Newbies Nest

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good morning everyone! Have a great sober day.
So nice to feel good in the morning.

Hopefully my day is not too busy. I am taking are of my friend’s dog so I have 4 dogs in my house. Thank goodness they are all small!
Nice to see you Life. Yeah, Jet-lag really gets me too.
I am going to have my coffee now.

Have a nice sober day xo

Don’t drink today.

[BelleGirl]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Nesters,
Just a quick pop in to stay connected. I had some minor toe surgery the other day so I've been laying low and unable to take my daily walks. Congrats again to Wags and Slo on their milestones. I'm still shook from son's experience last week and I am waiting for that girl to try to come back into his life. Back to school/college cannot come too soon.

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

That’s a very interesting article, Kensho! It’s worth tucking in the ToolBox! That author is right, find what works for you and stick with it! I used Charm’s Blo-Pops as a coping mechanism, odd as it sounds, they worked. Baths were and are still important to me. That is now my transitions from work to evening. Thank you very much for the article, it’s great to see you!

Belle, has your son officially broken it off with NutJob? Gosh, I hope he has seen the light, that’s a dangerous situation. I’m so sorry you are in the middle of it. Life is all about our choices, I hope he makes the right one.

A lazy day here, just what the dr ordered! Happy Sunday, all, Byrdie

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

Morning nesters

Back to the grind of work. I had a lovely weekend with my 2 girls visiting. They are now using me as an example and realising that waking up with a hangover is not all it is cracked up to be, so i am reaping the benefits of them not going out on a saturday night and being incapable of doing much on a Sunday. My house is much more serene without my sons friend with us, no anxiety, stress or resentment from myself or my son. I still need to put a bomb up his butt to do things so life is back to normal.

Wine, great work on 1000 days, i look forward to your upcoming post on how life has been. Obviously great even with its ups and downs.

Belle, remember what is done is done and cant be undone. My biggest problem is letting things go but my psych is helping me along that path slowly. You can only protect your boy the best way a mum can. He is lucky to have you.

A short week for me as i am going to visit my cousin i havent seen in 30 years, i am pretty excited as she is. she is not a drinker so that is great, so lots of coffee and talking and walking.

Carl just turned 7 months and is still a joy, that unconditional love is amazing. I will post a pic soon.

Nar, 4 fur babies, lots of love and attention there. hows the new job going?

take care xx

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hola Narilly, Belle, friend Kensho, Byrdy and y'all.

Hi Wine no! 1000 days AF! Wow, congrat's friend.

Wishing evabody a great week ahead no matter who no matter what. I won't be drinking for any reason. I don't need to anymore. I can go to healthier coping strategies when life feels overwhelming. The first thing i can do is to go within and be gentle with myself. I am not a bad person, i am not a wall flower or a shrinking violet, a handbag, a doormat, or someone with no direction, purpose or value. Nooooo siree. I just need to stop - PAUSE - and take a few loooong slooooow deeeep breaths, maybe 5-10 or for a few minutes wherever i am. I can breathe in a queue at the supermarket checkout, in my car, on the bus, at the dinner table, in a cafe, at work in a meeting, anywhere. Breathing will slow down our heartrate, hence calm us a little. Our head may still be racing, but we can at least calm ourselves physically. Some daily meditation practice can train our mind to go where WE say it goes and when, despite it's cheeky ways! lol.

Take it easy out there.

xpost. Hi Ava. Have a beaut week.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

The air is heating up again around here, Heatwave #4 began today, ugh. This summer has been too much!!

Kensho, great article, thanks for posting. It’s true that we all need a tool box & our needs change as we progress so we have to keep restocking with things that work for us

Narilly, I had many weekends with 4 large dogs here, haha. Good luck to you!

Belle, wishing you a speedy recovery from your surgery.
Don’t lose your mind worrying about your son, he’s a grown guy. He obviously knows now that the girl is a looney & he’ll do the rightthing - stay away!!

Hello to Byrdie, Ava & G. Hello to the rest of the crew too.

I had my younger grandson overnight, sent him home this afternoon then I flopped on the couch for a nap, Lol
Feeling re-energized now so I’ll go do something useful.
Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Lav - ugh, I don't know how you handle the heat + humidity combo. Seems like many parts of the US (actually, the northern hemisphere) are having higher than usual temps this summer - just saw records across Europe. Sigh... stay cool and enjoy the grandkids!

G - you're right, those healthier coping mechanisms work wonders if we just take a deep breath and give them a chance. I'm reminded of NS's posts about "thoughts" and how the thought of drinking, or the thought that we are somehow damaged or unworthy or _____ (insert adjective that leads to drinking here) are all just thoughts and that doesn't necessarily make them true, nor doe it mean we must act on them. Intentional living is how I see you embracing your quit, and I'm so happy that it's working so well for you!

Belle - sorry to hear about the surgery and hope you're back up and taking your walks soon. It's amazing how much we use individual toes isn't it?!


It's Monday morning here and I have been up much of the night with a pup who has an upset tummy. Just one more time I've been grateful I wasn't passed out and am now not hungover. If I had a dollar for every time I've felt that relief and gratitude over the past 3 years....

Oh, one last thing - we're looking into squeezing in one last camping trip later this summer, and a friend suggested we look near Mt Rainier. I was online last night just smiling as I explored the various campgrounds and dispersed camping areas - that's where we were when I ceremoniously poured out the last of my al to douse our campfire and officially started my quit back in 2016. Too bad we can't go back and camp in that exact same place, but apparently the USFS is letting some of those sites undergo natural restoration, so they've closed some dispersed areas and opened others elsewhere. I can still picture the beautiful river valley tucked into the Cascade mtns - such an inspirational place to start a last-and-final-QUIT.

Happy new weeks everyone!

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Wags, ah....THOUGHTS. Yes, we have to learn which ones to listen to! In parentheses next to 'THOUGHTS' should be SELF TALK. At the last trade show I attended in Anaheim, you may remember I got up at 2:20 a.m. I was frazzled because my flight had been cancelled, blah, blah, blah. I was putting on my makeup in a small, travel mirror and I gotta say, my eyesight isn't what it used to be. I was doing the best I could and I put the small mirror down and looked in the big mirror and evaluated my lip-lining. "You're doing just fine," I said to myself....and it was comforting. I told myself I was doing a good job and it felt ODD! This has stuck with me, because I am, too often, my worst critic. We don't realize how the negative narrative plays in our heads day in and day out. Since that time, I've been talking better to myself. I can't think of a better advocate for me than me. Like G says, let's take care of ourselves, inside and out.
Hope everyone has a great Monday. Byrdie

[TJAF]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hello folks Year 6 for me today. Whoo hooo

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hello folks Year 6 for me today. Whoo hooo

Congratulations, TJ! It's nice to have AF be normal life, isn't it? Take care, NS

[paulywogg]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hello folks Year 6 for me today. Whoo hooo

Congratulations TJAF!!! 6 years is awesome

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Congrats TJAF! 6 years is awesome! :rara::rara::rara:

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

What a nice thing to log on & see TJ has 6 years AF :yay:
Congrats to you & wishing you the very best!

Apparently our sub-heatwave days are over. We’re back into the 90s with all the blessed humidity, yuck!
We’ve been promised a thunderstorm Wednesday afternoon, here’s hoping

Wags, we’re considered mid-Atlantic here, not north & not south. The heat has been traveling all the way up to Maine, geez.
Things sure are different - can you say global warming??? Glad you may be able to get another camping trip in, enjoy!

Hello to everyone, I can’t hang around too long, my 8 yr old grandson is back for the evening.
Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[Mr Vervill]

Re: Newbies Nest

Huge Congratulations, [MENTION=19794]TJAF[/MENTION]! Well done! Great to see this, as well as all the other milestones recently.

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, All:

I'm back. CONGRATULATIONS, [MENTION=19794]TJAF[/MENTION] - thanks for coming to let us know of your milestone. Onward and upward! And, [MENTION=5628]Nora[/MENTION] ! I'm going to track you down on another thread - 4 years is amazing.

LC, glad you're adjusted. Lav, stay cool (and cool :thumbsup. LC, glad to see you back and re-adjusted. Wags, so glad you have a great memory of the start of your LAFQ. Hi to everyone else!

I had a WONDERFUL weekend with my phone off and away for three days. I had the luxury of telling my kids and family they could reach me through my husband, so I could turn my phone off. I had over 70 texts when I looked, and countless emails. It was wonderful to let go. When I had nothing specific to do, I just sat with my thoughts instead of reflexively picking up my phone. I am going to put what I learned to use and put down that phone more often. It is definitely a habit.

Happy SOBER Tuesday.

Pav