Newbies Nest

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

Hope everyone stays close here over the weekend - it was so quiet last weekend; feels so much better when the boards are busy.......anyway, day 11 almost done, backdrop almost done - tomorrow should get it finished; will be nice to get my kitchen back again!

Didn't exercise today as too much to do. Got up earlier today - 7.30am........want to get up as early as I can every day so I can make the most of it, rather than having late nights......

Still doing ok; first thoughts of 'a wine would be nice' came along this evening; but after a massive dinner I am grand again - both tired and hungry were definitely at play!

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Orimus, sounds like you have a great plan in place....sure, here's the bottle, knock your neighbor out (this one's on me!!!)
Petrel, glad you got the amalgam joke! We are so proud of you!!
Daisy, get job on all that painting, hope you get it finished in time for Sunday! The show must go on! Great job on surfing those urges!
Juja, rinse and repeat!
Frances, what a wonderful presence you are on this site!! Gosh, you used to be so shy, I am so glad to see you thriving!
Lav! Glad you are home and that you had a wonderful time. Hope you are able to get all that sand out of everything! (it gets in the darnest places!)
Hang tight everyone! We are all in this together! Byrdie

[peppersnow]

Newbies Nest

Byrdlady;1663974 wrote: Hope everyone has his/her plan in place! We will get lots of folks here next week having made arse's of themselves over the big holiday with AL....please don't be one of them! There is NO good ending for us if we drink! It's ALL bad! So stay the course like you've been doing and you will be SO HAPPY you did! Besides, what's ONE drink going to do for us anyway? As 3June says, if just one, then why not none? Words to live by!!

Byrdlady, that never occurred to me but it makes total sense -- I bet you do see new folks in bigger numbers after holidays. That's a profound thought to me for some reason...all those complete strangers who will hit rock bottom and don't know it yet.

It was a beautiful day where I'm at. Took the day off and reconnected with a woman who used to be my best friend until about 3 years ago, when I traded her in for a bottle. I pushed her away because it was too hard to maintain my friendship with both her and AL at the same time. Her husband is an alkie and I didn't want her to know I had a problem, so made up excuses whenever she invited me to hang out until finally she stopped trying. I had the day off and called her, and we walked for 5 miles through the woods by a lovely creek and I told her...and it was okay. I'm so grateful for this second chance at getting people I love back into my life.

Now onto my brother, whose family is coming up this weekend. I'm dreading that conversation but will figure it out (thanks to some good advice from Frances!)

Congrats to all of the "newbier" newbies - Rooniferd, BB, ToMyHealth, Orimus, Kailey, Daisy...you can all do this! Hang tight this weekend, all.

:l

[peppersnow]

Newbies Nest

Byrdlady;1663974 wrote: Hope everyone has his/her plan in place! We will get lots of folks here next week having made arse's of themselves over the big holiday with AL....please don't be one of them! There is NO good ending for us if we drink! It's ALL bad! So stay the course like you've been doing and you will be SO HAPPY you did! Besides, what's ONE drink going to do for us anyway? As 3June says, if just one, then why not none? Words to live by!!

Byrdlady, that never occurred to me but it makes total sense -- I bet you do see new folks in bigger numbers after holidays. That's a profound thought to me for some reason...all those complete strangers who will hit rock bottom and don't know it yet.

It was a beautiful day where I'm at. Took the day off and reconnected with a woman who used to be my best friend until about 3 years ago, when I traded her in for a bottle. I pushed her away because it was too hard to maintain my friendship with both her and AL at the same time. Her husband is an alkie and I didn't want her to know I had a problem, so made up excuses whenever she invited me to hang out until finally she stopped trying. I had the day off and called her, and we walked for 5 miles through the woods by a lovely creek and I told her...and it was okay. I'm so grateful for this second chance at getting people I love back into my life.

Now onto my brother, whose family is coming up this weekend. I'm dreading that conversation but will figure it out (thanks to some good advice from Frances!)

Congrats to all of the "newbier" newbies - Rooniferd, BB, ToMyHealth, Orimus, Kailey, Daisy...you can all do this! Hang tight this weekend, all.

:l

[Pavati]

Newbies Nest

Byrdlady;1663974 wrote:
Hope everyone has his/her plan in place! We will get lots of folks here next week having made arse's of themselves over the big holiday with AL....please don't be one of them! There is NO good ending for us if we drink! It's ALL bad!

Hi, Nest:

Wow, Byrdie. You just conjured a terrible memory for me. Last Memorial Day I went to a picnic/party and drank bloody marys all day long. I got home with a pretty big buzz, happy as a clam, but the usual 3:30am GSR brothers hit me at about 9pm instead. I spent ALL NIGHT in a state of anxious misery and didn't sleep for even one minute. It was awful. I had to go to work the next day, and was in a state for a couple of days. I believe that I "quit for 30 days" at that point (only to drink two weeks later when some celebration or other came up). I'll consider that the first step on my road to finally quitting for good. I was lurking here at the time (at least that night I was), but didn't feel like my problem was big enough to quit. Or, I felt my problem was big enough, but I wasn't ready to admit it, even to myself.

Thank GOODNESS I will not feel like that again this weekend. My cousin is visiting, and well hang out, plus spend some family time and some time reflecting on the real reason for the day off - the service men and women who have sacrificed everything. And I'll get some yummy sheetfaced sleep. So much better than the drunken alternative.

Friday is just another day, Nesters. Let's not get carried away with ourselves and think that we have to celebrate by causing ourselves more misery.

Happy Weekend!
Pav

[Pavati]

Newbies Nest

x post, Pepper.

That conversation must have been great to get over with. Seems we both highlighted the same Byrdie wisdom.

And I don't know if I ever said it, but way to go Frances! You are racking up giant numbers.

[Juja]

Newbies Nest

Oh boy, am I glad I checked in! The reminders of why I don't drink are coming through loud and clear.

Toward the end of the workday, I kept thinking about wine. I started feeling sorry for myself--no BBQ's, no parties to attend, no fun, blah, blah, blah. Went to my sister's to pick up some stuff, and she had a glass of Pinot ready for me as I got out of the car. I declined, she let it drop, and proceeded to drink it herself. She's known me to be on the wagon before, so I doubt she takes it too seriously. I'm the one who has to take it seriously.

I called my husband to say hello, but he didn't answer. I'm sure he's upset after last night, and my refusal to make any plans with him, but I have to be honest from now on. It's my life to live, and I'll do what makes me happy. We're learning.

Thanks for the reminders, everyone, especially you, Byrdie. I will wake up tomorrow full of energy and ready to tackle the day. My allergies have quieted down, so maybe I'll get a good walk in. That would be fantastic.

[frances]

Newbies Nest

Pav - I think I'll join you and get sheetfaced too LOL! Now there's something to look forward to

And thanks for the encouragement - I am tickled pink with how everything's been going!

Pepper I am so sure everything will be great with your brother no matter what, and how much you decide to tell him.

Enjoy the weekend everyone - I'll be checking in from time to time -I hope everyone does the same and more if they need it!

[frances]

Newbies Nest

Pav - I think I'll join you and get sheetfaced too LOL! Now there's something to look forward to

And thanks for the encouragement - I am tickled pink with how everything's been going!

Pepper I am so sure everything will be great with your brother no matter what, and how much you decide to tell him.

Enjoy the weekend everyone - I'll be checking in from time to time -I hope everyone does the same and more if they need it!

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Had a pretty good day, family still here & staying all weekend.
Perfect weather for working outside so no complaints here

If this is going to be your first AF holiday weekend - don't worry, just relax & enjoy yourself! You will be amazed at how good you feel & how proud you are of yourself!!! AF holidays will become your 'new normal', I promise!

Have a safe night in the nest everyone!

Lav

[peppersnow]

Newbies Nest

Yeah, I agree Juja and Pav - lots of bad memories of long weekends. I was at a lake cabin 12 months ago this weekend, sneaking into the kitchen to refresh my glass of "water" with vodka as often as possible. I hope we all make it a goal of creating as many fantastic memories of long weekends from here on out, that we're proud to recall and think of fondly!

[Darkest Diamond]

Newbies Nest

Hi Ju Ju, Pav ,PepperSnow and Everyone,
This thing of bad memories of long weekends is an interesting one. At the end for me even ordinary (two day weekends) were full of bad memories, not always dramatically bad, although yes sometimes they were!!! But full of sadness, wasted hours locked into alcohol, feeling mentally, spiritually and physically bereft!

Have now been sober since 1st May and during that time have been through some tough times (breast cancer diagnosis and follow up appointments) but my weekends now are so much better than the drinking ones! Small things make me happy, meeting up with friends, family, funny anecdotes from others, reading, housework (don't enjoy doing it but like the sense of order after it) . I love the freedom of not drinking.... being able to go somewhere spontaneously, being open with everyone, feeling I have nothing to hide, going to bed and not worrying about severe withdrawals at night, looking better, noticing the changes in nature and seasons .... just feeling more connected with everything about me. Also I love the freedom of not craving alcohol, I did have a very dark day yesterday when I was finding things hard but my feelings were "Yes this is hard, but thank God I am not drinking or wanting a drink". I like now the fact that all my emotions are real, not booze induced. I like that clarity of thought.

This forum has been wonderful for me and continues to be so, I go on the roll call every day and read a lot in the forum, lots of love to all, I think we gain strength from each others days AF as well as our own! xxx

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

DD, what a lovely post! I am 2 weeks behind you but I feel the way you do. I hope you are feeling well - you sound good!
My daughter asked how long I was Af this morning; when I told her 12 days, she said I seemed different this time, like 'normal' - she remarked that any other time I seemed a bit 'blah'.........I told her that was how I felt as well.
I an embracing this.......and so grateful to come here every day and gain enough strength yo meet the next.....thank you all.....
Just back from the gym, now a swim, then to rehearsals to see if the backdrop works.
Tonight I am going to a friends house - her daughter's 18th.......already told her I won't be drinking as i am climbing a mountain tomorrow.....true. Not telling anyone I am AF until I want to.....they might be negative and I couldn't be bothered listening to that just now.....
Will check in later.....have a great day all!

[NomoreJim]

Newbies Nest

Hello Nesters
Good to see everyone is doing well. Got drafted for a new project at work. All of the engineers had it all figured out on paper and now that it isn't performing as expected ( by them ) it has become my problem. 12 hours 7days a week is getting old thank heavens I'm not hungover. Sorry about the rant. Good advice about the weekend Byrd. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

[Dila]

Newbies Nest

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone,

Need this long weekend away from work to relax. FF I have my plan together. We are planning to go to the beach and have a BBQ by the pool. I brought 3 cases of lemon-lime seltzer water, my new addiction! I put it in fancy drink glasses with a lemon. You my friend are heading to 30 days and I am so proud of you! I'm still having cravings but fighting them.

Hope everyone has a AF weekend.