Newbies Nest

[abcowboy]

ava!

[Lavande]

Good evening Nesters,

Glad to see everyone checking in today

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ava!
What a celebration you are having too. Enjoy yourself!!!!

Welcome back Dila!
Just settle back into the nest, work on your plan a bit & let us know how you are doing. I was a depressed & anxious mess when I forts landed here but that's all history now. Giving AL the final boot took care of so much.

LavBlue, my daughter is now being paid for the website writing she had been doing on a volunteer basis - you never know!

NS, did you call me PRACTICAL?? Ha Ha!!!
Basically I try to operate in a BS-free zone at all times

Lil, glad you are OK, sorry about the shoulder though. I really will send nurse Stella out if you need her!!

Welcome kherriot!
Glad you decided to join us, we're a nice bunch here.

Greetings to everyone & sending wishes for a safe & peaceful night for all!

Lav

[Pavati]

Hi, Nest:

Happy Birthday, Ava!

Lil - congratulations on your gold medal. That must be such a hard sport - good for you.

I had a beautiful day with two good friends out on a long hike. Such good medicine - my head is clear, my muscles are sore, and I am ready to hit the hay.

Welcome back, Dila, and welcome Kherriot. You've come to a great place to get control of your lives.

I have to run to sleep. Work for the next two weeks is going to be CRAZY! I am so glad that I don't have to deal with hangovers in addition to everything else.

Good night,
Pav

[roxane]

cake for you ava.

[Lavande]

Good morning Nesters,

Looks like a dark & damp Monday morning on my portion of the nest, oh well.
I'll be watching my youngest grandson all day & it's tough when I can't let him outside to run off some of his energy, ha ha!!
Grateful for a clear, hang over free head this morning

Nice cake there Roxane!

Wishing everyone a great AF Monday!

Lav

[Byrdlady]

Good Morning, Nesters!
It rained ALL weekend, so now here on a Monday morning, it's BEAUTIFUL outside! Oy.

Looks like so many of us have taken on hobbies and new interests to fill our time and keep us occupied, myself included. In my new interests, I notice that I am proceeding fearlessly. As my old self, I was measured and careful...not trying new things. I wonder if it was because it would cut into my drinking time? I also didn't have much DRIVE to do anything other than what I was already doing (and feeling overwhelmed at that!) Amazing what 6 additional hours to my day has done for me. LilBit with your skating, Lav B with your new job request for writing, Pav hiking up and down mountains, Ava vacationing with her Mom in Thailand, Matt M taking on the world, we are amazing people with a lot to offer!
Keep up the great work everyone! YOU are worth all this effort!! Byrdie

[kherriot]

Day 4 AF, I no that is not a big deal but like everyone says "one day at a time" Just wish I could get rid of my black eye.

[available]

4 days af is amazing for us on here Khero, every day sober is an amazing day. The black eye will fade but never forget how you got it. Our addiction will try every tactic it has to drag us down to hell. I will never forget what bought me to MWO (drinking) and i hold onto every memory I have of where i was but i dont live daily with those memories anymore. I do know its a place i dont want to return to. i will fight every day to keep sober.

i did enjoy a lovely mocktail for my birthday but it got sniffed to death by me to make sure it had no al in it!

[kherriot]

4 days af is amazing for us on here Khero, every day sober is an amazing day. The black eye will fade but never forget how you got it. Our addiction will try every tactic it has to drag us down to hell. I will never forget what bought me to MWO (drinking) and i hold onto every memory I have of where i was but i dont live daily with those memories anymore. I do know its a place i dont want to return to. i will fight every day to keep sober.

i did enjoy a lovely mocktail for my birthday but it got sniffed to death by me to make sure it had no al in it!

Thanks for the support. I took a selfie of my eye and keep it with me. I am looking for some mocktails because my family are coming for May Long and I have a tradition of BBQ, fireworks, firepit and they enjoy drinking wine which I always enjoyed with them. Any suggestions on a list of mocktails?

[Dutch1988]

Wow Ava congrats on two birthdays AF! That is such a great accomplishment! I couldn't imagine my birthday without alcohol a few weeks ago, now it's coming up in about a week and a half and I am not even worried about it. I plan on using it to relax and rejuvenate myself. Also spend some quality time with the family, writing it sure makes it sound better than getting sloshed extra early.

Kherriot congrats on four days! Everyday is an accomplishment, they all count right? Might as well celebrate them. What's the alternative, getting bummed and wishing you were farther?

Last night I convinced my wife to sleep in our own bed again. We have been sleeping on our couch since our contractor started remodeling our bathroom back in November. It was so cold that we couldn't stand it and he always got dust everywhere as well. It also put me closer to the alcohol, which made it easier to make that last drink before I passed out. I have say, beds are a bit more comfortable than couches! I hope I don't go back, because I feel better than I have for awhile. I have been feeling so tired lately, I wonder if it was just because I was sleeping on a dingy couch.

Here's hoping I acckmplishxa lot this week, started listening to my personal development tapes again since I can generally be a negative person. I am trying to become more positive to help me with my stress. That and I downloaded an app for breathing that works on diaphragmatic breathingn and paces you with soft music and relaxing backgrounds, really enjoyed it.

[LilBit]

Yes, Ava -- congrats and cake and all things wonderful for your two consecutive AF b-days. You are truly an inspiration. So are all you other Nest Newbs, taking on mountains, writing assignments, grappling, world travel and cake making, not to mention muddy-footed chicken herding.

Let's talk about how great it is to come home from a trip and not require a "buffer day" to get over the hangover. I competed in ~9-10 national annual competitions over the last decade. All of them involved massive amounts of drinking during and after the events, especially on the travel day home trying to cure the competitors' party hangover and assuage the general post-competition let down.

Today is so different. I slept like a rock and awoke happy in my own bed this morning in a good mood. I don't have to guzzle a "breakfast beer" just to feel normal, nor do I find myself needing to eat huge amounts of greasy food that I would otherwise never touch. But there's something more important, and it's this:

My anxiety level is near zero.

So many of us drink to relax or "take the edge off" but after 7 AF weeks, I can unequivocally say that I am far, far less anxious than I have been in 10 years. There's a physical side to AL abuse, with the body trying to recover to its norm and an emotional side with the GSR, both of which used to pump my anxiety up to a Halloween Cat level. But not anymore.

Wishing everyone the same degree of peace and happy groundedness on this Monday.

Love from LilBit

p.s. Welcome KH. Give the AL a black eye in return! It's not a mocktail really, but my favorite refreshing go-to drink is ice-cold San Pellegrino sparkling water with a lemon wedge. It feels festive with the bubbles.

[Overit-still]

Good morning

[LavenderBlue]

Ava - Happy birthday, and well done; that's wonderful!

Lav - Thanks for the comment! I know the site is hoping/planning to be able to offer paying positions at some point in the future, I just don't want to make them sound like they're trying to scam me or anything shady. You're right that there's no harm in hoping and seeing what happens! And congrats to your daughter!

Byrd - You're brilliant and I needed that reminder, I think. Just a few months ago I was in awe that I was even writing a personal blog, that I had so much more time and focus sober than I'd had while drinking. Yesterday I was a little put out that there weren't any "easy" things to do around the house or easy projects to start - but really that's something to be grateful for since it means I've been keeping UP with the simple tasks like I couldn't before. Gotta remember my gratitude instead of living in fear of doing the tougher stuff.

kh - 4 days is awesome! Besides that every day matters - and it really does! - those early ones are huge. I couldn't believe it when I made one full day, much less 4; it had been so long since I'd been able to do that. Lots of support your way, you're doing great. I've developed a huge love of kalbrunn and La Croix sparkling water - the La Croix especially isn't too expensive (Target has it) and comes in a lot of flavors and very pretty cans. I keep a favorite flavor onhand when there's a family get together so I can have my "special" drink. When I was starting, I drank a lot of lemon juice in water, partly for the vitamins but also because it felt like I was doing something special by taking the time to juice the lemons. I also found different kinds of sparkling fruit juice at my grocery store when I really checked out the soda aisles, those were especially good early on to help with my craving for sweets.

Over it - Good morning!

Well, I'm getting to the point where I have to start doing more "hard" things to move forward. My car needs new tires, I need to make more phone calls about loan stuff, and since I finally have all my medical cards it's probably about time I get that checkup taken care of. I'm trying to remember that a lot of the hard stuff, once I've done it I won't have to do it again for a long time and it'll all be less things bugging me in the back of my head all the time. I'm definitely not the first person nor the last to have to pick up some messes after abusing alcohol for so long.

I had an amusing moment with my inner voice the other day. It was time to take the dog for a walk and I was muttering that I really didn't want to. My brain said "Doesn't matter if you want to, you just have to DO it." That's pretty good advice for a lot of things, if I can't get myself motivated sometimes I just gotta do it anyway. I think I got out of practice while I was drinking since the answer used to be, "Well, I'll have a drink and think about it, first." (Which of course, usually ended in nothing getting done.)

[KENSHO]

Morning! A lot of strength and inspiration in the Nest this weekend - I felt proud to be a part of this bunch after reading!

Khero - Welcome. I hope you pull up a twig and read, read, read! You are in a good place

Byrdie - I LOVE swimming in rain only to arrive at a crisp, clean, green spring day!

Dutch - I LOVE my bed! Glad you get to use yours...

Lil - happy that you are having reduced anxiety. I found that many things that I thought I was drinking to cure (anxiety, stress, fear, anger, etc) were only worsened by alcohol. Time away sure has given me a good dose of "never want to go back to drinking"- EVER!!

I have a very full day ahead - trying to tread water yet again this week. I have turned down 3 new projects so I can focus on what I have and get to a more manageable workload. I look forward to having some time this summer to relax and do fun things. I once read someone say - "Make a list of all the things you love to do - and try to do them as often as possible". For me, this is reading, snuggling with kids, going to the woods to camp, create things other than in my job (like beads, knitting), and going to the gym/spa. I am truly happier when I make time for these things! And I'm quite sure I won't be 85 and saying "Geeze, I sure wish I had worked a little more". So, I continue to work on that balance!! I also just read how lack of sleep causes memory loss and a whole host of other problems (time to tackle that too...)

Have a great day everyone!

[kherriot]

Lav-Thanks for the encouraging words. I am also diabetic so I have to watch my sugar intake but will definitely look at your drink suggestions. No Target here they cosed our store. Will look around, maybe superstore has them