Newbies Nest

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, All:

Congratulations, Matt, and whoot on your 6 years. No Sugar dug up some of my old posts a bit ago, and it made me feel so emotional also. Just reading those words I wrote brought back the confusion, fear, and resolve I was feeling at the time. It is great to hear you're doing well - stay cool!

Nar, I can't believe I didn't mention the trip to the river. Swimming in nice cool refreshing bodies of water is about my favorite thing to do (when it is hot out).

Wow, stay safe Lav (and how are you Byrdie)?

My day did fly by, but it was LONG as I had to stay late to squeeze it all in. Staff coming back next week and the students will be online after that. So much to prepare for. The thing about working in a school is there is a lot of bs compliance reporting, etc., but it is always tempered by being with the students which I LOVE. This year there is even more hard, unsatisfying (because online school is unsatisfying no matter how you slice it) work, and no reward of the students coming in. It will be a rough year for everyone, but the only way out is through for sure.

Happy Sober Saturday.
Pav

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Greetings Nesters!

Wags, glad you got out for a nice bike ride in hopefully much cooler weather I imagine your pup enjoyed being with some friends too!

Matt, Wow, CONGRATS to you on your 6 years AF :yay:
I was just asking Byrdie if she had heard from you. Obviously you are doing well. Thanks for stopping by with the good news!

G, hope your weekend is going well!

Pav, I can’t imagine making plans for the school year right now. I’m sure whatever you come up with will be the best for students & staff. Yes, things are going to be different but that’s not necessarily bad. I think creativity will play a big role this school year. Enjoy your weekend!

No rain today, mostly sunny. I have gigantic mushrooms popping up in my yard after > 7.5” of rain this week, haha!! Some areas not far from here had almost twice that amount, geez.
Chicks are doing well, I see lots of little feathers sprouting thru their chick fuzz. Soon they will be geeky looking teenagers, Lol
Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

Morning nesters

Time flies when you are home 24/7 NOT. i have now successfully bought a new fridge and tv unit and buffet which goes with all of the other stuff i have bought. at least the house will be newly furnished again, which has not been done in nearly 15 years. One of the joys of not drinking is i can afford it and it will lift the spirits.

Congratulations Matt on 6 years. Sometimes it seems a world ago since I stopped drinking and i love that its the new normal for all of us.

Nar your rive swim sounds just lovely but i would be the one sitting on the bank holding the towels. it has to be about 45 degrees for me to even think about swimming.

Kensho, that is great that hubs has agreed to counselling, i wish my ex had but he is still emotionally stunted and i have grown and moved on.

Days are getting longer now which is a good sign that hopefully we will start to warm up soon. We have to walk with a mask now but i put it around my chin and if i see someone coming i put it on. I just cant breathe. as i only pass about 3 people i dont feel too bad and in every other situation i wear a mask. mum has made some really lovely ones for all of us and as the prices of masks are astronomical......

G, i hope you are staying safe. are you still working? I have not been into work forever it feels like.
Hope you are safe also steady and taking care.

Have to get motivated as we have a clean up booked for tomorrow so we put all of our rubbish out and the council picks it up. so much cardboard.

take care xx

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hola nesters,

Yes Matt, 2 years coming up in around a month i think.

Hi Ava. Yep, i'm lucky to still be working. Are u working from home? How many hours a day?

I'd also hold a towel for Narilly on a river bank. :blush:

Hope u have an easy week Pav.

All ok here thanks Lav. I have things to do (make music, study stuff), direction and a purpose, so that keeps me sane.

big waves to evabody!

[STEADFAST]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi everyone,

Good to read everyone's updates, particularly to see how we're staying the course despite the C19 thing.

Congratulations to Matt on six years - fantastic - and I really like the way you write. You too, Mr G. Good to see you're still doing all the 'G' (good) things!

And Ava, you so deserve to spend your hard-earned on re-furnishing your house, good on you!

I'm still steadfast, & feeling strong from my weight-training & personal growth. Working on helping my DH as best I can. He is still drinking a LOT, but is actually talking about that fact now, which is a start.

Lots of love to everyone in The Nest, as well as those who may be 'lurking'. Maybe use this strange time around the world to be your Turning Point?

Steady
:hug:

[Matt M.]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi everyone,

Good to read everyone's updates, particularly to see how we're staying the course despite the C19 thing.

Congratulations to Matt on six years - fantastic - and I really like the way you write. You too, Mr G. Good to see you're still doing all the 'G' (good) things!

Steady
:hug:

Thanks [MENTION=19460]STEADFAST[/MENTION] I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've ever been complimented on my writing skills. My Texas verbiage often requires translation.

Thanks everyone really great to hear from everyone.

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Matt - great to see you, and congrats on 6 fantastic years!!!

G - no river swimming for you? But you do like ocean swimming right?

Pav - as the wife, daughter, sister, and niece of teachers, I can understand your feelings about the students. I've worked in education all of my life but only university level as a formal school setting -- with younger folks I taught in outdoor school, nature center, hands-on museum, environmental ed, etc. Now I tutor adults one-on-one for test prep. At any age, the students are the ones who make the work most worthwhile. Given how badly things have gone at several schools that have opened, I think your district or state is making a wise (and difficult) decision. I hope you and your colleagues are able to keep each other motivated and that there is enough camaraderie to keep everyone's spirits up. This must be terribly hard on some if not most students as well, for lots of reasons.

Hellos and waves to Nar, Lav, Ava, Byrdie, NS, Pauly, Kensho, Steady, and everyone else passing through the nest this weekend. Do something kind for yourself and for someone else today!

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, All:

Not much to say. We had a good day yesterday, got a lot done and had time for a lovely hike through the woods.

Happy SOBER Sunday,
Pav

[BelleGirl]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi all, checking in and not lost in the land of the drunkens. My head is in a bad place though...I wake up multiple times a night worried about my son. I feel like crying all day. He goes back to school on Friday and I wonder when/if I'll see him again. We are hiring another lawyer for his legal issues because the one we have been working with is not helpful at all. Son is working with a counselor, we have hired a mitigation specialist, who is my lifesaver because I would not know how to navigate all this without her. Son's legal issue is so benign in the big scheme of things, no drugs, no deaths, no assaults, no theft, no sex crimes...I cannot go into it, but it started with childish pranking. But because it was across state lines it turned into a federal case. We really had no idea it would go this far. I really feel like I cannot go on most days and not drinking is not getting any easier, but I know I have to have a clear head to help him. Mostly I feel like I do not want to do anything, except my job which fortunately distracts me sometimes in a good way. I cut my hair short short (since my hairdresser is moving away I don't anticipate needing a cut for a lonnnng time) and bought a much needed new (used, but new to me) car. Nothing lifts my spirits.

Sorry for this boo hoo rant. I need to stay away from the AL. I need all the support I can get as it is getting harder and harder. I don't know how many days it has been because I barely know what day today is...with this covid changing everything.

Congrats to Matt on 6 years. and Mr G, you are creeping up on 2. Great stuff for both of you.

[narilly]

Re: Newbies Nest

So sorry Belle, hang in there. One day you will be able to look back at this and say "man that really sucked", just remember this is only a moment in time and that things will get better. I am so sorry you are going through this but it is so good that you are staying sober.

Nice to see you Matt and Congratulations on 6 years!!! I miss your 'stay hard' sign offs, lol

Hey G, gettin close to the Big 2 year mark. oh yeah baby.

Wags, Pav, all the educational people out there, I can't imagine what it is like working in that area right now, things are so different.

Have a great day everyone and don't drink!! It is gross.

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hola friends,

Hi Wags, yep ocean swimming for me. Here we have a big bay i jump into a few times per week. Have a nice week.

Hi Belle. Wow, you and family sure are going through tough times! All i could do in such a situation is to just keep chipping away at something related to an outcome every day, no matter how small. Booze of course is a depressant, so drinking is like pouring petrol on a fire. It's an understandable response, but does our head in even more. We are here to listen. Please use us as a sounding board or to vent anytime if you want to. I wish you and family a more peaceful week ahead and some positive developments for your son. How is he doing?

Hike on Pav!

Yo Narilly! Right on.

big waves to evabody.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Sunday greetings Nesters,

We had a quick rain shower with just a couple rumbles of thunder & now the sun has returned. It’s still hot & we are on heat wave #5, ugh. I personally cannot wait for the cool crisp air of November & beyond.
Great to see so many checking in this weekend

Belle, I am sorry you have to deal with all that. You already know turning to AL is not an option. Keeping yourself busy & distracted is the best you can do right now. Things will get better, hang in there.

Hello to all & wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Matt, congrats on those 6 big years! So good to hear from you and know that you are still enjoying the sober life! Thank for checking in with us! Don’t be a stranger!
Belle, hugs to you. They say when you are going through hell, keep going. Thinking of you and I hope your situation improves. These are tough times.
Pav, you must be in an impossible situation trying to hold school in these uncertain days. My heart goes out to all of you who are so dedicated to your profession. Good luck next week! We are pulling for you.
I’ve been reading a book. A friend of mine from high school wrote a book of poetry so I bought it from Amazon. I thought it would be light and breezy. It turns out it’s dark and depressing! It speaks of the death of his grandmother, mother and wife. I started off in a good mood and halfway through, the weight of the world was in my head! It did make me appreciate the value of today. I kept telling myself that when the pandemic is over, we’ll do such and such. I need to cherish exactly what I have today. He asked me to leave a review on Amazon, I’ll have to see what I come up with. Hopefully, I can finish the book tomorrow, I just couldn’t pick it back up today.
Hope everyone has a great week coming up! Hugs to all! Byrdie

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Belle - sending you hugs. The situation with your son sounds terribly stressful - for both of you! Most young people make mistakes, some worse than others, and some pay higher prices than others. I hope that the new lawyer is able to provide helpful guidance and that you all soon have this behind you. Definitely don't drink!

Byrdie - that would be a difficult task, writing a review for an old friend when the book turns out to be dark and heavy. Hopefully you can come up with something that speaks about how "genuine" or "true to life" or something that his poems are, plus maybe something about the focus on a particular style or the breadth across diverse poetry styles. I'm sure you'll do a great job!

Lav - I look forward to crisp Nov weather too, although I'm not ready for the short days or the rain that we will get here in the PNW starting in the fall. 5 heatwaves though! We're about to head into our third one and that's too many, so I can imagine how over it you are with more.


Hellos and waves to all nesters as we move from the weekend into a new week. Catch you all again tomorrow!

[Pavati]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, All:

Belle - I am so sorry for what you're going through - I can't imagine how stressful and difficult it must be. I know with my young adult children I want to be there for them and make sure they're ok, and usually they act in ways that I think is incomprehensible. I hope you get it all sorted out soon. One thing in your post, though. You said "not drinking is not getting easier." It sounds like that door is open just a small crack - and that's when awful situations like the one you are in will convince you that it is ok to drink. Can you say to yourself - this is a stressful time, but I don't drink. What else can I do to relieve this terrible stress, even for a moment? What brings you pleasure? A hug? A bath? A mindful coloring book? A hobby? Cooking? Whatever it is, thoughtfully use it when you want to drink so you can continue to tell yourself you don't drink. Because you don't. Come here and vent every day if you want - that's why we're here. Take care of yourself! As Nar says, someday you'll look back and think "that really sucked, and thank goodness I went through it sober so I could be there for my son and family."

Lav, sorry about your weather. Byrdie, you don't have to finish that book! Amazon reviews are just a few sentences. Say something about how it got you in touch with your feelings and move on! Life is too short for reading things you don't want to read...

Well, Monday is here. That was quick. Hope you all have great weeks.

Pav