But I've got no other choice except deal with it since I'm not one to bailout when times get tough.

Feeling depressed? I'm not far off from that myself. Been having some minor health problems and missing work. Of course, I don't get sick pay, so small checks and big bills can lead to depression, TBS.

Hang in there ashling. I'm not a cat person, but maybe you could hug yours.

so I can buy another ticket.

At least you make DU a better place.

There has to be something.

as a reward for hard work on the garden and pasture this morning. The inside of my lip froze to it and ripped off. I bled all over the popsicle. Now it's very sore and raw.

Seems like something similar happens every time I try to do something a little nice for myself...

it stings a little, but at least it stopped bleeding finally.

Is lavender safe on open wounds inside the mouth?

Their oils are labeled safe or not safe for internal use.

I didn't see anything about internal use on the bottle, so I suspect it's better not to try it. I think I'll be able to tough this out. I have until Wednesday, when I work at the hospital. I don't like having any open wounds that I can't bandage there, but by then it should be pretty well healed.

In addition to Lavender pure Helichrysum Essential Oil is also great to have around.

http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/products/essential-oils/singles/helichrysum-essential-oil

And then it doesn't. And then it does. And then it doesn't. And somewhere in between all that there occur magical moments that touch your soul, be they good or bad or indescribable.

Take heart. You've made me feel happy many times and for this, I thank you.

My 52-year-old brother came home and gave me an envelope from the Texas Workforce Commission that was addressed to him. He applied for unemployment last month since his hours at the hospital were getting cut (although he has had some weeks where he had his normal 36 hours). I'm his secretary since he has no organizational or computer skills so I opened the envelope and he has a mandatory meeting that he has to attend on Wednesday of next week. He has a possible conflict with his schedule and he acted like a 10-year-old and threw a temper tantrum.

I made suggestions as to how to handle the schedule conflicts but he started taking it out on me. I tried to diffuse the situation by going for a walk at about 11:30 p.m. and when I came back he started up another fight. The same thing happened two more times and I was walking the streets until nearly 2 o'clock. My feet were already sore (swelling and cracked callouses) and I was considering walking to a motel to spend what little money I have available to get away from him.

My stress level went through the roof and I can't handle being near him when he throws his tantrums. I'm trapped living with him and receiving no medical care or counseling until I either get SSDI or get a job. I'm barely holding on by a thread from making another desperate attempt on my own life. I already spent about two hours during the afternoon listening to my brother gripe about one of his friends and I don't need to be his psychiatrist. I restated his options regarding the TWC meeting and told him to make his own decision since he is a grown man because I don't want to be involved any further.

All of that came down on me last night because I opened one envelope which I expected to be a routine piece of mail indicating that he had a job match or something trivial. The other thing is that my brother actually had a good day and won $120 playing lottery scratch-off games and he has a job interview set for the middle of this week, so for him to act like the world is out to get him is a bunch of bullshit.

As for myself, life does suck. The only positive news that I had was that an employment recruiter that I interview with about 10 days ago sent me an email on Friday to say that he is trying to match me up with something. Next Sunday is my birthday and I expect to be alone and dismal. I've made a couple of phone calls to friends, but I don't want to dump my problems on them and my only social outlet is through online interactions.

Sorry to hear about the problems with your brother.

Welcome to DU.

He compares life to two women in an old folks home.
"The food here is terrible." says the first.

"I know." says the other. "And such small portions."

Life is short, Enjoy as much as possible.

“Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again, but life goes on.”

And there are kittens...

But something tells me you are not.

Don't let bs get you down. Things ebb and flow...it will get better.

Hope tomorrow is better for you.