Newbies Nest

[Shell2575]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Everyone.

Had a good day yesterday but today will be a struggle. Its Friday and I have just had to sort out some financial issues with our business. The next month is going to be a real struggle and I just feel there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Just when we get up we get knocked down again. The last five years have been a real struggle for our business and I don't know how we are going to pull through.

Hoping I can end the day strong.

[Slo]

Re: Newbies Nest

[MENTION=22610]Shell2575[/MENTION], that is so hard to have the burden of a struggling business that you’re trying to get off the ground. Ouch. But like Byrdie said, alcohol will only compound life’s problems. Wishing you well as you go through this first week.

Pav, mostly my daughter has been planning her own wedding, and she lives far away (in the hot state of Texas, Matt!) and the the wedding is in yet another location from either of us, but by now I’m starting to get busy with some last minute details! I hope I can have fun at it without booze, is my main concern.
So glad that you are getting some real vacation time soon.

2006 was quite a year for you, Lav!

Thanks, Ava! Glad your hip strain is healing. I’m dealing with similar in my hips & low back. At this age it seems harder to get the balance of the right amount of exercise; too much and it causes a strain somewhere.
Stress definitely brings addiction to the fore, I have noticed.

Belle, maybe easier to focus on sobriety at home rather than on vacation anyways. It is for me I know!

Take care.

[Rahulthesweet]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Friends,

I just popped back to say hi and check how my friends in MWO are doing. It's been years since I left booze and being sober among the crowd of boozers does not bother me. I have no hitch sharing that I dont drink (I say that with an attitude : "I am so happy to be sober")

Today I have come to a stage that I see the drinking as a phase of life where I was probably mad. Or stuck or trapped. While I am so grateful that I am out of that trap thanks to you all but I still felt that that I am NOT feeling grateful enough. Grateful for having a sober life

This thought came while sitting at starbuck next to a young lady who is busy ready "The Weath of Nations" a student probably. She felt so satisfied and calm just reading. Its 6 pm so office hours and the ppaze is buzzing but it does not affect her. She seems to calm.

Compare that to my state of mind : My mind is stressed, work, lack of closeness with spose and her constant reminders "you dont spend time with me".

All the people here are sitting alone glued to their gadges just me.

So why am I feeling so sad and low. I should be so so happy. I should be top of the world for so many reasons. One of them is 5+ years of sobriety. Then it occured to me that I am not being grateful enough. Grateful for being living this new life. Grateful to all of you to giving me this new life.

And here I came ... logged in and saying "Hello Everyone you must have a GREAT day !! and Thank you Thank you .... Thank you so much !!

[BelleGirl]

Re: Newbies Nest

Thanks for the reminder, [MENTION=19781]Rahulthesweet[/MENTION]! and glad you popped in. I remember you. I'm back and on day 3, but GRATEFUL to be unhungover this morning.

I'm sorry you have been feeling down. It seems that when I forgot about being grateful, I think dabbling in the drink again is a good idea. NOT

Keep coming back here to get your gratitude back. Perhaps reading the "you know you're an alcoholic when..." thread which has been bumped up lately will up your gratitude level. None of us want to go back there.

Hi to all, and have a great AF day!

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy SOBER Friday, all:

Lav, I'm taking two mini-vacations to places on rivers. Hot, dry weather and nice cold water to jump into. Hiking, reading, sleeping. I can't wait. And I am contemplating painting my kitchen, but that might have to wait for another time...

Ava - I love those Australian holidays - a month off?!?! I loved Thailand when I visited. I hope you get to go.

HI, Rahul - sorry you're low. Gratitude does help - I am so grateful every day that I don't have alcohol in my life any more.

Slo, you'll have a ball without the booze. It takes a little extra effort to get out on the dance floor, but once you do, it is so much fun. You can actually feel the exhilaration of dancing instead of masking it with alcohol. Congratulations!

I am having dinner with friends tonight - looking forward to it, even though I'm Friday tired.

xo

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hola friends!

Great to see u Rahul. Hope you're feeling better real soon mi amigo. Thanks for mentioning gratitude. Gratitude thinking versus deprivation thinking. There is a great post or 2 on this exact subject in the early pages of the toolbox. Matter of fact, reckon i'll revisit it. Here is an excerpt from the toolbox on distress and some ideas on handling it -

https://www.mywayout.org/community/just-starting-out-/24253-tool-box-post508441.html#post508441

Pav, if there's one person on this planet that deserves a totally good self indulgent break, it is you! Hope it's a rippa and you have a blast.

All is good here. I am grateful for this forum and for my 300 + days of continuing sober living. As long as i check in with myself every morning and tweak anything i need to, there's no need for my way forward to falter. Go git it!

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Rahul, it’s great to see you! I hope your low mood will pass as quickly as it seemed to come about. You are taking all the right steps to make sure you keep on track! If we take a serious inventory, there IS so much to be grateful for. Every single day we put between us and AL is a win. Stick around, we just love your posts!
This job, our new boss wants us to do a weekly activity tracker. Nice. More paperwork. I hate this job. One of my coworkers said today, ‘Just when you thought this job couldn’t get any more miserable’. So true. My new boss is 37. I have 34 years of selling experience and he is asking us to do entry level tasks. We already have to do a sales tracker. I can’t think of a profession that is easier to track, look at my sales! Whatever .....(insert eye roll here).
Its only Friday not a ticket to BoozeVille! Stay strong, all! Byrdie

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Dealing with this heat, ugh. The ‘feel like temp’ was 110 today, ridiculous.

Rahul, so good to see you!
Hey, we all have mood swings, we are human. It truly is a good time to turn to gratitude! Gratitude & reaching out to help others always elevates my mood. I am grateful for all these years of clear headed living & I wouldn’t give them up for anything Hang in there & always remember that AL never makes anything better for us :hug:

Belle, glad you are moving forward & leaving AL behind. You’ll never be sorry! Stay cool this weekend.

Shell, be sure to fill your weekend with healthy things to do, eat & drink. You’ll be so proud come Monday.

Pav, your mini vacations sound perfect, have fun!

G, hope your weekend is awesome

Byrdie, having a 37 year old boss would be enough to force me into retirement, Lol
I am positive I wouldn’t be able to cope with that, good luck, haha!

Tomorrow’s big craft fair is al set up & I am so grateful that it’s inside. I hope people are willing to come out in this extreme heat & do some shopping. Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy Friday everyone! I'm just back from our camping escape and need to read back through several days of posts but will do that tonight to catch up with all of you. We had a fantastic time! Shockingly, we had an entire campground right on a beautiful stretch of a mountain river all to ourselves (3 people, 2 dogs). It's a small campground, only 6 sites, but really beautiful old growth forest and roaring river passing over rocks. I think it's because the road we were off of is one that runs north-south between two highways, but has been closed from the north since bad fires last fall. It must have just opened up earlier this week, but maybe word hasn't gotten out yet. Anyway, it was a longer drive around to come in from the south but it turned out to be soooooo worth it!

Now back and I have one day to adjust before the hard press of work begins. I think I'm ready. The best part is, I didn't just spend 4 days drinking so I truly am refreshed.

Hope you all have wonderful weekends coming up. I look forward to reading back through everyone's recent news.

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy Un Hung Saturday everyone!
Now that I am working I have not been able to come here as regular- the first few weeks of a new job are exhausting. My job is good though and hopefully I can stick around there for more than a few months. Our industry is not the most secure.

Shell, hang in there, Like Lav says- you will be so happy come Monday if you don't drink. Just take it one day at a time, even one hour at a time. Try and get out and go for a walk, drink some coffee, yoga, Netflix, anything to keep your mind off of drinking. Ice Cream really helped me and I know it helped Pav and a few others. GMan's link about Gratitude instead of Deprivation is helpful too. Glad you are here and keep checking in.

Pav, I am so happy you are going on a nice vacation. I know you will enjoy yourself.
G, 300 days+, oh yeah! Keep Gittin' after it!

Ava, hope your hip keeps getting better. I guess you had way too much hip action when you were young, haha...

So my hubby is in bed with a wicked hang over. He did not come home last night because he got too drunk and stayed at his buddie's house. He threw up this morning, thankfully he did not throw up at his buddy's house. He threw up outside. His buddy happens to be his boss. My hubby is 56 frickin years old. WTF. This happens about 3-4 times a year and we have had lots of talks about not drinking, just having 1 drink and all that. Ugh.

But you know what? I am Un Hung and not in bed sick, oh yeah! All I can do is control my actions and I am doing that.

Have a great day everyone xo.

Don't drink today.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Hope everyone is having a great AF weekend!
I am happily exhausted after the big craft fair today, did pretty well
I just returned my grandson to his home & now I can relax a bit.

Wags, sounds like you had another good getaway. I am happy for you! Good luck getting back into work mode, ugh.

Narilly, I am so happy my husband rarely drinks anymore. Usually it’s one beer & he’s done. He has realized that the older we get the harder it is to process that poison.
Glad you are enjoying your job, hope it lasts long

Hello to the rest of the crew & wishing everyone a safe night in the nest.
It’s nearly 7:30 pm here & still 84 humid degrees outside - getting so tiresome.

Lav

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, all:

I can't believe the weather everyone is having. SO HOT (but not here). When the valleys in CA heat up, the fog gets sucked in from the cold ocean, so those of us near the coast are COLD (well, 65F). I guess that's actually better than 105!

Wags - that sounds absolutely perfect. We hiked up for the full moon to a hilltop near here, and were the only ones we saw until the very end. As my sister said, "I can't believe people would choose standing in line in Disneyland over this..." I'm sure many people would, but I do love that feeling of solitude and nature.

Mr. G - 300 - Onward and upward. That is amazing. I can't wait for 65 more!

Nar - glad you still love your job. Sorry about your husband. Ew.

Rahul's post is a good reminder to me - the first stages of relapse are mental/emotional. Last night I was feeling pretty bad and had a hard time getting into the fun. We met some friends at a bar, then while waiting for dinner went to another bar, then they had more drinks at dinner. I was having a wee pity party for myself, because I knew that one of those drinks would pull me out of my funk, at least temporarily. Normally I don't have a problem hanging out with them at bars. THEN I had a drinking dream - I couldn't remember what had happened the night before because I drank too much, but "luckily," no one else could remember either. And one of our old friends who is a bad alcoholic was in the dream. I am focusing on gratitude today because it is true, I am so much better off since I quit drinking. I am also digging into the BAD memories of alcohol, lest my psyche tries to paint a picture of tipsy bliss through rose-colored glasses. Glad you're all here to read my waffle. Glad you're all here for support.

We got a good steak for dinner, and I'm going to settle in and watch some of the new season of Queer Eye - it is my "feel good" show when I'm feeling down.

Happy SOBER Saturday,
Pav

[BelleGirl]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Nesters,
Glad to be up and unhung this morning, but tired...

Mother's intuition is a funny thing. I woke up at an odd hour (thankfully not from the GSR crew) and thought I would check on my son's location in FL...because I knew he and his two friends went to universal Orlando yesterday and wanted to make sure they made it back. Long story short, he and his one friend were at a 7-11 at 4am because the drama queen had a fit when she couldn't find a key and blamed the guys. Drama queen texted me worried about my son. Anyway...everyone ended up where they were supposed to eventually and they should start their trek back today. I really hope they are all sick of each other and that son decides to stay clear of this girl for good.

Hello to all, and a have a great AF Sunday. We are hosting dinner for mother in law plus her brother and his wife who are visiting this weekend.

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

oops lost it all while editing.

Happy SOBER Sunday

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Pav, I hate it when I lose a post.
Whenever I find myself Romancing The Stoned, I pull out THIS jewel....a middle aged woman in her closet taking 7 gulps at a time from a vodka bottle hidden in the lining of her suitcase. I remember the 2 neighborhood parties I missed because I passed out on the couch. One was while my sister was visiting (just for added effect, I wet myself and she had to change me), the other I remember waking up and seeing the look on my disgusted husband’s face. Those are the only a few of my greatest hits that I pull out when I think a drink would help. It is normal to have those thoughts, but it’s what we do next that sets us apart. We have a problem with AL, so for us, it’s is NEVER the answer. I had a drinking dream, too, but in it, I wasn’t drinking, everyone else was! That gives me hope that this lifestyle is now ingrained!

Kensho, hope all is well over there, please check in!
Belle, my heart goes out to you with teens. My favorite saying, ‘If I had all the answers, I’d be a teen,’. Good luck to you.
Lav, I never had a bit of luck at a craft fair. By the time I paid for the tent space, I about broke even, not to mention my time. I was next to a lady one time who was selling her knitted scarves and she made almost $700, I was jealous, I only broke even. I need to keep my hobbies in check and forget about mass producing them.

Hope everyone one has an easy Sunday! Byrdie