Hot Chocolate Anyone ?

[PeppiPatty]

Dearest @Smc

My mum doesn't like talking to me about the past, actually about anything so I will get that test done for ancestory.com. 

When I bring up family stuff she gets pretty elusive but she tells my brothers stuff and I just might need to get that test done. I've got some pretty gutsy info on my Mum's parents......

Pretty exciting stuff that you have found! I would really enjoy reading how you are going on that actually....

We go shopping once per day, we try and make it $5 per meal....last week we found...wait for it......fish sausages! yay! I love love eating fish. Most of our bills are taken out of centrepay and I pay my oldest son 50 per week while he is going through a difficult time and church. Hubby's (Little Buddha) Dad gets a bit too because little Buddha, my husband keeps on borrowing money from him even though we don't need it........there is nothing I can do......I think he calls out of habit........what is it about that ???

Coffee's at cafes are needed but are time out for me. I like going to a cafe or to the beach and having a cuppa from the petrol station. Arlo, my dog runs around. 

Oh by the way, someone told me in a shop that she did her whole family, all for free, she found a site called um.........I'll get back to you on that, I've got it written somewhere ..........

Thank you so kindly for the lovely message......

[xtine]

Hi @Faith-and-Hope > yes! Still here, took a bit of time off the phone last week. Finished a painting that had taken ages due to a depressive episode I had. I feel like I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things. I have two make friends who are quite depressed, one has issues with alcoholism and the other sounds suicidal. It’s difficult to help them both because they both seem so entrenched in the despair and despondency, plus they each have romantic feelings for me: but there’s no way I can rescue them and it makes it tricky boundary-wise (emotionally) with helping them. I’ve given them support and phone numbers to call, the rest ultimately is their decision; but it’s hard to see friends in so much pain, harder yet when they refuse professional help....

[Smc]

@PeppiPattyIt would be fun sharing family tree stories, but I could see that getting to a point where it was hard to keep it anonymous!

Mum was in the process of going through old family photos and noting on the back where and when they were taken, but their aged care admission was "unplanned". Mum's deteriorating health ended up with her in hospital... so the annotations got interrupted. We only found out she was partway through after we'd already taken the photo box back to my sister's house, 400 kms away. Maybe we could organise to grab a handful of the unidentified ones to take up when we visit, but there's so much else to think of that it hasn't happened.

Mum's the last surviving of nine in her family, and when their family home was being sorted through after her father died, she found a bunch of negatives and got them all printed. There's pics of her family going back at least to when she was a toddler, so that's mid to late 1930s. There's also a few floating around from when her parents were newlyweds, which would have been early 1900s. I look a lot like her Mum, which is amazing. I never met her. She died when she was in her late 40s, a little younger than I am now.

Through all of that, we've ended up with photos that our cousins have never seen, and have been able to delight a couple of them by passing on pics of their Mum or Dad as children or young adults. There's a lot of cousins, and they're scattered far and wide. We'd like to get copies out to as many of them as possible, but that's a job for a time when more immediate concerns are not so pressing.

Dad's family tree will probably remain somewhat more obscure. Unless he's got a stash down in the shed, we simply don't have the photos and family memorabila that Mum has. To use one of my Dad's favourite sayings, "So be it".

[Faith-and-Hope]

Hearing you @xtine ......

My hubby is in some sort of emotional pain to be masking it with the coping behaviours he is invested in, but has no insight into them being damaging.  It’s hard to watch ..... but having tried everything I can think of that is not destructive to all of us, we have to wait on medical outcomes to diagnose him, and that is scary too.

We can only do what we can do, and hold to hope and faith in the meantime.

[xtine]

@Faith-and-Hope > It is so difficult to watch. I'm inspired and awed at the love people have for their partners in this forum. It's absolutely incredible. You must be so strong xx

[Faith-and-Hope]

I think we all try to be strong, but there are limits for everyone, so it is very important to create and uphold boundaries, and invest heavily in self-care (not selfish, necessary).

It’s also about learning to take one day at a time, being flexible, practicing relaxation and positive self-talk ...... it’s a journey, that’s for sure.

💜

[Determined]

Morning all, 

In need of some virtual treats here,
Not eating/ snacking between meals (while working) is becoming harder than I anticipated lol.

And now I have just noticed a pile of free snack packs in the student common area at the uni as brain food for students while studying. (We are currently in study break before exams start). 

All the kinds of food my GP is encouraging me not to eat  

[Faith-and-Hope]

Time tor a cup of herbal tea to help ride out the cravings @Determined ..... ?

Have you tried green tea with Jasmine ?

[Determined]

Herbal tea is what the doc has told me to have @Faith-and-Hope, 
I have not tried Jasmine tea before, will have to get some when shopping tonight and give it a try.

Im not a big fan of herbal tea, I dont mind pepermint tea though, have a box at home but left it on the bench this morning so stuck with water for today.   

[Former-Member]

@Determined 

Short term pain 😬 = long term benefits 😀

You can do this Bro