When life deals you lemons...Do you let them rot and throw them or make lemonade?

[Mommieeeee]

I am thinking that I am going to let some lemons ferment for awhile. I guess that recently we have had too many "little" things happen that are getting to me. I don't want lemonade right now. I want to throw lemons!

In our family:

Dh has been at his company for YEARS. A guy he trained, got promoted and is now above him. We think it is because dh is such a good worker and they don't want to lose him as a worker by promoting him. Should he stop working so hard?

My dc went to cat field day for 4-H. They worked really hard on preparing the cat to show. My dc were THE only ones not to place or get a ribbon. Which I don't understand. According to the standards, they should have placed. I mean cry me a river, a cat that wouldn't even come out of the cage and bit one of the judges got a ribbon. Our cat was well mannered and did everything and looked fine. Ds was so disappointed that he thought the judges HATED him. Should we just let our cat bite a judge so we can get a ribbon?

Right now I could come up with a dozen more examples. I just want to go to an empty field and throw lemons. Or maybe make lemon wine with the fermenting ones...

[Claire]

I fervently admire people who can make lemonade out of these situations. I wish I could. To be honest, I feel I do well if I can throw the lemons away. Lots of time they just ferment around here until they rot, at which point I am finally able to throw them away.

[mcconnellboys]

I just tried some Lemonchello and it was NOT good, honey, waaaaay too bitter..... I'm sorry that you're going through a bad phase right now. You do know that when it rains, it pours, don't cha?

I would call the 4-H office and just inquire about the fact that all but one set of children received ribbons, as that's NOT like any 4-H activity I've ever known. Perhaps it was an oversight; perhaps someone was temporarily short of ribbons, etc. and just didn't do a good job explaining..... If it IS their policy to do such a thing, then I think I'd want to distance myself from that sort of experience.

As for your husband, well that's just hard. Perhaps this other person is schmoozing with upper management and has moved up inappropriately. If that's the case, and if he's not really right for the job, then that should show itself soon enough. Meantime, your husband is still secure in his job and still earning an income that can support ya'll, I'm assuming? That's better than being fired, laid off, out-sourced, etc., which is the situation that a lot of folks find themselves in these days. If I were him, I'd just keep on keepin' on. If management never sees his potential, then perhaps after a while he might want to look at making a change. But meantime, he's in a comfortable position, no? And there's something to be said for having a comfortable life, I think. Promotions usually entail more work and more stress, to go with more money. That might level out. It might be worth it. And then again, it might not. Life is all about trade-offs.

Spring is slowly and surely breaking winter's grip, even in places where it's still snowing, LOL. Summer will be here soon. We live in a country where we think it's just awful if Costco tries to limit folks to "only" so many 50# bags of rice at a time, as if anyone would starve with one less of those bags in their buggy..... We live in the greatest country on earth. There will be faults and failings here, as anywhere, but look around you. Do you have more than the *majority* of people living in the world today? Even the poor in America are rich by world standards.

I'm sorry that hurt and disappointment have to be part of life for anyone, but you *do* have it within you to overcome these set-backs that you've mentioned. So here's a virtual (((hug))) for you and a hope that you'll get your second wind and feel more like giving those lemons some really, really good squeezes - both because it'll make you feel better - AND because it'll give you a lot more juice for your lemonade.....

[Jenny in Atl]

:grouphug: And I do have some Lemonchello chilling in the fridge. I'd be happy to bring some and throw those lemons with you. It just might make you feel better.

[Calming Tea]

I say throw the lemons...

Wait a minute. As a Christian I do have a better idea.

Remember, God knows all the tapestry, threads, of all the people and all the situations on all the earth and He's weaving a wonderful picture for His Glory, and for some reason that we can't see, your husband's lack of promotion and dc winning cat show were part of that.

In the meantime, I say you make a home made ribbon for your dc? I don't know if they are too old to appreciate how Mommy is so proud of them and saw all their hard work even if the judges didnt?

And as for your husband, do remember, that with promotions come more hours, more responsibility, and often the pay is not equal to the extra amount of responsibility and time.

Lemonade anyone? I make awful lemonade, sorry.