WillThink4Wine

It was 82 here today.. how the heck can you get in the mood to put ornaments on the tree in 82 degree weather? What happened to that nice cold front that we had all week when I couldn’t decorate because I had to work? It was 32 at night and only in the 50’s-60’s during the day. I was so looking forward to a nice cozy fire, Christmas music and wine. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown.

My niece is on the warpath again; another manic phase coinciding with the end of the semester and the Christmas holidays. Now you know this can not be good. *sigh* And yet her mother, my sister the saint, is still in a festive, happy mood. I truly cannot imagine how she does it. God must have given her a double dose of patience and understanding. A mother’s love would not suffice.

My cats sat under the tree ALL day today while the squirrels collected pecans for the winter. They lay there just waiting. Never moving for hour after hour. Alas; not a single squirrel fell into their clever trap.

Well, tomorrow is another day.

Cheers.

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.

– George Eliot (1819 - 1880) English novelist

Or as my MotherDear so often said “It is better to appear stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”. I always thought she was some sort of genius. Perhaps she is. As it turns out, many wise people have said this, in their own way.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

– Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

‘Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

– Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865), (attributed)

One of my nieces has been coming to me for council with some issues she’s been having in her academic life and finances related to college. She’s 19, is bipolar and in her first year of college. She’s been quite aggravated with her parents because they aren’t wealthy like the parents of her friends. She requires student loans. *gasp* Therefore, she has given herself permission to harrangue them about this issue, daily, at great length and quite loudly. Without any success *sigh*, I have been trying to impress upon her the importance of self-control, specifically as it relates to her tongue. She continues to try to win her un-winable arguement by berating them. If there is a teenager (or someone with a Ph.D in Child Development) out there reading this that knows why she thinks this method should be working for her despite all evidence to the contrary, please enlighten me! She’s been at it since before the first semester and it appears that she intends to continue on into and throughout the entire Christmas break.

Honestly, when my sister and I discuss this with our mother you should see our mother’s face. It’s absolute horror! Horror and disbelief! She’s speachless. It is simply unimaginable to my mother for a child to speak to her parents in this way.

I know that I have reached ‘that age’ - the age where I now hear myself saying all those things my parents said that I swore that I would never say.

I just don’t understand what’s happened to this generation. Truly, I do not.

There, I’ve said it.

Sisterdear3 is truly a most amazing woman. She is a wonderful sister, daughter, friend, wife and mother. Sisterdear3 has 4 children; a 19 year old daughter who has Bipolar Disorder, a 16 year old son with raging hormones and 8 year old twin boys. Did I mention that the twins are Austic, one more so than the other? Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, or PDD-NOS, for short. Sisterdear3’s husband is a cop. Her BFF and her pediatrician each have sons who are Autistic. In fact, Sisterdear3 and her pediatrician have long been on a first name basis, they meet for coffee as often as Sisterdear3’s schedule will allow.

This has been a very stressful week for Sisterdear3. We speak almost daily and this past week our conversations have been mostly about the rantings and disruptive actions of her daughter. After repeating her senior year of high school because she refused to go to school a month at a time, she is now in her first semester of college. I truly wish I could say that it has been going well. She took 5 courses. She immediately dropped one because she insisted that she’d already taken the same course in high school; “too bad if the college doesn’t accept the transcripts/grade”, or words to that effect. She flunked her Mid-terms on 2 of the other classes and it is my understanding that she is not doing well in the remaining classes. Now, the weekend before Thanksgiving Break, she has decided to skip this week’s classes and has come home to wreak havoc on her parents and siblings. Yes, we actually believe that is her plan.

Honestly, I don’t know how Sisterdear3 manages to get through a single day. Her daughter is adamantly opposed to taking her meds. Sisterdear2 (who is about to graduate with a BA in nursing, an RN, yeah!) tells us that is it very common for a Bipolar patient to refuse meds and/or deny that they need them. My brother-in-law has lost all patience with his daughter, and I can’t say that I blame him. She’s exhausting everyone around her.

We love her deeply, of course. When she’s not cycling she is a very intelligent, delightful girl to spend time with. However, when she is cycling, especially a manic cycle, it’s all about her. Me, me, me. Speed-talking, inflated self-esteem, poor-judgement, paranoia… She exhibits every symptom. There’s is no room for anyone else’s needs. To borrow a phrase from The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, she sucks all the air out of the room. She was briefly seeing a counselor at the college, very briefly. I wish we could find a way to convince her to go back to her doctor and get back on meds. We really miss that girl.

WillThink4Wine

Industry: Business Services
Occupation: Self Employed
Location: The Deep South : GA : United States

About Me
The very best job I could ever imagine is one that would pay me to think… the currency would be wine, preferably big reds!

I am the oldest of eight (four of each) and the sisterdears are my very best friends. We all enjoy wine, music and family. We share many other common interests and have many more differences, but that is the Spice of Life.

I have been self-employed for a bit more than 20 years and have just started my second business. Yipes! It seemed easier and less scarier the first go-round.

I am divorced and I have two absolutely adorable gray cats. More than a fair trade, if you ask me

Just after my divorce, while I was mid-panic attick prior to a flight to visit my family up north, my very nice, very smart old country doctor asked me how I had coped with panic attacks in the past. I told him “I clean everything in sight and have a glass or two of red wine”. He laughed and said to me “Well, you are an international traveler and it’s Cocktail Hour somewhere”. I have tailored his remark to suit me. “It’s Wine-thirty somewhere”.

Interests
Wine
God
parents
sisters
family
friends
cats
music
books
sitting by the fire
Italian food
chicken
chocolate
cookies
my job

Favorite Movies
On Golden Pond
The American President
Moonstruck
Armageddon
Independence Day
Lord of the Rings
Murphy’s Romance

Favorite Music
Tenors
Piano
Cello
Violin
James Taylor
Josh Groban
Beatles
George Strait
way too much to list

Favorite Books
Lord of the Rings
The Hobbitt
Luanne Rice
John Grisham
tons more…