Newbies Nest

[sunshinetoday]

Newbies Nest

Happy Friday Night Everyone ( at least for me,)

Jennyneric, I know what you mean. I had a day off today. Sometimes those are the days I find it so easy to grab a bottle of wine, as I don't have the responsibilities of work for the day. Not today, I stayed busy instead.

Hippy, I now also picture you out there hunting fish in your white nightgown and maybe some rubber boots. Lol.

I get to work all weekend, and it will be nice not feeling the effects of alcohol when I have a long day tomorrow added with an early start in the am.
Keep up the good work everyone.
Day 6AF almost over, onto day 7!

[hillsidetime]

Newbies Nest

Goodmorning nesters, it's Friday.

Jolie, great question about Vintage Girl, I am not sure.
Mylife, thanks. I hope you have a nice weekend, anything exciting going on?
Willow 20, hello and welcome. Your honesty is such a positive thing. You have received a lot of insightful responses to your posts. Hang in there, you can do it. We are here to help.
Lav, I am really happy for you, enjoy those little gaffers before they grow.
Sunshinetoday, you are so right. Even working is so much better sober. I find work way more rewarding, and I know I am doing a better job.

Have a nice weekend everyone,
Hill

[DSLR]

Newbies Nest

:happy: Well done sunhine, I am 12 hours behind you in France. Roll on day 7!!

Wishing everyone a great, AF Friday and weekend.

[willow20]

Newbies Nest

Thanks to all of you who welcomed me yesterday. I am AF one day. I slept really well last night. I could have slept in but our day starts early with my 7 yr old getting on the bus at 6:55 am. What I notice today is how different it was without a wine soaked body.
Tonight I am going out with two close friends for a bday "drink" ughh we always do this an d i do fine i never have more than 2, but then as soon as i get home i turn on the tv and open my own bottle and relax into it.
I don't know what to do tonight. If I don't go it would be too wierd. I want this feeling again tomorrow so i need a good reason to not drink. i'd like to do this getting sober thing without my friends finding out.
also, when i catch myself thinking that i'll never have a crispy chilled glass of chard i can't breathe

[sunshinetoday]

Newbies Nest

Just having a quick read before bed and I wanted to respond. It keeps me going opsitive into my dreams.

Hillsidetime, Work is definitely a lot easier when my mind and body is not weighted with withdrawal and or mud from it.

DSLR, Awesome job!!!! Keep at it! I'm just hoping I don't slip up anytime soon, or anytime for that matter. But each day as it comes.

Willow, I know for myself I have had social situations with friends where if one of us did not drink it was no big deal. Order something tasty without the AL. Good friends will always support you without needing to know everything. Or you could come up with the headache reasoning. Then if you have advil or something similar, you absolutely should not have alcohol as it is extremely harmful to your liver when mixed with AL. No matter what you do you'll be fine. You'll have the support of all of us here. Don't worry about the Chilled Chardonnay. It will always be there if you want it. You just might find though you don't want it anymore someday in the future. Although I still have a heap of favorites in my head as well. My dad makes a killer ram-oz fizz. I can just imagine it in my mouth. So next time he visits I am going to have him make me one, Minus the AL. I don't want to give up everything! Good luck. And I will be sending you good thoughts. :yougo:
Have a wonderful day everyone, until tomorrow!

[DSLR]

Newbies Nest

Hi willow, welcome. I have been AF for six days and haven't been out with friends yet. I am probably the biggest drinker out of everyone I know so if I suddenly wasn't drinking wine it would be REALLY obvious. But when I do have the opportunity of going out with them, for me I am just going to say that I am not drinking that evening and if pushed that I 'just don't feel like it' I think they would respect my decision. If they are your friends and care about you I am sure they would just take what you say without quesitoning you. You are not lying to them, you won't be drinking that evening, they don't need to know why. I have seen others have said they are on antibiotic, feeling unwell, there are lots of thing you could say, it just depends about how you feel about it.

When you said about the thought of not drinking wine again, I felt exactly the same a couple of weeks ago. I still can't think in terms of 'never' as I know my head is still a mess, although being on day 6 now, the cotton wool is definitely starting to thin out a bit and I feel more sure now that I will finish this 30 days period before I make any definite decision, but one of the options is definitely being AF for the rest of my life.

Try not to think about it all right now, these are big decisions, how about breaking them down into bit sized chunks? Deal with tonight, seeing your friends, not drinking with them but still enjoying your evening, then not buying that bottle(s) of wine on the way home, which is exactly what I would have done as well! Perhaps have something nice in the fridge for when you get back? a non AL treat, a nice dessert etc. something you will look forward to?

When AL was still in my system I couldn't seem to make rational decisions about what I wanted in the future. Just 6 days in and I know I am becoming more focused and positive about a great future, that most probably won't involve wine! Give it a try willow and I think you may find that you are a strong woman who will do what is necessary to achieve your AF goal for you and your family.

Everyone is here for and will be when you get back this evening !

Take care and enjoy a AF evening with your friends.

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters!

Chilly & damp in my portion of the Nest ~ oh well.

Willlow, waking up with a clear head is the way we should live our lives. What a difference, huh?
If you do have to go out with friends be sure to have a good plan. Arrive late, leave early, anything to keep your promise to not drink! Be strong in your commitment.

Congrats DSLR on your 6 AF days! Glad to hear you are progressing so nocely.

Wishing everyone a terrific AF Friday!
Lav

[scottish lass]

Newbies Nest

Morning all from California - day 4 is starting and the worst - I work this weekend, so today is my errand day - and i can't believe that there is AL everywhere I turn - on TV, the radio, the book I was enjoying reading - in EVERY grocery store, in the gas station, in Target - I need to get so much done, but todays temptation is facing me everywhere.
it is only 10am, but I am wrried about 4pm already and have hours to go before i have made it thru to 8pm and can maybe relax a bit! Have made hair appt for 4pm, but a freind just told me that it is really great at the slaon on Fridays - they offer wine! Good Grief! I usually try to get hair done first thing in th morning, so I had no idea!
The only place so far i have found AL is the tax office (and tat was not fun) and post office to post my taxes :boohoo:
stay strong everyone and i will try my hardest to look the other way!

[Mema]

Newbies Nest

Hello everybody! I have been away and have not been AF however I am pleased that since being here I have not gone "overboard". In other words I'll drink for two evenings and then not for two or three evenings. Still it is not perfect because it is a bit of a battle with myself to saying ,No you are not drinking tonight!" I know it will be so much calmer and easier to give AL up completely.

Everyone sounds so great! Congratulations Lav on your new grandbaby.

I love reading everyone's stories they inspire me to do better!

[mylife]

Newbies Nest

Hello Nest!

Scottish - hang in there. Really it will get better. Go to the Toolbox and read all the posts.
https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...box-27556.html

One thing that helped me was writing a list of pros and cons on why I wouldn't drink. The pros list was really long and the cons list really only had 2 things on it - social situations and stress relief! For some reason, that helped. Anyway, we have all been there and it does get easier!

Mema, welcome back. It sounds like you're doing much better! I got sick and tired of that mental battle and that's when I just decided no more. There was no rock bottom or anything I just got plain sick of it!

Have a wonderful AF day everyone!

[vintage girl]

Newbies Nest

Hi everyone

Made it through my first sober holiday as an adult. I had a wonderful time, so full of energy and zest for every moment.

I wanted to take the time to go through all the posts, but saw my friend Softy's post on how he has had some really bad news. Please take a moment to read Softy's thread and share your thoughts.

Nice to be back and also to see some newbies, keep going everyone. xx

[Hippy Chick]

Newbies Nest

Morning friends.

Vintagegirl so nice to hear you survived your holiday AF. Well done, I hope you feel proud of yourself.

DSLR - You are sounding stronger by the day. Good on you.

Mylife - that's a great idea writing down the for's and against's of drinking. I did that and my list of against certainly was a lot longer than the for's....

Mema - congratulations on cutting down your drinking days. Soon you will be strong enough to have more AF days than drinking days.

Scottish lass - well done on your AF days too. Try not to think too far into the future. Take each day/hour/minute as they come. If you focus on what may happen, you will loose what is happening at that moment. All you can control is what is happening at that exact moment.
I know what you mean when you say how AL is everywhere. I didnt realise how it was used so much in advertising until I tried to stop. Even at the cinema one of the adverts was for a new housing development and the "happy family" playing in the park had mum with a glass of wine in her hand!! Does that mean that you can only have fun in that park if you are drinking? I think people need to think more before they flippantly use AL to paint a picture of how life can be....

Willow - I was surprised how much emphasis I put on having to tell my friends that I wasnt drinking to then find out that they really didnt care too much about my reasons. I think we build it up too much in our heads because it is important to us. Although some of my friends (usually the ones with drinking problems themselves) didnt think to ask me to come out if they were going for a drink because "you cant go out for a drink if you are not drinking AL".... What is wrong with going for a non-al drink and a chat?? I think some people feel that if I am not drinking it puts the focus on how much they drink.

Sunshine - what is a ram-oz fizz?

Got up early today - thanks to the canine alarm clock next door who feels I shouldnt sleep in later than 6am, so she barks and barks til I get up. grrrrr ull
Going to the gym in a few minutes. Will enjoy not sweating wine!! Then have to help out at a fundraiser for my daughters soccer club. Am going to try and find some "me" time this afternoon.
So, take one day/hour/minute at a time and we will all get thru this together.

Hip

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good evenong Nesters!

Still damp & chilly here, not nice!

Welcome back VG, congrats on your AF Vacation

Hippy, my dogs are late sleepers......no kidding! They don't even wake up when the alarm does go off :H

Wishing everyone a good weekend! If you intend to rmain AF & need a little help - someone is usually here & there's always to Tool Box

Have a great night!
Lav

[mumofsix]

Newbies Nest

Newbie here too

2nd day alcohol free but feeling great. Hubbie away in the States at the moment, the kids and I having quiet relaxing day. Supposed to be exercising for upcoming marathon but cant be bothered. I think that staying relaxed over the weekend is more important - especially while hubbies away as I dont want to trigger feeling stressed and bogged down. Will hit the treadmill or road on Monday - and YES I Feel guilty not providing my body with exercise but I guess its better than providing my body with poison in the form of booze

[mylife]

Newbies Nest

Good evening Nest!

Vintage great to have you back. I will go read Softy's thread.
Hippie, very important to get some Me time! You deserve it!
Lav great to hear from you as always! I love dogs that sleep in. That's how our beloved dog always was until he passed away last year.

Have a great evening all! I'm sipping fizzy water and Cranberry juice right now. Yum. Still no major cravings this is a record for me! AF and no cravings since April 1 so that's two Friday nights...!!