Newbies Nest

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, All:

They diagnosed my dad with Alzheimer's based on the progression of the disease and its presentation, but also said that they couldn't say for sure until he died. He also has vascular dementia and Parkinsonia (probably), but basically it doesn't matter what he has - it sucks. SLO - that seems like a lot your family is dealing with also - my dad was lucky in that it was a relatively late onset. Narilly - that's scary about your husband. What were the concussions from? I'm sorry to all of you dealing with this disease!

Wags, quiero aprender espanol tambien. Count me in. Glad you're feeling better for your time off - you deserve it.

Ava - Phil! Congratulations on quitting the smokes. If I had a concert coming up with my smoking sons, I would be tempted to put my "quit date" after the concert - way to go not putting it off.

G - Thanks for the pep talk. Amazing how we can be our own worst critics. I love the idea of exercising in the shade by a tree and hopping in the ocean right after. The coast up here is beautiful, but very cold. Enjoy.

There were many other posts I wanted to respond to, but I had to go away for a minute and now I can't remember them! :eek-new:

Happy SOBER Sunday.

Pav

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hola nesters,

Pav, for me the enemy is within! (Along with my best friend).....Sorry to hear of family alzheimers issues for you and a few other folks here. It's hard all round.

Get well real soon everybody who's not feeling well!

It's a glorious monday morning here. A public holiday too, so a day off for me. I'll take it! Thank you umpire.

Have a gr8 week ahead.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Quieter day, no visitors & no cooking - yay!
I may have the time but I don't have the desire to cook every single day ~ if you know what I mean. We ran out for a quick bite to eat tonight

Nar, 15 concussions? Wow, that's scary. Does your husband ever have any CT scans or MRIs done?
I had one head injury that darn near killed me 18 years ago. Apparently I'm not real good on staircases. I don't want to go thru another trauma like that, ugh.

Slo, Pav you ladies have a significant amount of dementia in your extended families. I can't help but think there has to be an environmental cause at work
All we can do is the best we can do, right? I think we are all doing a pretty good job looking after ourselves, our health & our futures. Some things we just cannot control unfortunately.

Byrdie, sorry you are still on the sick list. If you lived a little closer I would make a visit with a therapy chicken :hug:

Wags, I hope you get a chance to relax after all the intense work. You deserve a break!

Ava & G, I hope you are both staying cool.

Hello to Pauly & everyone. Where's Kensho these days?

Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[KENSHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

I’m here and accounted for LAV, thanks for asking! I’m dealing with quite a bit of cervical neck pain right now which is depressing me a bit. But I’ll be ok. Sorry to hear you are still feeling low Byrdie. I had what I think was the flu earlier in the season and it completely wiped my energy and I couldn’t think clearly at all. I’m happy to say it ends... you should be back in shape soon. Not that a work break isn’t good for you in my opinion A VERY happy late 8 year congrats!! When I first logged in here you were at 4 years. You are a NO BS sobriety advocate, and I appreciate you very much! I’m 12.5% of a Byrdie!

NS happy 6 years to you! Thank you for your tempered presence in the nest... you always know what someone needs to hear. I vote for you writing a book for sure.

Alzheimer’s. It’s touched my life too; doing all I can to stay healthy, but it’s true that we can’t control some things. Maybe someday we will be able to do a daily scan and have it tell us what we need and what could be fixed.

LC, hi. I’d love to hear more about what you do. You’re sounding strong. Keep it up.

G and AVA, sending you cool thoughts... hang in there.

I need to go to bed. I’m feeling exhausted. Hi to everyone else I missed, thinking happy strong things for you all!

[lifechange]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi dear Nesters,
a quick accountability check-in for me tonight on my way to bed.
I can't keep my eyes open let alone concentrate, so I will finish reading back tomorrow morning.
I hope everyone is having a relaxing and easy Sunday.. xx

[Fin]

Re: Newbies Nest

Thanks for the welcome back comments over in the Roll Call thread. I really appreciate it. I'm day 65 today. I've been here and to 75 and 90 days, but never beyond. I start to negotiate with myself around this time as in, "it's not so bad. You can handle it..." The last time I fell for this logic was two years ago and it's taken me this long to get back to work on this. Knowing where I fail and why has been helpful as I've been able to finally admit that I need more support. I've found that through AA which I historically didn't relate to. I've finally made it to step 1 where I can admit I am powerless over AL. No easy to do!

My plan is to work the steps one month at a time so that this time next year I'll have worked them all thoughtfully. Anyway, thanks for hangin' in there with me. One of the great inspirations that I find on the Roll Call and in AA is that there is real evidence of long term sobriety, that life can be lived without it.

Be well,
-Fin

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Right on Fin. I couldn't agree more with all you say. Welcome back friend. Great job on 65 days! That's nothing to sneeze at. I reckon the 12 steps are a solid guide to getting back on track when we find we need to rebuild ourselves. They are especially handy if we get lost in the wilderness and can't seem to find our way.

Good to see you friend Kensho. Sheesh on the neck pain. Hope you feel better real soon mi amiga.

Narilly, i just reread your post re your husband and some concussion issues. I'm no medico, but i do do a bit of work in mental health and i know there are things we can do with our thinking and perspective to help us manage our thoughts and feelings/moods, no matter what the source. Many people learn some simple techniques and strategies to handle their depressed moods, anxiety, anger, sadness, whatever it might be that causes distress. So it can be done and little improvements can be made slowly to help manage distress without heavy medication (which sometimes may also be of use). This can seem impossible or irrelevant where brain injury has occurred, but many folks have found great improvement in managing distress via mindfulness, meditation, CBT (i.e. Pause, step back, analyse a thought/feeling before rushing to act on it). A slow process but it works. I hope y'all will be okay.

Off to work here. All's well. Big waves to evabody.

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

morning nesters

Slo, i like plethora too! Glad to hear you dont feel like you are missing a limb now (ha ha). There will come a time where you hate alcohol. I look what it does to people and think how did i ever ingest that stuff and think i was interesting and fun. I was a drunk, plain and simple.

Wow Nar that is a lot of concussions, im interested too on how he got them, my first thought was football or boxing or him annoying you! I hope you get some answers. Did you hear about the job? That 45 degree day was a killer, a balmy 37 today sigh. i really dont like it when its that hot but it is summer i suppose. i could not handle your cold though.

Pauly, Phil Collins was my go to when the kids were young and i would have wine and get more depressed about my life. I am so looking forward to seeing him as 1986 was the last time he came to Australia. I hope your pigeon survived and has flown away.

Wags, i hope you are feeling better now and congrats on 2.5 years, time flies when you are having fun sober. i remember when i was thinking of giving up that i would be so bored, how would i ever get through the day, well that was a big fat lie.

Byrd, i hope you feel better, maybe go back to the drs again.

Hope you get some relief with your neck Kensho. I have back issues but they have settled down for the moment thank goodness. Look after yourself.

Great to see you Fin and yep alcohol is my enemy for sure. That is great that you found some other help to put you on the right track.

Morning G.

Saw my son and his gf on the weekend so that was lovely, mads doing ok at the moment and day 11 of no fags, one day at a time for me. i keep overdoing it on nicotine spray which makes me feel nauseous which isnt a bad thing as i am not eating like there is no tomorrow. Plodding along with life.

take care xx

[KENSHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Fin! Glad to see you back. Unfortunately for us, the result of drinking will always be the same circle of madness. Even those of us who never identified fully with the word "alcoholic" - though I get closer and closer to using it the longer I am AF. There is no controlling this substance unless we shut the door on it for good. Once I realized that, it all became so much easier.

Awesome work on the smokes AVA! That's a feat for sure! I love Phill - when do you get to see him?

Hope you got some good rest LC. How is your visit with your mom going? Did you crack the hipno CD's yet?

I'm doing accounting today, and I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I disdain this part of my job. Trying to make it fun in any way possible with time goals for entries, etc. UG! Neck is better today. I have to resign myself to getting stronger so I don't wear out early!

Have a lovely day out there!

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening, nesters. A good bit of the day, I sat with my head down on my desk. I perked up this afternoon.
Fin, great to see you. I say whatever it takes to break loose! You will never regret quitting! Thank you for checking in with us and showing us how it’s done!
Going to go do nothing! Hugs to all, Byrdie

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Just sitting here trying to figure out exactly when the rain is supposed to start & then turn to snow & then the temp drops to arctic like freezing.....Brrrr!! I just read that most of the country is going to be severely cold for the rest of the week.

Fin, glad to see you & Congrats on your 65 days!
Whatever you have to do to make your quit stick ~ do it!!!!
I am living, breathing proof that long term sobriety is possible. I'm heading towards 10 years on March 26

Kensho, chronic neck pain, ugh. I'm sure you have been put on muscle relaxers at some point. They have helped me in the past. I am in search of the perfect pillow so I don't reactivate the neck pain. Just got one delivered today - I'll let you know if it's worthy.

Hello to LC, Ava, G & Byrdie! I hope everyone is OK

Wishing a safe & cozy night in the nest for all!

Lav

[Slo]

Re: Newbies Nest

There will come a time where you hate alcohol. I look what it does to people and think how did i ever ingest that stuff and think i was interesting and fun. I was a drunk, plain and simple. xx

I hope this attitude will keep evolving in me!
For now, when I feel alone and like the only weird one who can’t drink while with others who all are, I recall a few people I know who are also afflicted with this, and I feel less alone; and I bring to mind the negative consequences it has brought to them, to remind myself why it would be a very bad idea for me to have a drink again. It’s just a “tool” I use to reinforce my quit when the going gets tough.

Narilly, I’ll guess that your husband was a hockey player? That is a worry, seeing as boxers and football players can have problems later on from head injuries.

Pauly, the teen years do go by fast, especially if you have more than one, and especially if you are super busy yourself during their teen years. Even without drinking they go by fast.

Congrats on logging 2.5 years, Wagmor! Glad for you that you have a few days off in a row to recuperate from your illness.

Lav, I totally understand not wanting to cook every day, and especially as much as you cook! My husband told us not to go out on the bad roads today, so I used that as an excuse to have him bring hamburgers home from a place hosting a fundraiser for the swim team.

Kensho, I have been working on stretching out my neck muscles, and also trying to correct the curvature in my cervical spine/neck, to get it back to curving the right way.

It’s a snow day again today! I love a day to relax & hibernate in the dead of winter! A beautiful snowy day, but tomorrow it goes “too cold to snow”.

Hope your time visiting back home with your parents is still going pretty well for you, LC.
Glad you get a day off, G, especially after gig night.
You sound a bit weak to be at work, Byrdie! Take it easy tonight, and early to bed.

Welcome back, Fin! I was hoping you’d come back to the nest. Interesting that it took two years to recover your quit -that’s another good reason to keep the one we have going!

Best wishes to all for a safe night in the nest!

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

@Fin, not only can life be lived without alcohol, it can be lived so much better - and remembered :smile:.

@KENSHO and @Lavande, I was born with a couple fused vertebrae in my neck which became a big problem in adulthood. I’m really careful about pillows and other head positions, working with my arms above my head, etc. These gentle stretches are really helpful: 8 Min Neck Stretches for Neck Pain Relief Exercises - YouTube. They have some great stretching routines for shoulders, back ( [MENTION=16186]available[/MENTION] ) and overall. Best of all, the presenters aren’t too annoying!

Hope everyone in the Midwest and East stays warm and those in Australia get some cooling. Is this weather crazy or what???

[Change]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi everyone,

Just checking in. Mainly to distract myself from alc...

It occurred to me that i might get a sense of relentless boredom if i continue down this path of sobriety. In the past, I'd deal with boredom by going on my own little adventure, getting drunk and indulging in whatever took my fancy around the house, whether it be cleaning, planning some scheme or listening to music.

Well, I guess I'll have to deal with it one minute at a time.

Hope everyone's doing well :congratulatory:

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

Change, i mentioned the other day that i thought i would be so bored when i gave up drinking but there are not enough hours in the day now. I know that everything i do, i will remember and that i wont do a half arsed job when i do something. Watch some documentaries on alcoholism, that kept me busy and my mind thinking how sad it is that al can rule our lives like that.

Just keep doing what you are doing. I took up knitting again as before i could not knit and drink and also reading as i seemed to read the same page when i was drunk. There is lots to do sober.