One Step at a time - July 2015

[Rusty]

Good Morning,Everyone,

It was a long week in MN. My cold got worse and my pinkeye came back. :-( Busy week coming up with long commutes every day.

Welcome Coco and Blue!

Blue- so very sorry to hear about your sister.:hug: You must be so sad. We're a friendly bunch and stay close...we will be watching over you. ;-)

Nora-you're sounding good.

Lizzy-well, I sure missed you while you were away. You are not allowed to leave for that long ever again. hahaha

Hugs and kisses, mama...you and I are both working our cabooses off, aren't we?

Hey Pauly-how are you?

Big hellos to everyone else!

[blue1]

Liz- I will definitely keep you guys posted about my sister....and yea I can't believe I still drink either. That's one of the reasons I'm trying to moderate. She has always been a small person and she went into a deep depression and started drinking the cheapest vodka money could buy. Drinking from morning til night....very little or no food or water for quite a while. So I make sure I eat and keep myself hydrated and I take supplements including milk thistle and livercare.

Hi everyone!

Enjoy your Saturday!

[mama bear]

OMGEEEE Dottie!!!! Can't wait for details!!
Yes, Rusty we both work very hard and we are both sick. Interesting, huh? I slept in and then cleaned and did laundry. I stumbled off the back door step and fell....banged up both my knees. What a klutz!
Good to see you Pauly and I am glad you are doing better. Prayers for your sister Blue.
Lizz - I a glad you got to chat with your son.
About to hope in the shower for date night, though I doubt it will as exciting as Dottie's date!
Hi Nora....love you

[red67]

Hi all, I just wanted to stop by and say how happy I am for you Dottie! I hardly ever post anymore but I read everyday. I just think you are an amazing woman and you have come so far since your husband passed away. Enjoy your dating, it is so exciting read your updates.

Pauly, I hope you are feeling better. I know it's hard but you keep dusting yourself off and starting again. Don't ever quit trying to quit. It will stick, you just need to be finally fed up with it. Sounds easy but I know its not. It took me to hell and back before I finally quit and it was one last drinking episode which led to a horrible night of fighting with my best friend. After that night I knew I was done, it wasn't even a question anymore. That was 4 1/2 years ago. You can do this, you are a strong amazing woman. You deserve it!

Mama, take it easy. You need a work/life balance. I know finances are hard right now but if you work all the time what's left to enjoy? You are a hard working woman and deserve a break. Maybe have a spa day?

Nora, hope you are doing ok. I know you still struggle but just like Pauly, you keep coming back and fighting. I know your job is not ideal right know and that definitely can be depressing. You have a long history there and hopefully things turn around for you.

Lizann, coco nut, blue, addy and anyone else I missed, I hope you all are doing well and have a great Sunday.

We are on lion alert up here, there have been sightings since Monday in the Milwaukee area. I hope if there is a big cat out on the streets they are able to tranquilize it and get it to a shelter. If we have one, it has to be some idiot who got a cub illegally and somehow it got to big for them to handle. One of the rescue ladies on the news said most of her rescue big cats come from drug house raids where the dealers use them for protection/guards of the houses. So sad for these beautiful big cats.

Heading to bed, just wanted to stop by and say hi.

[blue1]

Good Morning,Everyone,

It was a long week in MN. My cold got worse and my pinkeye came back. :-( Busy week coming up with long commutes every day.

Welcome Coco and Blue!

Blue- so very sorry to hear about your sister.:hug: You must be so sad. We're a friendly bunch and stay close...we will be watching over you. ;-)

Nora-you're sounding good.

Lizzy-well, I sure missed you while you were away. You are not allowed to leave for that long ever again. hahaha

Hugs and kisses, mama...you and I are both working our cabooses off, aren't we?

Hey Pauly-how are you?

Big hellos to everyone else!

Rusty- Thanks...yea I'm a bit sad but believing for a miracle.

[Rusty]

Blue...Sending you MANY hugs!!! How old is your sister? You've had lots of AL tragedy in your life, huh? Yup, I get it. My Mom's older sister died from alcoholism, and her two other sisters, and one of her brothers are/were alcoholics, too. My dad's brother as well. Ugh. GENETICS!

RED-Hey, neighbor!!! I saw the story about that lion on the Channel 12 news a minute ago. WOW! Good to see you! How are you?????

[blue1]

Happy Sunday guys!

Ok...something weird happened yesterday...for the first time in like forever. I didn't want to drink! But...I drank anyway. So, I questioned myself about it...and I came up with...because I promised myself I was going to drink on the weekends. So now I'm thinking if I'm that committed to my word I should be able to get more AF days in.

Enjoy your Sunday!

[Rusty]

Blue-I have a different idea. What if you promised yourself you wouldn't drink, EVEN on the weekend, and then kept that promise to yourself? Why promise TO drink on the weekend? Not drinking on the weekends gave me the confidence to know I COULD and WOULD be sober in the long run. Make sense?

[red67]

Blue, I agree with Rusty. I played that game too. I promised I would only drink on the weekends and I did for awhile even when I didn't feel I wanted one. When we have a problem with alcohol it's a tricky thing to try and negotiate drinking times. I found myself allowing Thursdays because it was close enough to the weekend. Then I allowed Mondays because I felt like crap on Mondays after drinking on the weekend. A drink always made that go away. Then it went back to full blown drinking every night. I can't speak for you or anyone else, but for me it was much easier to finally just quit instead of playing the daily bargaining game.

Rusty, it is amazing to think there could be a lion or cougar in the city of Milwaukee. I truly hope they find it and tranquilize it so she can go to a sanctuary with other cats that have been rescued.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

[Dottie Belle]

Afternoon all,
Church this morning. It is still hard to look around and remember all the things hubby and I did there but I can not dwell on that or I will just get myself in a real funk and that is NOT good.
Off to a reunion of folks I worked with on my very first job. Should be interesting. Don't plan to stay a long time but wanted to go. That was a very interesting time of my life. I was married to a very abusive man/ boy and learned a lot of hard life lessons. And started to drink a lot too. I think that is where I started to stuff my feelings with alcohol. Something that has taken me decades to realize is not a good or healthy thing to do. But should be fun to see them again.
Plan to stop by and see Jerry on the way home. He is feeling bad because his health is affecting his ability to do things around the house that he used to be able to do. Well he is a large man with many serious things going on. Men are so hard to tell things like this to. I am going to encourage him to see his doctor. Maybe man to man they can work on this. If he wants to that is.

[mama bear]

Hey gang..lazy Sunday here, which I cherish.
Hi Red67, good to see you and hear your words of encouragement.
Had Italian for date night and four glasses of wine.

[blue1]

Thanks guys I know you're right....but I know I'm not quite ready to commit to being totally AF and I know me...if I try that right now I'll be too hard on myself if I slip. Maybe one day but not yet.

I know that probably sounds dumb but I always try to be honest with myself. And I'm not ready.

[Lizann]

Haven't read back yet. Super busy but good weekend. Car wash at church yesterday. Afterward Erin came by and we were so tired we just ordered a pizza and watched a movie. Today after church went to hubby's aunts house as another aunt was visiting from Florida. We don't get to see her much anymore since hubby's parents passed and I love her so! Kind of a mini family reunion, sadly back in the day I took it for granted, today I savored every minute, hope you are all well. More tomorrow.

[mama bear]

Happy Monday!

[Lizann]

Good morning. Skyped with my boy this weekend. He is enjoying his time in Switzerland.
He is right on the border of France, Germany and Switzerland. Lots to keep him occupied on the weekends.
Just a regular Monday here for me. Have a good one guys!