Newbies Nest

[K9Lover]

Newbies Nest

Hello everybody!
Welcome Ginger...you have found a great place, there's so much support, strength and love here. To all my friends, UW, Nursie, Byrdie, Lav, Star, Belle, Jane, Shue, Australia and so many others...hope you have a wonderful Valentine's day...whatever you decide to do. Nursie, sorry you're having such a hard time right now with your friends illness, thank goodness you are doing it sober, you don't need that bitch alcohol right now. I admire your strength and determination....you go girl! I am so amazed at the difficult situations many of you have been through and stayed sober. You guys rock, and you keep me in line! From vacations to dinner parties to deaths in the family, I am just so impressed with the strength so many of you have shown. I hope I would have the strength that you guys have...you give me something to aspire to!
Tomorrow I take a class to become a Notary Public, and on the application I have to disclose my DUI....I hope it's not a problem. It really shouldn't be, I've already gone through a massive background check to get the job I have now...I just hope it doesn't come up, but if it does...well, I made a stupid mistake and paid for it, and it was 12 years ago! Time to get over it.
I got a new relaxation CD from the library last night and I only made it about 5 minutes before I was sound asleep...boy do I love those things. I don't even really care what they're saying, I think it's just the lull of the voice. I don't even take melatonin anymore!!
Well I hope you all have a great Valentines Day with your significant others....my dogs and I have a cozy evening planned. LOL
Love to you all!
K9

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

:welcome:Ginger, so glad you came to the nest. As you can already see, there is such loving kindness here. Everyone is absolutely amazing with their understanding and support. Byrdie has given you brilliant advice. Thank you Byrdie.......you are wonderful.

K9, you're sounding fantastic! I don't think the DUI is going to keep you from getting the notary designation. 12 years ago is a lifetime, seriously! Keep us posted.

Belle, I know I've said it before, but so happy for your 30 days! That really is a big milestone. Wear your hat proudly. :l

Gotta run.....my second post here today. I am officially now addicted to MWO and my I Phone!:H

[allswell]

Newbies Nest

Hey K-9,

I'm a notary here in Ohio and when I first applied I was told DUI's won't matter, they just don't want you to lie about it. I had one in 1990 and had no problem becoming a notary. Have a great day everyone!

[Turnagain]

Newbies Nest

Greetings Nesters....

It's been awhile since I posted here, but I dip into the nest almost every day to read. It's great to see so many doing so well and it's always wonderful to see the newest newbies in the nest.

Belle...how marvelous that you've gone past 30 days! That's a huge milestone. Do you have another goal set? And Timpin....sailing past 100 days! I'm with you - AF life just gets better.

Irie - I am also applauding you for thinking ahead on handling the vacation. By remaining AF, you'll build brand new pathways in your brain. You will make those synapses so buff! I had a destination wedding to go to just 2 weeks into my sobriety. With the help and encouragement here in the nest (Lav and Byrdie are wise and wonderful!) I was able to do something BEFORE I went on vacation that I had never been able to do: I finally accepted that my body cannot tolerate even one drop of alcohol. I had resisted that for so long. I thought - I'm different - I will be able to drink 'normally.' Well. Like Byrdie, I ended up drinking even more than ever the harder I tried to control it.

Surprisingly, once I let go of that resistance and embraced the acceptance...it was as if a HUGE weight just lifted from my life. I have heard this from so many others who also let go of the bottle and found freedom. Alcohol wasn't just holding me down. It was killing me.

I ache to see those of you who are struggling. Shue....I hope this is the time for you, as Belle said. There is no Italian wine worth giving up your brilliance, beauty and peace of mind. I promise you - your life will be exponentially better once you are finally free of the anchor of alcohol. I was afraid to make that decision for so long. The moment I did....the only regret I felt was that I hadn't done it earlier.

Gingersnap...I hope you settle in here for awhile. The support is amazing. And so is the education. I've included a couple of links that I found helpful in the healing process. It takes our bodies a bit of time to become whole again after years and years of abuse. Supplements can help repair the biochemcial damage and eating right and exercise will help us get dopamine the old-fashioned and healthy way.

There's a lot of reading on this site about repairing the body and brain:

Biochemical Traps

Here is a link to a 7-part youtube video about addiction and the brain:

Pleasure Unwoven - YouTube

Happy V-day to all....Love yourself today by indulging in the best gift of all - health and freedom from addiction!

[Pinecone]

Newbies Nest

Hi Gingersnap, good to see you over here! Your first posts are alot like my first posts! We must have something in common...

You have already realized that there is another voice in your head that is fueling things at this point. I remember frantically searching for an excuse to go out of the house so I could stop by the beer store and pick up my fix. Then I would see it on the seat as I drove home and I was disgusted and ashamed. Did "I" even just do that? Who the hell just did that? This was after about a thousand or more times of waking up at 2:00 AM and telling myself that the madness had to stop.

The good news is that you can have your whole life back, and it is truly better than I ever imagined. You'll have to fight for it at least at first, but it is so worth winning.

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

Pinecone and TA - thank you for the links and your beautiful posts!! It's wonderful when you long-timers post for us Newbies.......:lilheart: Pinecone, not sure how much time you have but you sound so wise. You may be at 4 months or so? TA, you're since July, so 7ish months? Anyway, thanks to you both.

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

Aw, thanks Jane. That is sweet. I appreciate your telling me that!! I'll keep coming by with my $0.02 for what it's worth!! :lilheart:

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

90 AF days = Awesome UW

Hello & welcome Ginger!
This is a friendly nest so please settle in for a while.
Have you read the MWO book yet? Download it right from the Health store here - it's where I got started The sooner you get some AF days under your belt the better you will feel!

jane, I am now convinced that we don't have to drink over stressful situations. It's something we used to choose to do but not anymore

[Pinecone]

Newbies Nest

Hi Jane, It's funny you used the word image, because I could really SEE it my mind when I wrote that, and I wasn't planning on writing it either. Gingersnap's post about someone else being in control of her actions really hit home with me, and I had a flash of that memory. Just let those temptations roll right on past you. They are just tiny bumps on a beautiful road. You don't have to let them take root, and if you start to get nervous, just go back to your "tool box" that you used in the very beginning!

Unwasted, thank you for the compliment! :thanks: It means alot because I have always been inspired by your posts. We have about the same amount of time, I think we quit right around the same time or a few days. This site and the support here was the game changer for me.

I hope everyone has a great AF night!

[BelleGirl]

Newbies Nest

Unwasted...90 Days! That's HUGE!

Well done! And thanks for being such a supportive presence in the nest!

[Ruinator]

Newbies Nest

Congrats UW and everyone else reaching their goals. 2 more weeks and I'll be at 90 days! Stay strong everyone

[lolab]

Newbies Nest

congratulations Uw!!!

I just now realized something. It was one year ago today...After spending another entire weekend drinking...I woke up just past midnight on Monday morning - I was so anxious - and shaky and scared. I thought I was going to die. honestly. I went downstairs and didn't go back to sleep that night I was so sick and scared. By 6 AM, I threw up and called in sick. I spent the entire day with that fear and regret and it was the first day of my first quit. Pretty memorable day for me.I made it just over 30 days sober back then - and I learned alot in the process...now I'm going on 5 months. That long lonely - incredibly scary night seems like an eternity ago.

I will be back in the morning...have a great night everyone.

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Lola, such memories, huh? Glad you are OK & with us now

Ruinator - doing great too!!!

Just in my shop finishing up some work, ho hum.
Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[Unwasted]

Newbies Nest

Ruin, thrilled to hear you're still AF. We haven't heard from you in a while. Hope every day is better and better for you. And thanks for the 90 day well wish.....it really means a lot for people to congratulate us.......makes me proud.:l and you're right there! It does feel good, doesn't it?!

Lola, your description of the night that made a believer out of you was similar to mine. My husband and I were vacationing in California. One night I woke up at 3, in that same panic stricken way you describe. I struggled through that day, and then had yet another horrible night after that on the same vacation, complete with throwing up, the other end too, and leaving a huge tip for housekeeping because I was "projectiling" uncontrollably. That was my bottom, and as you describe, it seems like another lifetime. Thank gawd! And you're at 5 months............well, guess there was a silver lining in our horrible experiences!

Thanks everyone for congratulating me.........Big hugs and love to you all! WE CAN DO THIS!

[Today]

Newbies Nest

Belle; congrats on 30 days, and Unwasted; 90 days! Woohoo!

I'm coming up to my 30 days like a freight train and boy do I need that hat. I had triggers going off left and right at work and somehow fought AL off. I was 5 seconds from going home from work early, stopping at liquor store and crawling onto my couch. But I realized then what? My work isn't angry about mistakes, it would be angry about me leaving and not correcting my mistakes. That was big!

MWO is my haven, my place to vent and to hear your stories... Lolab, yours was a doozie, I've been there; I can think August 5, 2011 and January 15, 2012 were nights very similar to yours. But we got through them and moved on...

Welcome to newbies and hello to everyone else in the Nest. Hope you're having nice Valentines Day :h