Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 29, 2018 22:44:48 GMT
I always like it when we talk about our bests and worsts at the end of the year. These could be all your five-star or one-star books, or just one or two that were especially memorable, for better or for worse.
My five-star books this year (rated on GoodReads):
Stories from Jonestown by Leigh Fondakowski. Collected survivor stories, an oral history of Jim Jones' cult.
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. A 400-year-old immortal human searches for is daughter in modern England.
America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray. A novel narrated by Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha.
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl. A memoir of the Gourmet writer's growing-up years and encounters with food.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. An American missionary family encounters the Belgian Congo in the 1960s.
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Learning to Love the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. (On sale for $1.99 for Kindle right now!)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. A young black girl witnesses a police shooting of her friend and its aftereffects on her family and community.
Calypso by David Sedaris. Essays about David's family, partner and travels, a little more sentimental than his usual tone.
The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Miserables by David Bellos. The story of how this huge novel came to be written.
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. A novel about modern scholars and the Elizabethan Jewish scribe they're trying to identify.
My worst reads: The Thinnest Air by Minka Kent and Transcription by Kate Atkinson.
Tell me yours! And how many you read this year, if you like. I read 47 books, an all-time low since I started keeping track. Maybe I can squeeze in one more in the next two days!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 29, 2018 15:55:59 GMT
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 29, 2018 2:14:42 GMT
leftturnonly Year of Wonders is even better than People of the Book. March is, I think, the book she won a Pulitzer for?? Gotta look that up. March is also wonderful.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 28, 2018 17:00:53 GMT
leftturnonly I liked People of the Book and I LOVED Outwitting History. You might like a novel I read a few months ago, The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. It's about a modern scholar who's asked to assess documents that have been discovered under the staircase of a Tudor house. They've been written by a Jewish scribe, who turns out to have been a woman. The story goes back and forth between modern times and the story of the scribe.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 28, 2018 16:08:48 GMT
Oh No Ross and Carrie-- they investigate fringe religions, fringe beliefs, and con artists. Their series on Scientology is great.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 27, 2018 20:28:02 GMT
We drove home from Ohio to Virginia yesterday and ran into bad traffic around DC, so it took several hours longer than usual. Hence, I slept in today!
Then I started on our mountain of laundry after a week away, made a list and went to the grocery store, and have been working on putting Christmas presents away. My husband is working from home today because of the government shutdown (he's a contractor) so it still sort of feels like a holiday around here.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 25, 2018 0:10:49 GMT
That is such a treasure! I'm glad you shared some pictures, I hoped you would!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 24, 2018 17:54:07 GMT
My husband and I saw White Christmas in our local movie place a couple weeks ago and it looked and sounded spectacular. I know the movie by heart, but I'd never seen it in a big screen. The first dance number with Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen at the nightclub in Florida was especially wonderful looking on a big screen.
I just love Bing Crosby's voice, especially at Christmastime.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 20, 2018 21:55:48 GMT
I can relate to most of what she wrote, except that I am NOT a high achiever, because of my depression. It derailed me in college and I never was able to go back. But I can put on a good face and yet be in despair at the same time. And that feeling when you are able to be productive and feel pretty good, and you think "Is this how normal people feel?"--yes, I totally get that. Throw in some crippling anxiety and it is very hard sometimes.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 20, 2018 15:56:51 GMT
Finish laundry, wrap a couple more gifts, pack bags, pack car. Drive to Ohio. Then the Ohio to do list starts, lol.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 19, 2018 21:27:26 GMT
Miracle by Connie Willis is a great collection of Christmas-themed short stories. I re-read it about every other year. Some are funny, some are touching, some are weird, some are all three.
I also have The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries (I think that's what it's called) with a ton of short mysteries from every famous (and some obscure) mystery writers, spanning more than 100 years. It's fun to dip into when you don't have time to read a whole book in the holiday rush.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 18, 2018 21:01:18 GMT
There were lots of things I wasn't allowed to watch. Three's Company, for sure. Nothing sexy. I was also 4 years older than my brother and 6 years older than my sister, so I wasn't allowed to watch anything that they would find scary. No Incredible Hulk, no Scooby-Doo. (??!) Once they got bigger, the restrictions relaxed somewhat.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 18, 2018 20:57:10 GMT
I can't wait to show this to my mechanical engineer husband! He'll go straight out to the garage and start building one!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 18, 2018 20:39:31 GMT
I am so sorry this has happened to your dad and your family. My dad has been battling brain cancer for four years, and hit a big crisis point in September. It's hard for everyone to see the changes in him, but especially for my mom, of course. (Fortunately, my dad has gotten easier to deal with in some ways, as he's gotten more confused, but my mom has had to take over every single practical part of their lives plus take care of his health issues.) I really feel for your mom, and for you, being far away. I'm a day's drive away, certainly not as far as Korea, but I totally understand the worry and the guilt about not being able to be there. My sister is the only sibling who lives close and I feel terrible about how much has fallen on her and my BIL.
The only thing I can think of that could help your mom a bit would be a service like Visiting Angels, where someone can come and sit with your dad so that your mom can get out of the house for a few hours. That has been a big help to my mom, as has getting a house cleaner to come in every week or two.
I don't know if your mom would see a therapist (my mom hasn't, despite my encouragement) but she really needs a therapist or a good friend at the very least to be a reality check for her against the untruth she is hearing from your dad and from your siblings. She will be beaten down quickly if she doesn't have a place to talk and hear truth.
I really understand that 2 AM worrying. The grief and worry just weigh on you. And the drop in your stomach every time you get a phone call from home. I'm really very sorry. Please PM me if you ever need to talk.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 17, 2018 23:16:57 GMT
Would you be happy with an experience gift? Like a restaurant gift card or some kind of date night? That would skirt the “you just want stuff” issue and you’d still have something to open on Christmas Day. This was my thought, too. Could you both agree not to buy gifts for each other and put those funds toward a date night or a weekend away? Maybe you just need to remove the gift thing completely. And I say that as a prostitute whose love language is gifts. :-p (My other one is words of affirmation, which I guess makes me Donald Trump.) :-p :-p
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 17, 2018 15:05:35 GMT
"I watched a really delightful movie on Amazon Prime last week called The Man Who Invented Christmas, starring Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer. It was about the process Charles Dickens went through as he wrote A Christmas Carol. I highly recommend it, it was funny and touching."
Mystie I cam here to write almost the same post I also watched the movie and came away very curious about Dickens' life. Over the years, I've read almost all his books. I have a biography on hold at the library and need to pick it up this week.
My 5th grade boys have been going crazy over the Michael Vey book series, so I bought the entire series for my library and brought home book 1, Michael Vey, Prisoner of Cell 25, to read this weekend. It's great! It's sc-fi along the lines of several popular and recent books, but is well written and interesting for adults as well. A group of teens have electrical powers and are kidnapped and taken to a "school" in California where they will be taught to use their powers to save the world. Of course, nothing is as it seems and some the students attempt to break away. Highly recommended if you have middle school kids. I love it when really good books are interesting to boys!
tuesdaysgone We are such reading twinsies! I've been trying to figure out which Dickens books I've read. I think it's Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities, Christmas Carol and Little Dorrit. I think Bleak House was one I intended to read a few years ago after I saw a really good movie of it, but I don't think I got around to it.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 17, 2018 0:35:09 GMT
I watched a really delightful movie on Amazon Prime last week called The Man Who Invented Christmas, starring Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer. It was about the process Charles Dickens went through as he wrote A Christmas Carol. I highly recommend it, it was funny and touching.
So I went looking for a biography of Dickens on Amazon, because I was curious how much fact was in the movie, and I found a book called Inventing Scrooge by Carlo DeVito. It's a fast read, but I don't really recommend it. The author pulled together a lot of quotes from other Dickens bios, and there were a ton of typos, grammar errors, etc. I don't think the manuscript was even proofread.
So my recommendation would be to watch the movie, and then go get a different Dickens bio. The Claire Tomalin one is well-recommended..I read it six years ago and don't remember too much about it.
I also read an old collection of Ellery Queen mysteries on my Kindle. The collection is called Calendar of Crime, and it features one short mystery story for each month of the year, many centered around a holiday, and all solved by Ellery Queen. I don't know what made me remember how much I enjoyed Ellery Queen stories when I was a kid, but it was fun to find this collection and revisit it. The writing style and the stories are dated, but the holiday conceit makes it fun. Might be a nice Christmas present for a classic mystery lover.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 16, 2018 23:44:10 GMT
I call bullshit on this. My dad was born in 1948. My dad is battling cancer. Clearly the message was intended to be revealed through him.
He's lost his short-term memory but has good long-term memory. This shows that God will not forget Israel.
He's too weak to walk far. This shows that God will carry Israel.
He's battled a ruthless enemy that comes back over and over to destroy him. Hello, that practically makes my dad a Jew!
Step aside, Ms. Lotz. There's a new prophet in town. And I hope you have a better experience than my dear dad has had, even though he deserves it more than you do.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 16, 2018 6:29:20 GMT
Perhaps you could give him copies of Barack and Michelle Obama's books for Christmas. I've already taken the high road and donated to his favorite veteran's group, but I've thought about it! He might stroke out if he got those books in the mail. I also considered Bob Woodward's "Fear" or Erik Larson's "In The Garden Of Beasts". Larson's book would be a great choice!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 16, 2018 4:33:22 GMT
I keep all our board games and card games in the vanity in my guest bath. They just take up one side, I still have room for bathroom stuff. My nieces always tease me when they come over and want to play games and I tell them to go up and find something under the bathroom sink. I literally have no other place to put them!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 16, 2018 4:27:24 GMT
Okay, this has nothing to do with Trump, but it kind of does. It's no secret my father is a true blue, to the end Trump supporter. He avidly posts pro-Trump and Libtard content on his social media. I finally unfriended him after he was all about Kavanaugh when he knew I'd been sexually molested by a family friend. Anyway, he thinks because my middle sis and I are not Trump supporters that we've lost our religion and are basically evil. So for Christmas he got us and all our family members new Bibles and Bible encyclopedias! My sister is pissed. I wouldn't think anything of it if it were from most other people but everything he says or does is meant to send a message and make no mistake, his message isn't to share the love of Christ. Perhaps you could give him copies of Barack and Michelle Obama's books for Christmas.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 16, 2018 3:06:08 GMT
I'm sitting here racking my brain to remember what kind of dishes we had when we got married. I think my mother bought us a set for a wedding present, but I have zero memories of what they looked like. When we'd been married 6 or 7 years I found a 4-place setting of Pfaltzgraff on clearance and bought that. I just loved it, it was called Northwinds. Off-white with green and blue bands around the rim. A few years later I had the money to add another set of four settings in the same pattern. But in the time between the first purchase and the second purchase, Pfaltzgraff changed its manufacturing from the U.S. to China, and that second set of dishes was just awful. It would craze and discolor and chip really easily. So I got rid of the second set and boxed up the first set, thinking I'd maybe pass it along to a niece or nephew when they set up their first apartment. I've still got it tucked away, but I think I may need the space soon. So maybe 8 years ago, when I ditched the Pfaltzgraff, I wanted a set of dishes that was not made in China, which limited the options dramatically. I got a set made in Portugal with a folk art kind of pattern in red, blue and yellow. They sold it for years, but it's not on their website any more. They've help up fairly well, I have a few small chips on plates and a few bowls that are discolored in the bottom. I figure I've got a few more years to get my money's worth out of them. It's a good thing I live in a small house with little storage room, because I'd have boxes and boxes of dishes if I had the room. I adore dishes. I have some pieces of vintage diner china mixed in with my regular dishes and I have a small collection of a Wedgwood pattern called Vieux Rouen, which is white with a red and blue edge pattern. I got a pile of it at a flea market for very little, and have added a few pieces, but it's very hard to come by. I mostly have dinner plates and tea cups, and I don't use them, I just have them stashed away. I'd love to find a good place to display them. That's my boring dish story.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 14, 2018 23:03:53 GMT
I got rid of about half of my crafting supplies earlier this year, and I took it to a non-profit craft reuse store. They take donations and re-sell cheap. I made a list and priced everything at garage sale prices so I had a figure for tax purposes. You might want to see if you have anything like that in your area. A craft consignment place would be great, too, since you/he would get some actual money for it. I definitely would have gone that route if I'd had one around. The only thing would be, a consignment store would probably be picky about what/how much to take, whereas the reuse store took it all. How did you find these? I have a friend who's a teacher and she has been using the store to find classroom supplies. She liked it on FB and that's how I found it. I was really happy to have a place to take the stuff, because it was 13 boxes worth, a ton of stuff, and I did not want to mess with trying to sell it all. At least this way I get a tax write-off. I know you're not in VA, but if anyone else is, it's called Scrap RVA in Richmond. Tiny shop absolutely crammed with craft and art supplies!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 14, 2018 16:06:43 GMT
Aw, I'm so sorry about your friend. She sounds like a lot of fun.
I got rid of about half of my crafting supplies earlier this year, and I took it to a non-profit craft reuse store. They take donations and re-sell cheap. I made a list and priced everything at garage sale prices so I had a figure for tax purposes. You might want to see if you have anything like that in your area. A craft consignment place would be great, too, since you/he would get some actual money for it. I definitely would have gone that route if I'd had one around. The only thing would be, a consignment store would probably be picky about what/how much to take, whereas the reuse store took it all.
Other than that, I guess I'd try to sell in large lots on FB Marketplace, divided by craft type. I find garage sales extremely time-consuming and frustrating to run, especially with as much stuff as it sounds like you'd be dealing with.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 14, 2018 14:59:39 GMT
I don't usually shop at thrift stores, mostly because it's hard to find clothes in plus-size and I don't really need anything for my home. But my husband loves to thrift shop for his clothes, and he needed a whole mess of things after we did a closet clean-out this fall of some of his frayed and old stuff. So I've been dragged to just about every thrift store in a 25 mile radius in the past month! My husband has found some really nice clothes. The best have been an LL Bean flannel shirt and a really thick LL Bean Fleece pullover. He's a jacket addict. I guess the nicest things I've found have been a J Jill blouse, a Coldwater Creek fleece pullover, and a Christopher & Banks black cardigan. We're running out of clothes hangers for our closet! And thrift shopping in the wealthier adjoining city definitely makes a difference. Haven't found anything great for my home yet, but we'll see! There’s a fantastic thrift store in H-Burg that we went to when I visited last summer. I can’t remember the name (Gift & Thrift, maybe?), but could have spent the whole day there. Oh, Gift and Thrift! My SIL buys half her family's wardrobe there! And my in-laws often make a special stop there when they're driving down to visit us from Ohio!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 14, 2018 1:46:35 GMT
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 14, 2018 1:38:12 GMT
It all sounded very serious from the updates we were getting...I can't imagine what it must have felt like to go through so much. I am so happy to see you here and I pray that your strength will keep on coming back every day. Big hugs to you!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 11, 2018 22:24:00 GMT
The whole thing: four days, five nights in wintertime Ohio where the sun never shines. My father is very sick with brain cancer, my mom is stressed, my siblings and I are depressed and I'll be sleeping on an inflatable mattress at my in-laws' house. I love all my family, but I'm wishing I could contract pneumonia on December 20. Aw, Mystie, I am sorry. That sounds very stressful. Is there any chance you could stay in a hotel at least? Nope, my husband will not spring for a hotel, even though it would knock my stress level down about 50%. In fairness to him, we do have some big expenses coming up early next year, plus Christmas costs. But a hotel would help hugely.
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 11, 2018 19:42:09 GMT
All. Of. Them. Anxiety & depression . I literally need meds to be able to go for a few hours. Honey, I refilled my Ativan Rx today. I completely understand and I'm sorry it has to be so hard--for both of us!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Dec 11, 2018 19:38:55 GMT
The whole thing: four days, five nights in wintertime Ohio where the sun never shines. My father is very sick with brain cancer, my mom is stressed, my siblings and I are depressed and I'll be sleeping on an inflatable mattress at my in-laws' house. I love all my family, but I'm wishing I could contract pneumonia on December 20.
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