Newbies Nest

[Dutch1988]

Just checking I real fast, had a drinking dream a few nights ago, poured my usual amount of vodka cranberry into a glass for me and my dad. Then I stopped and poured it out, remembering I don't drink. First time waking up from a dream involving alcohol and not feeling bad =D

[Pavati]

Love that dream, Dutch.

Byrdie - Wow. I heard that SC got 2 feet of rain near Columbus - they were calling it a 1,000 year rain. Yikes.

Kensho - atta girl. Keep up with the gratitude, and I would say stay away from Dr. Google.

I have breakfast and a hike with some friends. One is suffering some hard stuff and I wanted to stand up on the table and shout QUIT DRINKING AND IT WILL HELP YOU GAIN CLARITY! I don't think she is one of us, but right now she is using alcohol to "cope." I don't want to become one of those teetotalling nuisances, but I do want to sing it from the rafters.

Hope you all have great weeks, sober.

Pav

[Lavande]

Good evening Nesters,

Just sent the kids & grandkids home - everyone happy & well fed

Kensho, sorry you are still having ear problems. Hope it clears up soon.

Byrdie, so sorry about the rain situation down your way. Nothing that bad up here!
SC really looks a huge mess
I hope everyone in your area is OK.

Greetings & good night wishes to everyone in the nest for a safe night for all!

Lav

[Byrdlady]

Dutch, nice change, huh? Sounds like you are getting thru to YOU! It IS really nice when you have drinking dreams where even the dream 'YOU' says 'No, Thanks'! One of my first non-drinking drinking dreams involved me and Robert Redford! We were really hitting it off in some old time saloon or tavern and he said as the waiter went by with a tray full of drinks, "That stuff'll kill ya". Ahhh, my hero!!

The rains continue to fall. The good news is that instead of Thursday, we are expecting some clearing tomorrow. This really has been one for the books, my heart goes out to the ones where water is coming into their homes and businesses. Mother Nature is a force!

Stay strong everyone....a little discomfort now will yield HUGE benefits later! In this case too, an ounce of prevention (surfing the urge) is worth a pound of cure (giving in)!

Have a happy Monday! Byrdie

[Lavande]

Good Monday morning Nesters!

I actually see some sun, yay!

Sure hope all that water disappears quickly for you Byrdie. I know you have had enough

Pav, using AL to cope is what eventually got me into trouble. I hope your friend doesn't get dragged into addiction unknowingly. Maybe you can bombard her with messages about mindfulness & gratitude.

Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[gingerspice]

Hi all afternoon here.
Wasn't able to get on the computer over the weekend I have bouts of 'frozen fingers' where they go white and numb ,its called think Raynard Syndrome , a bummer when its on and off as you cant feel anything.
Hi Lostsoul I can remember how much of a mental struggle the first week of my quit was. I found that getting a new routine, I totally changed my diet, lurked on newbies nest (sorry I know I should of posted ) and stopped visiting the places where I could succumb to that 'glass' or buy that bottle helped me. I used to drink alone at home so I did not struggle with the lonely issue of missing company. I had to change things at home though to get out of the rut. I love knitting, crochet and cross stitch so I threw myself back into those , especially as knitting drunk is not pretty !! Hope you can establish a new normal soon , as I think it does help.

Hi Kensho sorry about your ear. My daughter has had ear problems for a few years , and she has times of losing her hearing. She had an ear drum replaced as it had broken down due to numerous ear infections .Hope you can see a specialist to sort it out - the local dr was no good at diagnosing anything here only the specialist seemed to know what he was talking about !
Byrdie , will be thinking about you hope the rain departs soon.

X

[KENSHO]

Good morning Nest! My goodness, it's getting harder to get out of bed this fall. I've found the season change particularly hard on my mood this year. Or maybe I used to just drink this feeling away. But I KNOW where drinking to relieve, well, anything, gets me. I just spiral into addictive, obsessive thinking, and drinking way too much nightly. SO, that's not an option. Guess I have to face my discomforts like a grown up.

Glad the water isn't impacting you too much directly Byrdie. My thoughts go out to all the others on the coasts. We had major flooding here in 2013, and it is scary to lose water, roadways, electricity - it's a survival situation.

Ginger, I love the winter hobbies - the thing is I prefer the look of knitting when it's finished, but find crocheting much more enjoyable to DO. Oh well, I might also get back into bead making, now that we have a dedicated toaster oven for baking it! So many ambitions, so little time.

On to a busy week. Hope everyone remembers that you CAN live without alcohol. Get past the really hard first part, and it will become so clear that addiction is walking a path to nowhere.

[All done drinking]

Morning everyone. I survived the big anniversary celebration dinner by ordering one of those fizzy, fattening drinks but in my early stages of quitting, I need to go that route as it works for me. My drinking was more about the social aspect of it and it's hard to shake the glamorized pix of the nice dinner paired with a glass of wine. I really struggle with that so the fake drinks (for now) work well. I have a long time friend in long time recovery and she says that will pass and eventually the nonfattening tonic and lime will do just fine. Waiting to get there as well.

Byrdie, I do think about you and everyone when they are affected by bad weather. Stay dry. Kensho, follow with your Dr. if the ear troubles continue. I actually had a dream about it and you told me it was an ear infection. And Dutch...great dream. (Liked Byrdies too!) If you keep saying no, your subconscious will believe you too as it did in your dream.

To everyone else, have a good week. Stay strong.

Addy~

[Starfish1]

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm sorry I was out of touch over the weekend and especially sorry for those of you who had some struggles.
My 3 younger daughters kept me so busy over the weekend! We had a wonderful birthday celebration and even took a mini vacation to a neighboring town and toured an antebellum home that was owned/lived in by my great, great grandfather and his seven children. The home is part of a ghost tour now! Lots of fun! The girls and I cooked, ate, shopped, walked, talked, played with the dogs and just had a wonderful time. None of this would have happened if I had still been drinking. Not once did I wish I had a drink. Believe me, guys, it is so much better this way!
On a sad note, we have a dear family friend who is very sick and suffering terribly. My heart is so heavy for her and I feel so helpless, watching her suffer. Her family doesn't have much to do with her, but she is my oldest dtrs best friend (and room mate), so we are helping her as much as possible. It is just heartbreaking that such a kind and loving soul has to suffer like that. Age old question, I guess..Why do bad things happen to good people? We should all be grateful each day for our health, our homes and the support of friends and family.

I am looking forward to a great week. Let's make it a good one!

[sothankful]

Good morning, I messed up over the weekend and I got very drunk :sad::sad:...starting day 1
I need to make sure I eat and take my l glutimin., a must

[Starfish1]

Aw, I'm sorry, sothankful! You sounded so good on Friday...like you had thought it through to the end and all. Wonder what happened? Do you know, so you can do something different next time? Eating is always a great thing to do. Byrdlady calls it the silver bullet. The L-glut is supposed to help too. You may need to avoid people and places that are too tempting here right at first. Anyway. Great job on getting back in the saddle so quickly. Carry on now :hug:

[css54]

Hello everyone,
After many years of struggling with alcohol I want to stop drinking. I know that I can't do it by my self. I looked at this site a few years backs but never registered. Now, I need it more then ever. I look forward to giving and receiving support in this fight, today I feel strong but I know that will waver.
thanks for listening.

[KENSHO]

Welcome css54! You are in a great place for the support you are talking about! Sorry that you are struggling! There is never a better time to start the rest of your life - it is so worth it! Do you have a plan to get started?

[LostSoul33]

Hi all,

Today is 1 week. Yipee!

I'm finally getting out of my rut. Followed Byrdie's lead and have been spending lots of time in the kitchen. I'm making the most healthy + delicious meals (if I do say so myself) and have found that cooking is a great hobby/distraction. I'm yet to venture into the real world, see friends or do anything social, but I need to protect myself right now. Not going to lie, I'm feeling quite lonely though so eventually I do have to do something. Thinking I may go to an AA meeting tonight so I can talk to people.

Sorry about all the rain you are experiencing, please send some west, we could really use some

Thank you Ginger for relating, it really helps to hear I'm not alone in my alcoholic thoughts.

Welcome Css54, you are doing the best thing you can for yourself. Happy to see you've reached out, we are all doing this together, and I'm also in my early days, so we can be Roll Call buddies.

Sothankful, sorry about the slip, but good on you for coming right back and being honest. Have you thought about what you can do next time you're faced with a similar situation?

That's all for now. Feeling quite good about the first week-- didn't think I was going to make it but I have to say, Urge Surfing is extremely helpful and definitely got me out of my darkest moments so far.

Have a great day, everyone!

[Quit wining]

Welcome css54. You've come to a great place. You'll find lots of support from newbies and long time abstainers alike.
I've been here a few times and like most of us on the site, have had relapses. What impresses me a lot is that no one is judgemental.
Again, welcome to the nest css54! Don't be afraid to lean on us.

QW