The Garden Fence - proper Old Style support and chat!

Morning all,

Another work from home day today. I'm feeling much better but still sound awful. Piles of marking to get on with several lectures to write this week and then maybe a bit of research if I'm oh so lucky.

Karcher, keep going. You will get there. We've spend years with hot water bottles and jumpers, no car (for years we walked to Aldi with rucksacks every Sunday, rain, snow, hail, sleet, you name it and carried it all home). We lived in terrible houses to save on rent. I'm talking walls that literally dripped and ceilings that crashed down in the middle of the night. No one should have to do those things. I was often too harsh on us. I thought the fact others were able to buy houses and cars sooner on the same money meant we must be getting it wrong, I'm just admitting now that I was wrong about that. We weren't doing it wrong---just differently. If children were in the cards for us we'd probably be regretting not taking on a bit more debt now to start a family, but they aren't and we worked with the situation as we saw it, just as everyone does. Getting into debt isn't a character blemish, whether it was of your making or not. Sometimes it is the best way to manage. Striving to overcome overwhelming debt, particularly when it isn't of your making, is a testament to your character. Be kind to yourself, please. Once you get out of the habit of being kind to yourself it is very very hard to rebuild it.

Butha, the same goes for you about being kind to yourself, and that doesn't just mean going for a run and taking a bath. It means letting yourself off the hook sometimes and being ok with just good enough. Your children need to see that too, so don't feel you're letting them down if sometimes you have to let some things slide.

*Soapbox creaks awkwardly* Right, I'd better get on with my work and stop pestering you all.x

Lashing it down here this morning - my get up and go has got up and went! Small list of jobs to do, nothing taxing unless you count cleaning the bathroom ( who's great idea was it to have black floor tiles that show every splash and hair)
Karcher and Burtha - I am in complete admiration of you both for your strength and fortitude in awful circumstances not of your own making - life really can be a b*tch at times. Please continue to post even though we can only offer virtual support you know it is heartfelt from us all Hugs x

Sorry for your loss MMF007 will keep you in my prayers. So glad he never got to the nursing home that would have been so difficult for your mum.

Oh MMF, huge (((HUGS))) to you all. It sounds as if he went quickly and peacefully, which is great, and I know you had the chance to speak to him recently. Enjoy the rest of your holiday as he would have wished, in the knowledge that you don't need to worry about him any more. A memorial service in the spring sounds a lovely idea. xxxx

Just dropping in to give some hugs to MMF007, thinking of you xx