Sober February!

[free at last]

Sober February!

Hi all, been offline for the weekend and missed so much.

Congrat SBL on your HUGE milestones. You just keep rocking up the days. Great!

Trees, congrats on the house. It can be stressful but having 40+ AF days behind is a big help in staying focused.

Halo, we have the 311 gang reunion coming up. Amazing how far we have come in the past year, yes?

Nothing new from me. I am on a plane this afternoon for West Africa. Working to tie up loose ends with the consulting assignment.

[Pavati]

Sober February!

Morning all:

I had a great weekend and felt really happy to be sober. A lot of family time, some alone time, a house chore I have been putting off, rain at last... Now back to work, but I like my job so that's all good.

Running off to work. Feb. 10 - A third of the way through a sober Feb.

[tree23]

Sober February!

FREE-
Wow! West Africa sounds amazing. I have always wanted to go to Africa. My dream as a girl was to go to French Speaking Africa with the Peace Corps. Maybe in my retirement. Safe travels! I will live vicariously through you!

[free at last]

Sober February!

Hi Tree,
Sorry to say there is a lot of turmoil in West Africa these days (intense hunger, ethnic fighting, intolerance of sexual orientation, violence toward women) so the stress can often outweigh the joy of being there. I do consider myself quite fortunate to have this opportunity to work here, though.
My goal, with each trip, is to remain AF. Am feeling good about my progress on that front!
Warmest,

[skullbabyland]

Sober February!

Free- thanks for the supportive comments

Wow your travelling to West Africa sounds really intense. Sounds like you've travelled there previously and were able to do so sober? Or will this be the first time?

[free at last]

Sober February!

Hi SBL, this is my 22nd trip to WA in 23 months. Each one is fairly intense. I've been pretty much sober since mid July. Say pretty much because I have had wine on several occasions, but nothing to extreme. The monthly AF threads are very helpful to me so thanks for getting this one started.

Cheers.

[Pavati]

Sober February!

Hi, Everyone:

This thread moves slow but steady toward a sober February.

Free - I can imagine that working in West Africa is VERY stressful - it is pretty amazing that you can maintain your sobriety through it all. Your work sounds very interesting.

As for me - feeling a lot of stress lately. Free or Skull - do you remember going through a phase like this? I think I'm feeling ALL of my feelings at once - all the ones I've managed to keep at bay with a cocktail (or four).

Skull, Tree, BK (WHERE ARE YOU!!??), Bastet - anyone I missed. Happy Feb. 12. Hope all is well.

[Bastet]

Sober February!

Hi I'm here just mostly been reading instead of posting. I like to look at the different topics and threads. Last night I was bored at work and came across the thread dedicated to Sticky. What a sad story! So I went back to her own thread and read the whole thing. It is boggling to think that this vibrant wife and mother is no longer here. I've just been thinking about her all day off and on. I don't really think I understand addiction and/or we are all different with how we respond to it. She spent so long trying to figure out her baclofen dosage, while enduring horrible sa, that I wonder she just never quit. I guess she couldn't and that is why what happened did. I don't know I just think the whole thing is very sad and wish her outcome had been different.

[skullbabyland]

Sober February!

Good morning Sober Febs. Hope everyone is doing well today. The forum as a whole has seemed quiet lately to me- so many threads seem to be silent. It makes me a little blue when that happens, but I know it just goes that way sometimes, it ebbs and flows.

Free, wow, I knew you travelled a lot, but WOW! Super well done to protect your quit through all of that travel especially to places as intense as West Africa. That's pretty darn inspiring, Free. Best of luck with the latest trip!

Pav- The answer is most definitely YES. I totally remember going through a phase like that. Actually, 2 or 3 of them. I think I may be in the middle of one right now. I think I'm almost always going in and out of one-- for me managing stress is a day to day thing. For me the most important part of doing it sober and not having it be overwhelming are- nutrition, exercise, and SLEEP. The upside to feeling a lot of stress is that, if you manage it and get through it sober, it builds strength.

Bastet, I too feel really sad about Sticky. I can't bring myself to read through her thread, I feel like I'll just be too crushed. Fuck this disease and all the shit that comes with it. The best thing we can do to honor those who didn't make it through is to live sober best we can and thus try to end the cycle of misery, whether great or small, and hopefully those around us will see us as good examples who broke through to a better life.

Sending love to all our peeps here today. I think everyone should do one nice thing for themselves that they'll really enjoy. Watch a guilty pleasure movie, have a delicious chocolate treat, soak in a tub, read by a fire. I think I'll do two of three of those. Yep, I'm a little bit of a hedonist... lol.

[free at last]

Sober February!

Happy Valentines Day! Happy to report I had a productive day at work, left early to get in a swim at the hotel. Ate a mediocre meal (hotel VIP lounge), practiced some yoga in the empty gym (no one else here on Valentines Day), and treated myself to a massage. Now ready to call it an AF day and night. Cheers!

[Bastet]

Sober February!

So can you believe we are smack dab in the middle of February? This month is moving pretty quickly or is it only because I am getting so much older that time has sped up? I am on my first AF vacation, just a long weekend, and am finding I need to think about relaxing differently. Free I can't believe you do as much travel as you do and stay AF! Just being in a hotel gives me some urges. I'm really not worried about drinking though - I am committed. I hope you all have a good holiday weekend - at least it is in the states.

[halo]

Sober February!

Great work on an AF February everyone! Keep up the fantastic effort, am ready for Spring I tell you! Keep up the commitment Bastet even when in a hotel, I know what you mean though, certain places give me triggers as well. Here's to completing Feb Alcohol Free!

[halo]

Sober February!

A big congrats tree on the house! A tree house! Okay pretty lame I admit

[free at last]

Sober February!

Off line for the weekend but now checking in to see how everyone is doing. I enjoyed an AF weekend.
Here's to the start of another great week.

[Pavati]

Sober February!

Quick check in for me, too. I was away and could only get reception from time to time on my phone. I am staying strong and sober in February - hope you all are, too.

Tell us about the Tree House.