Lots of hugs.

I'll be thinking of you both, ejj.

Ashley: So sorry about your job. Hopefully you'll find another position that you'll enjoy.

ejj: Lots of hugs.

My unhappy: I'm just having a bad morning. Mom is going to have to have surgery soon. I'm dealing with a few parents for conferences, and one this morning just set me in the mood. I'm trying not to cry. I don't normally cry, but for some reason I am on the verge of tears today.

Ashley - that sucks, but chin up . . . it'll be all right.

ejj - I'm sorry about your niece. If you know that she really is near the end, then maybe you can encourage her to be as honest as she can be with her loved ones. Privacy is healthy, but secrecy shames.

My unhappy: I missed the last two book clubs because of 1) vacation and 2) didn't have the book in time to read it. Now, I got the book for November ( The Story of Edgar Sawtelle ) and was hoping to get a decent chunk read before the end of the month. I open the book and got blasted by the smell of must. Ugh! Allergic; washed my hands immediately and back the book goes. And it's a library book!

Happy: Looking forward to NaNoWriMo. This will be my first attempt.

Many thanks to all for the support. Means a lot to feel safe here with the virtual family.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo for the first time, too. Looking forward to it but realizing I need to cut way back on my Facebook time--probably should be viewed as another benefit of NaNoWriMo!

Hey, I'm going to try NaNoWriMo too! I need to get prepared for it.

Hugs for ejj and kirbyowns.

My happy - Payday!

unhappy: my grandma is celebrating her 85th birthday tomorrow and I can't be there. At times like this I really feel how far away my family is. She is my last living grandparent, so I am reallt feeling bad

Happy I've used one of the huge pumpkins that I bought for cooking with. I made two batches of pumpkin soup, some pumpkin and white chocolate and mixed nut cookies and last pumpkin bannan nut bread three loaves!!!!

Also the friend that I've been telling to go back to her parents and just deal with them is finally listening to me!!! its only taken me saying the same thing sixty million times before it worked but it worked!

unhappy when the above friend called her parents today she didn't once say PLEASE or THANK YOU while talking to her mom. It was almost as if she just expected them to take her back in.

Busifer - I'm trying to get my son in with a specialist so he can get his tonsils out. He's not sick that much, but he has trouble swallowing and his ears are always bugging him. It's probably his adenoids more than his tonsils, but enough is enough! He's miserable much too often.

>84 RuneFirestar: RuneFirestar, your house must smell insanely good!

Eep, I caught up on the old thread before realising this one was here & there's been lots to catch up on since I've been afk. So from the other thread I wanna say Happy dances with all the happy people - tho there doesn't seem to be many lately :( Hugz to all that need them - esp Rune! So glad your friend is OK, but sorry you had to go through that with her & sorry that you're having a hard time with social services, it really sounds like they're being very unreasonable!

Thankfully there have been more happies in this thread - so more happy dancing :) & more hugz to people that are dealing with unhappies atm too...

Shanra - what was the secret happy in #48????

Rune - I want some of those pumpkin & white choc cookies!!! If i was more of a cook I'd ask for the recipe, actually, can you please post it anyway, now that I'm in my new home I've gotta start experimenting more with cooking, mostly for meals & stuff, but baking yummy sounding cookies could be some good practice :)

OK, my unhappies at the moment are pretty minor but here they are:
*its my last night of 2 weeks holidays. I've been going to sleep pretty late & know I'm gonna have trouble getting to sleep at a decent hour tonight. I'm not usually much of a tea drinker, but mum brought some herbal teas over for me so I might need to have one of them.
*My laptop is playing games with me, for some reason excell wont let me change font colours, which is really bugging me coz I wanted to change some stuff in a spreadsheet that I've got colour coded & I cant! It also wont let me put any new pics from my camera onto it, I connect the camera but the program starts to open then gets stuck & does that "not responding" thing :( I bought a new doona cover today & I cant decide if I really like it or if its too busy, I want to send pics of it to my mum but cant get em onto the laptop :(

Happies:
*I'm in my new home *grins*
*I've got 2 awesome kittens *grins*
*I finally got arround to sorting out & uploading all my pics yesterday before the laptop decided to play games.
*Altho going back to work tomorrow isn't really a happy, I'm going straight into 2 weeks training for a new billing system we're implementing in about 6 months (there are alot of staff to be trained & the training groups can only be small, I'm in one of the earliest groups), so at least I'm kind of easing back into work, I'm good friends with the trainer & am pretty confident that I'll be able to pick up the new system without too much difficulty...
*After a couple of weeks mostly afk, I've finally caught up on my GD friends' happies & unhappies & got arround to posting mine :) But its nearly bedtime now, so methinx I'd better leave the rest of my catching up on threads until tomorrow :)

Update - Happy coz restarting my laptop seems to have fixed the gremlins :) Spreadsheet is now colour coded & updated & i managed to upload the pic of my new doona:



It definitely doesn't go with the temporary drapes, but I think it's growing on me...

I'd never heard the word 'doona.' We call those big blanket things comforters or maybe bedspreads. And I really like your bed, from what I can see.

I had a rough day yesterday, but I'm feeling better this morning. My kids are all dealing with some tough things, and it's wearing me out helping them. Things are always worse late at night.

Me neither but I didn't like to ask. Is that a local word or shortened from something else (eiderdoons?)? It's rather nice.

doona sounds like an English way of pronouncing the Danish word for comforter. My au pair mom's way of pronouncing the Danish word sounds like doona

That is an interesting word the only place I have heard it before is when Anne McCaffrey used it as the name of a planet in Decision at Doona. So I googled!

Quote from wikipedia

In Australia, a duvet or down quilt is often called a "Doona", which is a genericized trademark (registered to the Tontine Group) which is derived from the equivalent common Scandinavian term dyne and popularized by the retailer IKEA in the 1970s. Originally the term continental quilt was the standard name used across Australia, and some regions continue to use this term.

end quote

>92 calm: I just love the way you can find out nearly anything by googling it! I suspected that might be the meaning (I guess I thought it was related to "duvet"), but it's good to know the background.

Ooooh, neat little fact there Calm/Tris!

I'm happy and hyper. And exhausted. And it's all book blogging's fault! *delirious crash and happy nonsensical sleep-deprived mumblings* Whee!

#92 - Only 'dyne' is Danish/Norwegian, not Scandinavian - the Danish 'dyne' (comforter, bedspread, duvet, cover) is 'täcke' in Swedish ('täcka' means 'cover' /a surface/).

The Swedish 'dyna' means 'cushion' (not the 'pillow' kind of cushion but the one that are part of the sofa, or on a deck chair).

Do come back and explain Seanie - enquiring minds need to know!

Umm, its just always what I've called them, not sure where it came from...

I'm slightly unhappy coz I had to leave my kittens home alone for the whole day for the first time 2day - twas VERY hard to leave for work!

For us, doona is specifically a duvet used with a cover around it, rather than a quilt or a blanket. It's not uncommon to just sleep under one by itself or with just a doona and a sheet. We got the word from the brand-name, but I'm sure the Scandinavian 'dyne' is the same -down that we use for eiderdown, duckdown, down pillow, etc., even if it has slightly different meaning now.

I just came across a 'doona' in the Slap, great book which I finished tonight.

My son and his wife both have the H1N1 flu! They both feel they are getting over it, fever is going down.

I don't know where to go with this...our local London Drugs has the original Roomba on sale for $109! I am so tempted

My Happy: I just received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the staff, to say thank you for all I do in honor of International School library day..

My Unhappy: I have to leave this amazing group of people in a couple of weeks.. and I still haven't found a new job to go to

My happy: my work offerred all staff a free H1N1 vax & i just had it now.

My unhappy: It Hurt!!!!

#101 - Sympathies. I haven't had that vaccine but I did have the regular flu one and that still hurts four days later.

It's good that your work do this for their staff though.

My Happy: My new chainmail supplies are on their way..

My Unhappy: I just received an email from UPS saying my package will be later then expected..Some one forgot it in a UPS warehouse across the country and it sat there for a few days before they noticed.. Needless to say I'm irritated that I paid a higher price for faster shipping and its delayed big time.. grrr

>103 ashleyckrr: Ashley, why not send the supplier a polite email telling them what happened? They paid for faster service, too, and you may get a refund.

I may just do that.. I don't have all that many pet peeves but I do hate when people/things are late, and this wasn't due to weather, it was someone's carelessness.

i'm looking foward to being happy on friday when they take the cast off my arm. right now i'm simply grouchy and rather lopsided.

My husband's mother was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance this morning. They think it's a heart attack. We're like, wait a minute, it's been our FIL that's been frail. Any positive thoughts or prayers would be appreciated.

I'm so sorry to hear that, Morphy. Sending you lots of positive vibes and best wishes. My thoughts are with you.

oh, Morphy! I hold your MIL in my heart seeing complete and speedy recovery. Also, I am holding you and your hubbby in my heart, too, thinking some encouraging and strength giving vibes in your direction.

107> hugs, and positive thoughts to you and your family!

I'll be keeping your family in my thoughts, Morphy.

Hoping the news is good for you and your family, Morphy.

You are in my heart and thoughts today.

thinking of you, Morphy - I've been there - my MIL spent last Christmas in the hospital after a heart attack. She's doing ok now, though.

unhappy - my younger son seems to have either flu or a really bad cold. I leave for work before he gets up, so I told him to take his temp and if he's still running a fever to STAY HOME from school AND work. He's supposed to phone me if he stays home so I can call the school, and he hasn't phoned yet so either he's still asleep or he's gone to school. He's worried he'll still be sick for Hallowe'en, but if he doesn't get rest now he WILL be sick. Stupid kid. Also hubby and I are supposed to leave for a week's holiday in Vegas on Sunday and if my kid has flu (either seasonal or H1N1) I don't think I'm going to be able to go :(

Not unhappy; confused and uncomfortable, maybe. I did something to my neck/right shoulder area Monday morning. Pinched a nerve or something. And while it's better, I'm still in constant pain.

My girlfriend bought some icy/hot medicated pads and compelled me to wear one to bed last night. It didn't help relieve my pain, but it do a fine job of chemically searing my flesh. My, what a lovely burning sensation.

On a happy note, We watched Coraline on DVD last night. Beautiful film. Very creepy, but wonderfully done.

My MIL is fine. It wasn't a heart attack. They admitted her for some tests but think she will be out tomorrow. Thanks everyone!

So happy to hear that, Morphy!

GN (I think): Just a few days to NaNoWriMo! I woke up earlier than usual with novel ideas dancing in my head . . .

That's brilliant news, Morphy! I'm so pleased everything worked out.

What a relief, Morphy. Good luck with the tests.

Whew! Good luck with the tests, Morphy!

Tardis, well-wishes to your son and Mono, may you feel better soon!

I'm happy. Content. ^-^ And it feels wonderful. ^-^

Still laughing over tonight's call from my daughter. It seems grand-daughter got a tiny sliver in the palm of her hand which Daddy took out with a pair of tweezers.

According to Mary Leigh she made sounds never heard on the planet before. Apparently dogs are appearing on the front porch and the flights out of Omaha's Eppley Airport are being diverted. Let's just say, she's a bit of a Drama Queen.

Wonderful news Morphy, hope she feels all good real soon. And, Merry Mary, what a grand description! I know about small people drama, too. Definitely good for a giggle.

#121 - Oh, I'm right there with her! I used to make such a fuss over dad removing splinters and thorns from my flesh, then after a bit he would say, "You know I've been done for awhile now."

*giggle*

#121

That reminds me of an incident in my own childhood. I guess I must have been about 6 or so, and we went into a garden centre that specialised in cacti. I was told very firmly not to touch anything but of course I couldn't resist, and plonked my hand down on the fluffiest one. It was a fluffy one that had the smallest, most numerous spikes in the world, which all got into my hand!

My mum and dad spent what felt like hours with sellotape and tweezers, getting them all out of my hand. I think I probably yelled quite a bit as well!!

#125
Moral of story - Never take a curious child to a cactus garden!

I'm happy because last night I was sore and exhausted and convinced I was coming down with the flu. I was congested all night, but when I woke up, I feel much better! It must not have been the flu. I never had a fever. I think it was just a cold. Still stuffy today, but I can live with that! I just didn't want to start another round of the flu in my house.

Happy! I have a great lead on a second job. I have experience as well as connections in this field, and I could stand to potentially double my income. I've been scraping by for a couple years, and this would really help me. I'm thinking positive thoughts!

Go monohex! Best of luck with getting the second job. cmbohn, glad you're not feeling too awful. Hope the cold passes quickly, though!

happier - younger son is feeling much better. Will keep a close eye on him for the next couple of days, though, in case of relapse. Such a bad time of year for this kind of thing - he always wants to party on Hallowe'en and will be inclined to minimize his symptoms to avoid me keeping him home.

I’m happy coz its Friday afternoon & in general life is pretty good for me :)

I’m unhappy coz I’m tirumpy (tired & grumpy) & its making it hard for me to take in training, we’re learning a new system & I’ve been pretty on top of things so far, but this afternoon its all felling like too much :(

hi im new and i have a question how do u read your books in your library

Hi sage562, and welcome to LibraryThing! You can't actually read the books on the site- the main purpose of the site is for keeping track of what you read and own. The more books you put in, the more recommendations LibraryThing will give you so you don't run out of interesting books to try out!

My happy: because of my involvement with LT (ahem, also called obsession), my university library has offered me two opportunities to write/talk about LT so that we can create a literate community on here. I'm so excited- this is SOOOO up my alley!

Happy: I got an appointment for surgery on November 19, two months earlier than projected. Begone evil tonsils, begone!!!

Unhappy: I can't understand they want me to stay overnight. When our son had his tonsils removed he had surgery in the morning and we went home after lunch.

#133 I'm not medically trained, Busifer, so I'm probably wrong, but I'm guessing it may be because you are older than your son was when he had the op. Tonsilectomies are one of those things that are relatively straightforward when you're young and become more complicated the older you get. Still, it's great to know you'll be getting the whole thing over soon and should be back to eating normal food by Xmas. Good luck!

#134 - I just got all the papers and you are correct. Thankfully I don't care much for the Yule table but by then I'm probably tired of soup and glad to eat anything offering resistance to the teeth ;-)

>134 Booksloth: What Booksloth said.

It's a bigger deal for adults than kids.

It's a great excuse to eat gallons of ice-cream.

My mom preferred fruit ices.

My Happy: It's Friday, and I get to sleep in on the weekends! oh and because its the day before halloween all of our kindergartens came to school in costume, and are dancing (hopping madly) in the gym for the dance-a-thon.. Cutest thing ever!!

#132 Congratulations, MissWH...what fun you will have!
Speaking of fun, the ski hill is open for x-country skiing today, the earliest ever opening and guess who is going! Then we'll come back here, costume up for a walk through the pumpkin patch at the Nut Farm. Late evening pumpkin soup and bbq smokies, pear pie to finish off.

My Happy for today: I gave blood for the first time this afternoon and I feel really quite chuffed about it- oddly i don't feel dizzy at all and the needle didn't bother me either :D
I've been meaning to give blood for a while but hadn't got round to it so when i saw that there was a blood drive going on up on the uni campus i went a booked myself an appointment to give up 2 pints of the ol' red stuff .
Unhappy: I have a french translation assessment at 9am tomorrow and i'm not too sure how the heck to prepare for it :S

Happy- last night was my anniversary. My girlfriend and I went out to eat at a fancy restaurant we both like. Later, we went back to the coffeehouse where we went on our first date and sipped hot chocolate.

Unhappy because of the local transit strike; happy because my boss is being wonderful about me working from home this week as a coping mechanism!

>142 Glassglue: Awww, sweet!

GN: I've gotten a pretty fair start on NaNoWriMo and have a wonderful support group.
BN: Yesterday was almost a complete waste--just had no energy.
GN: Today I'm already feeling much better and more likely to be productive.

I just got a phone call from my younger daughter. Today is the anniversary of St. Clair's Defeat, which I wrote about for my thesis. I think we must be the only two people in the world who remember this date.

I’m happy coz its Thursday afternoon & there’s only 2hours (ish) & one day of the working week left :)

I’m happy coz I love my kittens & I’m looking forward to getting home to them tonight :)

I’m happy coz I’m getting fly wire screens & security doors installed on Saturday so I will finally be able to let some air flow through my house (I’ve only been able to open the windows about an inch coz I’m worried bout the kittens escaping)

I’m slightly bored & frustrated as I’m in training at the moment & I’m picking things up pretty quickly but not everyone is getting it so the trainer has to go very slowly. Plus we’ve got a temp trainer in for this particular module & I’m finding her very irritating (she has a really high pitched voice & talks down to us like we’re kindy kids!)

I'm slightly annoyed that my house gets so messy so quickly & I need to clean asap. I'm annoyed at myself for sleeping so much on my day off on tuesday, I really should have done the vaccuming & cleaned the bathroom then...

Unhappy - somehow there are two big patches of blue dye on the very lovely white leather eames chair we were given in the makeover and I don't know how they got there or what to do to get them out!

Any tips for cleaning this off would be greatly appreciated, otherwise I need to rush out and buy a big cushion.

#146 - the joys of houseownership. It always needs cleaning. And the garden either needs fussing with or cutting back!

Unhappy: minor. It's now the fourth straight day of heavy rain and showers. I'm fedup of biking in it - even if it's still nicer than being stuck in a traffic jam in it.

Major unhappy for me at the moment. My mum has fallen over a paving slab in the street and broken both of her kneecaps. The doctors originally thought that they would have to operate, but now they think that casts and physio will suffice. At least she won't have to go through the op, but it does mean at least 6 weeks of legs in plaster. : (

#149 - oh my goodness Rach, that's terrible. It must have been a very nasty fall to do so much damage to her. I am glad she doesn't have to go through an operation but six weeks in plaster doesn't sound like much fun either. I hope she makes a speedy recovery.

Oh, my gosh, Rach. My heart goes out to her.

Ouch Rach!

>147 QueenOfDenmark: Jody, I googled "cleaning leather" and got quite a few hits; about.com has a video in which they suggest using a moisturizing soap on a clean bit of towel and wiping it off with a clean towel (no water). I'd look at a few sites and see if there's any consensus on what to do.

>149 Rach974923: What an unfortunate accident! I hope she's not in too much discomfort and recovers mobility quickly.

*sends healing thoughts to Rach's mum* I hope she'll recover quickly and well!

My unhappy is that although I got the kids breakfast this morning and got katie to school on time

got the dishes done and laundry done, and even took vincent to a baby play session. I still feel like I didn't accomplish anything. And I don't know why I feel like this. It sucks!!!

Also the friends that are staying with us haven't done much to help with the house work recently and after the big tidy round that we had I just don't want my house becomming that big of a job. It took everyone working from 12 to about 7 until the house was clean.
But its starting to become untidy again. I hate that.

Sounds like you're being too hard on yourself, Rune. You did in fact accomplish a great deal, not the least of which is being an all around good mom.

It is what it is, Rune; a stage of life that you're getting through one day at a time. I think MerryMary has the right idea; lighten up on yourself and find something to love or appreciate or smile at every day. However, small it may be, it may help to keep your spirits up!

I turn on the news and see what happened at Ft. Hood, TX. It's heartbreaking. This is the second incident of this type in the US Army this year.

#158 - I read about it on the internet just before going to bed last night and it's terrible, and so soon after the rogue policeman shooting the troops who were training him in Afghanistan. It's frightening to think that in a place where our troops think they are safe they can be attacked without warning.

Thanks for the thoughts and wishes, everyone. My mum is doing better today, just bored more than anything. Hopefully, they'll be able to let her out of the hospital in a couple of days and then at least she can relax at home.

Rune, I agree with Jill and MerryMary. You're being too hard on yourself. Sounds to me like you acheived lots in one day.

I am both happy and unhappy that I have a dentist appointment this morning.

Happy because some much-needed work is going to be done (and I finally have health insurance, so I won't have to pay for...well, some of it, anyway).

Unhappy because I didn't get much sleep last night because the appointment is early in the morning since I scheduled it while I still had a job, and also while I don't hate going to the dentist, it's definitely not my idea of a pleasant morning.

>155 RuneFirestar: I'm with everyone else, Rune. Running a house and taking care of kids is a tough job. Concentrate on what you got done, not the might-have-been.

My mom lives in Orlando and just got away from the lock down in the area after the mass shooting. She knows people who worked for the company and were in the building but doesn't know if they are okay.

Morphy, I knew nothing about this until I read your post. I'm glad your mom is ok.

Mini-unhappy. My ESC key fell off. I'm trying to reattach it, but without success.

super glue

It has a little catch thingy that wil hook it on, but I can't finagle it into position with my poor fine motor skills.

I'm happy that I've been getting all my hours at work lately. Nothing like getting a paycheck to make you happy! But I'm frustrated because my kids new medicines are not working the way I had hoped. S. had one great day - full of energy, happy, totally gung-ho - and then crashed. Not depressed at least, but very very tired. If her meds are causing mood swings like that, they are hardly the 'mood stabilizers' they are supposed to be, now, are they?

And W.'s med for ADD seemed to do nothing except make him lightheaded and anxious. Otherwise he was exactly the same.

If I think about it too much, I'll just get more unhappy, so let's go back to something else. It's a beautiful day here - blue sky, nice temperature. I even cleaned out a flowerbed!

Happy because my husband and I had a great holiday away by ourselves and when we got home the house was still standing and the cat didn't seem to have missed us at all which means the kids were looking after him well (I worried a bit because he's old and on medication and we were gone 6 nights).

The kids seem to have done fine on their own (ages 17 and 20) although the seem to have eaten mostly Kraft Dinner and they never emptied the dishwasher at all (still had the last load that I put through, LOL).

Good thing last night. My friend Ben is home from surgery for cancer. The old buzzard actually came out to the bar to say hello. He had a soda and then went home.

Tough old bird. He survived the Korean War. Have to make sure he doesn't stress himself too much trying to get back into routines.

@170 - LOL...I return to my niece's home to Nanny each Monday morning and I can not tell you how often the dishes in the dish washer are the same ones I put in there on Friday afternoon. Two adults and three children....how do they do it?

Unhappy- I'm properly shattered after having cricket training today I overslept as it is and all I wanted when I got home was to have a shower but the bloody greek git has flooded the bathroom even worse than usual and left a god-awful stench in the toilet and I'm now really fed-up. I'm starving hungry and I don't want to start my lunch/very early dinner until i feel less icky BUT I CAN'T COS THE FLOOR IS STILL WET!! Argh!! >:(

On the bright side I'm going to see my boyfriend tomorrow for the first time since 24th September YAY!! *happy dances*

Happy: I finally finished adding all my non-fiction books into my account.

Unhappy: still a long way to go, before I have my fiction books in check

Unhappy: Summer has come early to melbourne, we've just had 2 days of over 30C (thats 86 degree Fahrenheit) temps & are expecting annother 4 days that high this week, today is meant to get to 34C (93.2F)!!! So, I'm tired coz I didn't sleep very well last night & I'm grumpy coz I dont like the heat & am not prepared for this weather! Summer's not meant to start for annother few weeks *grumble grumble*

Happy: I lost 1.8k (thats 3.9pounds) last week :) I didn't deprive myself entirely of treats, just limited treats & excercised more, so I'm well on my way to losing 5k by christmas :)

Happy: Beautiful weather here.

Unhappy: Can't enjoy it 'cause my parents are coming tomorrow and I've let the house fall apart, so I need to get back to cleaning.

Also unhappy: Need to go take my meds. I forgot them this morning, which would explain why my knees are hurting! Duh! You think I'd remember after 12 years of this stuff.

Very nice job on the weight loss, Seanie! I am happy with my own work this week, as I have been eating a little more than I should. I think feeling bad makes me want to eat more.

This weekend has been excellent:

*Friday I went to my college library's presale for their twice annual sale and came away with Library of America's Dreiser volume slipcased, and the LoA's collections of 19th century poetry (2-volumes), and 20th century poetry (2 volumes) neither set w/slipcase, which leads me to believe the original owner either got rid of them, or got them retail and didn't keep the dj's, the Darkest Evening of the Year and Odd Hours by Dean Koontz, and Generation Me by Gene M Twenge, phd, all for $2 each. I also found a multi-volume set of the Zohar, a mystical Jewish text, which I will be acquiring sometime next week during the sale. I know only one other person who'd be interested in it, and he doesn't bother going to the sale.

*Got a full 6 pages of my thesis written Saturday, YAY!

*Just got back from Powell's, where I got the retail version of the LoA's Lovecraft volume (retail), the Necronomicon another Lovecraft collection, Odd and the Frost Giants, and Brandon Sanderson's new novel, Warbreaker, which I feel a bit guilty for buying used.

Happy, asked DH this morning to pick a number, and I thought if it was odd, I'd stay in bed, if it was even, I'd go to Aquafit. It was even, I went, it was good.
Unhappy, when I got home I noticed the bathing suit has become transparent in the back. No more aquafit til I buy a new suit!

Happy: The new Evil Genius book (The Genius Wars) is out.

Unhappy: I've decided that for now, I can't afford it. I'll have to hope the library processes it fast.

Happy - Under the Dome is winging its way to me as we speak!

#181 - I'm torn. Do I buy it tomorrow or do I ask Andrew to buy it for Christmas?

Compromise. Ask Andrew to buy it for you tomorrow.

happy because I was able to add a book to my 75 book challenge. I am in such a desert of book reading. Bla! too much LIFE. But then again, I am glad to be alive.

#183 - that sounds like the ideal plan!

Unhappy: I went to sleep at like two or three this morning and failed to drag myself out of bed at 7:30, missing my weight training class.

happy because I picked up a couple of extra hours at work, but unhappy because I am so stinking tired all the time! I'm even too tired for LT, and that's just wrong.

Happy because doctor checkups are over. Just the standard ones--everything's fine unless something shows up in the labs.

Happy because doctor changed me to a different med. Hopefully I'll stop dozing off at work (oops). This one is supposed to combat the fatigue better.

Unhappy because Dad needs a specific type of physical therapy AND he can't get it where they live. Starting in Jan, they will be spending a MINIMUM of 2 nights a week at my house because it is available here. Just when my in-laws are improving; now it's my parents.

Unhappy. No Under the Dome yet and we were trailed on our walk by a bad-tempered dog that kept snapping at Skeelo. Skeelo doesn't understand this kind of behaviour and keeps approaching the dog to try and make friends and so gets snapped at again. In the end, it's poor Skeelo who ends up back on his lead while the owner of the bad-tempered unsocialised dog remains utterly oblivious as their dog continues to terrorise all the well-behaved dogs in the park.

#189 - now I am going to make you more unhappy by telling you I bought Under the Dome this afternoon. But it might make you happy to know it's looking like one of his bigger books, so hopefully a good long read. Poor Skeelo though. Scottie is the other way, she is well behaved unless another dog snaps at her, then she goes for the kill (and by kill I mean nose) and we often find a larger dog runs in fear from our suddenly furious little ball of fur and teeth.

I'm happy because I now own a lovely new book and also because I found some beautiful Christmas decorations that have Joseph's name on them. And I am happy because tonight is takeaway night in our house and I am having a very delicous Indonesian thing called a Palambang.

#190 If you die before mine arrives will you leave it to me please? Not that I'm expecting (and obviously not hoping) that you're about to pop your clogs, but I do like to have all my eventualities covered. Surley it must come tomorrow? This makes me wonder about new books online. I've had some arrive (I'm pretty sure it was from Play.com) actually on the day of release (and, on one occasion, the day before, which must have been a mistake) and others that have taken weeks. Normally, I don't care as long as it arrives in the end but I'm now stuck halfway through Notes From Underground, which is dire, as I can only read very short books in case Dome turns up.

Skeelo would much appreciate a long-distance Scottie-lick if there's one going.

happy - I FINALLY have some Whole Foods Prairie Bread (gluten free). For weeks they've been sold out every time I stopped by the store. My daughter stopped and found some for me today. YUM!

unhappy - Want so much to visit my parents for Christmas but still don't have a passport and don't know we can afford the expense. Almost 10 years of waiting and still can't afford it. :(

happy - remnants of hurricane Ida are soaking NC and I love rainy breezy days. Perfect for a lazy afternoon with prairie bread toast and tea and a good book. :)

#189/190/191 Jody, I think you should know - I just had a quick look at the two reviews already on LT. Apparently there are two dogs in the book. I'm starting to get a worried feeling. I've heard a lot of people compare this one to The Stand so I'm just hoping these will be like Kojak/Big Steve rather than an excuse for somebody horrible to do something horrible to them but I thought you should be warned.

#191/193 - I'll give Andrew strict instuctions to give you the first pick of my bookshelves should anything happen. Although I'm glad to say I am feeling fit and well, so touch wood that won't be soon.

Scottie is pleased to send licks to Skeelo and we are both very concerned about the dogs. Why can it never be cats, I can read nasty things about cats (my dreams have started again so they really deserve it) but not dogs.

#194 I don't think I dare join in on that - too many cat lovers on LT!

ETA - I can happily return the favour on the books if I go first - I've been worried that none of my family will appreciate the collection as much as they should. I know you'd give them a good home!

#194

Can I have second pick?

Why not just have a lottery?

#195 - no you'd be fine, you have cats. I have dreams about being attacked by cats (and, weirdly, kangaroos, but I can't see SK suddenly deciding to have a kangaroo in any of his books) so I'm allowed to say that and get away with it.

If anyone can explain why I might be having a recurring dream about a white cat getting into my house and biting me, refusing to let go, before I try to force it to stop by trying to drown it under the bathtaps, I'd be interested to know.

#196 - yes, I'll add you to the list.

#198, you have childhood white-cat-trauma? (Also that is one cute critter on your arm in that profile photo.)

I'm sad a friend of mine is sad, and there's not a whole lot I can do to help. I'm kind of happy to have had wireless access at uni and time enough before class to offer what I could, though.

#198--bad cat experience? I have a personal dislike of Persian cats. This occurred after spending the night at a home straight out of a bad horror film, complete with two demon-possessed Persians.

Hello, everyone, hugs to those who need it and pats on the back to congratulate others on their achievements. :) It's good to be here!

I'm a bit unhappy right now because my latest obsession, Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse," JUST GOT CANCELLED! :( As they're saying on the Twitterverse: Joss Got Foxed Again! *sigh*

But I'm also happy right now because 1) I just finished my work for the day, 2) I'm having coffee and chocolate chip cookies (bought some yesterday to celebrate Sesame Street's birthday! :D hehe would've baked some but didn't have the time; oh, it was also Neil Gaiman's b'day), and 3) well... just because.

I've been absent from the GD (and LT in general) for a while because of various things. Not the least of them being work. I even worked all last week like in a regular work week, even though better part of the week (stop me before I write "week" again) people all over the country were on holiday for independence celebrations. Well, pretty much the whole of November is independence month here in Panama, so lots of festivities.

I also downloaded all seasons of "Buffy" and "Angel" and I've been watching those. I'm on an extreme Whedon binge. Also waiting for my "Firefly" and "Serenity" DVDs to arrive. I know, talk about obsessive.

I'm going to stop here before the geekery continues. :/

Happy: I'm returning home to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. Back to my girlfriend, my own bed, reliable internet, and enough humidity to heal my cracked lips.

#199/200 - I can't recall a bad cat experience other than a friends cat who went a little odd in its old age and took to attacking shoelaces. And that was a patchy looking cat, lots of brown and black patches, not a white one.

Booksloth I have some possibly bad news, a list of characters for Under the Dome shows three "dogs of note", a corgi, a german sheperd and a golden lab. That can't be a good sign. And there is a little furry non-canine casualty right there at the start, just to upset me before I went to bed. Hope your copy arrives today.

Oh no! Not a lab too! Other than that terrible news, I came on to say I am blissful today because my copy finally arrived and, other than one (hopefully quick) work-connected phone call, I have a free afternoon in which I intend to do nothing but read. Mmmmmm . . .books . . . ..

Happy , I bought my first laptop ! UNHappy , I can't get the internet installed ! I'm having a service rep come out to help me tomorrow .

happy!!!!, yesterday was my boyfriend and I's 2 yr aniversary.. unhappy!!! last night i broke me wrist in two places... so im haveing a very hard time typing. :(

i might be a wuss.. good grief !

Yea and boo for shelby!

My happy: down to my lowest weight since 1996. 22 lbs to go!

Unhappy: I'm going to traffic school! Yes, I was speeding in a school zone. I was driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood and by the time I saw the lights, I couldn't slow down fast enough. And there was a cop right behind me.

#207 - That's bad luck. I haven't been to traffic school so I don't know what it involves but I hope all goes well.

OK on H1N1 shot. Confused by diagnosis ~ in Emergency Room: heart rate twice normal. . . Warfarin needs near-constant monitoring (which means going to the lab often and having blood drawn).

Take it easy, Esta. Don't let the vampires (blood drawers) get you down!

Unhappy: I've been stuck inside ALL DAY because of this stupid hurricane meets nor'easter straight out of a Vincent Price movie. Humph.

Happy: At least I have texting. And it gives me something to blog about. I've got find some silver lining in this humongous cloud. ;)

#206--Ouch! You're not a wuss, that hurts!

Happy because this weekend is very full and very diverse - quilt judges' seminar tomorrow and manning a stand at a major horse event on Sunday.

Unhappy because this weekend is really very,
very full and diverse - quilt judges' seminar tomorrow and manning a stand at a major horse event on Sunday.

Ah, that doesn't really work, does it?

Okay: Happy because I've given myself permission to avoid a three-hour drive both ends of the day by staying on a farm 'bed & breakfast' tonight.

Unhappy: Have to find the farm this evening in the middle of nowhere, after dark and in forecast torrential rain.

Happy - got my latest shipment from Amazon.ca :)

Minor unhappy - it was delivered by a neighbour from one street over because the UPS driver apparently couldn't read street signs and delivered to the right house number but wrong street. Thank goodness the neighbour was kind and honest enough to deliver it! I phoned UPS to complain, for all the good that will probably do...

tardis, I have found complaining online is very effective. If you still have the tracking number, it's not hard.

Happy , finally have internet access on my new laptop !

I'm unhappy because I'm so tired all the time. Some days I don't even turn the computer on after I get home from work (that's why I've been scarce here, btw). Surgery scheduled for next Thursday, and it can't become Thursday too fast.

Happy because I have spent some time watching the original Star Wars films with my son and he thoroughly enjoyed it (even if he's way to young to understand some of what happens). I get to say all the lines, because he can't read the subtitles, and it has been a delight to impersonate C3P0, The Emperor, et al.
He really loved it when the Ghosts show up in the final scene but just cannot understand why Luke has to fight his dad when it's the Emperor who's the baddie (he loves the animated Clone Wars series, were Anakin is a good guy, so to him Darth Vader can never be as terrible as he was for me, back in the 70's).

I'll be keeping you in my thoughts, Busifer. Just get as rested and strong as you can for your surgery.

I am currently very unhappy and actually quite scared.
For those who remember my horror stories about my Flatmate from Hell who routinely trashes the bathroom with water, wee and what you don't want to imagine - today is when the shit really hit the fan.
Last night feeling rather spiteful I locked the shower room door from the outside (which was fairly easy to do) in an attempt to stop him from trashing it when he had his 1am shower. This morning I found that he'd got in eventually but had been fooled for a while about the bathroom being occupied and once again there was some water on the floor.
Tonight after I got back from cricket training I ran to make sure I got in the shower cos i'd seen him walking back and was only minutes behind me. After I'd finished and as I walked past the kitchen I heard the taps running and I do believe that he was either washing himself or filling up his water bottle. When I went in there a few minutes later I saw that he'd got water on the floor again like he always manages to do. This is where the trouble started I literally lost it and flung the mop at him (it hit the unit and slipped onto the floor and may have hit his foot) and shouted at him to clean it up before stomping back to my room. A few minutes later I got a knock on my door and it was him asking for a conversation- I told him that we all needed to talk and went to the kitchen to get my flatmate Lucy (the other guy has gone home for the week) but when I came back to the corridor he refused to talk while she was there. So she went back into the kitchen and then he started to ask me why I "attacked" him as he put it - I then launched into a rather vocal tirade about his general behaviour over the last six weeks and how I was utterly sick of it and that was why i threw the mop. He interrupted me frequently with pathetic excuses to defend the mess he's been leaving (Apparently he flushes the toilet *all* the time! funny I hadn't noticed that when the flat stank of wee!). After I started to speak again in a calmer tone of voice i tried to explain that it wasn't just *me* who's been finding things a mess and unbearable but he's got it into his head that I'm pinning all the blame on him without having looked into the matter properly. But since me and my other flatmates have all discussed the matter frequently and have already made a complaint so him telling me I'm wrong about my complaints is utter bullshit and a useless face-saving endeavour on his part. Eventually he got rather threatening and told me that if I "attacked" him again that he would show me "what he's capable of" and I'll admit I was actually shaking by this time and quite scared. Thankfully Lucy came out of the kitchen (we have guests round for drinks and she was in there with them) and asked if we could leave the discussion until another day and I took the break in interrogation as an opportunity to leg it somewhat and ran downstairs to the Porter's office which is right underneath our flat and told him all about the situation. I was visibly upset and he realised this and called a few people to see if they could sort it out.
When i went back up to the flat a little while after the lovely chap from downstairs and another guy who was called came up with me and went and spoke to the FFH and gave me the number for the Porter's so if a situation occurs again that I don't have to leave my room to get help. Everything's pretty quiet now but I'm still rather shook up about it and I think I'm not going to enjoy tonight now like I'd hoped. We were planning on going up to the Union a bit later for the Pound Party but now I'd quite like to just crawl into bed and cry into my penguin.
I'm hoping that this incident will now accelerate the process for getting him chucked out because I *cannot* live in fear of someone in my own bloody flat! I think I'll start sleeping with my cricket bat by the door just in case he decides to "surprise" me with some act of revenge :/

Oh, LadyVi, I am so sorry this is happening! No one needs this in their life. *sending calming and peaceful thoughts your way*

Keep us updated!

Keep yourself safe. If this means you move out for a night or two, so be it. Threats like that should not be taken lightly.

LadyV, that is awful. It sounds as if you have done all the right things and you must also report this to your housing people and to whatever welfare services are available to you. Do not, under any circumstances, let him get you alone again; it is not for him to choose how any further 'conversations' are conducted, you must simply refuse to be put in that situation. Nobody should have to live in fear of a person they share their home with. Get your other room-mates to come with you to your welfare organisation at the first possible opportunity and explain exactly what has happened. As you say, hopefully this will speed things up for you. I can't imagine any responsible organisation could expect you to carry on sharing with this person. If necessary, tell them you are scared to go back to your house unless they get him out right away and that you will sit in their office unti that is done. I must admit that I viewed your original problem as serious but still something that rather made me smile. I'm sorry I felt that way and I certainly don't now - when you're used to living around normal people it's easy to underestimate the real nutcases. You should also bear in mind that physical intimidation is a matter for the police. Don't be afraid to bring them into it if you feel you have to. Holding your hand tightly through cyberspace.

ETA - And jennieg is absolutely right. Put your own safety first. Are there other friends who will put you up for a while?

>221 jennieg:/222 I only just got back yesterday from spending a few days with my boyfriend so I don't really want to abandon Lucy again cos although he says he's got nothing against her (she was too scared to actually confront him whereas I have a severe temper and would gladly shout at someone if I felt they deserved it) I don't want to leave her here to deal with him. Plus the fact that i don't really have many close friends that I would want to impose on at Uni means that I've only really got my flat to stay in unless I paid to live in a guest house for a few days.
I could laugh about the situation before even though it was irritating and terribly time-consuming to clean up after him I could deal with it. But after tonight (yea I did start the fight by throwing the mop) I don't feel I can cope much longer and I just want him gone.
If it does escalate after today I reckon the porters or even I would call the police although I do hope they called *before* I have to resort to clubbing him with a bat.

No, LadyV, he started the fight by being disgusting. You were not to blame for any of this.

Well he was taking the moral high ground by saying that my language and behaviour (throwing of cleaning implement et al) was disgusting to him and that he has been trying to be "good". I know it wasn't terribly mature of me to shout and swear at him but after 6 weeks my temper will take a lot of reining in to prevent complete meltdown.

LadyV, I think it's amazing you kept your temper as long as you have. (Especially considering you say you have a severe temper. Also, as a note - I don't think being mature doesn't mean never losing your temper when emotions get the better of you. Being mature is keeping it as long as possible and trying to deal with it the way you've been dealing with it. At least in my experience - I don't have that many more years of experience as you. ^-~)

I agree with Booksloth, you're not to blame for any of this and he started the fight with his behaviour. It was only a matter of time before one of you confronted him about it directly. He's obviously living in a different reality from everyone else. Put your behaviour and his side by side and there isn't a sane person in the world who will side with him that your behaviour was "disgusting" and his perfectly acceptable.

*hugs* I hope he'll be out of your life soon, hun. And I agree with everyone else. Threats like that should not be taken lightly. Make sure your flatmates know of it too. Both for your safety and their own.

Hugs, LadyVi. And follow the advice on this thread. He is obviously unbalanced and you need to be safe in your own place.

Unhappies here: The son of the lady across the street told me she's only been given 1-2 months to live. I don't know her well, but she apparently went in for back surgery the beginning of September. That went well, but the recovery didn't--they eventually found 5 major tumors and spots on her liver and lungs. She's in the same center my husband was, which I find unutterably depressing. (The docs are fantastic--just the thought of having to enter that nightmare again sucks any joy right out of me. )

Happy because I figured out that the Library of America books do actually have ISBNs, so I can enter them into my LT library.

#209 Esta
Oh, my a heart rate twice normal is certainly cause for concern. I have only experienced something like that from a medication at the first dose.

Is Warfarin the medicine they perscribed to normalize your heart rate?

I am sending a small prayer your way if you can use it.

MAJic

#227 That's so sad. Loving wishes are all anyone can offer but here are mine.

#225 LadyV, how are you today? I hope you had a peaceful night and that things look a little better this morning. Please don't waste any time in getting this dreadful 'man' reported. And please would you check in when you can to let us know how things are going? You are very much on my mind right now and I'm sure I'm not the only one. By the way, have you told your family about this? I know they aren't actually around to help but I would certainly have wanted to know if my kids had been going through this kind of thing and it sounds as if you could do with their support. I'm sending enormous hugs and I wish there were more I could send (like a large blunt instrument, for instance - no, don't take me seriously on that one). Like everyone else, I think you have been incredibly patient so far and it is remarkable you hadn't lost your temper long ago. None of this would have happened if he wasn't a pig (apologies to pigs everywhere) and I just hate to hear to blaming yourself for reacting the way any normal person would have done. LT is on your side - I hope that helps a tiny bit. xx

ETA - I just checked out your profile and discovered you are here in the UK! I think I'd been assuming you were in the States and I was a lot less sure how things worked there (not that I'm an expert on how they work in unis here these days but I am a lot more confident in knowing that there are quite a few organisations on campus that should be able to give you some support). It also makes the distances easier - how far away are your family? Is it possible for you to get home at weekends if you need to get away - I know you'd still have to come back on Mondays but it might make a welcome break for you.

And on another subject completely, I see you are reading Company of Liars - I finished that acouple of wweeks ago and thought it was brilliant. If there's a book that just might be able to take your mind off all this then it could be that one. I hope so.

LadyV, I agree with those here saying he started the fight by not behave decently in the first place. And if 'mature' is to internalise every feeling and to just let people who behave in unacceptable ways get away with it, then I'll never be mature.

But I feel it is important that you and your other flatmates are united in this, or he will win. Really, by not standing up to him they justify his behaviour which is the same as standing behind him, eg. being against you. By playing it safe and letting you take on the situation on your own they are betraying you, which is pure cowardice.
Not helping.
Perhaps not what you needed to hear, but having been through more conflicts than I can count, trying different personal strategies, I feel this is essential.

And I completely agree with Busifer! Too many people are afraid to stand up for others and that is in itself a betrayal. If you are one of the ones who eventually does speak out then you will often find yourself out on a limb when others let you down, having already led you to believe they were on your side. I suspect a quiet chat with them about a united front might help - I'm sure they don't see their actions as a betrayal. Also, don't forget that you will be doing this person a favour in the long run (even if that isn't your priority right now) because it sounds pretty clear that he is in need of quite a lot of psychiatric help. I'm sure he has a lot of problems but that doesn't mean they should be your problems too. (PM on your profile.)

Thank you Lyn, Busifer and everyone for your support it means so much to me that I have such a wonderful group of people who I know will be there for me even if it is only in cyber space :)
I have only just woken up after getting in at 3am so I'm a still rather tired and I haven't ventured outside my room yet (I can actually here the FFH galomphing about in the hall so I'll be staying put for a little longer)
I am not mad at Lucy for not wanting to confront him directly as she dislikes arguments and was more wary of his potential to turn rather unbalanced than I was but it does irk me that our other guy flatmate who doesn't get back until tomorrow hasn't had the guts to really talk to him about the problem before now- although he has spoken to him once about how he leaves the sink full to the brim of water after he washes. The FFH denied it fervently and swore blind that he always empties the sink but ours has one of those plugs which unless you jam in at a certain angle will fall back into the hole and block the water again.
I have to admit that I have technically lost my temper about him before but yesterday was the first time I did when he was actually there. I have stomped along the corridor yelling expletives after finding the bathroom a mess several times and apparently he's heard me doing that and brought it up during the argument.

My parents are about 3 hours away by train and because the train services from here are one out every 2 hours it is sometimes awkward to get back. But I am going home again on the 20th (I've been ordered by sister to take her to see New Moon :P) and then I'll be going back on the Sunday - I'm hoping the problem will be very much resolved by then as I'm sure the accommodation people cannot ignore some slightly unbalanced greek guy making threats to 19 yr old girls.
Lyn save yourself the postage on the blunt instrument I have my cricket bat propped by the door for such eventualities and when our other guy gets back he's got a pair a nice weighty dumbbells ;) Oh I have actually been reading Company of Liars since about august- I started it and got about a third of the way through but then got distracted and I've been meaning to finish it for ages. Hopefully I'll get it done before the end of the year hehe.

You sound a lot more positive now and that's really good to hear. If he's wound you up to the point where ypu stomp around yelling at the walls (and he obviously knows that it's about him and not somebody else) then it is inconceivable that he doesn't know he's doing something wrong. I'm upset to hear he is Greek as I have lots of Greek friends and they would be as horrified at this as you and I are. Maybe in that case you should threaten to speak to his Mama or Yiayia - most Greek men are terrified of their mum and gran! I bet he wouldn't get away with it at home. Good luck with this and do keep us updated when you can.

From a "little old lady" perspective: please do not try to solve this problem on your own. Do not be in this man's presence by yourself, always have flat mates with you. Whether this man is just badly socialized (stupid family) or mentally deranged is completely irrelevant to you. His behavior is unjustifiably unacceptable and the authorities at your school should be made to deal with this problem. Responsible authority figures are paid salaries to deal with this sort of thing.

Meanwhile, just think of all the experience and learning you are gaining for dealing with difficult challenges! Could be useful in your future career? How to confront difficulties by gathering support from relevant parties!

I forgot: the bazaar I organized is compete! Hall is empty and all have gone home with smiles on their faces. Horray. Now I need to count the money, put some files in order, and get on with my life. Woo hoo!

Good for you, maggie. Both for the successful bazaar and the excellent advice, with which I completely concur!! (I'm an "old lady" too, LadyV - and maggie is absolutely right.)

happy - younger son got 59% on his math mid-term! That may not sound like something to celebrate, but it is a HUGE improvement for him. He *may* also have finally made the connection that he if he works a bit harder in math he gets better results. I just wish it hadn't taken 12 years of schooling to sink in...

#238 Improvement is improvement!!

Happy: Got my first Christmas present in the mail today.

happy: Formally turning in a draft of my thesis, which means I might actually get some feedback from my thesis advisor instead of having it handed back unedited, uncritiqued, even though I asked him to.

unhappy: Unfortunately, I already know what he'll probably say. He's a perfectionist, and a bit odd in the head, so I'll probably be getting it back with comments reminiscent of "this is a flaming pile of c***," in not much more PC wording. He actually insulted a female classmate to her face, calling her something I won't repeat here. I'm pretty sure the man has no filter between his brain and his mouth.

Unhappy: My 7th grader is having problems in school. Unfortunately, they aren't actually school problems which are easily fixed, but social problems which, as we all know, are pretty much impossible for a parent to fix. I have a meeting tomorrow with her case manager (she has a learning disability and an IEP, thus the case manager) and one of the guidance counselors. I don't expect them to fix the problem since no one is actually bullying her it is just that she feels invisible. I do, however, expect her TEACHERS to notice when she is sitting all by herself and doing projects by herself and maybe change the way the handle things and assign groups instead of letting the kids pick their own groups. Seriously, why give 7th graders an excuse to ignore someone?

Just looking at her makes me want to burst into tears.

240 - At least he'll tell you if he thinks it needs a lot of work. I've heard of supervisors who hand it back and say it's ok, when there are major revisions needed. I hope he'll tell you what's right about it as well as what's wrong with it.

I have no happy nor unhappy news at the moment. Everything's just sitting around at the moment, which is, I suppose, an unhappy, because they're supposed to be moving forward.

Msg 241: When I was teaching it was expected that the teachers "engineer" group work so that the groups are balanced with a diversity of participants. It is not appropriate for the "popular" and "extroverted" kids to be able to run their show. Those kids also need the experience of dealing with kids who they do not naturally drift towards. It is not just that your 7th grader is getting cheated out of some experiences so are the other kids, too. I hope the case manager and the counselor understand this and can direct the teachers to be a bit more active.

In the teacher's defense, sometimes it is very hard to convince 7th grade kids to see beyond their own noses and be sensitive to their classmates who are a bit different from themselves. This is a very difficult age for everyone involved: parents, teachers, and the kids. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually your kid will be older and the problems will be different.

Hope there are some ideas above that might help.

As a Nanny, now, I get to deal with the two year old girl who has decided to defend herself from her 4 year old brother by biting! oh, the fun we have when we are young.

maggie -Thanks for the thoughts. I know that it is very difficult for the teachers as well and I am not really criticizing them. It is mostly one teacher who doesn't seem to be aware that she is sitting by herself all of the time. They are working on a new project in this class now and it has been handled better than the previous one. They are broken into groups and the teacher did this so she does have a group. They also made sure to offer her a job in the group that doesn't involve her speaking in front of the class - another issue she has.

I just want her case manager and counselor to be aware that she feels "invisible" and that she even feels that some of her teachers don't notice her.

I consistently tell her that she is much stronger than she thinks she is but it is really hard for kids this age to realize that someday this will be over and will only be an unpleasant memory. I also try to make sure that she focuses on the friends that she does have and enjoys the time she spends with them instead of focusing on the time she feels alone.

Hopefully all of this will help.

#241 It ws your last sentence that really grabbed me. I remember all too well (as all mums must) the pain of trying to cope when your child is unhappy at school. Just wanted you to know that it does fade into the mist in the end however hard it feels right now. At least she has you fighting her corner - some kids don't even have that. Good luck to both of you.

yes, I agree with booksloth. Time does help a great deal for both kids and their parents.

Just need to vent -

Can I just say that all the therapy and medication in the world will not help if you hide under your covers and never even TRY to get well? And then tell your therapist that everything is just fine?

Yes, time does help and middle school doesn't last forever.

Unhappies: Neighbor lady will not even be sent home with hospice now. She's so bedridden and sick they are leaving her in the cancer center. Uggh, that's exactly what happened to my husband.

Bad work week--can't go into details, but really bad.

Happy: new med is working; I'm getting more energy.

Edited to add (((hugs))) to cmbohn--we posted at the same time.

Sounds like you could use a hug too, Rita.

#241 - lots of hugs to you and your daughter. I felt shy and invisible at school too and remember once my teacher of two years asked me whose class I was in while I was talking to him about my art project one day. He tried to make it better by telling me he only remembered the trouble-makers.

An out of school activity helped me more because we all had something in common to get us talking and working together as a team, perhaps if your daughter has an interest she could persue outside school she will feel more confident in school eventually too.

#247 - cmbohn - I hope that venting helped, that sounds like a very frustrating situation for all concerned. Would keeping a journal help, one that could be shown to the therapist? Sometimes writing is easier than talking. Perhaps you both could keep one.

#248 - RitaFaye - lots of hugs to you. Troubles at work can be really upsetting and your poor neighbours situation is so close to home in every way. It's bound to bring back so many memories as well as cause you pain on her behalf.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words about my daughter's troubles right now. The meeting with her case manager and guidance counselor went well even though I did wind up crying during it. It also helped that yesterday was Parents' Visitation Day so I was able to observe her during two of her classes and tell them what I saw.

Part of the issue is related to her learning disability. She has what is called a non-verbal learning disability which has both social and anxiety components. Right now, the issue for us grown-ups involved is trying to figure out what part of the problem is social and which is anxiety. We have come up with some plans and her case manager is going to talk to her teachers and try to have them nudge her towards some of the girls in the class through in-class projects, etc.

She does have friends that she eats lunch with, etc. but we are trying to make sure that she has at least one person in each class that she feels comfortable talking to. The teachers in the class that is most difficult for her have already taken steps to group her with two girls during a project and she was very happy when she came home yesterday.

Oddly enough, finding out that she needs to have laser surgery on her foot in January may actually be a blessing. She will need to take the elevator for about 4 weeks and will need someone to help her get from class to class. This will be the perfect opportunity to spend one on one time with some of her classmates and may help break the ice a bit.

Thanks again for the support.

I forgot to mention my big unhappy:

We had a mouse! They've been spotted all over the neighborhood, but since we have 2 cats, I've been feeling slightly smug. Then on Tuesday, I saw a mouse under my couch! One cat tried (not very hard) to catch the mouse, gave up, and wanted to go outside. The other cat - the one that catches all the birds - SLEPT THROUGH THE WHOLE THING!

So I was not happy. I made my kids clean their rooms. My son went into overdrive and moved the mattress and everything. He found a granola bar that had been nibbled on. Ewww!

The next day I bought some traps. My son set them up for me. Then he spotted the mouse in his room. He wanted a trap, but I thought that the mouse would just hide until W. went away. So he grabbed a piece of wood and WHACK WHACK WHACK - dead mouse. Then he grabbed a paper towel, scooped it up, and took it outside.

I was so impressed! And so were his big sisters. It's not often that he can outcool his teenage sisters, but they were pretty impressed too. "Weren't you scared?" S. asked.

"Of a mouse? How can you be scared of a mouse?"

Very nice.

Your son will burn in hell for that. Okay, he probably won't burn in hell but he'd better never tell any future girlfriends what he did! Can we get two minutes' silence for the poor 'ickle mouse please? (I suppose his spirit (or his widow and children) will be on here tomorrow telling us what a crap day they just had.)

One of his sisters did ask him if he believes in reincarnation, but he is unremorseful.

I think you should lose the cats and get a dog . LOL! Bravo to your son , but make sure he didn't get any mouse germs that could make him ill .

Yep, the cats re in disgrace! But your remark about germs is very timely, but I had him scrub his hands thoroughly, even though he says he didn't touch the mouse. But we had an outbreak of Hantavirus, spread by mice, a few years ago, and I'm still a little spooked about it.

Booksloth said I could use her name to post this. I'm very unhappy and so are the 14 kids. My husband went out for food yesterday and we haven't seen him since. We heard a lot of crashing and banging while he was 'up there' and now I fear the worst.
Minnie

#252 - Oh, poor mouse. Now I wouldn't want one loose in my house either but a humane trap and a liquirice allsort work wonders for getting them out (we had one at work once). At least now he can look cool for his sisters.

#257 - Minnie, we are sorry for your loss.

Loss? So you know something about this? The kids are in an awful state. Millie and Mitzy won't stop crying and Mike is already showing signs of going off the rails. If anyone witnessed anything please could they contact the local moustabulary. We miss him so much . . . . (tears . . . .sniffle . . . .)
Minnie

I can vouch from experience that a Labrador dog is worthless with house mice. So happy, they are, but a mouse could just about run across her nose and she'd be all "La, la, la . . . life is wonderful . . . are you going to pet me now?"

OTOH, it's good to finally learn of a use for liquorice.

I didn't know that about liquorice either, though I've had varying success over the years with bits of cheese, cake etc. And re labs and cats - it's the cats here who bring the mice, and more often shrews, into the house and, yes, the lab just wants to adopt them. Humane traps are the only way.

#260 Labrador dogs aren't always worthless when it comes to house mice, as my mother witnessed once.

She was staying at her cousin's house when they saw a mouse run across the kitchen floor. Just at that moment the overweight Labrador happened to sit down, right on the mouse, killing it outright!

Death by dog butt. Now *there's* one to avoid...

#261 - they seem to like the ones with the pink or yellow coconut.

#262/263 - hahahaha - death by dog butt is definately a nasty way to go but that's made my day.

Sometimes my cats bring me live "presents" and just as I was reading about various mouse incidents the humane mouse trap started rattling! (Now released uninjured back into the wild)

LOL @ #262!!!

I'm Happy coz I went to see Pearl Jam last night & they were FANTASTIC!!! Well worht the $125 for the ticket :) There were arround 45,000 ppl there, so it was a HUGE event & the stadium itself is huge (as Eddy so aptly said "this is the biggest f*?*ing roof I've ever seen" lol). Eddie Vedder is so beautiful, he's so not you'r typical rockstar, every few songs he'd turn the house lights on & ask if everyone in the crowd was OK, was the pressure too much at the front? Was everyone looking after their friends? (I think coz it was very hot & there were so many ppl there) & at the end he jumped off the stage & walked through the crowd, twas very very cool :)

I'm unhappy coz I'm tired. Didn't get home til bout 12:30am & didn't get to sleep til bout 1:30 am, then had to get up for work at 6. Plus the night before I'd had a crappi nights sleep coz of the heat, so I'm struggling at work allready & I've only been here 2 & a half hours!!!

Unhappy:
Emotionally exhausted right now. Thursday I met a friend for coffee, and discovered too late that the barista put splenda in my coffee. I'm severely allergic, so I spent the whole day sucking back caffeine just to keep my heart beating- no time to go to the doctor (and I'm scared to with swine flu hitting my area hard). I finally got my heartbeat up enough to find my pulse this morning (and I'm CPR certified, so I shouldn't have problems).

After just literally trying to survive Thursday, I got a call at 5 this morning from work. A coworker who was supposed to open pulled a no-call-no-show, and blackout period was fast approaching. So, I worked an insane shift. And I have to pull another crazy shift tomorrow morning. I really hate that everyone else is late all the time, and the ONE time I wrote ONE DAY down incorrectly (and was at the store and on the floor within 5 minutes of them calling to ask where I was), my manager got mad at me. It's really not fair. I'm never late, and I cover everyone's rears ALL the time. Including hers. *grumps*

Happy:
Got to go to a play with Mum tonight! I also got to see the final markup of the article I wrote for the school newsletter about LibraryThing, and it looks great! I've also been formally invited to teach the university Library staff how to use LibraryThing in a seminar series on social networking. It's a big honour, and I'm flattered to be asked! Oh yeah, and I've been getting to chat with that nice guy I mentioned a few happy/unhappy threads ago. He definitely doesn't have a girlfriend...yet. ;)

Unhappy. A moron has recently moved in a couple of doors up the road who owns a Staffie (don't get me wrong Staffie-lovers, well-behaved ones are among my favourite dog-breeds; ones owned by half-wits are not) and it has now attacked Skeelo twice. The owner doesn't have the sense to put it on a lead even though it must have penetrated whatever passes for a brain that the dog is vicious, but waits for the attack then saunters over as if he had all day to remove its teeth from Skeelo's neck. So far we've been lucky as Skeelo has amazingly thick fur and there has been no damage done, but it's now getting to the stage where it is no longer safe for us to walk our own dog. Also, it has so far only happened when 'other half' has been in charge, because if I were there I would be very, very scared. As no damage has been done, we haven't yet been able to slap this jerk with a huge vet's bill (not that I would want that, for Skeelo's sake). I'm scared for Skeelo and also for 'other half' as this bloke looks a proper thug. I'm going to start asking around for other dog owners who have also had trouble with this idiot to see if we can gang up together somehow. There are lots of dogs on this road and they have always got on well together and, so far, it's been a lovely place to own a dog but, as always, it only takes one neanderthal to spoil it for everyone else.

#268
Booksloth, have you tried contacting the local dog warden? They were very good about advising me when I was attacked in the street by a dog.

Thank you for that, sphenisciforme. We haven't contacted anyone yet (you start off kind of hoping these people will learn some sense after the first time) and our immediate thought has been that the next time it happens we call the police but your idea actually makes more sense. Will keep you updated.

#268 - poor skeelo, and he's such a peaceful dog too. It's very worrying that it might do harm to another dog or a person.

A couple of months ago we had a very upsetting incident outside the corner shop on my mum's road, a neglected staffie attacked and killed a yorkshire terrier puppy. It was the third time the staffie had attacked a dog outside the shop, owner used to tie him up outside while he was shopping and the staffie used to attack any dog that came past while he was there. It was awful and the woman who owned the puppy still hasn't recovered from the shock.

I hope your dog warden can offer some advice. Is the dog loose to escape from it's garden or is this just when the owner is out walking the dog?

I hope so too. It's when the owner is around. He's one of those people who seems to think it proves something (that he's an idiot?) that he doesn't use a lead. You're right, Skeelo is such a gentle soul he just doesn't understand what is going on and we've been very lucky so far that he's been unharmed - there are plenty of other smaller and less luxuriously-furred dogs around here who might not be quite so lucky. Most of all, though, it's the owner's attitude that is worrying - almost as if he expects it to happen and that it's not his responsibility.

Stepping in: In the US there is a very popular TV show called the Dog Whisperer. Cesar, the Whisperer, spends his time training the owners, the dogs follow very few rules in his book to lead a happy life among people.

Sounds to me like he should take his show on the road, this staffie owner needs some training.

We get that one here too, Cakey-hun. Can't say I like the guy myself but you are right - it's the owner who is at fault every time.

Plus another unhappy - something seems to have died under the B key on my laptop. I can't get it out with upside-down shaking, compressed air or poking around so now I have to apply special pressure every time I use it. That's why so many of my messages have that letter missing right now. At least I should be grateful it's not the E.

ETA And here's another one (I've never had 3 unhappies all in one day before!) Should have been going out tonight ut have just had to cancel that because I feel decidedly woozy and yucky (those are medical terms). I suspect it may e ecause of the flu vaccination I had a couple of days ago. Not fair (and just can't be othered to keep correcting those s any more - well maybe one, that should have said Bs, just so's you understand what I'm on aout).

Happy: Our oldest son ran his first half marathon today and did better than he expected by about 3 minutes. We won't know his official time until they post the results on the website but he thinks he ran it in 1:27 which is amazing. We are so proud of him!

'Scusi!

What breed is "Steffi" short for?

Dogwardens on my side of the globe are plain 'ol dog catchers.

That's 'Staffie', not 'steffie' - Staffordshire Bull Terrier - lovely dogs in the right hands but occasionally tend to attract the kind of owners who want to look 'hard' and have no idea how to train their 'pet'.

All dogs are lovely, it's the owners that may be ugly. imho

Happy: The whole family is in one of the most scenic parts of South Africa on Daughter's (M.Sc.) field work. Today we went on a very minor road wit fantastic scenery and crummy surface, along the Swaziland border -- Bulembu / Josefsdal via Songimvelo towards Oshoek, if you have Google Earth -- and Daughter found a plant that's so rare her supervisor's never seen it! Growing in relative profusion! We all scored interesting material, in fact. Wish you were all here.

Why didn't I get the chance to take my family on holiday as part of my degree? Not fair! Sounds lovely though, hfglen.

That... sounds like an awesome thing to do, Hfglen!

Unhappy: Pouring. Pouring. And cold. At the same time!

Happy: We didn't get into an accident. (We could have, easily. It was pouring and mum had trouble getting the window wipers on the car to work properly, so we had seconds of no visibility on the roads at all. *shudder* Thankfully she figured it out and no accidents occurred.)

Happy: My tutoring students have both performed well on their tests! I'm so proud of them!

Sounds like lots of happy there, Shanra.

As for the cold, I have one word: bedsocks

My article about LT was published online today! I'm super excited; now that it's up I don't feel so nervous about what I'm doing. Now, I have to prepare to help give a LT presentation to the library staff in March. :)

Congratulations to several of our fine dragons! Shanra - Lovely to have students who can perform well what they've been taught (I assume you did a superior job)! And praise good luck that you chose a Mother who drives well and avoids accidents. MissW - that is awesome. I am sure your presentation will be likewise. hfglen - you lucky dog!

283 MissWoodhouse, can you give us a link? I want to read it! (-:,

Aw, you guys are sweet! It's meant to be something of a 'sizzle' piece- we're trying to get as many students as possible involved. We are mainly an online campus right now, so LT would be an awesome way to connect with classmates in a non-structured environment.

http://librarylink.regent.edu/?p=250

The lecture will be much more technical and precise! :)

Thanks for the link! Yay for spreading the word!

Maggie, they both have a lot of trouble with English (grammar), so I'm really proud of them for passing their tests. That's already a huge achievement for them and, if we can all keep it up, the first stepping stone to not needing my help! ^-^

And I forgot one of my happies yesterday. :O

We can have regular meals again! *jumps for joy* No more ready-made meals or take-away!

(Our cooking plate short-circuited at the beginning of the month, which I don't think I mentioned anywhere, and because it's a non-standard size had to be specially made. But yesterday mum and dad went to collect the cooking plate and when I woke up today dad was figuring out how to install it. He's not done yet, but soon. Soon...)

Happy AND unhappy - the plumber was just here. Late this summer we reported symptoms of a water leak to our landlady. Despite it being quite severe nothing happened. And then, nothing happened. So we reported her to the county, the result of which was an order to take measures. She had until last Friday, and today there came a plumber, sent by her, to assess the problem. His verdict was, as we knew it would be, to rip out the bathroom, probably the kitchen too, so the pipes can be repaired. The plumber was, like me, sure the main pipes would have to be replaced.

So, I'm happy things are finally on the roll. And I'm happy because we NEED a new bathroom.
I'm unhappy, though, because this means 6-10 weeks of no bathroom, no kitchen, no laundry, in the middle of winter, with a 6 yo boy. Some people go stay in summer houses at times like these, but we don't have any. Other people stay with parents, but ours live too far away for it being practical with regard to son's school.

We do have communal laundry in the house, but it's crowded already. And no shower in the laundry (which else is quite common in older houses). Both husband and I can shower at work but it takes planning. Son? We'll have to take him to the indoors swimming pool, at 100 SEK a visit (US$14.50).
And what to eat, without a kitchen? We can't afford takeaway for 6-10 weeks, even if we had wanted to (and I don't, I may not like to cook but I like the result).
I try not to buy trouble from the future. But.

We will end up without a water leak and with a new bath room, and perhaps a new kitchen as well. And that's good. The road there, though, makes me falter in my step.

Oh, Busifer. So sorry. What a mess.

Unhappy because I had been planning a nice afternoon of cooking but then one of the cats got himself stuck (don't ask me how) underneath the plinth of one of the kitchen cupoards and it's taken us hours to dig him out and then ('cos I was down there anyway and had already had to empty the cupoard to see if there was a way of dismantling it) clean and refill the cupboard and then (also because I was down there anyway) to clean the kitchen floor.

Happy (I guess) because we finally got the little blighter out unharmed. Looks like something out of the freezer for dinner tonight. Or lightly grilled cat.

:-D

Or lightly grilled cat.
Know THAT feeling ;-) You have my sympathies.

unhappy - younger son lost his bank card, bus pass and student ID card which were all in a little plastic folder in his pocket. He missed them when he was most of the way home last night and went back to look, didn't find them, came home, then the two of us went back out with a flashlight and looked again, but also no luck.

I think he's going to look again today in daylight, but there's a bit of snow on the ground and it's a lot of ground to cover. His only hope is that some honest person finds them and makes some effort to give them back.

In the mean time, I had some youth bus tickets which will (I hope) get him to the end of the month when he buys the next bus pass, but he will also have to go to the bank and the school to get replacements for those cards. Sigh.

Unhappy - my silly little dog Scruff is feeling very sorry for herself because she's got to wear an elizabethan collar for the next few days. The daft creature had removed four out of the five stitches in her wound from being spayed on Thursday, when I checked it this morning. The vet wasn't too worried though, just sprayed it with sealant!

Happy - I've more or less finished organizing my smallest bedroom, which had been a study-come-junk-room into a library, and it looks very nice. I'll post some pictures on a new thread when I've taken some.

Happy: Having a gratifyingly productive day . . . (Though, gosh, I don't know where my mind just went because I started to write "gratifyingly seductive day.")

Unhappy: I don't know when I'm going to get a chance to bake up the Amish Friendship Bread lemon-poppy seed edition, and today is Day 10! Can it wait until tomorrow morning? Or maybe I'll just stay up until midnight again.

Happies today- Since I have now done my sociolinguistics essay and handed in I don't have any major written assignments due before christmas now! I'll just have my language work to do and any prep work i have for seminars :D Only downside will be that i'll have two essays to do over christmas but if I get the reading and planning I need for those done in the last week then I might be alright and be able to get it all done without too much stress like I had with my socio essay (11am on day it had to handed in still typing away in the library)
Another Happy/OCD I cleaned the bathrooms!!! I got so sick of the bathrooms looking generally grimy that I went rather barmy and scrubbed the shower base within an inch of it's life and i mopped the floors and got the disinfectant wipes on the sink and toilets. Also ran riot in the kitchen and did a *huge* load of washing up that we'd collected over the last few days and I attempted to clean the oven properly but gave up after the crud around the hobs gave me more of a challenge than I fancied dealing with ;)

Goodness, you've been busy! You wouldn't care to share a little of that energy, would you?

hehe I just get these mental urge to clean sometimes and go mad, occasionally I'll get book-rearranging urges when my cupboards are looking ridiculously full- I never get rid of any but I re-organise them so i can fit a few extra in ;)
*send productive energy to anyone who wants it*
Knowing me though I'm now gonna be really lazy for the rest of the night and do nothing more productive... but fie! I defy myself I'm gonna get my lecture notes typed up and get all the sheets I've got lying about into their rightful folders! So there! (this is aimed at me not anyone else :P)

Hello booksloth-

So you cleaned out the cupboards. I cleaned a whole floor of a house. Now I felt for sure that I am coming down with a cold (or maybe the dreaded H1N1), then I thought maybe all of the dust just irritated my throat and nose. I guess, now that the work is done, I'll know in the morning which it is. So, I'm going to the beauty palor and then cooking for the next two days. (Not if I'm sick of course)

Cross post from Seanie's House thread - I'm a bit stressed right now. Settlements tomorrow (was meant to be today but been delayed again) & I got my statement pf adjustments from my conveyancor yesterday & there is arround $5000 that I havent budgeted for :( Mostly its the stamp duty, I was told by the RE agent that it would be calculated on the value of the land only, but apparently its on the land & any improvements up to the date of contract, so because it was at footings stage when I signed the contract, the stamp duty goes up by arround $4,500. Damn dishonest RE agents :( I'm lucky that I can borrow extra off my parents to cover it, but I'll have to pay them back & its gonna make my fortnightly budget even tighter.

My sympathies, Seanie. Can't you haul their butts to the magistrate or something?

By the way, I'd like to go on record as saying that if I ever have a seductive day, I guarantee I will find it completely gratifying.

Unhappy. Did an exam for a project management course at work on monday, 2.5 hours that just did not make sense. Why not? Because somehow I got an exam of the previous version of the project management method. Today we will have a call how to fix this situation... Why are people stupid?

Unhappy ecause I still have those 'flu-like symptoms' from getting the vaccination; happy that it's not actually flu.

Unhappy ecause the laptop fell into a coma last night; happy ecause it seems to have come out of it again this morning; unhappy because it's only a matter of time efore it slips ack in again.

Unhappy ecause I can't take it to the 'fixer-guy' today because I'm working; happy that at least I'm working.

#303 Divinenanny, I go round asking myself that question all day some days. What fuddles me most is how these people get and keep their jobs. If I had done that in any of my jobs I would have een fired - and rightly so - and yet these people seem to wander through life as if nobody and nothing else mattered. It really should have been someone's priority to get that right and that someone shoud now e standing in a dole queue. You have my sympathy.

ETA - Also happy ecause I have the lovely kind of husand who brings me a cup of tea in bed in the morning; unhappy ecause this morning he mixed up the jars and salted it instead of sugaring it.

I'm grumpy this morning. My boss just came in and asked me not to put my radio on the counter where it can be seen by people coming in. (We have almost no foot traffic except the UPS man.) I can't stream the radio because it's an architectural office and streaming slows downloading big files too much. I know I'm lucky just to have a job and a radio isn't really a big thing, but still . . .

#296 - "gratifyingly seductive day" Now that's something to look forward to.

#304 hey, I'm not quite as lucky as you. It's no shot, I'm just a swine.

;P

Very unhappy right now. My best friend of 12 years decided to invite a young woman that I do NOT get along with to MY house for Thanksgiving dinner without checking with anyone, least of all ME.

Lest you all think that I am a heartless curmudgeon, this girl has a lovely immediate and extended family who are in the local area. She freaking lives with them, in fact. So, tomorrow she's planning on getting up, spending the morning with her family, and then leaving her family to come eat with people who have barely known her for a year. And she's one of those conversation monopolizers. If you tell a story, she has a better one. If you tell a joke, she knows a funnier one. If you make an observation, she'll summarize what you just said and add her own thoughts to it. Seriously, I don't know if I'll be able to cope.

Did I mention that she despises me as much as I despise her? Which means that I'll be the odd person out again (taking into account who else is coming), and in my own home no less. I am so mad at my best friend right now that I can't even find words to tell her how mad I am.

Anyway, sorry. I know it's a little thing, but on top of everything else falling apart in my life right now I just wanted a nice holiday to rest and relax. /rant

MissWoodhouse - I am so sorry that your friend was so thoughtless. I agree that when things are going wrong, it is important to have somewhere to feel safe and comfortable and just be able to relax. I hope that your holiday turns out better than you think it will. Take care.

>308 MissWoodhouse1816: Can you tell your "best friend" no?

>308 MissWoodhouse1816: I hear you and you know you are in the right place to rant in perfect freedom. I know people treat Thanksgiving as though it's some kind of open house, but I still think it's impolite to invite people without asking the host(ess) first. Someone has invited me for tomorrow and said the host told her to bring anyone she wants to, but I still feel a little weird about it and probably won't go. No turkey loss: we're having the meal today at this same friend's house (two Thanksgiving dinners because of issues in her family, stepchildren, etc.).

>305 jennieg: Can you wear headphones and use an iPod or play CDs on your computer? Just a thought . . . I know headphones don't work in a lot of offices but for one place I worked they were the only thing between me and insanity.

Unfortunately headphones,earbuds and the like are out, since I answer the phones. I'm over my sulk now and believe a more reasonable position will be taken Monday.

Thanks guys- I didn't mean to be quite so rant-y. We've got it down to her just coming to games and dessert, so hopefully that won't be quite so bad. I'm all about reaching out at the holidays- in fact, I'm unrelated to more than half of the people who will be at dinner/dessert. I love company! My BF just knows that this girl and I don't get along, and she overstepped her bounds. We'll have a talk after tomorrow, but I don't hold out much hope for change. Thanks for the validation!

MissWoodhouse, I don't think that's a little thing at all. It's incredibly rude of your best friend. That's not even taking into account any assumption that, being your best friend, she probably knows you two don't get along.

*sends hugs* Can you tell your friend that the person she's invited along is not welcome in your home? I hope things'll turn out all right for you, hun!

*good thoughts for everyone having a bad day*

Sorry about the mess, MissWoodhouse. I have sort of the opposite problem - we're going to be spending tomorrow missing Dad, since this will be the first holiday without him. My kids were wanting me to make this cabbage dish he always brings, even though they never touch it. It just seems incomplete to be having Thanksgiving dinner without it. My husband and I have both been teary-eyed, thinking about Dad.

Thanks Shanra! Yeah, it's a sticky situation for so many reasons. *shrugs* I've resigned myself to avoiding holiday messes. No expectations from now on!

Aw, cmbohn, that is much worse. I don't have any extended family, so I can't imagine how hard it must be adapting to holidays without them. *hugs* I hope you all have a wonderful day despite your sadness.

#315--Hugs. That is very tough.

Happy Mom and Dad are here, and my son is actually talking to grandpa. He's a teenager, and often reverts to grunting form.

Unhappy: SIL is in town for tomorrow, called to tell me how stressed she is--could be big blowup at Thanksgiving dinner. But since it's my house, I can take pleasure in telling her to "stuff it" if necessary.

I finally got to make the Amish Friendship bread, and *Sigh*

The pistachio version stuck to the pans and came out in pieces. Tasted okay, but looks like h***. Not sure if I'll keep it or toss it (don't really need the calories, anyway).

Now, here's a useful tip I discovered: poppy seeds definitely do have a shelf life, even if the bottle isn't so labeled. Good thing I was suspicious and took a good whiff before I added the rancid things to my lemon friendship bread.

So instead I made lemon currant friendship cake. I only have two loaf pans, and they were already in use for the pistachio version. So I used a 9x13 pan. The resulting cake looks nice, but I haven't tried it yet.

Hugs to everyone who needs them.

#318 - Everything with a high oil content has limited shelf life. To prolong it, store seeds and nuts in the fridge.
(I store coffee /ground and beans/ in fridge too, for that same reason. Not that it lasts long enough to matter, but... ;-) )

I'm happy coz all the stresses of buying a house are now over. Settlement went through today so I am officially a home owner & officially in debt. Now I've just got the stresses of owning a home to look forward too, lol :) I'm nervously waiting for the statement of settlement to come through so I can work out how on earth I managed to be soo far out on my budget, I know that there's arround $5500 for stamp duty, but the settlement payment ate about $2000 of my savings on top of that :S

I'm happy coz I ordered a new toy for my kittens last week & it was on my desk when I got into work today. Its a bubble blowing gun, with catnip infused bubble liquid! I cant wait to get home & see if the kittens are as excited about it as i am! & I'm super glad I bought it last week, coz as of yesterday - no more impulse buys for me!!!

I'm unhappy coz I'm at work @ 7:45pm at night & still got an hour & 15mins to go. But I'm happy coz the overtime rates I'll get for these late shifts I'm doing over the next 2 weeks should make my next pay a good one - if the tax man doesnt eat most of the extra I get...

Happy Home Ownership! In ten years you will not even remember that the settlement cost more than you had planned. All of my final closings on house buying cost more than I had expected. Must be a reason for this pattern, don't you think?

#291 - on the bright side, at least you can get on the floor now to rescue cats and clean things. Perhaps he thought he was helping with your exercises.

Scottie once got stuck under the front passenger seat of Andrew's car. It took a lot of pushing, pulling and waving dog treats about to get her out and I have never heard her howl so miserably in all of her life.

I'm happy because the surgery cuts was not infected, which I feared, because of the horrible pain (and some other things not fit to write here).
I'm also happy that the visit to the ER took 65 minutes, from my husband parked the car until we were on our way home again.
I'm happy son managed to play his DS all the time. When I was a kid traffic accidents came in the same way as the ear infections and sprained wrists but even after they separated the ambulance gate out the ER can be a nasty place...
My last happy is about the great support I get on my FB page, some of it from people here. It really means much to me - makes it easier to endure.

I know, tonsil removal sounds like a walk in the park. But it isn't, not if there's a lot of scar tissue around. Which I now know is the reason my son was unaffected while I'm enduring some kind of minor hell - the ER doc told me; it gets worse the older you are.
The good thing is when this is over and done I will have a life unhindered by repeated throat infections. And that is so much worth it.

So, over all - happy.

#323 Hugs Busifer. Hoping the rest of your recovery goes smoothly.

Good day here, for the most part. SIL decided that life is just so "stressful" she needed to go to the psych hospital at noon. (Dinner was at 2:00 pm) So the doorbell rings at noon, and my mil is standing there. My sil made her dad with the two broken hips driver her to hospital, they dumped her mom at my door two hours early, and by the way, the poor woman is completely incontinent and they didn't send her Depends with her? So MY dad goes to the store for those, but not before my sofa is soaked.

Psych hospital won't admit SIL, so she and FIL show up 30 minutes late to dinner like nothing happened. I wonder how these people function.

Other than that a lovely day.

RitaFaye - I think I would hate to see what a bad day is like :)!

RitaFaye - Good for you, not letting the insanity get to you.

Hugs, RitaFaye. If that happened to me I would freak out.

Busifer, glad you had good news even though everything does sound very painful still.

RitaFaye that would have ruined many people's day so I am glad you managed to put that aside and still call it a lovely day.

RitaFaye, wow. Just wow. Kudos to you for adapting and carrying on!

Happy, as it seems I have passed the (wrong) exam. I will get a diploma for the old style that I passed the exam in. Both my company (who paid for the course) as my boss are fine with that, so I will leave it at this...

Unhappy: I was woken up around 2:00 a.m by the sound of my bedroom door slamming open. Our oldest came in hysterical crying because his girlfriend had just threatened to kill herself and had hung up the phone on him. He called 911 and gave them her home number so they could call and alert her parents. Poor son was so upset it took us over an hour to calm him down even after he knew that she was ok and that her parents were with her. Her parents are so grateful to him and are just amazed at how brave and strong he was. Her father called him last night to tell him she was ok and to thank him for calling the police.

It appears that she is being bullied in school and just didn't know what to do. Hopefully, things will be ok soon but we are very worried about both her and our son. He is only 17 and she is only 15. He feels that he needs to "fix" this for her but he is still just a kid and is just not capable of dealing with these issues on his own.

I had a long talk with her mother this morning and they are keeping her with them at all times for now and are looking into therapy for her. They will be contacting the school on Monday to try to get this fixed.

I am personally having a hard time holding myself together right now.

331> {{{{{hugs}}}}} to you and your son and the girl and her family. I am so happy that your son reacted properly and that the girl will get help. There was a recent case here of a bullied boy who did not get help in time so it cuts a bit close to home.

Wow, lots of stuff! Hugs for Busifer - I hope you heal quickly! And for Rita and Bookaholicgirl - hugs there too. I hope you both have a relaxing, quiet day today and that your family/son's girlfriend get the help they need. Holidays can sure be rough.

I'm happy that we survived Turkey Day, even though my 15 year old realized at dinner time that she had forgotten her meds and my mom (who hates poultry) and sister (vegetarian) tried to tell me that the chicken was undercooked and shouldn't I cook it some more? Oh, and please allow us to rearrange everything from the way that you had it to the way we wanted it. In your house.

Really though, it went fine. I think my husband and I were just a little frazzled since we were both sick and very tired and missing his dad. I had a few sad moments, but managed to avoid tears, so I think I did well.

> 331 (bookaholicgirl) Your post got me to thinking about my own youthful experience being bullied. Back then, there was no such thing as homeschooling, so it simply wasn't an option. Neither was private school - due to our location it would have meant boarding school, which would have been impossible for my family. So I had to suffer through 7-8 years of social hell.

But I was a motivated student. I loved the learning aspect of school, and still do. My folks were pretty intelligent. I'm sure that if homeschooling had been an option in those days, between my Mom and Dad and my own desire to learn, I would have had a much easier time being homeschooled during those difficult years (my school life was decent enough during grades 10-12).

I guess I'm just "thinking out loud" here. There are just some aspects of life that our public school system seems both ill-equipped to handle and often unmotivated to address (or maybe just overwhelmed by). Maybe families of bullied kids need permission and encouragement to think outside the box (i.e. institutional school system) for solutions.

walk2work - I think that, unfortunately, there are only limited things that the schools can do in situations such as this. My own daughter, who is 13, has been having problems in school as well although not nearly as bad as my son's girlfriend. So, our options are to help her ignore the situation and hope that it gets better on its own or have her fill out a "bully report". If she fills out a "bully report", this girl will be brought down to the counselor and will have to apologize to my daughter. Afte that, my daugther tells me, her life will really become a living hell (my words, not hers but that was her general meaning) because she will then be known as a "snitch". So you are really caught between a rock and a hard place sometimes.

My son's girlfriend has apparently been threatened physically (as has my son but not to his face - they have told his girlfriend) so it is on a different level now. My other son, who is the same age as my oldest's girlfriend, said that no one will say anything to anyone who fills out a bully report because they felt so threatened they thought of killing themselves.

I am also "thinking out loud" here. We are considering homeschooling our 7th grader for a while but haven't made a hard decision yet. We are keeping track of what is going on and monitoring her stress levels as well. If she is still just as miserable by Christmas break, we will most likely pull her. I spoke to the mom of my son's girlfriend and they cannot homeschool her because they both work and they are afraid to leave her alone. They are going into school on Monday with her and will make sure that she feels safe and IS safe before they leave her there.

Thank you everyone for the kind words and thoughts. Being a parent is always hard work but I think raising them during their teenage years may be the hardest time of all.

*hugz to all that need them*

Its minor in the grand scheme of things, but I'm grumpy coz I'm tired & I have a headache. I worked til 9pm last night, so wasn't asleep until after midnight, then had to get up @ 6am'ish to start @ 8am this morning. I know 6ish hours sleep should proabably be enough, but I usually get 8 so I'm feeling yuk...

Bookaholic - We took our daughter out of about half her classes last year and had her do them through a 'home/hospital' teacher who would (very loosely!) supervise them either at home or at her schoolroom. She only had to check in twice a week with her teacher. Then she had a few classes at school, mostly math, because you really need a good teacher for that. Your school may offer something similar.

My mini-rant: I work at a candy store in the mall. We sell candy. Can I just say that if you are in a store, and you are planning on buying something, and there is a line, that maybe you could have at least a vague idea of what you want to buy BEFORE you get to the front? And don't keep saying, "Well, I don't know." Buy something or get out of the line.

Oh, and parents, please PAY for the candy BEFORE you unwrap it and hand it to your child. I realize that sometimes kids will just grab. But parents should know better.

Rant over. I am so tired! I'm sure that's partly why I am so crabby. And BTW, I was not rude to said customer. But I was not happy.

#325 Oh, you have no idea what a bad day is. No idea. I often wonder how my mostly normal husband came from this family.

Thanks everyone. SIL called to apologize today, and as usual I was thinking "if you'd use your head in the first place, you wouldn't have to apologize." But I had a good day today with my family. (I did not invite hubbie's family to go to Christmas parade.)

#331 Hugs and more hugs. Your son did exactly the right thing.

#337 Hugs, cmbohn. This is why I refuse to work retail--I WOULD be rude to said customer(s).

I forgot--one bad thing today. The neighbor across the street passed away this morning (cancer). She's at peace now, but she died in the same hospital my husband did, so that gets me a bit.

#335 - The system with bully reports seems all wrong. I can see that if no one files them the school can say 'nice, we have no bullying problems, that's GREAT', so it's fine for them. But these are kids we're talking about, our future society and how we go about socialising them. This will not help you, but in Sweden all schools are required by law to have a anti-bullying program. Schools gets inspected every three years or so but parents can report a school to the inspecting agency, who probably will inspect the school.

At my son's school they have a special program - Social and Emotional Training - which includes discussing with the kids how you want to be treated, training them to try to find good things about other people, and get all the kids in school to learn to know each other. Among a lot of other things - they also practise taking turns at making decisions, how to cooperate, etc.

Bullying still occur. But I feel it better to be proactive and nip it in the bud than having a system making actual action on the matter being dependent on how privileged - able to intervene, ride the system... - the parents are.

RitaFaye - I am sorry to hear about your neighbor. I am glad that your SIL called to apologize but agree it would be nice if people would just think first and then they wouldn't need to apologize.

Busifer - Unfortunately, I don't think the problem is with the bullying program itself but with the kids involved. All of the schools in our district do have anti-bullying programs and are trying to educate the kids, starting in elementary school, how words hurt just as much as hitting does but some of these kids are just downright mean. Of course, I think the parents need to step up and accept some of the blame. A lot of these kids just feel that they are entitled to behave however they wish and I am sure they were taught this by their parents. If there are no consequences at home for your behavior, there is little to make you improve.

My younger son told me last night that he heard one of the girls threaten to beat up my other son's girlfriend and that he would like to go to the meeting her and her parents are having with the vice principal and tell him what he heard. Both boys told me that this girl is on probation right now so this may be the push the school needs to just get rid of her. I saw my son's girlfriend last night and gave her a great big hug and told her everything was ok between us and that I knew she would be ok. My son seems much better but we are still very worried about him. I have called a therapist we use for my youngest daughter and plan to have him go in and talk to her about this.

As far as my own daughter, unfortunately, she doesn't have any actual threats to report. It is more along the lines of two girls looking back at her and whispering - it is obvious they are talking about her but since she can't hear what they are saying, she can't really report them. And you really can't report people for ignoring you completely which seems to be the most bothering of her issues right now.

I may look into the partial homeschooling idea. Even if I get her at the end of the day and she skips a few classes for a bit, that may help.

Thank you to everyone who has offered advice and words of encouragement. Hugs to all who need them!

You're right, of course, when it comes to the parents. What I meant with the program in my son's school is they don't talk about bullying at all - they teach the kids how to behave, in a social context, not by telling them what's right or wrong but guiding the kids while the kids talk about these matters.

Then, there are always people who enjoy being mean. Sometimes bad socialising, sometimes for other reasons.

BTW I was one of those kids being bullied in school, for a time when I was 10-14 yo, mainly by being ignored. That is a tale of it's own, though. But I want to say that societal pressure to conform is not all good, especially so when parents are anxious for their kids to be just like anyone else - this is not helping the kid. Quite the opposite. A kid that's not like everyone else needs to find strength in being different, to feel confidence and definition in being different.
Now, I'm not saying that is your case. Not at all. I'm just saying that I'm seeing a lot of this, and that in my case it helped that my parents encouraged non-conformity.

Busifer - Thanks again for your thoughts and comments. I do wonder if the constant focusing on "bullying" instead of positive behavior does make it harder for them to change the behavior. At the elementary level, at least in our elementary school, kids are rewarded for their kind behavior by being named the "Citizen of the Month" for their class. It is always emphasised that just because you weren't picked that month, doesn't mean that your behavior wasn't noticed and I know that most teachers are trying to make a point of complimenting the kids when they notice positive behavior.

There are reward cards given out at the middle school level as well but it doesn't seem to have the same impact.

My SIL and I were discussing this last night and she said that she actually feels sorry for these girls that are so mean. She thinks that the ones who act this way actually hate themselves so much that they take it out on others. I think she most likely has a valid point but I still want to wring these girls' necks.

I am sorry that you were bullied in school. Your situation sounds very much like my daughter's. She feels invisible and includes her teachers in that statement unfortunately. We also encourage our children to be themselves even if they are different. Peer pressure is so strong in some circles that it is difficult I think. Many of the families in our district have much more money than we do and just give their kids everything and let them do whatever they want. I think we need to realize that giving our kids things doesn't make us good parents.

After talking to my sons, it seems that the degree of bullying is different in each class. The group of kids that my oldest is with are probably one of the nicest groups of teenagers I have ever seen. They have very few problems as a class and genuinely seem to like each other very much. My 9th graders' class, which my oldest son's girlfriend is in, are some of the meanest kids I have ever seen and apparently the 10th grade class is just as bad if not worse. It appears to be a group of 9th and 10th grade girls who are bullying her and apparently there are a few boys involved who have threatened to beat up my oldest.

I think the hardest part of this for me is that I just want to fix it but I can't. I can only be here and listen to my kids, try to get them to understand that retaliating does not solve the problem and that they need to be the bigger person and walk away. It is also very hard to teach them that they are strong and can get through this with our help.

I can say that one of the positive things I have learned from this experience is how wonderful, caring and loving my kids are. They are all helping each other get through these rough times and watching out for each other. My younger son was there with my oldest the other night and was also dialing 911 on his phone when it became apparent that she needed help. He also encouraged my son to wake me up and let me know what was going on and is watching out for both him and his girlfriend as much as he can. Both of my boys have been extra nice to their sister and have been talking to her and trying to help her deal with her problems as well. I also take comfort in the fact that my kids feel comfortable coming to me and telling me just about anything. So far, it does appear that all of our hard work as parents has paid off which is a reward in and of itself.

*hugs* to all who want them, and to those who need them, too. My experience as a teacher leads me to say "how to deal with bullies" should be taught to all. Even as adults some of us allow other adults to bully us with rude, unacceptable, behavior and don't have many effective tactics to put an end to that behavior.

Bullies are made at home and are usually bullied by their parents. Children can learn to behave differently, and I am not so sure about adults. I personally leave the scene of an adult bully who is rude to me but that does not change that person.

Learning how to be effective in relationships between people will be more and more valuable for successful living, IMHO. The world's stresses will be increasing and it is personal relationships which usual contribute to solutions.

I'm proud of your kids, bookaholicgirl. They seem to be wonderful kids with a strong dose of common sense and family loyalty. I had my own bits of bullying (which has had its own effects), but never in a way that pushed me that far. I know that there are ways in which the most damage can be done with just a small gesture, or a small word, where a fist would be too obvious. My teachers were not unaware of the situation, but were powerless to subdue, because the kids were too clever. I have no clue as to what would help, nor advice to give in the situation, except that, for the most part, it passes. There are always bullies and trolls and fools in life, but as an adult, there are more ways to get around them.

I'm unhappy for no particular reason today, probably because I'm home and there's no one else around. But I'm going out after lunch, so it'll all be good. I think I've turned into an extrovert. Weird.

#343 Hugs. I was a victim of bullying, and I know how it hurts. Bullies can also be made by ignoring the kid and letting them get away with it. The absolute worst bully I had was the child of divorced parents, neither of whom really wanted to keep him.

Better day today--all company has left, for now. I just have to go hot glue some angel wings and I can call it a night.

More on bullying... Sorry, can't help it.

Bookaholicgirl, your kids seems such great people, kudos to you as a parent! Like you say peer pressure is high among teens and it's very hard to be different in a period in life mostly defined by your search for your own personality, the break with the parents. AN important tool in this is the new tribe - the teen need to find a new tribe to belong to and when the only tribe available spurs you, it hurts.
My parents helped by encouraging me to find me a another tribe, to alleviate the pains of having to go to school with people I didn't mix with. It needn't be hard. Just a group of people who allows you to be yourself, with a shared interest in the centre. It's hard enough for adults to cooperate with people they don't like or feel threatened by - for teens it's impossible to have enough perspective, or the right tools, to deal with it on their own.

Busifer - Very wise words! I agree completely with you and would much rather my kids be themselves instead of trying to be like everyone else. Our 9th grader is a prime example of one who is trying to fit in when he is different. He loves to sing, dance and act but for the past 3 years has completely stopped doing all of it because of the FEAR that someone will bully him - not because anyone actually has. He seems to have become more comfortable with himself in recent months and has put together a band with a few friends. They had their first live performance last night at a local coffee club and did a great job. Most importantly, he loved it. I am hoping that this is the push he needs to get him to realize that he needs to do what makes him happy and to be with people who encourage him to do just that as well.

I am hoping that my son's girlfriend can do the same. My oldest has always done what makes him happy and, for the most part, does not care what anyone else thinks. In many ways, I actually think that this has discouraged anyone from bullying him because what fun is it to tease or make fun of someone if they don't care?

For now, we plan on continually talking to all of them about how to treat others, what to do if someone treats who poorly, what to do if someone treats someone else poorly, etc. and when you really need to tell someone in charge what is going on.

In reading over this thread, I realize just how many of us were miserable at some point of our teenage years and how it really is true that it is most likely the hardest years of our lives.

Bookaholicgirl - I was talking with my 15 y o the other night, and said much the same thing. 15 is just hard! I wouldn't go back and do it again for anything.

cmbohn - My one son is 15 too. I agree - I would never want to be 15 again or any of the other teen years for that matter.

#338 - Oh, you have no idea what a bad day is. No idea. I often wonder how my mostly normal husband came from this family.

I could have written that very same thing many, many times this week.

Hugs to all who need them, especially the bullying victims. I will never understand how this issue can have gone on for so long in schools but we still have no effective ways to help the victims of it without putting them in greater danger of more bullying taking place.

Count me in as one who was bullied also, or maybe "picked on" is the phrase I'd use.

I wonder if there isn't a correlation between being one of the kids who reads a lot and maybe does well in school and being bullied--possibly because other kids, even if you think they are more popular, good in sports, or whatever, are envious and intimidated? Just a thought . . .

I think you've got something there, ejj. Those who struggle in school often try to hide it by making fun of those who don't. It might be an effort to make themselves feel better about lack of success by cutting down the achievers.

All this talk of bullying makes me sad. School & especially high school can be a social nightmare, it was for me for a long time. I was one of those kids that was always trying to fit in & because I tried so hard I never did, until I found a school where there was alot of diversity amongst the students & not alot of undue pressure from the teachers. I'm so greatful that I found that school coz it taught me that being myself is not only OK, its great & something to celebrate, especially if being myself doesnt fit in with "the norm".

Busifer I have to say that the more I read about the culture in your country the more intrigued I am. The idea of having Social & Emotional training classes is brilliant IMHO & something I think kids in most if not all countries would benefit from! I know I would have!

Sorry to all the parents that are dealing with kids that are bullied, its hard to go through & I imagine it would be just as hard to watch a child go through!

ETA: My happy is its my friday today & I've got a short work week this week. Its my last week on flexi shift so I worked over the wknd, I work 12-8:30 today, have tues & wed off, work 12-8:30 on thurs & fri, then have the weekend off & go back to normal 8-4:30 shifts next week :)

Also happy coz I got in lots of play time with kittens last night & this morning, they are both on top of their cute game at the moment :)

#351-I comfort myself with the thought "My husband is deceased, so legally these are no longer family. I have no connection to them." Unfortunately, my son is their blood kin, so I'm stuck.

On a lighter note, three ways to give guinea pigs a bad day: 1) Clean their cage. 2) Clip their toenails. 3) Give them a bath.

We have two very clean, fluffy, and extremely ticked off guinea pigs right now.

I'm happy today. Last night, as my girlfriend and I got back to her apartment, she discovered that she had forgotten her keys inside. Luckily, I had one. A few months ago, she made a copy of her key for me. So, when we got inside, I thanked her again for trusting me enough to have a key to her place. She smiled and told me that I was honest, loyal, and apparently incorruptible. Then she said "I love you" and kissed me. Having someone's love and trust nothing to be taken for granted. I do my best to show my love and gratitude for her presence in my life as often as I can.

Aw, mono, you made me cry. I'm so glad you've found someone who loves and trusts you. That makes life so much more worth living. :)

#354 - This SET program is for his school district only, not something they do in every school all over. Even though I think it would be a good idea, just as you say.

I think it amazing that my son has a speech impediment and still LOVES to go to school, loves to learn. They use a special methodology (the Bornhom method) to teach the kids to read/write which suits him very well, accidentally, as it forces him to practise his articulation.

Thanx for clarifying Busifer, tho this is just one of many posts of yours that I've read which has made me think that Sweden sounds like a great place to live :)

355 - Loving the image of ticked off fluffy guinea pigs.

I'm happy coz I just realised that you can add friends & contacts in flickr. I'm sure I knew about this but have never used it before, but now I've found Busifer & MrsLee & added them as friends - hope you both dont mind!

Seanie - I saw that, thanks for adding me! I don't go to Flickr as often as I used to, since they took away my free prime account, but I do check in occasionally. Look forward to seeing your photos. By the way, Tane is there too and has some wonderful things to look at. :)

Thanx! *goes to hunt down Tane's flickr acct*

Seanie, as MrsLee says.

I am now very very unhappy as I just found out that one of my supervisors from when i used to work at the Co-op died last night after only being ill for a month. Although some people thought she was a bit grumpy most of the time I liked her a lot and I believe she found my crazy antics on a saturday very amusing so it breaks my heart to find out she's gone as I haven't seen her since September. And what me even more upset is that the guy who told me said it was because of cancer- god this world is so unfair! I don't know what I'm going to do for the rest of today because all I want to do is cry and god knows if i can actually concentrate enough to do some work .

LadyViolet, I'm so sorry. That dreadful disease has taken so many people far too early. (((Hugs)))

LadyV - *hugs*
Too many people, too many. Too early.

LadyV - I am so sorry. How terrible for her to go so very quickly.

LadyV - Hugs.

I'm exhausted. I just finished dinner, after 4 hours at the hospital. My MIL was taken by ambulance and admitted after they figured out she has a UTI. She'll be fine.

I didn't even make it home (stopped at grocery) when my son calls saying "Call Grandpa!!"

If I make my trip to England next year, I may not return.

Happy: My 7th grader came home yesterday and said that they had assigned seats in Social Studies now so she isn't sitting by herself anymore. She also sat with someone on the bus on the way to a field trip and next to someone while they watched the movie. They went to see A Christmas Carol because they are reading it in Language Arts this month. We are going to see how things go for now but do have a plan to pull her from school if further issues arise. We have discussed this with her therapist and she agrees this may become necessary given her social limitations because of her learning disability.

Unhappy: It appears that oldest's girlfriend may not have been telling the entire truth regarding the bullying. According to my other son, he knows for a fact that she has not been innocent in this entire incident but he said that the others involved had carried it a bit too far. He also said that he thought the other night was more for attention and drama than an actual cry for help. DH and I are definitely not happy about this relationship, but know that the worst thing would be for us to tell this to oldest, so for now we are just biting our tongues and hoping that he wises up. Unfortunately, that does not appear very likely given his personality and the fact that even when his brother said that he knew she had said things about these girls, he still believed her.

Somedays I think that being a parent may kill me.

Somedays I think that being a parent may kill me.
I can definitely sympathize.Mine's 19 and deep in the throws of "what do I want to do with my life" angst.Long distance girlfriend, no money because he's in school, stressing about figuring out where he wants to go after community college...On it goes.

Happy because I have been giving a great opportunity at work which will give me lots of training and a longer (not permanent yet) contract.... Yay for a bit more stability!

I'm super happy because I feel strong again!!! After a whole autumn of feeling constantly tired if not right out feverish, week after week after week, I now feel... well, like the energizer bunny. Really!
It's amazing, I didn't remember it was possible to feel this way.

Surgery and all was extremely painful but oh so worth it. My family just got a family member back. Thank you, medical science.

I am sad because I had not noticed that my map disappeared from my profile page. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about - there was a map which showed where people, who visit the profile page, are located. It was so fun to see dots all around the world. Now....no map.

Does anyone know what happened? or what is the site where you can sign up for the map?

maggie,

Tim disabled a lot of the HTML and other stuff people were doing, apparently some of it was dangerous!! News is here http://www.librarything.com/topic/77928 and I guess your map may have been an innocent casualty. There maybe be a workaround which more capable heads than I will surely suggest imminently.

I still have my map, although maybe from what Barry says, it will soon be going the way of the Dodo. But here's the link maggs, if you want to try and load it again: http://www.maploco.com/view.php?id=1312694 (that'll probably take you to my map, but you can figure it out from there I'm sure). Good luck!

I know what you mean, I like my map too. It's fun.

Happy: sunday I had friends over for æbleskiver, white gløgg and red gløgg and it all turned out great. I'm not the best in a kitchen, so I was a bit nervous

And yesterday I got a package from my parents with homemade cookies, presents and a homeknitted beautiful vest. Parents are the best.

Oh, I haven't had aebleskiver in 15 years!

Could you please part with a recipe? I think I'll have to find a pan!

(And now when I'm almost cured from my tonsillectomy I feel a need for white glögg, too.)

I'm happy coz I'm getting my airconditioner installed & when Summer hits (well its officially the first day of summer today, but weather is fairly mild for now) I'll be comfy in my house :)

I'm slightly unhappy & a lil embarrassed coz I got to sleep late & slept in this morning, so I had only been awake 5mins when the tradie got here (which was @ 7:30am - ouch!), I was a bit hard to make sense from for the first half hour or so he was here, lol...

Busifer - I am so glad that you are feeling better. My one son had his tonsils out when he was about 5 or 6. Before he had them out, he had strep throat 13 times in one year! He felt so much better afterwards and seems to get much fewer colds now as well.

I hope you continue to improve!

To Busifer:

My mom's æbleskiver recipe:

250g flour
2 eggs (just the yolks, but keep the whites)
4 decilitre buttermilk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
a little vanilla

Stir it all together.
Whip the whites until stif. Turn the whites (don´t stir) in the batter.
Get your æbleskive pan out and enjoy.

I usually multiply it all by 5, which makes around 140 æbleskiver

There is a new Happy/Unhappy thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78180&newpost=1#lastmsg

Thanks bookaholicgirl. I wish some doc had ordinated tonsillectomy when I was 5, it had been so much easier back then...!

And thanks tris for the recipe! Now I just have to go find a pan... :D

>362 MrsLee: While you are at Flickr. . . please find me:esta1923 (or estawolf . . . I'm not sure which works best) Thank you (I suffer from vanity sometimes)