Good afternoon all!
I come back to update as I know I hate it when people post a thread and then completely disappear. I did end up waking up to help her but only because I received a text from her confirming that she was awake and ready. I had told her the day before that I would be helping her but that I needed confirmation before I went over that she was going be there and be in the right mindset to work as I didn't want to wake up for nothing.
I decided to still meet her at her place for the simple reason that I am still a big softie and would struggle kicking someone out of my house and this friend really has a tendency to overstay at other people's house if she has nothing else planned for the day as she very much dislike being on her own and I really wanted to stick to the 11 am timeline I had given her and knew I would have struggled to show her the door if she was to come here.
So anyway, I ended up going to her place making sure to not arrive fully on time (okay, only got there 10 minutes late but still!) and Mrs was still in her PJs, her friend who actually happened to be two friends and more work colleagues she had befriended than lifelong friends were also there which made the whole thing a bit awkward/annoying at the beginning especially as they were chatting in the background as we were trying to work and my friend sometimes felt the need to join in on their conversation which definitely irritated me.
Anyway, I explained as much as I could explain and gave her as many tips as I could under those circumstances but admittedly didn't give the best out of me as I was very annoyed and even more so as she later discussed very personal topics regarding my life in front of her work colleagues, and while I understand that she didn't do it viciously and just wanted to properly catch up with me, there really are things I don't want strangers to know about myself without my consent and was quite upset/embarrassed that she discussed those topics publicly without previously asking me if it was okay.
To be fair, her friends/colleagues were absolutely lovely and I really got along with them the little time I was there, but I also got the impression that they too didn't have the best opinion of my friend.
To be honest, my friend has quite a low self esteem and it really showed this morning as she made things really awkward several times by repeatedly seeking validation from us all. She would for example do the most normal things like let's say" pop to the loo", but would feel the need to announce it to us all and make it very awkward by saying things such as "I am heading to the loo, please don't judge me!" she would constantly point out at things we would never even have noticed had she not pointed them out in the first place and ask us to "please not judge her." that was very very odd and definitely left us all looking at each other like...
Many times.
She definitely already had a form for this but usually just say it once or twice during the day if it's the two of us but this morning it was absolutely constant! (Not sure if it was because we were a group and she felt even more self conscious and feared we would mock her but it really led to a lot of awkward moments/silences/gazes.)
It made me feel a little bit sad for her despite it all as it's very obvious she doesn't really have any social awareness and doesn't really understand what can and will make people feel uncomfortable.
She also mentioned that she was very upset that one of her friend from abroad was currently in the city and hadn't contacted her to meet up, so I do really believe that she is struggling to make friends and keep them in the long-term. She must have noticed I wasn't the most pleased with her though as she thanked me several times when I was at her place and then again via text when I came home.
I am not sure I fully want to cut her off as she can be very nice and caring under the right circumstances but I do plan on setting boundaries so that this type of situation never happen again. I will probably follow the advice of one of you and stick to allocated time slots and refuse to reschedule so that she gets that I am not ready to spend my day waiting for her anymore. I work as a freelancer so work mostly from home and while I can be quite flexible with my work schedule, I have a feeling that she just has that idea in her mind of me sitting at home doing nothing and being available for her at whatever time of the day which is definitely not the case.
So thank you again for making me realize how much of a doormat I have been with that friend and while it is very obvious that I still have a lot of work to do on myself and regarding imposing boundaries and not letting other people step all over me, I like to think that I will now be more confident in saying "no" when people are taking too much of the piss (I do get that she still massively took the piss this morning btw) and stick to my guns.
I haven't replied to her last " thank you again!" text but I am thinking that I should probably send her a detailed text regarding my feelings about yesterday/this morning so she gets that it's the last time I am putting up with it. Just need to find the correct wording.
Anyhow, thank you again all, you have all been very helpful! 