bowtwi

(((((LG)))))

Thanks Dove! It's very nice. That was so kind of you! It reminds me of you and your sister, Dovey. Merry Christmas!

quell tr.v. quelled, quell·ing, quells 1. To put down forcibly; suppress: Police quelled the riot. 2. To pacify; quiet: finally quelled the children's fears. [Middle English quellen, to kill, from Old English cwellan; see gwel - in Indo-European roots.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

batcave - yes, I got it last year and love it. I sure do enjoy your singing! Got any more?

Happy Birthday, DrtyDzn! Might I suggest the Safe House in Milwaukee for a bit of a different evening out with your lovely bride? Truly an adventure in birthday celebration - they serve food, too. Might be worth calling for a reservation, even.

Was that taken at the Leslie zoo? Nice shirt.

Nice to see you around here, Cowgirl! Merry Christmas to you, too!

Bruce Springsteen's version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town or any Christmas songs done by Elvis. And of course, the Chipmunks' Christmas album.

Venison stew sounds delightful, just please don't tell the princess it's Bambi til after she's eaten it. I have some venison in my freezer that I'll be fixing swiss steak in the slow cooker with. I never get caught feeding the princess venison, as I slow cook it and never say a word about what meat it was. Looks great and after all, t'is the season... fa la la la la la la la la

Happy Birthday!

Tastes like chicken, of course! :blink:

Hi - My name is Donna, I'm 47, and I confess to buying premixed sugar cookie dough and those little tubes of colored icing and sprinkles and little balls and other decorative frivolity and letting the kids roll out the dough and cut the cookies out with cookie cutters and waste huge amounts of money on the colored frosting in those little tubes. They fit so well in kids' hands and the cookies are all masterpieces cause the kids do it. Now to get real fancy, buy a can of white or whatever color frosting you want (don't bother mixing food coloring to change colors, buy the frosting the color you want it) and spread the frosting on cooled cookies. Then let the kids decorate them on top of the frosting for a change of pace. No shame in that. The kids see the cookies go in and come out of the oven. THAT, my friend is what's known as baking.

Psalmie, you'd have to try a whole lot harder than that to offend me - (((Psalmie))) I think you communicated very clearly. I'll consider attending a meeting or two. Thanks for your heartfelt suggestion. (((((((((((Cman)))))))))))

Ok, so what's the rest of it? Anything with a name like tetrazzini has to be good!

I'm a liquid Tide with bleach alternative girl myself. When I was married, my ex used to do the shopping and he bought Era, as it was cheap. It worked ok, but I noticed a friend of mine's family's clothes seemed to last longer and she swore by liquid Tide with bleach. I've used it ever since my divorce in '93. I've used All when I can't find Tide because I used to have a boyfriend that was an appliance repairman. He said they recommended All, but I don't remember why. I just remember he said to use it.

Sounds like you're right on track and that's such a big deal. I don't know that I agree that drinking on tv should be illegal. People eat cockroaches on tv and that doesn't inspire me to eat them at all. Nor do I desire to bungee-jump, tho I enjoy watching others do it on tv. Whatever you've lost as a result of your drinking, I believe you'll gain back as you continue to keep focused and continue to put this much energy into controlling your actions. I love your last post - don't allow yourself to get uncomfortable or lonely or whatever might trigger more desire for alcohol. That makes sense in a big way. Have you eaten this morning? (((((cman)))))

I would imagine that each day you get through without touching that first drink empowers you a little bit. That you didn't drink yesterday is a beautiful thing. I also would imagine that you have to continually think about not drinking - that it's a grueling, minute-by-minute battle at first. But I still believe that God and you make a majority in every situation, even this one. I will be praying for your strength at least daily while you get used to your new lifestyle. I believe you'll beat this.

Yeah, Cowgirl - it's good to see you - wish you were around more. I just said last week I wondered how you are.

I debated about posting what I said. I read your post last night before I went to bed and prayed for you, decided not to post, and went to bed. This morning, I prayed for you and posted. I know I'm risking getting flamed here, but I can take it. I've dealt with this end of it long enough and I won't let it stop me from from stating my views. My intention is to encourage you. I respect you. I wish you success. If there's anything I can do for you, I'd gladly do it. I know how big this challenge you're facing is. I wish you strength and peaceful rest.

cman - I admire your courage to post this publically. I wish you strength and health. I don't attend al-anon or any support group, although I've found that there is one within an hour of my home that meets a couple times a week. I've sometimes considered going. I haven't gone yet. I was raised by an alcoholic. I married an alcoholic and divorced him 13 years later. I recently broke up with an alcoholic who manipulated my life for a couple years before I was able to muster the strength to say no more in my life. Just yesterday he emailed me promises that he won't try to get me back anymore, as he sees that my child needs my attention, otherwise what? If my child didn't need my attention, in his opinion, then he would continue to disrespect me and blame the alcohol for all he's done? Otherwise he would continue to drink and drive and all the other unpleasantness that goes with it? For over two years, every single day, I tried to reason with him. I warned him that I can't and won't live with the lies and other abuse. I begged him to be honest with me. I would have seen him through anything if he would have just been honest with me. He looked me sqare in the eye and denied drinking, accused me of making it up so that I'd have something to fight about. Then the call from the bail bondsman came, 6 hours after our scheduled lunch and other plans we had made for that day. I sat here that day wondering if he were alive or dead for 6 hours, dreading what could be the next phone call. The next call was a bail bondsman, very matter-of-fact and everyday about it. I was horrified. He went to aa meetings. Or maybe I should say he left the house saying he was going to aa meetings. Now since I forced him to leave my home at the beginning of November, now all of a sudden he calls telling me how he's not drinking at all. I don't believe him. He thanked me for tag teaming with God to get him to see he's killing himself with alcohol. Apparently the doctor telling him 5 or more years ago that he was killing himself with vodka and needed to stop or he would die a terrible death wasn't enough to stop, but me refusing to talk with him or let him see me or my daughter is reason to stop? His second DUI was the breaking point for me. It no longer mattered that he said he loved me THAT much, that he was in pain so felt he needed to self-medicate, that he would surprise me with tickets to see Paul McCartney in Ohio when they were all that were available by the time he heard about the tour, that he actually attended church with me a few times, none of it mattered anymore. It was suddenly clear to me that if I didn't stop him, he would either die in front of me and my child a terrible, miserable death, or possibly worse, my child or someone else's could be hurt or worse as a result of him driving drunk. I thank God for that second DUI. I feel like it empowered me. He's been gone for a month now - went to Ohio where he has family. He's coming back here to Missouri for court next week. He's actually about harassed me asking me to let him sleep on my couch so he won't have to pay for a hotel room. I feel I've done enough by packing his stuff up nicely for him and taking it to a storage locker where he can pick it up. I really feel I owe him nothing. I feel I owe me and my child not to allow that in our lives anymore. I wish you all the best. I pray for you and truly, I hope you reach your goals. I pray you really mean this. I know you're not him. I have no reason to disbelieve you and I don't. I do believe you mean what you're saying. That's how I have energy to pray for you.

<H1 style="MARGIN: auto 0in">Easy Swiss Steak Recipe</H1><H4 style="MARGIN: auto 0in">INGREDIENTS:</H4> 1 to 1 1/2 pounds round steak 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 4-ounce can mushrooms, drained (or use fresh sliced) 1 10 3/4-ounce can cream of mushroom, chicken, or celery soup, undiluted <H4 style="MARGIN: auto 0in">PREPARATION:</H4>Trim visible fat from round steak and cut into 4 to 6 serving-size pieces. Pound to flatten and tenderize. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Place meat in bottom of slow cooker. Spoon drained mushrooms on top of steak, then spread mushroom soup over. <H5 style="MARGIN: auto 0in">Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and a salad or green vegetable. Serves 4 to 6.</H5>

Happy birthday!