Please take care of yourself Clod!! Ditto Bruce's advice, and try your best to eat well. That will help both you and your baby cope with the stress. There are tons of brands of frozen dinners that not only taste good but are good for you (Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Weight Watchers etc.). Don't have a freezer at work? No matter, I regularly forget about mine in my bag till lunch, and they are perfectly fine. In fact they heat faster when they are partially thawed :) Buy some aromatherapy oil and put some on a cotton ball and stick it in your drawer. When you start to feel overwhelmed, stop, open your drawer and take a few deep breaths to calm yourself down and focus on what's really important... High stress can lead to lots of little complications during pregnancy that might add up to big ones.

Good luck!

Clod - document the heck out of everything for a week. Then put it to your superiors as a cost cutting suggestion. It does cost more to use the outsource people than in-house, right? If that doesn't result in a change, just do your best but don't fret over it if stuff doesn't get done.

Nah, because they're in Argentina. We pay them something like US$7 an hour. Now, if you start comparing how long it takes them to do something versus someone in-house, you might have an argument, but each project is so different it's hard to compare them.

The company's so small, I only have two superiors, and they're both pretty equally responsible for putting us in the situations we're in. But it did get slightly better today: a new programmer was hired who genuinely knows how to use the application he's supposed to be programming in, and they gave him exclusively to me for the first two weeks. Already this afternoon he solved in an hour what the completely unqualified "programmers" couldn't solve in a week and a half.

Just out of curiosity, is there a support group for people who are addicted to support groups? And is not showing up for a meeting a good or bad sign?

Are you Marla Singer or Jack? :lol:

Stewart Smalley could, no doubt,l address this question.

PS--I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, dogGONE IT! PEOPLE LIKE ME!

That's pretty much my mantra.

hehe! Fight Club :lol2:

Its funny how some people will make a support group their entire life. I know people who have gone to AA for 10 or 20 years, for example, and refuse to have anything to do with peope not in the support group. Their entire lives revolve around the meetings. Its sort of wierd. :3_eyes:

But it works.

AA doesn't work for some people. It doesn't work for me. I TRY to make nice and friendly and I end up with someone who comes over for coffee and steals stuff while I'm adding the cream and sugar; OR, someone who is really just interested in Early Recovery Sex (which is, paradoxically, the best AND the worst sex ever.)

I have forsaken AA. Forsooth. I have found my local groups to be judgemental, sick and oh-so self-righteous. I actually hate them. The idea of going makes me want a thousand drinks.

Speaking of all this therapy stuff, anyone been watching Breaking Bonaduce? I am unfortunately addicted to this attentionwhorefest. That guy has got ISSUES, man. His wife's nearly as bad, but she's not the one mugging for the camera.

I have stated before that I do not watch (un)reality television, so no, I have not wasted either time or neurons on this "program."

I don't watch A&E's Intervention, either, but at least the commercials for that look somewhat interesting. I've often wondered what happens in one of those things ... we don't do 'em, try 'em, instruct people on 'em, or whatever.

I have occasionally talked to people that were setting one up, and the only advice I ever give is "well, those things have a likelihood of going downhill very quickly. No, we won't have anything to do with one. You can try the D&A place up the road, though. My only advice is make sure you have the number for 911 handy."

Since this is the support thread...

I have begun losing weight. In the past month I've changed my diet from eating fast food 3-4 times a week (or more) and eating on the run to eating portioned, easy-to-cook frozen meals and recently sandwiches. I haven't weighed myself but I've noticed something: I'm able to get a full notch more tighter in my belt comfortably. My pants are also looser in the legs and butt.

I've cut out soda in-take from 4-6 Dr. 12-oz Peppers a day to maybe 1 a week along with 1 Sprite a week. Instead I drink water at work and at home (I have a cheap plastic cup I re-use at work, we have an ice maker in the fridge of the break room). I now eat a lot of bread, pasta, and rice (Uncle Ben's rice bowls, Marie Callender's meals, and PBJ/various deli-meat sandwiches). My meals seem much more balanced too as I'm finding I'm eating vegetables I never used to: carrots, peas, green beans.

I feel better in general and I've noticed ... well, there's no easy way to put this: much cleaner #2's. I don't exercise at all (I have a desk job at a tech support company). I know I'll have to start exercising eventually but for now I'm happy with myself. It's also cheaper too! I save gas when I don't go out for lunch (I drive a 12 mph gas-guzzler car), save money (I can buy 2 meals for the same price as eating out, and the 24-pack a week of soda I used to go through saves me enough to buy 2 meals), and I save time (instead of going out when I'm hungry when I'm at work or home, I make a frozen dinner or make a sandwich). I still eat out every now and then but I want to eventually cut it out completely except for special occasions.

Awesome! It's especially nice that you are seeing results.

Good work Laebedahs! It my constant challenge, too.
cutting out the pop is a great habit to form. I really dont miss it at all. Just a real coke every now and then as a treat, when it really goes with the food, like once a month with a pizza or something.
Pretzels not chips.
Pick snacks or candy with nuts.
Also, alway eat breakfast, even if you dont feel like it. have a bowl of oat/bran cereal or a banana or a yogurt. It gets your burn going.

Try to park in the far spot, take the stairs, before you know it, you're taking that lunch commute and turning it into a short walk. Clears your head and reenergizes you. Listen to some tunes while you walk, man, to get you movin and groovin.

If you dont mind broccoli or peas, take a bag of frozen veg with you to work and add it to the top of your frozen dinner. What's really good are the tuna cassarole (peas) or alfredo (broc) ww smart ones. The Lean cuisine turkey/stuffing/sweetpotato is great too. There is always more sauce than real stuff in those. That way you get full, satisfied and a great veggie boost to boot.

Lately, I'm really liking Amy's Indian frozen dinners. more $, but big yum factor.

Keep making shifts! and keep getting stronger. Cool!