Newbies Nest

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Update - the new student today was a much better fit and we're having our first class on Wed! Thanks for the support everyone.

And yes Pav - we saw Pluto's great advice video for how to survive this difficult time without the snacks. It's super cute and if anyone wants to see it but can't find it, we can post a link here I think.

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Wags and y'all.

Good luck with the new student Wagorama. Will check out Pluto. Wonder if Carl has his own page and fanbase yet. oh wait a minute. I've got the app. :applouse:

Hi Julia. Don't panic. Good to see you still here. But you didn't drink right? Or is it just weed you're wanting to stop? Either way, self care is something i now do every morning, first thing. I had to change something about my daily outlook and perspective. After many relapses and much searching i discovered some principles of yoga and buddhism. In yoga they talk about the importance of a daily practice or sadhana. Turning up for yourself every day not negotiable. Made sense, but how could i sustain that? Probably meant 1 hr yoga, 20 mins meditation, then 1 hr gym/run. That ain't gonna last when i'm stressed and in a hurry to git out the door! So! What can i do? I can work out a custom minimal self care routine that i can commit to. That i can handle any day of the week rain hail shine. I now do minimum 5 mindful breaths (meditation), 1 x set of yoga moves (10-12), i scribble down one thing i'm grateful for. There, job done in about 2 minutes. The trick and 'secret' i've discovered is the act of turning up for YOU, every day. Some reprogramming occurs whether we like it or not. Healthy reprogramming. I do this without fail every morning, no negotatition - flu, stress, war, drama, work, noise....doesn't matter - no negotiation on my self care, because when i'm right, everyone around me benefits. Sorry for the long waffle. Take back your precious life.

Take care out there.

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening nesters

Julia, dust yourself off and back on the horse so to speak. The current environment we are in is enough to drive anyone to anything. Its the uncertainty and life seems surreal at the present time but as we all say, make yourself a priority and take care of you. We are all a work in progress.

Lav, i am loving your posts on fb atm, i go to scroll past (in the hurry i seem to always be in at present), then i stop and scroll back and read. Thank you.

Wags, glad your new student is a good fit, i hope it all goes well.

Today, my daughter moved back which is nice but strange. She has bought her cat and carl loves cats, sadly the cat does not love carl. He is loving all of these humans being around every day but is turning into a naughty toddler. Work is just changing every time you open an email, i dont think any of us know what we are doing anymore. I am just spending the day trying not to tell some patients to f&ck off, selfish twats some of them. Others are just adorably lovely and make up for the needy ones. I will go into work on Wednesday and see how life is at work, i do miss the hussle and bussle of it all.

Today has been a year since my madison was put to sleep, where does the time go. I am sure Carl will become like her eventually.

G, i might have to look at a Carl app, he certainly is entertaining. I hope your work is doing well and not too stressful. Are you still seeing people.

Where are you LC and Pauly and Nar and anyone else. Thinking of you all.

Well another night of not really sleeping and wondering what tomorrow will bring. Definitely a walk and a trip to rape and pillage the shops. I did order a candle making kit to amuse us when we are in lockdown and a pasta making machine. The kids still think i am nuts, i call it preparing. Now all i need is flour.

Take care and happy thoughts. xx

[KENSHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Nesters. Nice morning here. I'm LOVING the sleeping in part of this lockdown stuff. I plan to do some work for one of my two paying clients today, and keep the kids busy with some chores and activities. Starting with coffee, then my neck stretches.

Julia, one of may biggest lessons over the past few years has been to take care of myself more. When I was a drinker, I would stay up working most nights, sometimes until 2am. I would punish myself at the gym. I would allow others to demand too much from me - and in bitterness, I would turn to my "reward" each night. A huge part of my recovery has been learning to put me and my health first in my life. I set boundaries with others and rarely stay up at night to work any more. But let me tell you, it was a learned skill! I love G's ideas about "putting yourself first" each morning - even if it's just 3 minutes - to reinforce the idea! Keep going; you've done little damage. Right back on the train I say!

Wags, you are an example of setting boundaries. Do you find that when you decide what doors you won't walk through, other, better doors open?

PAV, I'm not sure if it has been mentioned, but I find some great guided meditations on youtube. Have you searched there at all?

Hang in there everyone. This is just another storm to weather. It isn't the first, and it won't be the last. Stay grounded, be grateful for the small things, and be sure to laugh every day. We will get through this - and alcohol is not the answer!

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy Un Hung Monday everyone. Sorry I have been MIA lately. I guess I have been caught up in this virus stuff and been reading, watching the news, looking at Facebook (which I try not to do too much). You are all very important to me and so I am going to make sure to make this more of a priority.
I LOVE YOU ALL!

Julia, I have relapsed many times but at the beginning this is the way we get to sobriety. Practice makes perfect and you will get there. Keep doing what works for you. You can do it if you really want to. When you feel the urge just let it pass and distract yourself. Have some chocolate or whatever will get your mind off of it.

Glad things are going well for you Wags, Ava, Ken, Pav, Lav, Byrdie, G, Pauly, SLO, everyone.

Thanks for asking about me Ava, I can't imagine the stress you are feeling.

My kids and I are hanging out at home together, it is quite nice actually. My hubby is working up North at a camp which is a bit of a worry. He comes home tomorrow unless he has to do overtime. Last shift only 2 guys showed up out of 10 because the rest were in quarantine so he might have to work overtime. Camp quarters are pretty close up there so we will see how this story evolves. Crazy times. The price of oil does not help our work situation here so it is a bit stressful in that regard.
The main thing is that my family is healthy and that is what matters.
One thing though- My mom had some people 'drop by' yesterday for a visit, ugh. Of course she let them in and they had tea. I am like "who visits an 85 year old lady during a pandemic?" wtf. So we had a chat about it and hopefully she will tell anyone that tries to drop by that they cannot come in for a visit. sheesh

xo
Don't drink today. (or smoke pot) It's gross.

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Wags, life is too short to try and accommodate unreasonable clients. Years ago, I had a dermatology appointment and he told me he does not see unruly patients anymore. That was such a novel idea to me, as a salesperson, we put up with so much unreasonable crap it’s not funny. I found that during my time at the last company, much of my time was babysitting demanding customers. The 80-20 rule applied here, 80% of my time was spent on 20% of my customers. If I were picking and choosing customers to work with, I’d be leaving many behind simply because they were high maintenance. I applause you!
Julia, I hate to hear about your relapse, getting right back up is key. Now you know what not to do!
Hang in everyone! Wash your hands! Byrdie

[julia1970]

Re: Newbies Nest

hey people, thanks for all your replies. i take them all to heart. i didn't smoke yesterday or tonight. i don't feel i'm completely off the right track, though i know i must be extra careful the coming weeks not to keep this one event open as an option but just let it reside into a past i was already leaving behind. i'm still not feeling well, and am so much hoping some light will get through soon. it has done that with every tapering down, so it will this time.
i'm mostly working from home now so i have space to try and install some routine like yours G.

i'm not starting a new count. i find that too depressing.

hope you all are well dear people. take care.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Rained all day then the sun came out at dinnertime
My family is all healthy so for that I am grateful. Just read of the first Covid19 case in a little borough about 7 miles from here where my son & his family live. The patient is a nurse sadly but otherwise young & healthy so she should be OK. This really is scary stuff!

Julia, good to see you& glad to hear you are back on your quit. You can do this!

Hello to Byrdie, Pav, kensho, wags, G, Narilly & Ava! Great to see everyone stopping by.

Wishing a safe night in the nest for all!

Lav

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi evabody,

Good to see u Julia, and everyone else.

Ava, i've taken this week off work but get updates on the situ with working with the public. As u say it's a daily thing as we watch how the virus acts. Word from my boss is we remain open but with reduced numbers. If contamination rate skyrockets locally, then we probably need to consider a shutdown. It's tricky. For now though, looks like i still have a job and wages coming in. Bars and restaurants, including my regular band gigs have closed/stopped. Lucky i have an alternative income source unlike workers in hospitality/entertainment. They've lost income overnight. The mental health fallout i suspect is currently huge and increasing.

Looking after my mum too Narilly with shopping etc. It's tricky as i was around someone coughing and fluey a couple of days ago. I feel fine, but i'll need to leave mum's groceries at her door for now.

Take it easy out there everyone. It's just a stressful debilitating worldwide global pandemic, not a ticket to boozeville. :love:

[KENSHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

Man, the news is showing loooooooooooong lines at liquor stores before they shut them down in my state tomorrow. The people in the line looked a bit panicked. What about people who will need to taper? Like many of you have said, I'm so glad I'm not worrying about stocking up. Having some laughs tonight watching my kids do TicToc dances. Dance party at the Kesho house! The new Mission Impossible is also about to start - so we are trying to keep distracted and are moving our butts! My husband just learned that he has to work in the office only one day a week through April!!! We get him home and can sleep in and have some quality time - I'm excited about this! We really enjoy each other's company when we are not inundated with high stress - so hopefully we get that during quarantine. I'm thankful for you all and for the things that are good in life. Keep being strong everyone!

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

It's just a stressful debilitating worldwide global pandemic, not a ticket to boozeville. :love:

Thanks for the laugh, Mr G! My gratitude and relief at having quit grows with each day of this mess.

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, All:

Mr. G, that cracked me up, too. You're sounding great - sorry about the work. It is ALL so stressful. I have been meditating every day and keeping a gratitude list in my head. I should probably be writing it down.

Kensho, be careful what you ask for! We were all home yesterday (me for the first time) and it was HARD. My husband and I actually have to work - which is very hard from my teeny tiny home. We were in each other's way a bit, to say the least. My office has an outside door and can lock from the inside, so I'm going in to work in isolation and leave my family to their own devices. I think it is better this way.

Wags, Pluto is my savior in this whole thing. I liked the advice about button pants...

I can't believe your mom got a VISITOR in this whole thing, Nar. That would stress me out.

We did an exercise in a meeting I was zoomed into yesterday where we talked about the things we can't control and how we're letting that go. One of the things is how people here are or are not adhering to the shelter in place order. It makes me nuts, but I can't control it, so letting it go would be good for me. Of course, now our cheeto leader thinks we should all go back to work, so I guess we'll see how this all plays out.

Ok, I'm going to do a little meditation before I head to work. Stay sane and stay sober, Nest. It is the least we can do for ourselves.

Pauly - you around??

Pav

[paulywogg]

Re: Newbies Nest

Pav, yes I've been reading and glad everyone seems to be pretty positive, I'm not positive so I'm not posting cuz all I'd do is complain I have no job, can't pay any of my credit card bills, the regular bills will be tough to pay this coming up month if something doesn't happen soon, I'm not drinking thank God but I'm not thriving right now either. Hope everyone has a good day

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

This should get everyone’s attention: liquor stores are reducing hours. Can you imagine the panic I’d be in if I were trying to stock up? OMG! I found the more I tried to reduce my intake, the worse it got! It was a tailspin there at the end.
My new half brother is in the banking industry. He says that his bank and most of the major players are waiving mortgage payments for 90 days. You have to call them to work out the details. That’s some good news.
Stay strong everyone! Byrdie
Edit to add:
Pauly, I don’t know anyone who isn’t worried. We are your friends and we want to hear from you...good, bad, or ugly. We are here for each other, no matter what.

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

Happy Un Hung Tuesday everyone. Sheesh, I just about said Wednesday. This pandemic is making me totally lose track of what day it is.
G, that was funny, lol. I am so glad we are not drinking, this would be a terrible time to be hungover and hating ourselves.

Pauly, my heart goes out to you. I wish things did not suck so much!
Pav, yeah I can imagine how hard that would be to be stuck inside working like that.

Hang in there everyone!

Big waves to everybody.

Don't drink today, its gross.