Poor little critter, and her poor mom! Thinking healing and soothing thoughts for both of you.

Poor Ellie, sending healing~ma her way.

I'm so excited! I made a suggestion at work and it was presented to the Director and he liked it, so we're going ahead with this. So cool.

Matilda has a doctor's appt today so Nana and I will take her. There will be shots. There will be big round tears.

I can't wait to see Fay's one true coif, and goth Cass and goth Queen Jilli.

Hey, Monday, lay off with the sick cutieheads and the exploding coffeemakers!

Thanks for the ~ma for my mom, everyone. I haven't talked to her yet today because she was having a CAT scan. It's just that for years and years, she was in and out of the hospital usually six times a years or more, and when something unexpected happens now it freaks me out. I can always hear it in my dad's voice, too -- when he called yesterday I knew what he was going to say, without having any reason to.

Poor Matilda. Shot days suck. Dope her up with some Tylenol first, if you can. Always worked for my little ones.

I know I'm missing stuff. Must go back and read.

Tons of ~ma to your mother, AmyLiz.

Poor Ellie and family. I'm glad your MiL is better, Laura, and ~ma to your mother, AmyLiz.

Has anyone ever been involved in an intervention? A bunch of us are trying to put together something of the sort for a friend. He drinks to excess every time he goes out, not just occasionally. He's hurt himself badly twice in the last six months, and we suspect lack of sobriety was involved. He's started missing work. He's the drunk yelling at the performers during a show. (He's telling them how great they are, but it still doesn't improve the concert experience for anyone else.) The really nice guy he shares a house with is about to throw him for nonpayment. Any suggestion that he has, perhaps, had enough tequila is met with extreme anger. I know this sounds like a guy one should run away from, but most of us have been friends with him for 15-20 years, and this behavior started perhaps three years ago and has been slowly getting worse.

Any suggestions? Reading material?

I so wish it hadn't come to this.

Oh, Ginger, that's such a rough situation. I think it's totally worth it for you all to at least try to let him know you're concerned and want to help. Whether he can let you do that or not is, of course, up to him.

I've never been involved in one personally, but I bet there's tons of literature out there. Maybe try the Alanon website?

Maybe try the Alanon website?

That's what I'd suggest.

I'd also suggest writing what you want to say, and prefacing the reading of it by saying that you don't want to be interrupted...no comments till you've gotten it all out.

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this. I know it's not fun. It's really hard.

Ginger, that's rough. You're good people, all of you, for trying.

Actually, I guess I have done it before, Ginger, but it was just Stephen and I dealing with a friend who had moved in with us (she had been evicted and OD'd, and had nowhere to go when the hospital released her).

I guess it didn't occur to me that it was an intervention, since I thought of it more as setting ground rules for behavior while she lived with us (i.e. not smoking inside and setting the bed on fire, not smoking pot on the patio while my kids were home, etc.) It worked sort of the same way, though -- we told her, "Here's what you need to do for us to be comfortable with you staying with us. Here's what we're willing to do to help you get back on your feet. If you can't agree to it, you're going to have to leave." Unfortunately, she did leave.

I think part of it is having kind of a plan in place, and sticking to your word about how you'll help him, and what will happen if he doesn't seek help.