Newbies Nest

[Nursie]

Nursie,
Prize Patrol here with your 2 Cheeked Salute from the whole gang!
:butt:
GREAT JOB on getting those 7 days behind you! You'll get no cracks from us, those are the bottom! We are so proud of you!!!
Eloise, I'm having 10 hour days, too, they are tough. I really oike my new job tho, I will be glad to sell something!
Wishing everyone a cosy night! Stick close! Byrdie

Thank you!!! I love it!!
Check in here sober and still going strong!

[wagmor]

Happy Birthday Byrdie!!! I love that you dressed up for last year's dinner - are you going to do so again this year? I vote yes! Have a fantastic celebration and wake up tomorrow un-hung

Justme - Great job tackling smoking as well as drinking. I understand that quitting cigs is hard at first and then you really start to feel and see the benefits. A couple of friends of mine recently quit and they're using an app that shows every day the benefits (health improvements, money saved, aspects of life enjoyed) you experience with each additional day. I think the app is called "Quit It" although I'm sure there are several.

Jvo - Fantastic to hear the fundraiser was so successful. Sounds like you navigated it well too.

Kensho - I love that you got the restaurant to make your favorite AF drink. Hopefully they'll put it back on the menu.

Pav - Adult drinking on Halloween is crazy here too. Seems to have become more of an adult holiday than one for kids in some ways. When I realized a month or so ago that my Day 100 was going to fall on Halloween, I was extra-pleased to know I'd have a much healthier way to celebrate this year.

NS - Love the post re: Perfect Day One. Thanks for sharing the link.

Andrea - Congrats on deciding to quit. As others have said, setting a quit date so far in the future would never have worked for me, but we're all different. What I do know is fairly universal is that Al is tricky and sneaky, and it will fight for you to keep it in your life anyway that it can. Some folks need a few days to taper before quitting cold turkey just to minimize withdrawal, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. The vast majority of the time, I believe, the best day to quit is TODAY. Regardless of how you proceed, keep us posted on your progress and tuck yourself in here for support.

[ThirdTimesACharm]

Happy Birthday Byrdie!! Your posts are always inspiring. I hope you have a wonderful day.

ThirdTimesACharm

[Struggles 106]

Hey nesters
I'm back and very very determined. A tragedy nearly happened that shook me up so much that I feel more determined than ever to stop being stupid.
Endangering myself is dumb enough, but this latest thing threatened the safety of my daughter and grandddaughter. This cannot happen.
SO.... 2 weeks yesterday, a decent supply of antabuse, and exercising daily. And happy to be back here

Ann Carolina

[Byrdlady]

So glad to see you with 2 weeks under your belt, Ann Carolina. I'm so sorry about what happened, but if it serves to help us finally get on track then it will not have happened in vain. Welcome back, stay close and we will be right here with you! Hugs, Byrdie

[Guitarista]

Gr8 work Ann. Good to hear from you and big congrats on 2 weeks. Yhooouge! Keep it going pilgrim.

Day 80 here for me which means friend Kensho hit 80 on the 30th. Congrats Kensho!

It strikes me that in early sobriety it's handy to have some daily tools to develop and nurture some sort of inner peace. It can git a little rocky out there. Meditation for only 5 minutes a day anyone? Ok, how about starting with 60 seconds? Just breathing and letting the mind run wild, coming back to a focus on the breath when i notice i've attached to a thought. Can i do that for myself? Yes.

An old timer once said that practicing meditation and mindfulness is the only sustainable medication free doorway to peace from stress and distress.

Have a ripper out there.

[Struggles 106]

Thanks you guys!
So good to hear from you G--
I'm still playing guitar, and for some reason I bought a recorder.
Doubt if I'll master it.
Meditation is great and exercise really helps me. So glad to be back.
I'm writing down pages of "remember that time that I....."
Astonishing how bad things have been for so long. I'm lucky to be alive.

[Guitarista]

Glad you are still with us. Still strumming away here too! Recorder sounds fun. I have a couple of tin whistles around somewhere.

Boozing the way we do is a sure ticket to a very very early grave.

Off to swing some iron. Ltr g8trs.

[j-vo]

Welcome back Struggles, or is it Ann? I'm a bit confused but that happens often with me. Whatever it was that happened, thank God that you've gotten back to where you need to be. Check in with us often and remember the tool box. So very helpful.

Long day, but the energy I've had lately is kinda weird. Maybe it's the four cups of coffee? Well, I know that's not a good thing, but really, one at 5 a.m., 9:30, 1:30, and then half 4:00. I know, still not good. But it tastes so good. I've been drinking water in between. I kind of feel guilty about the coffee thing. You probably can tell...I need to cut back.:sad:

Another Halloween over. I wasn't home anyhow. Met another GF for dinner. We've been friends since elementary school. We celebrate each others birthday, so I took her to Longhorn Steakhouse. She didn't drink, and I don't have to tell you that I didn't! She's not a big drinker, so I'm sure if I'd have had a glass of wine, should would have, but I didn't and she didn't. Either way, it was great to catch up.

Ok, hope everyone is safe in the nest tonight.

[Struggles 106]

Hey j-vo
I was here as Ann Carolina for some time and did well.
Had to open a new account.
I'm big on coffee too. My daughter lives with me and does the cooking- very healthy fare
So that's good.
I went to dinner this week with a friend from work who has big alcohol issues, but he was drinking. He said he was picking up th tab so I could drink whatever I wanted.
I said no thanks, cannot do that. He had been sober since Nov last year. I hope it was a slip and not a slide into that hell again. I know that I simply cannot do it.
My family needs me.

[Lavande]

Good evening Nesters,

Welcome back Ann, glad you decided to hop back in for a while. Great on your 2 weeks AF!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BYRDIE :heartbeat::heartbeat:

Happy Halloween to everyone as well!
We get no trick or treaters out in the country here - miss seeing the little ones.

Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest & be grateful you will have no post party hangover in the morning

Lav

[Pavati]

Hi, All:

Welcome back, Ann. Two weeks IS yuuge as G says. I am sorry for whatever happened - that "remember when" I play with myself keeps me healthfully afraid of alcohol. NEVER want to go back there...

J-Vo - Give yourself a break! That's not a lot of coffee at all. Don't feel guilty. Enjoy your nice hot beverage. If the caffeine bothers you, make it a half and half.

Blustery night here, so Halloween is pretty tame compared to usual. I seem to have no restraint around Halloween candy, so it is a plus that I won't be around it.

G - I'm not sure if I understood your lizard comment, but three things are likely contributing to my mood 1) I am a moody person, 2) I have been working too much, and 3) this time of year I always get blue. I self-diagnosed as seasonal affective disorder - I need more sunlight! Wish I could come down there and take a run on the beach with you!

Hope all is well out there.

Happy Monday,
Pav

[KENSHO]

Hi Ann Carolina, welcome back. Find a feathery corner of the nest and stick close. :happy2:

Yep G, we are neck and neck on this slow race to wonderful. It gets really good right about this point. New habits, new behaviors (mediation for me!), new confidence and more appreciation for what we were missing when we spent our time staring in our glass (or bottle if you were me, why bother with a glass.) Nice to have a buddy :happy2:

PAV, sorry you're blue. It's interesting, I have felt noticeably less "seasonal" this year. Must be because we are still having summer weather? I'm eating different too, but I'll bet it's that it's still 80 degrees here when it's usually highs of 65. Does it get better for you by mid winter?

Halloween was fun. Two gigantic bowls of candy that I'll have to mostly throw out so I don't eat it! I love the creativity of this holiday.

I'm headed to bed. I just LOVE not feeling nauseous at bedtime, or spiny, or hide my breath. What a relief!

[lifechange]

Morning Nesters!
I've been missing in action the past few days and haven't even had a chance to read back.. Welcome to the the newest Newbies! And big hugs to everyone flying by and stopping in. I'll have a chance to properly catch up on Thursday.. so looking forward to that!

Stay tough everyone!
Happy Birthday to Byrdie!

[j-vo]

Well, then, I don't feel so guilty about the coffe Pav! Thank you. I guess I hear about two cups is ok, just like Al, and I was thinking, look at me, getting addicted to something else. But I've always loved coffee except when hungover. I should think about half caff, though. But I haven't been jittery as I do space it out with water in between.

Tuesday here, with a 7 am meeting. Yesterday at work was pretty amazing for a Monday. I was really on with my kids. It felt good. Hope today is the same, but you know, it's how we react to situations that is important. Have a good one all.