Newbies Nest

[LilBit]

Oh Byrdie, you did not "Go Raccoon" on your shopping outing -- LOL! I remember when, thanks to AL, walking around looking like a member of KISS was an everyday occurrence for me. Oh well, at least you got a good deal on your Moo Shu Pork.

Morning, All!

[Rahulthesweet]

Byrdlady, Great shopping ... and a great day for you ... chinese food .. eh ... yummy !

Nosugar congrats on 1000 days ... its simply amazing !!

All Done Drinking, thanks for the kinds words about having friends here.

One of the things love about drinking is that it give you peace of mind and that peace of mind gave me happy mood and good days ... well most of the time.

Today however was a bit gloomy. I was expecting to close a big deal which didnt go thru today. The guy on other side took off went out of town. Negotiation tactic ? Well dont know but something as important as that getting delayed for 5 days does makes me feel nervous. Then its my wife's birthday tomorrow. I want to give her the world and I cant even take her out to dinner. She does not to invite her frineds nor the extended family. Cant take her out to movies ... yip ... Sitting the whole day waiting for calls and doing nothing does makes my mind goes bonkers. The good part is I just done feel like drinking at all. Not even a single bit.

Iam downloading when a man loves a women ... plan on watching it ...

I wonder how much more time before i would start cycling again ....

Talk about that today I thought the accident could have been a lot worse. What if I would have crushed my leg under a car and would have left crippled for the rest of my life. How small incidents like that can change your life for ever.

Maybe I am thinking too much and should follow u folks and do some meditation. ITs been YEARS since I did it ... seriously.

[Guitarista]

Bravo No sugar! Love ya.

Rahul, can you go swimming? Let your upper body do the work.

Take care out there y'all.

[Byrdlady]

Rahul, I didnt get a deal I was working on either. We quoted this guy a great solution and I thought the price was quite affordable for network cameras with high resolution and all that. Today I followed up and he said one of his business partners said they could go to Sam's Club or Costco and install the things themselves for about a tenth of the price. I said, "That is true, but I hope you noticed that Sam's and Costco stores dont use those cameras, they use ours!" He wasnt impressed and said he would figure something else out that was cheaper. I hate losing over price, because you really do get what you pay for. Our prices are competitve and our support is unmatched.
On to the next opportunity. This used to be a really great reason to get wasted, today it didnt even cross my mind. What a blessing.
You will close him, Rahul! B

[TJAF]

Addy I take it you mean the 100 day club? I remember how amazed I was to get to that point. I hadn't gotten that far in over 30 years of hard drinking. Look forward to celebrating ( ice tea)

Folks I can't tell you enough how much easier this all gets with time. Make no mistake ill never take my sobriety for granted. I know one thing for sure, even now I can't visualize one drink. Even when my mind wanders and I think about having a drink, I see a bottle not a shot measure. That's just the reality! Drinking is not an option. I have no illusions. I can not drink socially. I am an alcoholic.

[Lavande]

Good evening Nesters,

I had a great AF day with a very happy & bubbly 4 1/2 year old - what more could I possibly want? Perfection

NS - CONGRATS to you on your 1000 AF days :welldone:
Great accomplishment, be proud & stay the course!

Rahul, sorry about the deal - win some lose some I guess.
I hope your wife has a happy birthday tomorrow!

Wishing everyone a safe & comfy night in the nest!
TJ is right, all this just gets easier in time!!

Lav

[NoSugar]

Thanks, Nesters

Trite as is sounds, you get 1000 days just the way you'd expect - one day at a time. It's tough at the beginning. To get from day 1 to day 2, you have to double your efforts, which seems kind of daunting. But as each day passes, the percentage of your total effort goes down - like TJ said, it gets easier and easier as you go.

Each day used to seem interminable. Now a day is 0.1% of the total - Easy Peasy :smile:.

[Pavati]

Hi, All:

Byrdie - that story is hilarious. One time (in my MUCH younger days) I was on a packed subway and I kept catching this good-looking guy looking at ME! I was thinking - this is it. We're going to make a connection right here, on a subway, like a MOVIE. I was flirting back with my eyes and certain we'd be exchanging numbers at any time when I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in my window. One of my flesh colored shoulder pads (yes, I said a LONG time ago) had slipped and was pressed against my neck, looking like a giant goiter or growth of some type. Seems Mr. Perfect was simply having trouble averting his eyes from the horror. I still laugh at that moment. And anyway, Byrdie, a discount is a discount, right?

Congratulations, NS. You RAWK.

I'm a fan of both meditation and exercise, Rahul. Hope you get better soon. Any prognosis on when you'll be ship shape again?

I am typing to stay awake until a decent hour. Good night, folks.

Pav

[KENSHO]

Howdy Folks. BIG congrats to you NS! Thank you for all you do here.

I'm up working late again - trying to get this silly accounting off my plate. It's nice to have a break and get a laugh PAV! I do sometimes still miss alcohol, but hopefully I will someday remember it as horrifically as I remember shoulder pads.

Nighty night All.

[All done drinking]

Today I followed up and he said one of his business partners said they could go to Sam's Club or Costco and install the things themselves for about a tenth of the price. I said, "That is true, but I hope you noticed that Sam's and Costco stores dont use those cameras, they use ours!"

Byrdie,

What an awesome answer to him. Sorry it didn't work but shows us how good you are at what you do. Sadly, many things are about the money and the cheapest way is not always the best answer.

And yes, TJAF, I was referring to your 100 day club. It just seemed so far away on day 1 and became a firm goal in my mind because relapse can be so prevalent those first three months. After so many years of struggling to "control" my drinking, white knuckling, and never really being free because there was always that constant worry in the back of my mind of "will I make a fool of myself? Will I be able to get through the event and not be stupid in some way?" the decision to finally say I am all done drinking, lifted that burden off of my shoulders. I have a similar thought when my drink of choice (glass of wine) appears in my mind as an appealing thing to have. I remind myself that I really don't want to stop at one, and it just isn't worth the vampire effect I experience too often once I start.

J-Vo! So glad to see you back! We use to tease about how we were twins but you caught the non drinking clue long before I did. I am happy to see you posting here again. Will p.m. you soon and get caught up.

Addy~

[mywayin]

... its my wife's birthday tomorrow. I want to give her the world and I cant even take her out to dinner.

Rahul, I feel for you regarding your inability to treat your wife to a special birthday but I just want to share this with you… my husband and I have been going through hard times for almost 10 years now and our birthdays’s consist of a chocolate cake with candles, love, understanding, and hopes for a better future. I’m sure your wife understands and is probably very grateful for your sobriety, that’s a tremendous gift itself.
And the sobriety will surely help you get to that better future!

[mywayin]

Another embarrassing shoulder pad story…
At our wedding, as my husband and i walked out of the chapel with everyone throwing rice and taking pictures, both my shoulder pads fell out on the ground (dress maker forgot to stitch them in place). The photos are hysterical!

[Lavande]

Good morning Nesters & happy Hump day to all

Sunny & cool, looks like another nice day shaping up out there.
Sorry about the shoulder pad debacles ladies - I hated those stupid things, LOL

Enjoying a few minutes of quiet & coffee before my granddaughter wakes up.
Life is good - very good

Wishing everyone a wonderful AF day ahead!

Lav

[Byrdlady]

MyWayIn, I was attending a business conference years ago, and at a break, a bunch of us darted to the elevator. It was packed and one of my co-workers said, "One of your shoulder pads is showing". In horror, I looked down at my neckline and it was the pad thing coming out of my push up bra! (I'm glad he thought it was a shoulder pad!!!) I wonder how long that piece of evidence had been hanging out?

Rahul, I would melt in a pan if my husband made me something for my birthday. Like a collage of photos of the family on the computer and printed it out. Or if you made her a card with a poem or something YOU wrote (not Hallmark). Something like that would mean more to me than any store bought item. Coming from the wife's angle, she knows the situation and she honestly just wants you to get well, AND, I bet she loves having you around! (the gift that keeps on giving....your time and attention!!) Good luck on your deal in 4 days when your customer gets back. Delay is not a NO, so that's a good sign! If it were NO (I always capitalize that) then he'd have told you before he left and get it off HIS plate! You got this!

So here we are on the Back To The Future Date of 10-21-2015. Back in 1985, AL was the furthest thing from my mind. I sure wish I could go back in time and keep it that way!! A high stress job and coworkers (mostly male) that drank hard perpetuated the escalation. It was (and STILL IS) a drinking culture. I cringe at our meetings now....not because I have loose foam in my push up bra, but because I see what a problem most of them have...it takes one to know one! Remember the guy I had dinner with who had 9 martini's!! (at $10 each!!)
I wish the 55 year old me could go back and warn the 25 year old me what was ahead! Can you imagine how different things would be??? (the mind reels as this is considered) In a lot of ways it has made me a stronger person and certainly more patient and empathetic. It CAN happen to you, because it happened to me! I hope that in 30 more years, I am sitting here typing that I am almost 35 years sober! Back to the Future, indeed! We CAN write the next 30 years as being AF! Don't let AL steal another year of your life!

Hope everyone has an awesome day! Byrdie

[NoSugar]

Bottom line, Byrdie, I agree with you -- I'd love to rewrite this part of my past. But sometime during my first year AF, FallenAngel helped me stop fighting what I can't change and understand that everything that happens to us makes us the people we are now and that some of the worst experiences can give us some of our greatest strengths. I'd say as a group, recovered addicts are some of the most resilient, compassionate, empathetic, and appreciative people I've met --- you guys are people I'd choose to hang out with under any circumstances.