Newbies Nest

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Battle - congrats on Day One AF and on your successful meeting with your PhD team. You're on your way with both things!

G - good to see you

TJ - you too! Love having you in the nest.

Lav - we're kind of expecting snow later this winter too, which is very unusual for my city. The nearby mountains are getting quite a bit -- we're actually hoping to go snowshoeing one day later this week!


Hellos and waves everybody and happy new weeks to you all!

[Battle_for_the_sun]

Re: Newbies Nest

Morning all,

Officially into day 2 now, rough night, managed to drift off to sleep around 6am, forced myself up after 4 hours so I can try and regulate a sleeping pattern. Insomnia was expected but far from welcome. Got to get on with my application today and some studying, concentration is presently shot but we'll see if some caffeine can get my thoughts in order.

Thanks wags, byrdie, g, TJ and Lav for your support, having some folks to check in with means a lot

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Tuesday evening greetings Nesters,

I hope everyone had a good day. Being retired I admit to doing little as possible some days, Lol. Lack of sunshine this time of year = lack of motivation for me. I always appreciate spring & the longer daylight which will get here soon enough.

Byrdie, I know you are busy creating pretty things on your sewing machine, that’s awesome.

TJ, it’s a good thing I wasn’t expecting unicorns & rainbows on this side of addiction because there aren’t any, haha. Life is as good as we make it, right? Not having the AL monkey on our backs makes everything easier

Wags, so tomorrow we’re supposed to have a storm but I doubt we’ll see any real snow. It will end up being primarily a rain event. The ski resorts in the Poconos will not be happy I’m sure. Hope you get a chance to do some snowshoeing.

Battle, that 1st day is always rough but honestly after day 3 you will feel a huge difference. Hang in there & wait just a little bit for the goodness, it’s coming

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

[TJAF]

Re: Newbies Nest

Battle the first few days can be scary and I would strongly suggest you talk to your family doctor but the physical addiction part is short-lived. A week or so.

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Battle - congrats on getting through a rough night. You've completed the first lap of many in this new sober journey of choosing the best for yourself. Unfortunately the path of a successful quit isn't linear, and sometimes hard days will follow easier ones, but as Lav mentioned - after the 3rd day you should start to feel better. I remember having insomnia at first but it did gradually resolve. Your idea about getting on a schedule is a good one!

Lav - I agree - having some more sunshine would be very welcome during these gray winter days. We actually had some sun today and it gave us a hint of spring to come. :yay:

TJ - great advice. Even if not experiencing full-on withdrawal, a physician might be able to offer short rx or other suggestions that will ease the symptoms that make the first quit days so rough.


Hellos and waves everyone!

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening nesters

Battle, god the tireds were awful when i stopped drinking, i slept when i was tired and was a zombie at work, then i would come home and could not sleep but even 20 minutes was better than nothing. still cant really sleep but thats me but i enjoy what i have. I have a nana nap every day and 5-6 hours at night.

Happy 10th sober birthday NS, if it wasnt for your persistence in getting me to pick a quit date, god knows where i would be now and i am forever grateful.

Wags, we have had quite a mild summer but so dry. have a couple of really hot days and then cools down but Melbourne does have 4 seasons in one day which i like.

Public holiday tomorrow, i thought it was not until the day after so i am glad a friend asked me what i was doing tomorrow. Also have Friday off and Bindi has to go for her a diabetes curve so off to the vets. Carl is doing pretty well but is so itchy now his fur is growing back, as long as he is close to me he is fine. Gucci the other foster with cancer is not eating again. Its like i have young children again, all different and all want something from me but i do enjoy it.

time for bed, take care xx

[Battle_for_the_sun]

Re: Newbies Nest

Morning all,

Half asleep again after another sleepless night (mercifully minus the am I hot/am I cold shivering mess that was night one... ick haha). Back at work today - got a stack of e-mails already making me miserable, but least its work from home for today so I could get a couple hours rest, and I've asked for an extra day tomorrow to deal with my hellish e-mail backlog (and also be able to sleep, but I left that part off the email haha). Gonna do some job hunting later, since getting clean I realised how unhappy I am in my job so its back to the drawing board I guess.

Day 3 today anyway, historically my most hated day but I'm hoping as the quit so far has been different maybe that will be too.

Ava - I've always had insomnia since i was a kid, a big part of me drinking was always because it helped me sleep - except of course as with with all the reasons one starts drinking the effect slowly stopped working and I kept doing it anyway. Glad Carl's doing better if a little itchy, hope Gucci is feeling better soon, I do love hearing about your various fosters - I'd love more animals but the landlord is not exactly thrilled by the ones I have already haha

Thanks all for the support - hoping tomorrow is indeed a brighter day - at the very last it'll be the 28th day clean, a small victory worth celebrating.

[Battle_for_the_sun]

Re: Newbies Nest

Have to laugh at my optimism that this day three would be better than previous day threes - turns out my vague memory of thinking day three is the worst is because its the day I get depressed and start really really getting hit with the cravings - the point where the initial commitment and the constant physical reminder of why I'm doing this starts to fade and I'm left with the space I used to fill by drinking. It is... not a great way to spend the day. But sticking with a note of optimism, I just got hit with a stressful obstacle, and my first thought naturally was, 'screw it, quit again tomorrow' but I guess I've been hanging around MWO a while now because that was immediately followed by 'will drinking in any possible way improve the situation?' and you know what? It really wouldn't. So I'm still sober. I'm stressed and sad and sleep deprived, but sober. Day three. What a mixed bag.

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hey, Battle. Way to flex that sober muscle! You're stronger now than you were before you overcame the obstacle that got dropped in front of you! Whatever happened, drinking would only make it worse in the long run.

When we're actively drinking we don't make long-run decisions. Everything is aimed toward the immediate reward that drinking offers. It takes some effort but a good tool is to fast forward an hour, a day, a week, and a year before deciding to drink. Future Battle will thank you!!

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good evening Nesters,

It’s been another cold & rainy day here, good for staying inside as much as possible. Funny but my chickens don’t seem to notice, they gave me a basket full of eggs today

TJ, I was grateful to get thru my quit without involving a doctor. But, I certainly would have seen one if necessary.

Wags, enjoy whatever sun you get them please send it this way.

Ava, glad to hear Carl is doing OK. We probably all know that crappy feeling of itchiness after a surgical procedure. I hope Bindi perks upa little.
Enjoy your long weekend, sounds nice.

Battle, I’m happy to hear you’re getting thru your early days. The more your mind clears the easier it becomes to talk ourselves out of those drinking thoughts. Before you know it the thoughts will be a thing of the past too. I hope you can find a job more suitable. No one wants to be miserable at work, good luck.

NS, is your weather keeping you indoors as well? I’m starting to think about spring although I know it’s a long ways off, haha!!

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

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

NS - happy 10th sober-versary! Such a nice round number. Of course, all soberversaries are fab regardless of the number (even when measured in days)!

Battle - kudos to you on working your way past that temptation. You are absolutely right of course - drinking would in NO way make anything better, no matter how hard al tries to convince you otherwise. I hope you're able to find a job you like better soon!

Ava - hope you enjoy your day off.

Lav - happy to send you sun as long as we get to keep some here too


Happy hump days everyone!

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi, Lav

Yeah, I think we share weather for the most part - I just get it a day earlier. Yesterday I worked on cleaning out and organizing my 'project closet'. The nasty weather makes it easier to stay inside and work on such a loathsome chore. I don't even remember acquiring some of the fabric, yarn, and assorted craft things that are in there so I guess some of it is more than 10 years old :harhar:.

Luckily I volunteer at a Reuse store so I don't have to throw out everything I don't want anymore. Hopefully some of my trash will be someone else's treasure.

How are you doing today, Battle?

[Battle_for_the_sun]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening all,

28 days clean today, 4 days AF. Been a hard one, a lot of irritations and stresses coming up, a lot of things I don't have control over which never sits well with my anxiety (I know, 'things I cannot change', I'm working on it haha). I'm discovering a little undercurrent of nihilism in my drinking thoughts - anything goes wrong 'screw life/you/everything I'll get drunk'. It's the ultimate expression of giving up on the situation. A colleague was rude to me in an email and straight away that idea pops up that if I'm not appreciated why bother trying. Bit of a ramble just to say that's something I need to work on, I think its half the reason I still have alcohol around the house - just in case something comes up bad enough for me to say screw it all. I don't want to go down that road, but I haven't come up with an alternative 'in case of emergency' response yet - not quite sure how normal folks do it.

Sounds like indoor weather all round in the nest today, I'm half aware its cold but couldn't tell you what its been like out, had my nose in my laptop since this morning, another late start for another sleepless night and battling the email backlog again.

[KENSHO]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Nest. Slogging away at my desk today. It's cold and we have had snow on the ground for a month now. Usually it melts between storms, but this time we are stuck with crunchy, icy ruts to drive through in our neighborhood. Home isn't a bad place to be

Battle, I remember the f-its when I was just quitting. I had that same realization that you had, that not only would drinking not solve anything, it would keep landing me back in a place I didn't want to be. It's hard solving the problems, but alcohol doesn't solve them, it only numbs us from them. For me, once I got used to coping different ways and got on a roll figuring out and fixing the reasons I wanted to drink, the momentum hit and feeling better happened more quickly. You'll get there! Just keep building those sober muscles and before you know it, you won't think of alcohol much at all. HUGE congrats on your upcoming month clean!

NS, I love your style! My husband gets mad at me for keeping stuff until we can drop it somewhere to recycle or reuse - but I just can't imagine throwing things in a hole in the ground. Seems so counterintuitive to me. Super yea for no more drunk purchases!!

AVA, I love hearing about your pups. You are such a kind person to take them in despite their medical struggles. What love.

Here's to BATTLE - 4 days and counting!!!

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Greetings Nesters,

No sun but also no rain so I guess that’s an improvement oof sorts

Wags & NS, I’ll be happy to get your sun when you’re through with it, please
I’m pretty sure I have some fabrics, zippers & even thread older than most of you here in the nest, haha!!I started sewing & ‘collecting’ supplies at age 12 believe it or not,Lol
I do sew for an animal rescue, mostly bedding & that sort of thing. I wish we had one of those reuse stores near us, could come in handy.

Battle, when you have a spare moment go back to the Tool box & choose some of the great ideas there to help you get through those drinking thought moments. We have a pretty large yard & I remember going out & walking the perimeter several times to clear my mind of those thoughts, worked like a charm. Good luck with your work & great job on your quits

Kensho, we haven’t had any snow yet, strange. The weatherman on TV just said the 3+ inches of rain we’ve had this month would have been 30” of snow!!! Having a very unusual winter here, just very damp which makes my joints unhappy. Staying home right now is not a bad idea.

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