The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

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We have floods again

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Further on it was worse, some drivers turned around and came back. Fields are flooded, canal towpath is underwater.
 
TastyReuben said:
That's because someone stole all your gifts and left a blue drinks bottle in their place! What's Aus for "Grinch?!" :wink:
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Lol, that's how much water the tree needs everyday to stay alive. It was cut down in the middle of its growing season, rather than when dormant. Combine that with the heat starting to come in this week and its getting warm (33°C is forecast by Tuesday).

There are now a few presents under the tree but truth be told, most are in the Christmas stocks hanging off the fireplace. I made them after the first year we were here because hubby didn't think Christmas felt Christmasy. The fabric is of a different Australian native animal in Christmas hats etc. His is a wombat because he loves them. Mine is an echidna for similar reasons. My parents have a kangaroo and possum. I've since seen a platypus as well but our local craft store never had a platypus. Last year all the children in the family got one as well, plus my sister who we stayed with. I've 2 spare so I'm tempted to send one to the newcomer to the family. A great nephew born back in April this year. But both my brothers want one as well. Being handmade, I was able with the help of the scanner printer copier to make the stocking the size we wanted, so it holds quite a few presents. Hubby's is sadly lacking this year because of what he wanted. A new mobile phone which cost a lot, so I couldn't afford many presents for him. Just a few accessories for the phone.
 
Hoo-boy...needed gas in my car, so I decided to swing into Kroger and grab a couple of completely unnecessary things..mistake.

I had my four or five things, wasn't even going to bother with the scan-and-pay app, but then I saw the checkout lines...the entire width of the fairly sizable store and then some.

No worries...whipped out my phone, logged into their app, scanned everything, snickered at the technophobe rubes waiting in line...and for the second time in a row, the damn app couldn't pull down my order when it came time to pay. Nuts! 😠

I put everything back and filled up the car, then came back home and decided to work on my breakfast sweet roll thingy for tomorrow.

First slowdown..."About an hour before starting, remove milk, butter, and eggs from fridge to come to room temperature.

Well, there's a delay...

An hour later, went back in and started and discovered the bag of AP flour I was sure I had...I didn't have. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I ended up going with a mix of bread flour and white whole wheat flour. Started machine kneading the dough (basically, a brioche) and it was supposed to be very soft and pillowy...mine was coming up stiffer than cookie dough - so stiff, it wouldn't even knead. It got pushed up against the mixer bowl and stayed there. I'd compensated for the wheat flour by increasing the liquid a little, but it obviously wasn't enough.

It's rising now (I hope) - we'll see how it goes in a bit. Even after getting the consistency right, it still isn't smooth; it looks a bit like lumpy oatmeal.

Oh well. At least it's snowing! They predicted about an inch of snow to go along with the brutal cold (currently at 12F/-11C and dropping), then they called it off...and now it's snowing a proper storm. Snow for Christmas!!!
 
TastyReuben said:
It's 12F/-11C with a wind chill of 0F/-18C, and snowing. Best Christmas ever, weather-wise. :woot:
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Better than here. Normally it is +30°C, often much warmer (as in 38°C), hence eating salad for lunch usually outside etc... Today had a maximum temperature of 13°C, was grey and overcast and very windy, all day.
It's now 3am, 10°C outside and by the time I actually get up on 3hrs time, the temperature will be in single digits. Brr. We actually talked about lighting the log burner because we were cold (no other heating) but sat under blankets instead.
 
It was 30F (-1C) when I got up. It is 45F now, and should get up to 61F. So, now white Christmas here -- as usual.

My dog spent the night at a friend's house, so I got a full-night's sleep. I'm feeling quite a bit better today -- a lot less pain.

CD
 
Grandma did her usual Christmas act. This year she was invited to spend Christmas eve at my aunt's house, even before that my aunt told me and grandma she would spend the 25 at my grandma's, but yesterday morning my grandma told me she had no idea what my aunt would do for Christmas, told my mom my aunt refused to spend Christmas with her, then told my aunt she was upset and wanted to be alone for Christmas.

I thought maybe she's showing first signs of dementia but my dad said she's done stuff like this in Christmas past, like telling my aunt she was spending Christmas with my dad and telling my dad she was spending Christmas with my aunt, having my aunt argue with my dad over leaving mom alone for Christmas, then complaining she has two children and they both leave her alone during Christmas. She does these kinds of things every year since I can remember. She gets invited to spend Christmas with several people including my dad (before he stopped talking to her), my aunt, the neigbours, the parents of my mom's boyfriend. She really doesn't want to spend Christmas alone so she declines all invitations, tells everyone she's alone during Christmas, argues with every family member willing to talk with her, spends Christmas eve crying, then me and my aunt usually go and meet her because we pity her and can't leave her alone during important dates.

My therapist says she's like this because it works. My dad was the only one who took a stand and stopped talking with her, me and my aunt end up giving her what she wants more or else. This didn't make sense to me at all but yesterday I had my ah-ah moment. I had told my grandma I would spend Christmas with my mom and I wouldn't see her this year and I wasn't even worried because I knew my aunt was spending Christmas with her. When my aunt told me they argued and grandma was alone for Christmas I changed my plans and decided to surprise visit her today, but I didn't tell grandma. So yesterday my mom went to my grandma and they were exchanging gifts when my grandma said "Leave Melissa's gift here, she'll probably come tomorrow".

And guess who visited grandma today? My aunt. She got us so well wrapped around her finger she knows too well we won't leave her alone during Christmas.

Truth is me and my aunt may get upset with her but somehow we always give in. She could simply accept one of the 3 or 4 Christmas invitations she gets but she prefers to put us all through the drama. I really can't understand any of this.

(Btw I ended up not seeing her during Christmas. I left my mom's house too late and I felt tired and anyways my grandma is a lost case. I'll see her tomorrow like I do every week).
 
LissaC said:
Grandma did her usual Christmas act. This year she was invited to spend Christmas eve at my aunt's house, even before that my aunt told me and grandma she would spend the 25 at my grandma's, but yesterday morning my grandma told me she had no idea what my aunt would do for Christmas, told my mom my aunt refused to spend Christmas with her, then told my aunt she was upset and wanted to be alone for Christmas.

I thought maybe she's showing first signs of dementia but my dad said she's done stuff like this in Christmas past, like telling my aunt she was spending Christmas with my dad and telling my dad she was spending Christmas with my aunt, having my aunt argue with my dad over leaving mom alone for Christmas, then complaining she has two children and they both leave her alone during Christmas. She does these kinds of things every year since I can remember. She gets invited to spend Christmas with several people including my dad (before he stopped talking to her), my aunt, the neigbours, the parents of my mom's boyfriend. She really doesn't want to spend Christmas alone so she declines all invitations, tells everyone she's alone during Christmas, argues with every family member willing to talk with her, spends Christmas eve crying, then me and my aunt usually go and meet her because we pity her and can't leave her alone during important dates.

My therapist says she's like this because it works. My dad was the only one who took a stand and stopped talking with her, me and my aunt end up giving her what she wants more or else. This didn't make sense to me at all but yesterday I had my ah-ah moment. I had told my grandma I would spend Christmas with my mom and I wouldn't see her this year and I wasn't even worried because I knew my aunt was spending Christmas with her. When my aunt told me they argued and grandma was alone for Christmas I changed my plans and decided to surprise visit her today, but I didn't tell grandma. So yesterday my mom went to my grandma and they were exchanging gifts when my grandma said "Leave Melissa's gift here, she'll probably come tomorrow".

And guess who visited grandma today? My aunt. She got us so well wrapped around her finger she knows too well we won't leave her alone during Christmas.

Truth is me and my aunt may get upset with her but somehow we always give in. She could simply accept one of the 3 or 4 Christmas invitations she gets but she prefers to put us all through the drama. I really can't understand any of this.

(Btw I ended up not seeing her during Christmas. I left my mom's house too late and I felt tired and anyways my grandma is a lost case. I'll see her tomorrow like I do every week).
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You did good. I know it's hard. Trust me. You have NO idea how many times I've been stuck in the same set-up as you have. The only difference is the emotional blackmailer was/is my mother. She played "bad cop" to my father's "good cop".

Forgive me if I've mentioned this before, but have you ever read the book "Emotional Blackmail" by Dr. Susan Forward? It was an eye-opener for me. I struggled with setting boundaries with my family for decades. It took them helping my ex kidnap our children for me to finally realize that they meant me no good and never would. To this day, they still blow up my phone trying to guilt trip me. One would think they would stop in their golden years, but no. They are just as manipulative and hateful and selfish as they've been my entire life. The only difference is NOW I'm strong enough to just say "No". The best part is I no longer suffer emotional or physical abuse.

Be proud of yourself. You did what you felt comfortable doing and you maintained a boundary that works for you. You are doing great. I promise it will get better the more you recognize just how the game is played and refuse to participate. The other person/people in the game won't like it but you are only responsible for your role.

I was worried for you when you posted about dreading this day but I am so excited for you that you made it through! Yeah!!! :hug:
 
mjd said:
You did good. I know it's hard. Trust me. You have NO idea how many times I've been stuck in the same set-up as you have. The only difference is the emotional blackmailer was/is my mother. She played "bad cop" to my father's "good cop".

Forgive me if I've mentioned this before, but have you ever read the book "Emotional Blackmail" by Dr. Susan Forward? It was an eye-opener for me. I struggled with setting boundaries with my family for decades. It took them helping my ex kidnap our children for me to finally realize that they meant me no good and never would. To this day, they still blow up my phone trying to guilt trip me. One would think they would stop in their golden years, but no. They are just as manipulative and hateful and selfish as they've been my entire life. The only difference is NOW I'm strong enough to just say "No". The best part is I no longer suffer emotional or physical abuse.

Be proud of yourself. You did what you felt comfortable doing and you maintained a boundary that works for you. You are doing great. I promise it will get better the more you recognize just how the game is played and refuse to participate. The other person/people in the game won't like it but you are only responsible for your role.

I was worried for you when you posted about dreading this day but I am so excited for you that you made it through! Yeah!!! :hug:
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Thank you so much for your kind words❤️ and for the book recommendation, I don't think I've heard of that one before. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. This is not an easy time for people like you and me who come from difficult families. We survive but it's just really stressful. Christmas has ended anyway, better days lay ahead :)
 
LissaC said:
Thank you so much for your kind words❤️ and for the book recommendation, I don't think I've heard of that one before. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. This is not an easy time for people like you and me who come from difficult families. We survive but it's just really stressful. Christmas has ended anyway, better days lay ahead :)
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You're welcome. Please feel free to PM if you ever need a listening ear. You are never alone. :hug:
 
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