Red-Handed Jill

Gingerbread house

"This is Mr. Death - he's a reaper."

Grim Reaper

bloodsucker

Right now I'm listening to the dulcet sound of Jack applying his belt sander his latest cannon carriage. The cannons look really good, though - we'll hopefully get to take at least one to Ojai.

To get Cane, you could either travel to New Orleans or you could probably order it from them. Their website is www.neworleansrum.com/ I've been told that they are looking to expand their distribution. And I'm not sure if Black Strap had anything else in it at one point. It's just extra dark rum that has a very distinctive taste (lots of molasses flavor.)

I'm particular to a number of rums, depending on my mood: - Lemon Hart demerara (80 proof, not the 151) - Pyrat Pistol - Cane (made by New Orleans Rum Co.) - Cruzan's Black Strap

007 - license to kill 001 - license to annoy

Green curry (had Thai food for lunch...)

Dennis Moore

And now for something completely different...

Wow. That's an incredibly heavy load to bear. I really am glad to hear that you are finding some comfort from a valued source, but know that you've got some support here. And at the risk of playing devil's advocate, why does your husband think that he has the authority to "allow" you to do anything?

Melted chocolate!

As Spider Robinson always says, "Shared pain is lessened, shared joy increased."

Yeah I'm also one of the "givers" and it does get away with me every once in awhile. I try to set limits, but it usually happens after I'm pretty tired after being supportive to so many folks. My threshold is about three weeks, then I start feeling ill, so I make sure I get time to myself about every two weeks or so to recharge. I also have a pretty good network of supportive girlfriends who are ready to listen and let me know that I'm an okay person, so I'm pretty lucky on that front.

Christine - I'll bet you are one of the emotional backbones in your group of family and friends. And as such, more is always expected of you. Am I right? There are folks that give and folks that take and the folks that take never seem to get that there should be a limit to what they take. If you don't create limits and say, "this and no more" then they'll always try to make you feel guilty that they couldn't keep taking from you (emotionally and supportively speaking.) And if they are your family, odds are they KNOW how to push your guilt buttons.

spathic

Gold! And with this post, I'm a pyrate captain! Woo hoo!

Sometimes ya have to escape from all that fun, too. Charity, has your foot stopped bleeding????

feathers

Charity, you should allow yourself a wee bit of chocolate now and again and not beat yourself up about it. Dark chocolate is actually good for you.

Swimming upstream

I'm feeling like I shouldn't have eaten that doughnut...

Deep sea diving

Caspian Sea