Newbies in Need Day 9

[rustop61]

Good morning everyone and welcome.

Up early again this morning so I thought I would start the thread. Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far and that the cravings are not too bad. Only one more day to go and we are one third of the way through our first month!! Taking it day by day does help and then all of a sudden wow the first week is over and then hopefully the first month etc. The more AF days I get under my belt the more determined I am to keep going and achieve the success I see other members like reteacher achieving.

Next week-end is going to be a hard one for me as I am going to a wedding. I am planning my strategy already. I am going to be in a big group and as its an Irish wedding there is going to be lots of booze. I had thought of the antibiotic excuse but one of my cousins is a nurse and that would lead to too many awkard questions so I think I'll just say I had an upset tummy that morning and dont want to make it worse by drinking alcohol as I have a long journey the next day so I'll stick with water. Eventually I hope to reach the stage where I can say I dont drink any more but at this stage I am too new into it and just dont want to deal with all the questions etc. Its enough to deal with getting through each day alcohol free. There is always going to be alcohol around and part of the journey is dealing with that. My hubby still drinks wine and its in the house and I am dealing with that. Yesterday was fine and had no cravings, sat down and watched a dvd with him and managed to stay awake through the whole thing. Normally after a few glasses of wine I would be fast asleep and miss half of it.

Hope everyone is having a good week-end.

Rustop

[PinkLady]

Newbies in Need Day 9

Hey Rustop,

Good morning! Congratulations on Day 9!!!! Be proud!! I am a few days behind you here (6 for me), but I hope I can tag a long.

Excellent plan about the wedding. I am Irish too, and I know what a party that will be. Just think that you will be the one that can recount the day/evening totally! I wonder how many stories you will have!!! LOL Anyway, you could try a soda with a lime/lemon too, if you want to dodge some of the questions 'cuz it looks like a drink.

I hear you about the movie thing --- I used to miss the end every time --- sometimes asleep, sometimes part of a blackout! It is embarrassing saying you can't remember what happened!! Geeez! This way is so much better!!

Well, Happy Sunday! Keep your strong and positive attitude. It's great!!
:goodjob:

[uda]

Newbies in Need Day 9

Hi Rustop and Pink Lady and all to come,

Aren't we doing brilliantly?? I'm on day nine and, until realising I hadn't logged on and hadn't filled in my drink tracker, I didn't think about drinking at all. I know from bitter experience that that doesn't mean I'm 'over it', but it is a very nice feeling to just get on with stuff and not have this huge thing at the back (or front) of your mind all the time, even if it is just for one day and there will be days when it will be very hard to not drink.

Brilliant planning for the wedding Rustop. Not drinking when others are is the hardest for me. Probably because, apart from when being pregnant, I have never done it, not even when my alcohol consumption was still relatively acceptable.

Pink Lady, it shows incredible strength to sit there when hubby is imbibing. I'm really lucky as mine never drinks much anyway and then mostly beer (which I hate and which even at my worst remained untouched).

Ok, better get on with the dinner now.

Uli

[me145]

Newbies in Need Day 9

hey you. that is my biggest problem as well. the fact that when u go to weddings, the alcohol is there. friends want u to go to bars on the weekends, and the alcohol is there(obviousally). its everywhere. and i hate seeing people drinking at say a wedding or a bar and lookin so joyful and lauphy. i plan on going af next week for a month, but im sure for that month i cant go to bars with friends. it sux. im not excited about it. good luck, on day nine! :goodjob:

[indigosky]

Newbies in Need Day 9

:new: Hi,
I just joined the site yesterday. Today will be my 6th day AF and it's been awhile since i've been able to string this many together. I know from past experience not to get overconfident but I do plan not to drink today I had a nice day yesterday until the afternoon. My downstairs neighbor and I used to drink together and one night when I was there quite abit of my money went missing from my purse. I didn't accuse her but asked if she could check the furniture for it. Well she went ballistic...saying that I was accusing her. She has spread stuff about me around our apartment complex and been trying to make life quite uncomfortable for me. I was in a pretty peaceful mood when I checked my machine and there was a nasty message on it from her telling me that she found two ciggarette buts on her porch(I have a balcony). She said that if it happens again she will report me. There were no cigarrettes or butts on my porch as I have been diligently cleaning out the ash tray. I know that the wind can tend to blow them sometimes so I have a container i've been putting them in. I know that she left this message just to see if she could get an argument started with me. My nerves were pretty shaken and I did some journaling and called a friend. I am prooud to say that I didn't drink over it...however trivial this may seem. I have bi-polar disorder and anxiety problems on top of the alcoholism thing so nerves tend to get bad anyway.
I don't mean to ramble on but just wanted to introduce myself and I suppose vent a little. I know I have to get better at not letting things shake me up so much. She has been very nasty though and I have taken to turning the ringer off on my phone and the volume down on my answering machine. I check the machine frequently and get back to those that matter...next step is changing my number I suppose.
Well guess that's all for today. Hope everyone has a happy Sunday.

[emily]

Newbies in Need Day 9

hiya all

I'm joining you all and agree with everything you all say. I'm on day 8 AF and cannot believe how much I have 'got done' yesterday I really cleaned the house, boy did it need it. I have been much more 'quiet' not roaring and shouting at the kids and everyone else because my nerves are shot to pieces. Like uda said I am certainly not getting complacent but that said, I have always been alone before and this site has really given me strength. I am still amazed at how things like 'the dreaded day 3' and not being able to sleep at night after a weekend, and all the mental feelings that go with drinking too much are shared with others and I'm not the only person in the whole wide world like this.

I hope to join with you all in a 30 day AF and then I plan to moderate. I feel strong just now and calm and normal.

I plan also to leave my part time employment and go full self-employed just shortly so I really need to get my act together to make this work. I feel I have been flying by the seat of my pants over the last 2 years and maybe the pressure led to me using wine as a coping mechanism, anyway, my printer is now working and I plan to download the book tomorrow (no paper).

hope everyone had a good weekend, I'm off to bed now and this being the second sunday without a drink how good do I feel compared to last sunday when I was still in hangover highway dodging the barrage of symptoms.

[retteacher]

Newbies in Need Day 9

Hi Everyone: Regarding weddings, parties, etc. where there is drinking: I usually try to strategize ahead of time. I've now stayed sober at quite a few this summer. It isn't easy at first, but once I get through the first few minutes, I'm fine. The urge passes. I've been telling people that wine gives me a headache. I'm finding that people don't really care whether I drink or not. Love, Mary

[Hannah]

Newbies in Need Day 9

Hi everyone. Mary, I've pretty much adopted the same excuse you use, i.e., that wine just gives me a headache. It's one excuse that no one can dispute, or wonder about, and can be used over and over (how long can you really be on antibiodics anyway?). Also, I say to my woman friends that it makes my hot flushes worse. (and it did!)!