Newbies Nest

[mario]

Great work on day 6 Roobs, and Lost soul on 7 days and of course Mr G on his 100.

Tis a great great joy to read when folks here are putting another few nails in there Addiction coffin. Keep nailing away folks as you well know one is never enough...have a great positive happy day.

[madonmehndi]

Morning Nesters, 7.15 am here and I feel bright eyed and bushy tailed which is great especially on a Monday morning Congratulations to everyone on their milestones (loving the moony smily - where is it??)

Jvo, I must have missed what happened with your Mum but I am sorry for your loss x

[available]

Evening nesters

Congratulations G on your 100 days, onwards and upwards, life only gets better.

Roobs and LS, great work, i was so proud of myself doing every day that ended in a Y and i never thought i could do it. Look at me now!

Madon, i go back to where i left off and start typing and go page by page but it sure is getting busy on here now and i dont want to write a novel! Just do what you do best which is post daily. Cant go wrong there.

J, you are sounding good, cry if you want, laugh if you want and enjoy your memories of your mum. I coped much better with Roberts death being sober than my brothers when i was drinking. I have found the past few months i have grieved for my brother and he has been dead nearly 9 years and its hard, very hard although i am in a place now where i can understand and get my head around that he did have an illness (al addiction) and it wasnt his fault (learnt the hard way).

Pauly, my children told me i could have a few also but i told them no holes barred that i was an alcoholic and it would kill me and i so needed their love and support. I dont think they truly understood how bad i was but they manned up. I still remember my daughter bringing around a bottle of wine when i had told her the night before (drunk of course) that i was giving up drinking. I didnt have that drink and not one since.

London, i never had any confidence in myself when i drank, my anxiety levels were through the roof and i was a shell of a person to now. It is guaranteed that life is 150% better without al and we learn to love ourselves and deal with life sober. It is the thought of losing our best friend, al, that petrifies us and until we give it our best shot, al will win.

A hot one here today but cooler tomorrow, off to see the dermatologist to check for skin cancers, had a blood test the other day and all good there. No way would i have done that in my drinking days. God forbid my liver levels were checked.

Take care x

[MinStar]

Not a newbie but on D1 again. Reading through threads and going to see GP in a bit. Have also looked up a potential AA meeting I can attend. I need to do this NOW

[Byrdlady]

Welcome back, MinStar! I tell you, breaking free of addiciton takes every tool we can find, so do whatever it takes to break free. If it takes outside meetings, so be it, it's better than the hell we put ourselves and our family through. I am so glad you are here and ready to begin a new life....we will be right by your side.

Off to the races today, it will be short week, I'm only working today and tomorrow but lots to get done. Hope everyone has an easy day! Byrdie

[Wine-no!]

Hi everyone

It's great reading all of your posts as usual. What an amazing support this nest is!

I am looking forward to making memories of special occasions which do not include alcohol. I am actually looking forward to having a AF Christmas. To really feeling the excitement of my children, wrapping presents carefully on Christmas Eve (there are always last minute purchases in our house!) to waking up on Christmas Day without a hangover. A Christmas afternoon stroll through the woods instead of having to sleep the lunchtime booze off... I honestly feel excited about it!

[j-vo]

Good morning. Sitting here having coffee with Dad. Black coffee as we haven't gotten to the store yet. We both slept very well last night.

I can't remember who asked, but mom passed away September 16th from ALS. It's a horrible disease, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Today, we're going to get to the grocery store as there's nothing in the fridge except for pickles! Whatever dad wants to do after that, that's what we will do.

Minstar, welcome back. This nest rocks and glad to have you a part of it.

Wine-no, there's a lot to be thankful for this holiday.

Ava, thanks for all of your support. You and all of the longtimers have got a lot of valuable advice for us. Stringing one day at a time together is what we need to do to be free of this addiction.

Byrdy, my travel blunder was a huge one. I'm not gonna tell dad, but he was with me when I made the reservations. He doesn't remember, and it was after mom passed. I don't think I could have booked it on my own, because I never booked Amtrak before. Anyhow, we made it and we're rested.

Have a good day.

[MinStar]

Thanks for the welcome Byrdie and J-vo!
GP referred me to a counselling place- I drove straight down and they started my assessment and then realised as I have moved house they cant help me and have given me the number for another one closer to me. I have my son with me at the times they can assess me so will go wednesday. They have lots of sessions I can go to but I have my son with me and times dont suit with school runs. However, they do have one to one sessions.

Have also told hubby I went to see the GP and he is being supportive.

Tomorrow is the first D1 from my last big quit!

[paulywogg]

Hey all, welcome back Minstar,I remember you Jvo,I hadn't realized that your moms passing was so recent, I'm sorry glad you're there with your dad and I actually love black coffee in the morning but yeah,go get some groceries,can't eat pickles all week Kensho and Mr.G hugs congrats on 100 big days! Short work week for me thank goodness, just gonna try and squeeze in as many haircuts as I can so I can maybe be crazy enough to go shopping on Friday,,, maybe not we'll see, wishing everyone a peaceful, productive day AF of course

[Roobs]

Good morning everyone,

Waking up to day 7 with a clear head and a good cup of coffee! Im so grateful to everyone here. I feel like this time I have a much stronger resolve. I think part of my clarity is that I've finally admitted that I can't drink, that my mind or the chemicals in my brain immediately start strategizing on how I'm going to get to the next drink. It's almost an out of body slow motion movie, I watch myself pour the drink while noticing how much everyone else has in their glass, as the glass reaches my lips I'm already thinking about the next one. I start watching how everyone else is drinking and try to pace myself accordingly but each glass turns into a goblet and all my time is spent consumed with how I'm going to get and drink more without anyone noticing. Then I go home and drink more. Stupid Stupid, stupid!! So much wasted energy and time put into drinking.

South Londoner if you remove alcohol from your life, I bet 95% of your anxiety will go away. It'll allow you to start working on You with a clear head. I am the master in the self loathing department, it's so debilitating.

Welcome Minstar! Just get through one hour or one minute at a time, don't look down the road.

Have a great day everyone.
Roobs

[paulywogg]

Congrats on 7 days Roobs

[lifechange]

Hi Nesters!
I just read back the last page and already feel in a better mood. I thought I'd better jump in and write before I let another day go by. I have been so down in the dumps and can't seem to pull myself out of it. Last week I was so busy it was easy to ignore.. and now something I'm very upset and panicked about won't leave me alone. I've been trying to preoccupy myself but I feel so much discomfort. I would like to just sit with it and let it pass. Maybe that's what I need to do. This is the first time in ages that I've had strong urges to drink, to escape. The cause of my angst will be more clear and manageable on Wednesday.. but this has been a terrible waiting game.

Ok I think I'll try some meditation. If that doesn't work I'll go for a run. Then, hopefully a bit calmer, I'll check back in with you all..:hug: That's what I need!

[NoSugar]

Byrdy, my travel blunder was a huge one.

When I was drinking I used to hate myself when I made a mistake because I assumed it was because I was or had been drinking. I was merciless in my self-criticism and disgust. Well... turns out that I still make mistakes and some of them are pretty big but I don't get totally derailed by them. I get annoyed with myself because they usually occur when I'm trying to do too many things at once but I no longer beat myself up. To be human is to make mistakes. This change alone is enough to make me never want to drink again (and there are plenty of other benefits, too :smile:!).

[Lost Soul]

Hi all,

Enjoyed a self indulgent early night so never posted yesterday, so am happily rolling through day 9. I feel less shitty than early last week & thankfully haven't been troubled with AL thoughts atm so am pleased with the 'extra headspace' so overall pleased.

Lav, checking in to cheer us on us much appreciated! You don't need to do more - I'm saying hey to all for my benefit - until I get to know everyone ��
Kensho, I get nice memories from having a 'pint' on hot days on the summer & have doubts but hope with having 100 days (& all the benefits) can enjoy your break AF.
Nursie - glad ud a lovely week with your in laws & enjoyed it all the more so AF, Thank you for sharing.
Madon 16 today? Well done! Plus one with the dreams, someone else mentioned that earlier too - definately our subconscious reminding us to lay off the booze lol.
Mario, I reply to posters 'since my last check in' till I get to know the current motley crew! (That and multiple tabs...)
J VO wishing you a restful Monday.
Byrdie, 2132 - wow! & thank you ☺
Roobs, well done on 7 days, sounding great & I'm glad you have the support of your friends & brave of you to ask.
Pauly, we don't all get AF first time (I've been here since 2009?!) Do the best you can & try not to worry about others, well done on day 10!
South Londoner, sorry your struggling, I think AL makes any 'head stuff' worse - I was 12 months plus before I was in a place to deal with tough stuff. Be kind to yourself - you can do it & hope you have RL support x
Scottish - there are no rules on posting, as much or as little that is useful & helpful to you is the perfect amount ☺
Welcome MinStar, I'm new & old too & an a lone parent to two kids (10 & 5) so empathise getting time for yourself is not easy - cheering for you on your D1 ☺
Wine no this is my first AF Xmas since 2013, I'm looking forward to it too!
Hi Lifechange, glad you posted if your struggling. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by stress & gives AL a chance to get back in to our lives. Though I have found this makes any problems 10 times worse! Offering a hand to hold...
LS
Thanks Justme, Pav, G & Available

[madonmehndi]

I too love this quote.

Everything I do is related to drinking. If you go to a music or sporting event, you are thinking more about drinking.

"Oh, you can't drink.....what's the point?"

It's amazing the power it has - it takes away from the moment, from the engagement of the actual event and the socialising.

I can remember back to a stint of no AL for 60 days, and being excited and feeling the emotion of excitement of watching a football game live. No rushing off before half time to get a beer. Or the feeling of listening to real music - feeling it in your bones.

Drink short changes us and robs us of feeling.

Thank you for this post, it is so to the point for me, every event in my life has revolved around alcohol and I feel like I haven't been really present for most of my life You are right drink robs us of feeling and of our lives, no more for me, from now on I am going to LIVE my life and I am going to do it SOBER!!