Christmas Day shout out!

I’ll keep checking in Elie. I’ll be with my family, and they are often all sat on their phones anyway. They probably won’t be on Christmas Day as that will break their rules, but hey, I’ve always been a rule breaker so why stop now ;) I wouldn’t want to disappoint them. 

I’m finding that coming on here is really helping me so coming on here over the dreaded period will probably help me as well. 

You've got an awful lot of folk to deal with and as they say at Asda or somewhere, every little helps :-) see you on Christmas Eve X

Thank you Blueray.....you anarchist!! Glad being here with us motley lot is helping.

the guest list is not my choice....it is just my OH is a BIG xmas and family fan! - I am fighting the urge to do a runner and hide in someone's shed until the calm returns...

let me know if you have a cupboard under your stairs that you dont mind subletting for a couple of days! - lol

I'm a skinny bint, and fold well...  

Never mind the cupboard, I’ve got a house, a shed and a garden, take your pick :-) 

I find that if I can get a bit of escapism in and I keep as quite as I can, I can kind of enjoy the day. I think it’s gonna be ok, and if we can get on here and keep ourselves on an even keel, we can appreciate that we at least have a warm house,  people and nice food, even if it’s not our world. 

Being here is definitely helping. Like many have said, it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes but it is most definitely helping and I feel like I have a family. 

I understand you Lonewarrior, in fact, I just did some journaling and wrote that I’m scared to make ‘progress’ in case I end up with another lonely soulless life, but then I remind myself, that I don’t have to lower my expectations, I just have to adapt to the changing scenery. My life is just not going to look like I thought it would but if I can serve our community and in doing so make this world a better place, then I think  I can be happy, if I design my life right. 

My mum has settled for what you are talking about and in all honestly, I look at her sometimes (not literally) and realise that in many ways her life is much easier than mine and as a consequence she is more at peace than me. And she is loved very much and even if she can’t feel that love, like an nt maybe would, it seems to be enough for her and I truly respect and admire her for that. 

My diagnosis is all new to me and it is my suppprt worker who has made me realise that I need to come to terms with it and accept it. I thought I had, but I hadn’t, not really. But since she mentioned it, I am beginning to come to terms with it. 

When I think about acceptance, I feel sad, but I’ve realised, the sadness is for the life I thought I had. Which wasn’t a life at all. I was simply doing my best to survive in a world I felt I didn’t belong. 

I think all of our lives would look different, if we managed to get all of our needs met and find happiness. And I’m slowly starting to look at, what my ideal life would look like now, as an aspie. It’s early days but I truly believe we can create lives for ourselves that work for us. 

I wont give up on myself and that means I won’t give up on any of us. I’m going to keep working away at this and even if the changes don’t appear in my lifetime, I will do what I can to make it easier for those who come later. 

Oh, and the natural soft alternative would be a blessing. Then we could really have a party :-) 

How many Aspies does it take to change a light-bulb?

Actually... that probably means just one single Aspie!

amazing!! - just joined!

In what context?  That's my argument entirely!

came across this the other day.....x...rang a bell!

Bloomin' eck Tom! - This is turning "other worldly"...... give me some mushrooms and a bottle of wine and I'll sit in the corner blowing smoke rings from my trunk and trying to catch the sparkles (that only i can see) to put into a sparkle jar!

Your shed is your place for YOU to YOU.  That's ok, no need to be sorry.  Outside is fine, I love being outdoors. 

Festivals are great, mad places and experiences. I worked at one a few years ago because I've never had anyone interested in going. 

good job you swapped it in for pain killers - lol!

I am sorry,maybe I can get lots of Fpp3 face filters, you could mingle then, I really must be allowed to be me in my shed, it is one of my only spaces where I can exhist. Sorry, we can extend the party to outside though! Xxx

I could make amazing joints Lol. Huge great big ones ha ha, yes the smoke rings are reeeeaaaallllyyyyy cooool wow ,xxx

I can't cope with smoking or vaping, air fresheners or polish sprays, it feels like I am suffocating.

But i like scented body lotions and perfume, but proper scents, old names, expensive classics used properly, not drenched in cheap chemical stinks with celebrity names. 

I shouldn’t say this but I have a tiny tiny bit from about ten years ago! Vintage now Lol. I have never had the urge to use it, I do however love the smell, it was a birthday gift from a fellow worker, he thought if he could get me on it he could stop hiding his addiction? Little did he know I had experienced it when I was about sixteen, I took time off school to go to a festival , by far my fondest memories, freedom, real people, a micro community. 

I doubt it would still have any effect if smoked, but proves the lack of addiction that I still have it but don’t need to use it!

you get friggin amazing smoke rings doing that!! - hehe

Who's bringing the hallucinogenics?  I doubt we'll need any Ecstasy.

I don’t wish to upset but ellie and blue Ray! Are you sisters?soulmates I think, You share so many ways, are you one person?Lol.

I think it a positive by the way, 

i like free minded people, 

Oh and to enter my aspieshed you cannot wear deodorant or perfume, I will know and you will be left standing outside ha ha,

Do you exhale through your trunk?  I've always wondered...

Oh dear!  I feel I really must go out and buy a pouch of 'Clan' now and dig the old Sherlock Holmes calabash out!

The first cigarette of the day..., and the last one....and one after 

Drink has brought out the real me.  In vino veritas.  I've told people exactly what I think when my inhibitions have been suitably lowered.  I think it's making up for a lifetime of being treated like I'm some know-nothing, with nothing worthwhile to say.  Well... I can be extremely eloquent when I want to be!

Granted, though, I have my regrets with it.  Strangely, though - the older I get, the more attenuated my regrets become.  I think I regretted more that these things made me look foolish.  But I don't really care about that now.  And sometimes I think about the things I said, and I smile and think 'Yeah!  That needed saying, and someone needed to say it.  And I said it!'

Drink has brought out the real me.  In vino veritas.  I've told people exactly what I think when my inhibitions have been suitably lowered.  I think it's making up for a lifetime of being treated like I'm some know-nothing, with nothing worthwhile to say.  Well... I can be extremely eloquent when I want to be!

Granted, though, I have my regrets with it.  Strangely, though - the older I get, the more attenuated my regrets become.  I think I regretted more that these things made me look foolish.  But I don't really care about that now.  And sometimes I think about the things I said, and I smile and think 'Yeah!  That needed saying, and someone needed to say it.  And I said it!'

definitely, because when I used to share, just about 100% of the room knew what I was saying and could identify and visa versa. 

Absolutely!  I've always argued that.  You only have to hear what people say.  It all makes sense.

yeah, definitely rings a bell. I was in AA for 7 years and a couple of my friends (one definitely on the spectrum) said AA is riddled with undiagnosed autistics. 

In what context?  That's my argument entirely!

came across this the other day.....x...rang a bell!