Newbies Nest

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

Hi Mylife and Lav, you've just reminded me of a lovely wee moment last year. We had a lot of snow and the gardens of my neighbours on either side were all messed up with the remnants of children playing. My garden was picture perfect - my teenagers haven't the same interest in snowmen as when they were younger.
A knock comes to my front door - about 6 children asking if they could play in my garden as they'd 'run out of snow'........
Picture perfect was then kids at play!

[canadian gal]

Newbies Nest

Morning Nesters,

Bydie- That post was unbelievable. As always warm and full of advice. I?m toasting my coffee to you! :l How did you celebrate?

UW- How are you doing?

Jane- Are you in Florida now? How are things?

Daisy- Good for you on 12 days! :goodjob: Byrdie says it gets easier after 13. Stay strong this weekend!

Jolie- You sound cozy

Lav- Your poor chickens! Stay warm this weekend, Mother Hen.

K9- Your conversation was so interesting and funny. That?s how our mind works though.

Starfish- You are doing great on 1 day! :goodjob: What are your goals by the way?

MWOL- I completely agree. Without this site, I don?t know where I?d be?.most likely at the bottom of the bottle.

All- Too bad about the Med food. It?s delicious! Congrats on 12 days! Keep racking up those numbers!

Mylife- How are you doing?

Today- Ice cream sounds terrific now. I say go with mint chocolate chip! Yum! :h

Well last night after coming on here and declaring to everyone that I will not drink during my vacation, my mind started playing it?s games. Last night I told hubby ?I don?t want to drink so much while we are at your mom?s place. Maybe just one night with your good friends.? Him ?I?m worried about that. I don?t want you to start drinking again.? Me: ?I?ll be ok. I?m on vacation.? :nutso:

:durn: Just like that, that voice said ?Go on, one night will be ok? and I believed it. This morning during my shower my real brain kicked in and I just thought NO! There is no way you are drinking this holiday. This will be an intense battle.

Hope you all have a great al free weekend! Stay warm!

[Nursie]

Newbies Nest

Byrdie, Congratulations on your one year free! Your post is beautiful and I will refer to it often.

Star, congrats on Day one! That's where we all start and you gotta get through it to get to it.

Canadian Gal: look at my face, you are not drinking on vacation because you don't drink anymore. You chose not to drink anymore because you don't ever want to feel the morning after pain and regret. Don't let the alcohol weeds strangle your new growth! You can do it!

Daisy, Jane, All, we are all 13 tomorrow! We have to stay strong for eachother. I need you guys. This is our boot camp. Hooraah!

[scottish lass]

Newbies Nest

Well missed another day posting, but had to sign in tonight to say CONGRATULATIONS to Byrd! Well done on your 100 days! Thank you for all the support, encouragment and rare kick in the pants you have given me - you (along with other nesters) have given me one of the greatest gifts of my life - 53 days AF! I can never thank you enough :l:l:l
Yesterday was another long day - got up at 4am to head to Reno for work, and of course it decided to snow at long last, but why when I have to drive home??? And then there was a major fire that burnt too many homes and caused lots of problems - so due to teh wind, snow and fire two collegues could not fly out, so I drove them home in a quick detour to San Francisco - a mere 500 mile drive, in delightful conditions. They very kindly bought me supper and were extremely confused when I turned down a drink, and tried repeatedly to encourage me to have a nice glass of red to relax me after a terrible drive - eventually I just let the cat out of the bag, or at least half way out - i said that I had given up drinking, didn't admit to being an alcoholic, but did say that I had found that I was drinking too much! I had to not drink last night as I could not bear to post on Byrds anniversay that I had broken my streak - the longest AF in probably 30 years (my OB doc when he diagnosed me with anemia during both pregnancies ordered chocolate, steak and red wine - i considered having 10 kids with that sort of treatment regime )
Anyways, long way to say thanks Byrd, so very much!
Welcome to all the newbies, well done to those getting back in the nest after a fall, and big congrats to those racking up the days and posting the good things about being AF - I have skimmed the pages of posts in the last couple of days, there are a lot - and did manage to see the note about sleeping patterns and celibacy!! Works for me :H!
Well, on call tonight and will be working hard, looking forward to some down time - heck of a week thats for sure, but survived it so much better without the help of AL!

[Australia]

Newbies Nest

Happy one year or 365 days!!!! Byrdlady- you are an inspiration and an amazing help. Thanks for being you and sharing your hard earned advice and experiences with us!!

[scottish lass]

Newbies Nest

OK - too tired, Byrd - meant 1 year, not one hundred days - that was a wee while ago! apologies, i knew what I was talking about - my fingers got it wrong :blush::sorry:

[Willow1]

Newbies Nest

Hi Everyone. I have decided to fast track my first AF day to today rather than Monday. I have also cancelled my social things for the weekend as I just didn't want the temptation in the first stages of withdrawal from alcohol. I gotta be honest today is not a good day for me. I don't have any relief from the cravi:upset:ngs. Except when I eat something or have a cup of coffee or green tea. I have all these thoughts flying through my head - should I taper, or should I wait for the starter pack to arrive, or why am I doing this when Australia Day is this Thursday and everyone will be partying on and having a good old time outdoors, should I postpone??? Anyway, I have kinda resigned myself to keep on pushing through and just put up with this. Any suggestions on how to deal with the cravings while I'm waiting for my supplements & CDs to arrive & get my medication. I'm also worried I might not be able to get the Topamax easily here. Can anyone shed light on their experience getting it it Aus? I have been drinking more and more heavily these last few weeks 5 or more beers and then a bottle of wine over the course of the day while I'm hols and my husband is at work or if out with friends. Well done Star on Day 1.:upset:

[allswell]

Newbies Nest

Hi Willow, Good decision to not put if off since there is no time like the present to get on track. I would suggest eating regular meals and not allowing yourself to get hungry and I also used to take half a lemon, slice it, and put it in a glass of water. The bitter taste when I took a sip seemed to help with cravings the first couple of days. Not everyone exercises but I do and that helped a great deal as well.

Canadian Gal, I always had that horrible first voice and also started recognizing the second little voice of reason, the one that would tell me "this has to stop". Finally the better voice is winning out!

Nursie, Daisy, and Jane - welcome to our day 13. We can do this!

[Australia]

Newbies Nest

Willow- you can get topa online. I am in Australia and getting it online was no problem. But... In my opinion it doesn't work on cravings at all and left me finding it hard to concentrate on anything much, I muddled my words like I had dyslexia, wouldn't recommend it but that's just my experience.it could work for u but didn't for me! Dont wait until Australia day, no use putting it off! There will always be a cause to celebrate and for me drinking might seem the way to do it but usually doesn't end up as a celebration but quite the opposite! Good luck! Well done on day 1- distract yourself to stop cravings, eating, tv, DVDs, diet coke, calls to friends, cooking, reading...

[Australia]

Newbies Nest

Day 13 for me too allswell- good job!

[Willow1]

Newbies Nest

Thanks Allswell & Australia for your advice and well done on achieving your day 13. Allswell I will give the lemon a go and keep up the regular meals. You're right about the exercise to, it always lifts my mood I find. I knew I should have exercised today but I couldn't really leave the house today, I felt a bit down.

Australia, I agree with you, there will always be some celebration going on. Now, for me, feels like a the perfect time to start as it is a quieter few months than others, I just struggle getting my head around some of the major traditional pi$$ up days we have here. I guess I will have to do a bit thinking about other alternatives on those days i.e. doing something active rather than going to a pub. Thanks for your info and feedback on Topa. I've just read My Way Out & different threads about peoples' experiences and I have to admit that particular side effect concerned me in respect to how it would affect my daily job. I know everyone reacts differently though so right now I am am doing some serious thinking on it which way to go. Any thoughts on Campral? I will definitely try and keep as busy as possible over the next few weeks. Thanks!

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

Allswell, Nursie, Jane, Australia!!! Yeeha, we made it to Byrdie's '13 days'!!! Now if we can all just stick together and follow in her footsteps.......
That is the great thing about MWO; we all start this journey alone and desperate - come here and we not only get understanding, support and wisdom, but companionship along the way......

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

Good Morning Nesters,

Just stopping in to say hi and wish everyone well.:lilheart:

SL - I read about the Reno fire - wow I can't believe what you had to go through. There's actually an article about it on the front page of MSNBC online. Some idiot started it in his fireplace - didn't read it yet so I don't know the details.

You overcame a great hurdle SL by not drinking after all that - you had the perfect excuse - stress, tired, etc. You should be proud of not giving in to that. But, you knew it would be an excuse, not a reason. Good for you for thinking down the road to what that one drink would have dominoed into..........the RUT of drinking. Remember Jason Vale's acronym whenever you're into that "oh I can't drink" drama thinking of deprivation:

C - Constant
A - And
N - Never-ending
T - Torture

OF ALCOHOL

Nesters, another things to keep in mind - the alcohol actually creates the problem. We never felt deprived before we drank.

Star - so happy you made it past day 1 - keep it going.

Sending everyone peace and strength. We can do this! Day 68 for me - YAY!

[Starfish1]

Newbies Nest

Good morning my nesters. Just lost a great post in which I thanked you all much for your amazing support. Hope to find a real computer today ( been trying to use phone). Will properly introduce myself and thank you when I can type faster and more accurately (with a real keyboard) and hopefully not keep losing posts ! Good luck today everyone and lots of love and gratitude

star

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters!

Well my portion of the nest is snow covered with a nice layer of ice on top
I'd rather have a foot of snow & skip the ice ~ for sure.

CG- you don't drink anymore! Screw what everyone else is doing, their choice! Be your best friend 7 don't let people pressure you

Congrats to everyone reaching 13 days......Byrdie's magic number

Jane, Florida sounds pretty good right about now

Willow, wishing you a strong start today! I did not use any Rx meds, most people don't I think. I kepts myself home, lived small for a few weeks, read all I could in the Tool box & drank tons of decaf green tea.

Wishing everyone a great AF Saturday!
Lav