The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #71: About loneliness and other things: checking out the chatroom To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

As some know, I have been having a bad year. I've been chasing some personal demons for a while. But not to worry - smile therapy, positivism, persistence, and a whole carload of professionals are helping me, and I am well on the way to putting those demons away. Hopefully for good.

But during these months, because of all of this nonsense, I have not been circulating among the people I know, and I am appreciative of their giving us, giving me, space while we get ourselves sorted out. Thing is, it's a bit lonely.

Don't get me wrong. I haven't been trying to be a hermit. But I can be honest now - I guess I wasn't too okay about being seen in my "condition," but not enough that I couldn't go to work, except for the week or so I had to stay in the hospital and in bed rest. So, aside from work, I've been a shut-in, more or less.

But this isn't about that.

As I was saying, we're sort of getting back to normal, so I am trying to get out from under this building cloud of loneliness.

I'm trying to get back into my normal routines again, such as my office stuff (waking up early again, regular meetings (bleh), regular reports (bleh x 2), inspections (bleh x 3)) and touching base with my office friends, reconnecting with regular friends, and other regular routines.

One regular routine I liked getting back to was shopping. One bennie of being in Manila is that shopping isn't an expensive thing. Of course, I am only referring to regular department-store stuff - no signature stuff, couture stuff or things like that.

Good quality local-brand shoes go for like the equivalent of $5 to $20. I saw blouses on sale last weekend for $2 a pair, and I saw a nice suit for $20 plus an extra $10 for a nice matching blouse. Most stuff top out at $200, and local-brand signature stuff top out at about $800. I won't cease to be amazed at their prices over here.

Let me be clear though - these are local brands.

American or European signature shoes still go for $400-$2,000 here. I saw a very nice Fendi clutchbag over $8,000 (which is over a quarter of a million pesos). So American or European signature stuff here is priced the same as at home... darn.

Anyway, I am getting away from my topic. I would apologize but this is, many of you know, a regular occurrence in my blogs. lol

Like I was saying, I am trying to get away from this lonely feeling.

The folks here in BCTS have been a lifeline to me of sorts, allowing me to open up about the things that I cannot to others. and it's great. And I read things here, and see others struggle with the TS/TG things and though I think of and feel different things depending on the blog or story or comment, the one thing I feel in my gut while I am reading is that I am not alone. So logging back on to the site a little more often is another routine I am trying to get back to.

In my first year of being a member here, I had the wonderful opportunity to interact with a bunch of new web-friends, which I had in my head presumptuously called my posse. Me and a bunch of like-minded people chatted about nothing in particular, about computers and clothes. stories and shoes, blogs and babies, editors and eating, writing and working, taking comments and taking medication, having crackers for lunch and having SRS. And over those short few months, we got to know each other. We had developed a sort of shorthand for a lot of "in" jokes. Someone would say "quotes," for example, and it would get a rise from someone, or talking about flipped-over time zones would start a joke about jet lag or needing naps, or talking about wheelie bags... et cetera...

But the practice has lapsed, and the posse hasn't gotten together for a while, as far as I know.

So, now that I want to shake this funk, I tried logging in to the newly-revived chatroom, hoping to chat, but, either there's something I am doing wrong, my time zone is reversed (daytime here is night-time back home), or there just aren't people in the chatroom.

Oh well. The good thing now is that there's a count of the number of people in the chatroom. Guess I'll try again when there are more people logged on.

In the meantime: Quotes!
  

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