<p>the courage to make it a double
and the wisdom to hand someone my keys</p>
<p>?</p>
<p>it's okay you guys can share-- and if it turns into a big conversation we can take it to another thread... we're here for you XOXO</p>
<p>I think andi and I are in different boats together tonight. mootmom, you brought tears to my eyes this time. Don't know if it's allowed to be maudlin here in SA. I'm off to bed before I get too deep.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is another day.</p>
<p>Oh no, we don't want to start another thread!! I do like your serenity poem though. I'm going to recite it in the hot tub in between drinks...</p>
<p>Jmmom, Andi, </p>
<p>Some people here educate the rest of us by the way you bear the burdens. Thanks. And if you need any substances we don't have, just ring. We will put a dinger next to your index finger.</p>
<p>Oh yes. And hugs.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Don't know if it's allowed to be maudlin here in SA.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Heck yeah! There's a maudlin drunk in any decent bar. You can be ours ;) What's nice about the alley is that we can rotate between maudlin, drinking, buying, serving, back booth, & passed out.</p>
<p>Andi, lots of hugs to you and andison. You need to tell us FIRST when there is anything to tell. We know there will be wonderful news coming your way soon! :) We will celebrate with our finest '57 Margaux.</p>
<p>Someone pour me a good red wine. Daughter 2 called me this afternoon with labor pains (it's her 2nd) but it was a false alarm! She's 150 miles away so I'm packed and ready to go. Wish she could last until the 16th when DS will be home from college and she's scheduled to be induced.</p>
<p>Tookie, how exciting. Here's wishing your D a very safe and easy birth.</p>
<p>Tookie,</p>
<p>Congrats on the impending arrival of your new grandchild. As long as s/he comes through safe and heathy we'll forgive em for the timing. What a great holiday gift.</p>
<p>Thanks. We have had to rearrange our Christmas plans but for a good reason. This one is a girl, so now I'll have 2 boy and 2 girl grandbabies. 4 children and 4 grandchildren really keeps me young - and busy!</p>
<p>Raise a glass to all our wonderful children and grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, Romans and countrymen and women and new ones on the way!</p>
<p>Congratulations, Tookie. Toast to being sucessful, your daughter's success, and your grandchilden's dreams. </p>
<p>Don't mind me, I went into the wrong thread but this will do.</p>
<p>Coming to you from the belly of the beast...</p>
<p>Nothing like 25,000 cigarettes and phone conversations with long, lost drunken relatives to remind me of home! It's a miracle that I ever made it out of this place. I'm in Nevada visiting my mom and the sh** eating Schnauzer, who, as it turns out, is a great dog. It eats poo only some of the time, not ALL of the time, and it could be trained not to do this if it lived with somewhat normal human beings, which it does not. This little dog had the misfortune of being rescued by my mother. :o </p>
<p>The problem is, my mom's idea of training a dog is to ignore it until it does something wrong, and then, whip out a rolled up newspaper (don't ask me how she made it 3 feet long) and chase it around the house swearing like an irate crazy-woman...kind of the way she raised us. </p>
<p>Thank gawd, my grandma died a few years ago. Well, I'm not happy about her "crossing the Granny Bridge," or whatever the euphemism is for grammas, but she did a good deed before she boarded the big cruise ship in the sky and sold us her condo. This is where I stay when I'm here visiting the klan of lunatics, a.k.a. my family of origin. My mom lives in trailerville 45 minutes away, and about twice a year, I spend one night at her place. I chose to stay overnight this time because I wanted to check out the poop hound and go to the Christmas parade. </p>
<p>So, I got in my rented, 4-wheel drive cigarette and drove across the desert. I sat in a bar and ate something called a hamburger steak with a side of cigarettes. I slept on a sofa bed and had cigarettes and fried cholesterol bombs for breakfast. 24 hours later, I crawled up the stairs to my condo. After a two-hour bubble bath, three Corona Lights, and two loads of laundry, I was regaining my sense of smell. It's back to the Bay Area tomorrow.</p>
<p>The elementary school kids just got out, and I can hear them running home, apparently en masse, screaming in that kid tone that is unique to Southern Nevada kids. I don't know why they have to scream the whole way...they just do. They sound like escaped convicts on their way to a really good kegger/birthday party. It's some form of natural, self-induced therapy, so that they can maintain their sanity long enough to graduate from high school and LEAVE. :)</p>
<p>slugg - I feel you would be an ideal guest at my Pity Party. Stop by on your way home from Nevada. The party lacks Live Entertainment and I think your cigarette slide show might liven up the proceedings.</p>
<p>Oh slugg, SYMPATHIES!!! </p>
<p>Cigarette stink is so revolting. As a former smoker I can attest that you can't smell it on yourself-- so they have no idea how much they reek. I am also highly intolerant of those nasty butts--as only a reformed smoker can be. ;)</p>
<p>My mother's dog has not been ignored, but the overweening attention my mother has bestowed since his "rescue" means he does stuff like refuse to eat unless hand fed. And I mean, he'll refuse to eat roast lamb or filet. Is this the behavior of a dog not in need of psychoactive meds?</p>
<p>He is a smart dog; when I stuck my tongue out at him (making light, but definitely with murder in my heart) the dog fled under the table and shook like a leaf. What a wuss.</p>
<p>If a dog could take to his bed, this dog would. </p>
<p>On second thought, since the dog is 24/7 on my mother's lap I'd say he HAS taken to his bed.</p>
<p>I have a dog on psychoactive meds for anxiety. No joke.</p>
<p>Good, your dog will fit right in, m&sdad! The Wookies provide free flea powder and Snausages. Can he or she do some tricks for Jmmom's Pity Party? ;) </p>
<p>Here's a Stephen Wright dog joke: I had a dog once. I spilled spot remover on him, and now he's gone. :) No throwing Cheese Nips until after Noon!</p>
<p>:D Good one, Audiophile!</p>
<p>More Stephen Wright dog jokes:</p>
<p>"I bought a dog the other day...I named him Stay. It's fun to call him...
"Come here, Stay! Come here, Stay!" He went insane. Now he just ignores me
and keeps typing.</p>
<p>I put contact lenses in my dog's eyes. They had little pictures of cats on
them. Then I took one out and he ran around in circles."</p>
<p>It's great to be back in Vegas! Two shows nightly! Try the veal!</p>
<p>My dog would be quaking in fear at the Pity Party. She takes meds for anxiety, especially around strangers. Loud noises can cause unanticipated bowel movements (hers, not ours). </p>
<p>One plus is that a side effect of the med is constipation, so the bowel story is a better one of late...</p>
<p>Slugg, thanks for the reassurance that more of us have fractured, dysfunctional, or overly dramatic family backgrounds. I do know <em>why</em> it's reassuring but it is...and it's no "misery loves company."</p>
<p>m&S dad-- Thanks for sharing! Question: rescue dog with traumatic past, or happy life but bad brain chemistry?</p>