One Step at a Time April

[Lizann]

Ok so my day. . . Serious accident closes all lanes plan alternate route. Two hours later, I'm home. Thankful I was not involved in the accident but done for the night. Dinner, shower and off to bed. Hope your day was ok, I'm doing ok, really.

[SKendall]

MB good luck.

Red, where are you?

Had an uneventful day but very sore. Hopefully if physio can cause this, then in time I'm sure it will help. Fingers crossed. Mama what are your pain pills. Mine are Vicodin but only 1/2 the strength they used to be.

[actiongirl46]

Thank you so much for the encouragement and messages re:Nal!! I feel so much better and have the answers to the questions I had. I am going to try it but not 50 mg right away.

Another AF day for me today but it wasn't without lots of cravings . . . coming back from vacation I've been paying the price by being so busy at work. At least I have a clear head to deal with the tiredness and lack of exercise. I will get back in balance this weekend.

SK and Rusty, I feel so bad that you are suffering!! I would be a mess, don't know how you do it. I hope you can get some relief.

Mama, sounds promising! I hope your deal goes through.

Liz, SO GLAD you are feeling better. You are taking charge of your health.

My youngest had a ceremony tonight for the Honor Society. I was so happy to be there and enjoy his moment, not to have to make some excuse so I could drink OR to have a few beforehand. It was nice and is becoming the new norm for me.

Take care of yourselves - AG

[NoraC]

I'm sorry that I am flaking out again but I'm off to bed. Long, busy day. But, I did get those white roots taken care of and got a trim. Looks & feels so much better.
Looking forward to tomorrow so I can catch up with everyone. :heartbeat:

[NoraC]

MAE everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

POETS day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is everyone feeling??

:hug:

[Rusty]

Hello Friends!

I am on the way home and have 3.5 hours of driving left...but the weather is beautiful and I am looking forward to the weekend. I have no plans except to get together with my dear friend and neighbor who will be here for the weekend. The Gabapentin is finally working and I finally slept through the night without waking up at 1:00 AM, writhing in pain.

SK-so glad the PT and pain meds are working somewhat.

AG-glad to see you back here..:-)

Back to my drive...happy POETS' Day!'

[Lizann]

Hey guys. So glad I made it through this busy week. One more dinner/meeting at church tonight which will hopefully not be too late. Friday is my early busy long day at work and anything on a Friday night is usually just too much.

So that accident last night that snarled traffic for over two hours sadly was a fatal motorcycle accident. Details still have not been determined, but there by the grace of God go we? Grateful for a safe, albeit long commute. Prayers for the family of the injured.

Anyway off to tend to my obligations. Good night guys.

[techie]

Hey there folks. Hope everyone is doing better. Thinking of you all. Have a great weekend xoxo

[Rusty]

Good Morning, Friends,

It's a GORGEOUS day here and I am sitting here in my condo, still in my pajamas, sorting through a week's worth of mail and watching "The Phantom of the Opera" (my FAVORITE) for the 5th time. LOL. I slept until 7:30 AM which is unheard of in my life. Exercise is in order as I have not worked out all week due to my neck and I feel like a total cow. On the flip side, I am happy and sober and grateful for so many things, and that's what matters. I will embrace this day with gratitude. I've had WAY too many Saturday mornings where I was too hungover to take a walk on the lake path and I just sat in my office, staring out the window...wondering when the madness of drinking would EVER stop. I regret that I waited so long to just fight off the cravings on ANOTHER Day 1 and chose to drink instead. Somehow, now I feel like I have to make up for lost time. Just my thoughts today. :-)

NE...why is your husband pissed at you and why did you go off the ADs? So sorry for you.:hug: Can you go back on them...or go on something like Buspar? I was on Buspar for YEARS for anxiety and it's really helpful. I've got to ask you something...my other addiction is "Two-And-A-Half Men." Have you ever seen it? It's my dirty little addiction. I never saw it when it was running but I can watch the reruns over and over again. This morning, I was watching it, and Alan's son Jake said, "peace out!" and I thought of you. LOL. Is that where you got that phrase?

Mama-good luck with the referrals...I'm in your corner!

Techie-great to see you!

Big hellos to everyone else. I better get on with my day! Have a great Saturday, everyone!

[Lizann]

Ne, I'm feeling much like you today, not at all chipper. Rusty, thanks so much for your thoughts today. Boy do I need to hear that. I am ashamed, I have do much to be thankful for and I'm just feeling blah. Dangerous place for me to be in light of last weeks slip.
Hope you guys are doing ok. Rusty thanks for being so upbeat. I strive to find sobriety and happiness as you have. You give me hope.

[Rusty]

Liz-:hug::love: I still have blah days, I really do!! I was feeling blah this past week and I was NOT in gratitude mode. I was in pain...I was feeling fat because I didn't want to work out and risk making my pain worse, and I just wanted to escape. I would go months without drinking and then I would drink...either because I missed my wine with dinner or an outing with my family, or I was trying to escape a stressful situation...a variety of reasons. When I look back, I had to honestly say whether the wine REALLY made me feel better...and it didn't. I DO miss the taste of wine, because I LOVED it with dinner or a lunch out with my friends...but I'm making new friends who do not drink and they are not people who had a problem with it in the past...they just decided to stop drinking because they feel better without it. One of these new friends is a woman who is 65 and seriously looks like she's 40. She is an accomplished triathlete and FOUR TIME CANCER SURVIVOR. She motivates me to maintain an AF life. She said she used to like wine but when she got into her 50s, it started giving her heartburn and she just gave it up. I asked her if she missed it and she said, "not really." My main motivation is my mother....I love how I can get a call from her and hear her voice, and then if I have time that time, I just get in the car and drive the 70 minutes to her house and surprise her with flowers and an invitation to go to dinner at her favorite restaurant. She hugs me and kisses me like it's my last day, and then I know, I really know, that my sobriety IS worth it. When I refused to go to rehab and my drinking escalated, my mom looked at me with these disgusted eyes as I had shown up at her house, definitely under the influence. She just glared at me and said, "well, I guess it doesn't hurt enough for you to quit, does it??!!!!" I finally did get to the point where it hurt enough, and I just decided it was easier to not drink then continue drinking. I know you want this, dear Liz, and I know you'll get there.:hug:

[Lizann]

I agree, beautiful post Rusty! Thank you, I took Lucy for a walk and my mood was so much better. I had to push myself out the door but I'm glad I went. Hubby got these adirondack chairs and just put them outside. I just sat in the sun and let Lucy romp. Another bad habit of mine, I love being out in the sun. Today I needed it.

Anyway waiting for hubby to come home and we will start shopping (if that's the right word) for the bathroom remodel. Not totally sure were gonna do this yet, but were gonna look.

[Lizann]

FYI rusty, I'm coming back in my next life as you! 7:30 am on a Saturday unheard of? I'm so not an earlier riser, but I can rock 8:00am like nobody's business.

[SKendall]

Evening,

Rusty, thanks for the post. I can honestly say I don't miss the wine. I started considering it as having a nasty, sour taste and it worked for me. Pretty ironic when son is a sommelier!

I met with a neighbor of mine today who drove me to the store, and remembered why you must never judge a book by it's cover. Pat looks so much like a grandma baking cookies it's as if central casting gave her a role.

She was telling me about her cheating husband who was a truck driver and he complained he cheated b/c he was lonely on the road. Sooo, she learned to drive an 18 wheeler on ice! When she caught him cheating after that, she decked him so hard he fell to the ground. I laughed and said I wished I had done something to my hubby before he became an amputee 6 months ago. And her reply was "there's lots of ways to hit an amputee both sitting in his chair and standing on one leg". This time I laughed nervously. Had I met a black widow? She used to be a hairdresser and always has that silver hair coiffed and laughs a lot. She told me she gets away with a lot because she is so friendly (?).

She also has early stage alzheimers. I came home and made herbal tea and ice cream as if to revive myself from a shock. Then I remembered all the people on Dateline who were dastardly.

It certainly broke up my day thinking about it, plus it was 70 deg with the sun shining. Glad it wasn't a dark, foggy night with ships sounding their foghorns. It's a good thing when you learn something new, I guess.

[Rusty]

Skendall-your story about the possible Black Widow made me laugh!! Whoa, I didn't know your ex became an amputee????!! How and WHEN did that happen? Before he started cheating on you or after? Did his new girlfriend dump him after he became an amputee? Inquiring minds want to know.

Well, friends, there has been an upside to all this pain....I weighed myself this morning and I have managed to lose 5 lbs. in two weeks with little to no exercise...I am sure my heart rate has been escalated because of the pain. Now I have to watch myself because I am pain-free today. YAYYYYY!!!

It's a gorgeous day here again and I have a walk with a close friend planned and a lunch date. Happy AF Sunday, Everyone!!!