Newbies Nest

[Elvis]

Did someone say party? Please pass the cake. Congratulatilons on your 6 years of freedom! Thanks for all you do for this forum, you are an inspiration.

[LilBit]

Stella wants to wear her party hat today

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Stella looks so regal in her 6-year party attire! Yay, Lav! How fitting that the Pennsylvania Game Commission posted this wonderful video of two baby eagles that just hatched today -- a celebration of Life renewed.

Elvis, that's no cake -- it's a jelly doughnut.

Hanna, what's up? Thinking of you.

Wishing everyone a happy and relaxed AF Thursday.

[Matt M.]

Good Morning from Texas USA
Congratulations Lav, Thanks for helping so many.
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[Hypernova]

Lav~ like everyone else on this board I congratulate you for your perseverance & resolve in kicking AL out of your life. I have a hard time imagining 6 mos. let alone 6 years!! We have not had much conversation but every time I post you are there w/support and kind words and that means everything, thank you. :love:

[Dutch1988]

Congratulations Lav! I hope you continue to give us perspective and guide us on here!

[Overit-still]

Good morning. Sober and checking in!

[A new page]

Congrats Lavande!
6 years is awesom-tastic! :happy2:

[Dutch1988]

Dutch-you know the old saying about the grass being greener. Unfortunately, a better financial outlook would not make a difference. There are plenty of drunk millionaires, just sayin. You'll get it, we're all different and handle this process differently. The only important thing we have to agree on is to just not drink. I hope you don't think I'm picking on you. I just care and want you hanging on to me as we travel this journey. Good night friend.

You know your probably right overit. I would also never be able to even do what I am doing, putting in extra hours trying to get my wife to be able to go part time if I was drinking. Just gotta keep on keeping on I guess. Once I get where I need to be I can take it easy and go on cruise control, but I have to get there first and that's what is causing me so much extra stress.

[NoSugar]

Just finished. Scared shitless about my marriage, but don't care as much as staying sober. Just finished. Can't eat, sleep, am a bit of a mess. Up at 5 for no reason, so hitting 2 classes at the gym before work. Been better. But done with alcohol. Lav AMAZING. I will be you one day.

Lav is the North Star of the Newbies Nest and in fact, all of MWO :heartbeat:

You can be her, Hanna. As soon as you decide you're truly done, you are! It may not seem like it and there are some groups who want you to think differently and not recover, but we do have the power over alcohol because it is always our choice whether we consume it. As long as we don't, we're in charge!

You are fortunate to have a tool that you know will work every time - if you use it. If you eat, you won't be consumed by the desire to drink. Hypoglycemia is a hallmark of alcohol addiction and those of us who increased the reward of drinking by not eating only made that much worse. Excess drinking then increases the hypoglycemia, which our bodies become desperate to relieve (which alcohol does effectively, in the short-term) and the vicious cycle continues.

Some people don't know how to manage a craving but you do - that is a fantastic place to be! Food is your medicine and like someone who might die without their life-saving drug, you've got to take it - even if you don't like some of the possible side effects. You might gain a couple pounds and you have to give up the 'high' of that first drink on an empty stomach. But I guarantee you, those are very small prices to pay to become someone like Lav.

[LilBit]

Dutch, I second what Overit said. We -- nearly all of us -- harbor this erroneous notion that AL reduces our stress or helps us manage it. What a load of BS! If I had a dime for every time I said, "When I can finally ____, then I'll quit the AL," I could take us all on a great big Disney cruise. Truth is, AL abuse actually seems to increase stress and anxiety for most people. I'm 3+ weeks without it, my stress levels are way, way down, AND none of my circumstances have changed. I'm still working 80-hour weeks, training for a national competition, trying to figure out some major sucky relationship issues, and so on.

Some 15 years ago I stopped thinking of fast food as an eating option. Haven't set foot in a McDonald's or other FF restaurant since, even when I've been quite hungry. Taking the same approach here. AL isn't relaxation in a bottle. It's poison.

[available]

NS i agree with the eating aspect totally and utterly. i never ate when i drank, wine had grapes in it so i ate a lot of fruit. Now i eat whatever i want and after 15 months i was weighed yesterday. I was visiting robert in hospital and they weighed him and i asked if i could be weighed also. After giving me a coronary by saying i had gained 10kgs (great joke) i had gained 2. Body issues was another problem i gained with drinking and that is a hard bastard to rid myself of but i am trying. If i can conquer al i can conquer a body issue.

Hi all of those who are coming back. its funny but we can pick someone who has gone off drinking as they have gone off here. Checking in daily or more is a great enticement for keeping sober. Find the time to do this, we found the time to drink!

I got home yesterday to find my ex husband visiting. I thought living 1600 kilometres was far enough away. He was visiting the children so not much i could say. He was quite happily sitting there drinking and i just smiled. he is an alcoholic. i had my coffee and we chatted while i am thinking i am going to kill my kids. I blame a lot on him for helping with my drinking but at the end of the day i poured the al down my throat. I had been holding a lot of anger regarding our marriage and the way he was but I realised afterwards that maybe he visited to help me heal and move on from all of those feelings and thats a good thing.

Friday here and cold and off to work i go. have a great one!

Ps: Byrd i cringe when i open an old email. Anything after 5.30pm makes me shudder!

[Turnagain]

:hug: Lav - I'm so grateful that you have been around here helping so many of us out of the pit of addiction. As a shaky newbie, I sure remember how hopeful I felt everytime I saw your sweet little blue avatar hopping around in this thread.

It's been such an honor to watch your tireless work over the years. You are heroic! You and Stella know exactly how to cut to the top of the pecking order:

Good thoughts in. Bad Toxins out.

Your clear message not only helped me survive this addiction...it has helped me THRIVE in my life!:heartbeat::heartbeat::heartbeat:

[Overit-still]

It's been a pretty crappy day all around here. Just sayin' :rant:

[LilBit]

Sorry, Overit. I know you're dealing with a lot. Hugs to you, and hang in there.

[Lavande]

Good evening Nesters,

My fun family day has turned into a sleepover. I love having my daughter & granddaughter staying over
Thank you everyone for the well wishes today, makes me feel even more grateful. If I have or can do anything to help another out of this addiction mess - then great!!!! Life is SO much better without AL, I promise. Give yourselves the chance to experience it for yourselves

Overit, hang in there, we are all here for you!

Wishing everyone a safe &comfy night in the nest!

Lav