Newbies Nest

[Hanna]

Oh and Dutch. Come join me, why don't you. We can do this!

[Hanna]

Oh...and Daisy too. Let's get to 30 together!!!

[TJAF]

Dutch, Daisy

Don't get too upset over the slip. It has happened to all of us over time. I was on dozens of day 1's before I finally quit for good. All I can say from personal experience is to not beat yourself up over a slip. That just feeds in to the false sense of hopelessness, its what the little devil on your shoulder lives for. If you persevere I promise you it will stick and the good news is that with time this gets way far easier!

[Lavande]

Good afternoon Nesters

I had my day planned which involved watching my grandson starting at 10 am but now he's not arriving unil 2 pm - OK with me!

Daisy, from now on it's all about you, right? You have to focus on what is good for you & not everyone else. I hope everything is OK & your day 1 is good :hug:

Dutch, getting rid of the AL is essential. But redrawing your plan to deal with your emotions in a healthier manner is just as important. What else can you do to make yourself feel better? I highly suggest the MWO Hypno CDs or something similar. They were a huge help for me.

Hanna, sending you positive thoughts too

Wishing everyone a great rest of the day!

Lav

[Overit-still]

From what LAV said, would love to try the CD's but cannot afford to buy them with hubbie on unemployment. Anyone willing to lend them to me for a bit? PM me. Thanks.

[Dutch1988]

I'm down Hanna, and Daisy too!

and thanks Overit and TJAF, I think your right, I just need to focus on how good in going to feel tomorrow, and being on here helped me keep track of feeling much better sober.

I really need to just keep reading the stuff on here to help me stay focused, I intentionally avoided the forum in the weekend knowing it would make me feel guilty. So here it goes, I gotta get to thirty this time, at least my back is getting better. This weekend should've easier because I am moving my brother to a new home, so that covers Saturday. Sunday I will have to plan something all day with the family to keep myself busy, especially at night.

[KENSHO]

Hi Everyone! I've been in the midst if an alcohol whirlwind here, but everyone knows I'm not drinking so it has been so much easier to avoid it. I've been focusing on having fun (loosening up without AL), and on reading, crocheting and getting lots of exercise. One night at dinner was particularly tempting, but after an hour or so, I really enjoyed the fact that I was not sloshy like the rest. We left 20 degrees and arrived to 80... Going to be hard to go home with this spring fever. Anyway, it's going well here. I hope everyone's hanging in there. It is SO worth not drinking, I feel healthy, fit, and fully participating in life!

[ADP]

Hi Nesters,

Sounds like this weekend was tough for a lot of us. I thought only I hated the weekends from AL's point of view, but clearly they are big trigger days for many of us. My weekend was so tough, made worse by the locals being noisy, nosey and mostly disrespectful of my personal space, (well, I do live in Spain....nuf said). However, found myself on Sunday night still not drinking! Amazing! I checked in here several times and worked in the garden so hard I got blisters, but it worked. Then to top this off I slept straight through 8 whole hours! I haven't done that, well, since I can't remember when! Today just feeling great and enjoyed it.....retail therapy......but now home and AL is really not happy with me! Tough.......he can go to h***!!!
Today will be day 11! To those who are also starting out, if I can get this far then seriously you can too. For so long I didn't even want to give up drinking but finally I have come to my senses and just have to do this. The only difference for me quitting this time are the people here and the honesty shown about AL and their struggles. I know I am no longer alone in the fight of my life. At this moment I actually believe I might beat this!!! Total respect to ALL of you, from day 1ers to 1500+ You are going to make such a difference in your lives and trust me, you are making a difference in mine.....THANK YOU for sticking to it/starting out, (maybe again)!!

You have to do this for you! I am going to read, re-read and keep coming back here to see that there is a way out of this and people here have done it!

Believe....keep the faith,
ADP xx

[Hanna]

3pm....snack time!!!

[available]

ADP dont believe you may beat al, believe that you will and you will. It took me pure will and guts and determination not to drink and i was totally sick of failing time after time and telling myself there was always tomorrow to start again. Make this your last attempt and you will never regret it.

Dutch if you turn away from your support network you will ultimately fail. I keep mwo open 24/7, i did from the start and i still do now. nothing will take this off me, i will never drink again.

The first day i decided to stop drinking, i told all of my children and my daughter brings a bottle of wine around that afternoon. She thought i was kidding as i had said it so many times before. I looked at that wine and knew if i had a drink i would have to get another bottle and carry on. It was the first day of regaining back my life. No one thought i could stop drinking and i have.

Work after a 4 day weekend, it amazes me i cant sleep in on weekends but come a work day and i could sleep till 9.

[Hanna]

Hi guys! I have about 20 minutes before my work day is over, although I already put on my gym clothes. I am going to leave here, stop and eat an early dinner, and then off to the gym. I am looking forward to being on the other side of dinner, as I am sure I will be more comfortable than I am at the moment. Deciding what my choices near the gym are: Sushi, Greek? I think the last time I ate greek before a workout I felt a little ill I am trying to think about enjoying the food. OK thinking sushi.

Hope you are all having a good day. Daisy, Dutch....stay strong!!

[Lavande]

Hang in there Hanna - you can do this

Over-it, I sent my CDs to someone years ago but never got them back or I would lend them to you. I actually think you could find something similar (and less expensive) online. I should take a look & let you know.

Kensho, it is great to be healthy & clear-headed!!!

ADP, great on your 11 AF days, yay!!!

Ava, I hope the first day back to work wasn't too bad!

Wishing everyone peace & a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[Pavati]

Hi, Nest:

I LOVE the change in time - now I have time to exercise outside after work. Whoot! And I am not too tired because I did not drink last night. And I am several pounds down since I don't drink. AND - life without alcohol is honestly amazing. Actually, HONESTLY is the key word there. So much of my drinking was a lie - about many things. About how much it was affecting my relationships, my decisions, my work, my health. Where it was. When it was. How much it was. So many lies. Coming clean with myself about alcohol has cleared the path for honesty in other ways. I am much more honest about saying no and standing up for myself rather than pleasing people all of the time. I'm honest about what I need to do to stay healthy. Honest about my part in any problems I have with my husband. As one Bubble Hour host said, I was not in denial about my drinking - I knew I drank too much. But I WAS in denial about how much it was affecting my life. Once the fog cleared and I could see the truth, there is no way I could go back.

Dutch, Daisy and Hanna - stick close here, stick to those plans, and be there for each other.

ADP - We are not alone, and this is the fight of our lives. That's one of the biggest strengths of this site is that feeling of, "It's NOT just me... There are others who are just like me..."

Lav - I agree with Byrdie. Beacon!

Ava - I STILL don't think people believe that I won't drink any more.

OK, folks. Off to enjoy this light evening. Take care of yourselves, and stay sober.

Pav

[Hanna]

Hey guys!!

Thanks for the support an encouragement. Got the day down!! Home in pj's and pleasantly sober! And about to watch Shameless of all things lol. (For those of you unfamiliar it is a show about a completely dysfunction family with a major alcoholic father played by William H. Macy - great show) AND i will wake up tomorrow feeling fantastic on my 54th birthday. What a gift to myself!

Daisy, Dutch ...ya'll with me?.

[LavenderBlue]

Hello, all! Weekend was both great and super stressful for me. Great that it's finally warming up here, yay!!!!!! Stressful in that I wound up cooking for the extended family - so mom, my brother, my sis-in-law, and the two nephews. It would have been stressful anyway since that was only the second time in my life I've ever made chicken stiryfry (!) but I feel a lot of pressure to "prove" to my brother that I have my shit together now, if that makes sense? Some of my worst drinking was right around when he was getting remarried, and I'm sure it showed by then. Not that he was ever purposely awful to me, but he's always been the person I'm most afraid of disappointing.

On the plus side, it was good when I hugged him goodbye not to worry that I was reeking of AL. I'd never realized how worried I was about everyone smelling it on me until I quit and was still pulling away from people automatically.

After quite a few years without, I should finally have health insurance in a few days, so that's another plus. I'm finally going to put on my big girl pants and get an all over physical and talk to someone about getting back on something for my depression/anxiety. It's better (hugely!) now that I've stopped drinking, but it didn't magically go away. And I don't want to wait until it gets really bad and I start getting tempted to self-medicate. I HATE going slow and careful, but I know it's what I need to do this time. I need to sort out my finances, but I'm not going to do myself or anyone else any good if I start getting panic attacks and get tempted to drink again. I might see if there's a way I can afford to see a counselor - I should have done that WAY back after my super horrible relationship but of course, I was too busy trying to drink it away at the time.

Ah well, shoulda coulda...I need to focus on what I can do NOW, not what I should have done before.

Everyone have a great one, love and support out to all. And for everyone struggling, I'm so glad you're here. Keep reading and stick to your quit, I promise that it's worth it. I'm not an oldtimer here but I'll stand by that from where I am.

NoSugar - That was an amazing post about addiction a few pages back! So much of what you said pinged true with me, thanks so much for posting it.

Orimus and enzo'smom - I agree 100% to focus on the drinking before anything else. That might sound weird since I ended up quitting both at once, but for me it was just because one always triggered the other. Same with the soda - any one of those three and I'd crave the other two. I am still vaping (using an e-cig) which I recall some folks being concerned about, but it was my best way to make things work. Same reason I kept my coffee when I dropped the soda; it was about making my quit work, not about making it harder on me than it needed to be.