Newbies Nest

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Re: Newbies Nest

Evening nesters

Lovely to see so many checking in.

Battle, we all have crap days and our go to is to go back to old habits but keep building those new ones and you will do fine. i hope you have a lovely day at the zoo. that is on my "to do" list. Happy 30th birthday also, seems so long ago for me, oh it was ha ha.

Byrd happy 12th sober day, i know if it wasnt for your encouragement, my time getting sober and staying sober would have been so much harder. xx

Well i have had an anxiety ridden few days with carl but he is home now and staring at me from his crate. he is on lots of pain relief but still whimpering at me. hopefully tomorrow he will feel a lot better. I have a few days off work which is good.

Read everyones post and everyone sounding great, im going to try and get some much needed sleep, its been a long few days.

take care xx

[Battle_for_the_sun]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening all,

Quick check in, day 23, also my birthday, had a great time at zoo number 2, looking forward to a relaxing weekend filled with nice food before kicking off my week with my quit date and a meeting about my scholarship application. Going to be a busy one.

Byrdie - I remember you from back in the day - I was here almost ten years ago under a different username and you gave me encouragement way back then, unfortunately was far too young to do anything with it, but seeing your avatar again takes me back and brings me joy

Wags - in a way I'm looking forward to Monday, I'm under no illusion it's going to suck at first but I am so done with all the things it takes to keep up appearances whilst continuing to live like this, the amount of times I've had to pretend I remember a conversation is embarrassing, and I've no time for anything else.

Steadfast - I was in the same boat, heavy drinker at 13, alcoholic at 14, somehow made it through school and did pretty well but I look back on days where I'd be sneaking alcohol into class as a 15 year old and just cringe.

Ava - hope Carl's feeling better soon and you get yourself a good rest too.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

Not a bit of sunshine again today, oh well. It didn’t snow & it didn’t even rain, haha!

Battle, wishing you a Happy Birthday & a great year ahead. You have a lot on your plate right now but you also have a good plan. I’m seeing success in all things for you

Ava, hope you’re resting now & I hope Carl is as well.

Wags, glad your schedule is complete with happy young learners
I feel the same way about my brothers, useless beings in my book. It was especially painful when Mom was asking why they wern’t visiting her. I’ve never forgotten that.

Steady, good to see you& sorry you weren’t able to catch up with G, that would have been fun.

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

[Battle_for_the_sun]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening all, day 24 clean, looking at day 1 sober tomorrow, getting a little scarier the closer I am to it, not sure what to expect and I've a lot on this week - but then if I keep waiting for the world to stop long enough for me to do this I don't see an end so I guess wish me luck folks. Hope you're all having a good weekend.

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good luck this week, Battle! And happy birthday!

Thanks for stopping by, Rahul. I hope all is going well with you.

Steady, I'm so jealous you've been able to get together with Mr G and Ava in real life. That must have felt surreal to see him walk by!!

Lav, I've been working on some sewing/knitting/crocheting projects, hanging with grandsons, and I do make myself get out in this yucky weather to at least walk our dog a couple times each day. I've gotten together with some friends I've not seen in so long due to working and the pandemic. It has been nice to reconnect.

I hope Carl improves quickly, Ava. It is so hard when dogs can't live as they want to.

Glad to hear you have a good group, Wags. That must make all the difference.

Kensho, I've had the weird experience with the end of my career of realizing how you can suddenly simply not care about something that you cared deeply about for 32 years! And spent hours working on and worrying about. That's not to say our jobs aren't important and we shouldn't do them as well as possible but this realization has put so many things in perspective for me. I wish I hadn't let it stress me out as often as I did. I thought I would still want to check online to see what is happening on the public-facing part of my job but it turns out I have no interest. I don't wish anyone ill, I'm just ready to let it go, I guess.

I had a facetime yesterday afternoon with a relative who was pretty deep into the gin when we began talking. When she told me a story for the second time (with the exact same voice inflection and emphasis each time around), it made me so grateful to never have to worry about doing that again.

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Quick check-in.
Suspected sighting of Mr G just now - in A****d St ��

:hahaha: Quite possible Steady! Hope you're well. Can't wait to hear some stories of your trip sometime.

Big hello and waves to evabody.

Byrdy, 12 years sober! Wowza! Congratulations my friend. Thanks for being here. We're lucky to have you near.

And hi Rahul! Congratulations on 9 years amigo.

Good luck for monday Battle.

Ava, warm regard's to Carl and the gang.

Surf's up 'round here. x

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

It’s cold & raining, just as promised, ugh. Grateful for our new heater recently installed though, thank goodness

Battle, great work on your 24 days. Wishing you the same strength & focus on your 1st AF day & all the best with your classes.

NS, I found it very hard to remove myself from my nearly 30 year career even though I was thoroughly done with it - well done as a matter of fact. It takes a while to adjust to your new persona, but you will.
Sounds like you’re enjoying your freedom in good & positive ways, good for you. Let’s hope your relative releases her grip on the gin sooner!!1

Hey G! I doubt you’ll ever see me out in public but it must be nice to see Steady & Ava from time to tine. Hope all is well with you.

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

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

I am so grateful for all the wonderful well wishes! It melts my heart! This place saved my life, no doubt about that.

NS, as you know, I was downsized from my job of 28 years back in 2016. It was like a death. I was absolutely rudderless. I found that I not only resented the company, but also the people who still worked there. If I’m honest, I still do. That job was my life. I worked all the time, missed birthdays, anniversaries, important family gatherings, all for that job. I’d have to leave the Thanksgiving table to catch a customer’s call. I rarely took vacation, never took a sick day. I was replaced in less than two weeks. If I could go back and give my 28 year old self some advice, I’d be to put family first. Take vacation….all of it. Enjoy your time off and don’t answer the phone, don’t check email or Vmail. I was too available. My customers certainly didn’t take my calls when they were off. I’d have tried to not make every problem mine. I did well, but it came with a steep price (including alcoholism). The next job I took made me even more resentful of the first. I was working harder for a fraction of the money. Ugg. I’m glad to be done. As they say, when you have the money, you don’t have the time and when you have the time, you don’t have the money. It takes some adjustment, but you’ll wonder how you ever had time to work! I did not foresee a pandemic, that has sure put a clamp on my non working glee. I hope someday soon we can find our way out of this.

I was reading around the site a bit. I feel so very fortunate to have listened to those people who went ahead of me, and took the time to reach a hand back. Finally being coachable made all the difference for me. What a wonderful group of people. Hugs to all.
Byrdie

[TJAF]

Re: Newbies Nest

Gotta chime in as well. Happy 12 years Byrdie! I think I'm looking at 10 years this July. I have to look at my "join date". You were an inspiration for me. So happy you continue to inspire

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Battle - glad you had a happy birthday weekend and you got this for your quit. There's never a perfect day to start - you just have to start. We're all supporting you.

Ava - I hope Carl feels better tomorrow and that you both get some good rest.

Hellos and waves to Lav, G, NS, TJ and Ms Byrdie. So great to see the nest all a-buzz!

[Battle_for_the_sun]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening all

Day 25 clean, Day 1 AF - would usually have had a drink by now, so far so good. Still have a little in the house, I know a lot of people chuck everything but last time I tried that I felt trapped, panicked, and headed for the nearest petrol station to restock - of course having spent the money it seemed illogical not to have a drink and so the cycle continued. Had a productive meeting with the team supervising my PhD today, and now have the whole evening to work on what they suggested rather than just the hour or two I'd usually spend before I was too drunk to be writing or making sense of anything. Time is definitely the first gift sobriety has to offer, though admittedly I might well be cursing it later - never could get the hang of how long an hour, or an evening, feels when sober. Taking it a minute at a time tonight though, get into editing mode (my least favourite mode when working but the one needed tonight) and hopefully just flow with it. Might pop back in later, the night is yet young.

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hola friends, near and not so far

Great job Battle. Keep it rolling.

In work over here. Lucky i like my job. Not much to report other than a couple of irons in the fire as they used to say.

Go git it. L8tr g8tr's.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

We had a cold rain filled day, typical of this winter. I’m afraid the snow will be arriving very late this winter, oh well.

Byrdie, we are all happy you have succeeded the way you did & continue to enjoy the AF life

TJ, hello, nice to see yo as well.

Wags, hope your week started off well.

Battle, day 1 is over for you by now, congrats!
I made sure to empty the house when I quit & vowed to never step foot back in the booze stores. So far, so good. Keep going

G, so just how many irons do you have in the fire these days?? Haha!! Glad to see you busy & thriving.

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

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Congrats on Day 1, Battle! We are right beside you. Thinking of you and sending you strength.

[TJAF]

Re: Newbies Nest

Battle, I dumped everything on day 1. I understand the feeling but I concentrated instead on the horrible feeling that was with me always when drinking (physical and mental) and the life ahead sober. To be honest there aren't rainbows and unicorns simply because I was sober but for me at least life was how it should be. That's the genius of Lavs posts btw. Her style has never changed in the 9 plus years I've read this forum. She paints a life that is "normal" and that's just beautiful.