Never feel bad about letting it all out and seriously, if you ever need someone to vent to or to listen, I’m here. Just say the word and we’ll connect offline.
Yes! Do something for YOU!!!
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Me too, for what it’s worth. For any of you.
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100% you should feel zero!!! guilt.
This. I have zero facts to back it up, but I’d bet a shit ton of money that you did more for your Mom (and Dad before that) than about 95% of the population would have. (sorry for the non emilyQ type analysis, but I’m an odds guy, what can I say lol?)
None of my business of course, but your friend does not pass my personal “friend” test; even if she genuinely thought that, she should have kept that to herself! Life’s too short to hang out with debbie downers imho.
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Live YOUR life now.
I’ve followed you for years and I know that you cannot ever be accused of not doing what was needed, You never slacked. You’ve done your duty.
No one enjoys doing their duty during the whole time doing it. What matters is that it was done as well as it could be done. You did that.
It’s okay to feel relieved. It’s your turn now.
Just my opinion.
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Thank you for being here.
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Thank you Emily for being here too.
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Ain’t that the truth!
Thanks Albino. We are going to try.
They sang this in church today and I felt compelled to share with you.
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Get back in there and take care of yourself. Exercise is good for you physically and mentally. It got me through the losses of my little brother and my father. As you know my philosophy is the gym fixes everything. Hang in there.
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My condolences too, CL. May your mom’s memory be for a blessing.
Re: the friend’s weird statement, I read it as a projection of her experiences or assumptions. My guess is she knew how close you were with your mom, so she’s assuming your primary and majority emotional experience will be grief at her passing instead of the rightful relief that everyone’s suffering is over.
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Thank you Shane! That was very nice to think of us. Very powerful song.
I definitely think you are on to something! It just to where she was sleeping so little she was awake and wanting stuff during my quite, happy place time. I would stay up here so Jed could get some sleep. Going to go down in the morning and knock some cobwebs off and check on the heater situation.
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Thanks TnT.
Maybe so. Jed and I went up to the Christmas shop and lit a display. It was nice not having to rush and worry about running home. Going to take a while to adjust. It was a tough one though. Hard as hell to light. Just what I needed to take my mind off stuff.
(People order these custom pieces as memorials to go in the park. They will have signs that say something like… in loving memory of ??? )
@SkyzykS
I didn’t weld but sure wish I had. He put WAY TOO MUCH shit in there!
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Came home and made dinner.
Look! We actually had chicken that wasn’t fried or covered in gravy or whatever. Just lemon pepper chicken, plain rice and apple, pecan, cranberry, date salad.
Jed and I enjoyed it and nobody bitched about anything! Apparently it had enough salt but not too much, we didn’t need gravy, it wasn’t too tough to eat, the rice wasn’t too sticky or not done enough, the pecans and apples were chopped small enough. Wow! That was nice.
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My condolences. I’m sorry I haven’t been here to bounce stuff off of. I’ve been diddling my brain in the off topic section.
I can see why.
You’re damn right you did! And you definitely should live a little. 
You’ve earned it.
I learned about being humble from some of the best people that are really good at it. 
. Alcoholics in recovery.
What I’ve found is that part of humility is knowing what you don’t know. That makes us teachable. Another part is knowing what we DO know,and that makes us wiser. Not wise. Just wiser.
And if there’s one thing you need to know about yourself, it is that you have been an incredibly dedicated and caring person. No one could ask for better. You don’t have a will of steel. You have a will that bends it by hand into festive holiday light displays! And you dedicated so much of that will and effort to making her last part of life as good as it could possibly be. For that you should be applauded, and rest easy with that feeling of accomplishment.
This is a really hard mode to break away from. I’ve lived like this for long periods of time as my brothers care taker and to a lesser degree with my grand mother, and my sister. Its like I’m good at it and find new ways to use it.
See my previous will statement 
. That is a pretty busy piece. Very nice though.
It kinda reminds me that I need to make some stuff for the garden next year. And that I haven’t welded anything for a while! I finally fixed everything. The trucks, trailers (oh god, that aluminum piece of junk!) And machines, and all of the other odd ends that needed a good zap.
Maybe I’ll get some bar stock and make a Frosty! I’ll have to hit you up for how to lite it if I do.
Here’s some flowers I stole for you.
I think its safe to say that you have some incredible talents and values, and we all love you for that, and the many more things you embody.
I hope that doesn’t come off as too mushy & preachy.
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Not at all. Thank you for the pep talk.
Lights on a Frosty are easy peasy. We use rebar because it works best. Easy to shape and easy to tie the lights on with zip ties. The little bumps keep things from slipping around. We have some old pieces made of smooth rod and they are a pain to deal with.
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Went down to the gym. Found some propane, got the heater operational 
Knocked some cobwebs off, literally.
Checked my bands. I was afraid the Texas Death Ray may have killed them but, they are fine!
BPAs
3x20
Band lat pulls
3x20
Band tri pushdowns
3x20
Upside down baby bell press
3x10
Ring rows
3x10
Baby bell goblet squats
3x10
I have too much stuff to do to get crazy right now but… I did do something!
@QuadQueen what would be your recommendation on low calorie sweetner?
Jed needs to lose some weight and I am looking for something to slowly transition into better habits. I have tried doing it cold turkey but that didn’t work. Mom convinced him everything tasted “funny”.
I am pretty sure he drinks more calories than he eats.
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Way to get back in there.
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I like stevia and monk fruit the best. I think they have the least amount of aftertaste and are the best in terms of health too. Both the Splenda and Truvia brands make stevia and monk fruit sweeteners too, so they are easily available. If he’s likes sweet drinks, which artificially sweetened ones have you tried? What’s his go-to beverage choice? I might have some more pointed recs if I know what he likes!
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