Newbies Nest

[Dottie Belle]

Newbies Nest

HI all,
Went to a cooking thingy tonight and she fed us very well. I will definitely be making some of the recipes she made. And they are all healthy too...bonus and double bonus dh liked them.
I am tired so will be turning in shortly. So many things to do tomorrow how did I ever keep up and work full time too.....guess I was younger.....

[available]

Newbies Nest

Oh Jane i hope you feel better soon. Nothing worse than being sick.

Today is so damn humid, even my glasses are sliding down my nose and the sweat dripping off everywhere. A free sauna in the open air!

I left mum to get a pedicure and manicure as i needed some ME time. Not that she is annoying me but i am not used to answering to someone 24/7.

Petrel is that cyclone anywhere near where you live?

Jraa the benefits of not drinking get better with each and every day but always be super aware that al thoughts can occur at any time. Always say No to them.

Dot so are they vege recipes that you learnt to cook? I am enjoying this free breakfast and room service and restaurants at night. Hope i dont send mum broke. She is already telling me to save my pennies for a holiday next year. Cant slow her down and hey while she can travel the least i can do is go with her! The advantages of being an only child i suppose.

I had the sad and angries last night. went out for dinner and i was looking at all the people having a meal and a drink and i wanted an al drink. Pity party for Linda! I wanted to be like them but i am not, i even wanted a sip of mums al drink! What would a sip do? Honestly nothing at all. So i had my non al drink, got over the tantrum i was having and enjoyed my dozen oysters. today is much better but damn the bars are open early here and i am thinking the hard core drinkers are at it already.

Another sober day in paradise.

[Pavati]

Newbies Nest

MAE, all:

Jraasch - Sounding great. I keep having to look back to remember how to spell your name, but can't think of a nickname either. Oh, well - glad you're feeling so great.

Ava - Sorry for the angries, love. They'll go away. Take time to write a list of all of the great things you've accomplished since quitting. I know you won't drink, but it will make you feel better anyway. Or another massage!

Very much tension and stress going on at work, but I don't want to drink! Sometimes I replace the stress drinking with stress eating unconsciously, so I'll have to watch that. Dot - maybe I'll follow in your footsteps.

Hang tight, nest. Happy Hump Day (That's Thump Day to you, Dreamy).

Pav

[DreamThinkDo]

Newbies Nest

MAE Nesters!

Another beautiful day expected in my corner of the Nest - more summer than autumn, temp wise, and no complaints from me!



Dottie and Pav, I was talking to a friend last night about expanding cooking repertoires. What did you make last night, Dottie? I have a gazillion cook books, but they're more as food porn than cooking guides. But, cooking for one is not fun, and I'm not particularly sociable, so I seldom try out new recipes. When I do, I really enjoy it. And these days I actually taste and enjoy the food, so that's a big bonus! Pav, good to see you awake - have a lovely Thudnesday!

Aavatarless Ava, I hope the pity party is over! I sometimes indulge in a short one, and I actually feel better afterwards. Strange, don't you think? Drooling at the thought of fresh oysters here! I so agree with you about me time - I would have insisted on it from day 2, I think. Plus, she's your mother, not a Siamese twin. Enjoy your holiday!

Jane, hope you're better soon!

Rahul, what NoS, Ican and Byrdie said - Al will try anything and everything, but don't give him the smallest chance to sneak back into your life.

Our two new J's - hang in there, you'll soon feel so much better, and proud of yourself. Jraasch, can I call you JR? And Jsioh1, what will we do with that one - I keep wanting to pronounce your name Jesse Owen. I think the two of you should expect weird variations on your names!

Byrdie, I cannot tell you how much your compliment meant to me - I felt as if I was walking on air! :l I will, of course, also keep your post for when we negotiate pay increases, if you don't mind :H

Everybody, have a lovely lovely Thursday - or Thudnesday, if you're slightly behind the times

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters!

Chilly but sunny here at the moment but I know the afternoon will be nice

Ava, avoid the pity party at all costs - it's an invitation straight to hell. Believe me, you don't want to go there

Jane, hope you are feeling better today!

Hellos to everyone & I hope we all have a great AF Thursday!

Lav

[available]

Newbies Nest

My dear Lav that is why i am here everyday, god forbid i would have to post a day one and i know you will keep me on the straight and narrow. i dont want the wrath of Lav breathing down on me. Pity party over and i am sooooo looking forward to a coconut and lime smoothie and steamed fish for dinner, followed by an ice cream. i will be rolling home, may need two seats on that plane.

Dream i will avatar when i get home and i totally agree with Byrd, you a joy on mwo and i love your cuppas.

[DreamThinkDo]

Newbies Nest

Jane, are you feeling better today? Hate those end-of-season colds - they seem to last forever and a month.

[minderaser]

Newbies Nest

Hey everyone,

I've been here once before, and managed 7 days a few months back. Been struggling with al since then though. Gonna give it another try, so today is day 1. Hope everyone is ok.

ME

[frances]

Newbies Nest

Hi all - hanging in there here...must be something in the air lately - I am also feeling a bit of a pull. Ignoring it, doing other things, pouring that tea or seltzer....but still it is there - back there trying to get out. I just have to keep reminding myself...I do not drink!

[available]

Newbies Nest

Mind welcome back and keep on mwo. 7 days is great so you know it can be done. Try for 30 and see how you go. Amazingly enough when you get to 30 days you really want to keep going, the worst is behind you. One day at a time is all we alkies can do and any af day is a good day. It is way too easy to have that one drink that leads to where we were before and probably drinking more. Its not worth it, i now enjoy waking up every single day without a hangover. Life is so much better sober.

Thank god Jane that pity party lasted that night at dinner and that was it. I was worried it would keep niggling but today i have had no thoughts whatsoever. As Byrd says it does not last long that thought, ride it and it will pass. it gets easier everyday although thailand has a bar every 10 feet on the walkways i think. Have taken pics to figure out how to post when i get home, if i can find the pics on the new laptop that is.

Frances, keep strong, you will get there. I am surrounded by cheap cocktails, beer, spirits, not so much wine and it was hard yesterday but the urge passed. I for one will not be posting another day 1, i dont have the strength to start all over again so for me the only conclusion is not to drink.

Mum and i were sitting having dinner tonight and a bar attendant had hold of an older woman, her eyes were glazed over and she was stumbling along. That could have been me a few months ago, i felt sad for her, i never want that to be me again. I would never have remembered where i was staying for starters lol but i did always try and behave when i was out but behind closed doors was a different matter. Never again!

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Morning, all! Work has been AWFUL this morning, and interfering with my socializing with my friends here! THE NERVE!

Yes, those thoughts are JUST thoughts. I wish I were young, rich, thin and gorgeous, too, but that ain't happenin, either. They are just thoughts....align yourself with the peanut allergy people and you'll be good. Look where JUST ONE PEANUT gets them?!! So just move on, nothing to see here!! ehehehe.....

Back on my head!! Hugs to JR and J1, I'll never keep that straight, either, we'll work it out somehow!! Just keep checking in! Stay connected with the MotherShip and you will go far! Muah!! (except to Jane, who has cooties!!!!) xxoo, Byrdie

[frances]

Newbies Nest

Hi Jane - I have never banked 7 months - did I say I had? If I did - I take it back - I made a big mistake!

I went back and refreshed my memory the other day and 45 days is the longest I've gone (during lent one year). I'm on day 44 today! At that time, my goal was to go AF for lent and then moderate - you probalby know the thinking...special occasions only, and on those occasions only one or maybe two? Yeah, right.... :H

In fact, I have never quit 'for good'...I still to this day struggle with that. This time, I have not set a goal - just one day at a time. Maybe I should. My 'excuse' while out at a couple of social events not too long ago was that I was not drinking for Lent...so now (#&$ AL!) I am finding myself thinking about doing that! I really should know better, I KNOW that. And I keep telling myself that. And that's all I can do right now. I just have not yet been able to say 'for good' yet. Even though I know I should. Sad, huh?

I read something NoSugar posted on the LOAM thread - it was a quote from another posted 'Turnagain' - I found it helpful...highly recommend checking it out!! I need to keep reading things like that! AL is poison, why the hell do I want to do that to myself?

Anyway - sorry for the confusion...hopefully someday I wil be able to tell people how I got to 7 months. Or even better, how I came to ACCEPT that I can never drink again!

EDIT: Jane, just realized you already saw the quote from Turnagain...so I will change that to say: for others who have not seen it - take a look, you might find it helpful.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Frances, ACCEPTANCE seems to be THE most difficult part of the journey for so many (myself included). On the one hand, it's like admitting defeat...but on the other, it is accepting reality and not living under the illusion that something is magically going to change and we can just have the occasional glass. In the nearly 4 and a half years I've been here, I have yet to see ONE case where this was successful! Believe me, I've looked. It was bad enough that I tried it myself, but since then, I have kept an eye out on folks who go X period of time without drinking and then get the notion to reintroduce it (in moderation, of course). If I had run across one or two people, I'd have kept those posts. I have NEVER, EVER seen it work. That's pretty powerful to me. As I have come to learn, I am NOT the exception to any rule when it comes to AL, I am just like everyone else. I won't say it CAN'T be done, but I have never seen it. Therefore in MY mind, it can't be done. Any why would it? It defies logic to even think that we could reverse this...don't you think? I have read many, many people who have been 10-20-30 years without and the next time they drank, all bets were off. This is proof enough for me. I don't have to learn EVERYTHING the hard way. Besides, my life now without AL is full enough. What is there to miss, really? Obsessing over it? Feeling guilty? Should I, shouldn't I? If all else fails, I remind myself that if you took a beautiful tropical plant, and everyday you pour AL into it instead of water, what would happen to that plant over time? It's going to die. I just refuse to give AL another day of my life. It's just NOT that dam important compared to everything else.
So I say EMBRACE the acceptance and be proud that you no longer are a slave to it! Acceptance is FREEDOM! There is nothing to be gained by our drinking except misery and despair!! No thanks, I already tried that. Move forward and you will never be sorry! It's the people that have LONG strings of sobriety I am envious of, NOT the ones who are drinking! XXOO, Byrdie

[DreamThinkDo]

Newbies Nest

I always find thought-provoking posts on the Marc and Angel site - have a look at this one: 4 Good Reminders When You’ve Had a Bad Day

Frances, just think: in two days' time you will have a new PB, and that's a great achievement to look forward to! If you struggle with "for ever and ever" see how it works if you tell yourself that you just won't drink today. Rinse and repeat, ad infinitum. You're less than six months away from telling people how you got to seven months - start polishing that post! Distraction is key when Al calls - when last did you play pick-up sticks? Worth a try. Or sort hundreds and thousands sprinkles by colour... Acceptance was the one thing that worked for me - once I gave up that struggle of "perhaps one day," staying - and being - AF became so much easier for me.

Janey, come and get a hug (just don't get too close to me, if you don't mind!). I really do hope you feel better soon!

Mind, why not settle in on your old perch, apply butt velcro and ... Day 2 tomorrow!

[Petrelhead]

Newbies Nest

MAE. Start of day 5 here.

Ava, no out of the cyclone here. Only the legal variety for me, but that's another story.
The cyclone is due to hit Cooktown, which is in FNQ.