Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Byrdie

Are you familiar with Etsy - Your place to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage, and supplies

That's where my daughter & DIL both sell their wares.
It's much nicer than ebay - really!!!

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

This are my kid's Etsy stores (don't tell them I mentioned it)

capture cape may on Etsy, a global handmade and vintage marketplace.

garnet creek on Etsy, a global handmade and vintage marketplace.

[Byrdlady]

Newbies Nest

Wow, Lav! Their stuff is beautiful!! And diverse, from photography to sterling....they are very talented...I hope they do well on there. Thanks for posting that link! Byrdie

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Thanks Byrdie - they do OK!
(I had to go back & edit my typos - looks like I don't speak Engllish as a first language :H )

[lolab]

Newbies Nest

Wow they are beautiful
Byrdies right! I'd love to see some of both of your work too
iPhone does some strange corrections

Bear with me

I asked the kid - the side by side windows is a windows 7 feature

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

lolab - I'm sittimg here using a new laptop with Windows 7 & haven't figured all that out yet
One of these days I take the time to learn all the new stuff!!!!

Wishing everyone a safe night in the Nest!

Lav

[Today]

Newbies Nest

Hope everyone in the nest is having a nice AF Monday night,

Haven't posted in a while but I peek in, read lots of posts, and get caught up. I am going to Las Vegas in 2 weeks and am starting to stress about staying sober. My friends plan to drink, it is going to be hard to stay AF... any suggestions? I wish in a way I wasn't going in order to avoid this, but really want to live my life (and got fantastic deal). Still, I can do it. Many of you struggled through summer vacations. So glad I can get this site on my phone!

Also, does anyone else have the munchies, or stress eat? I lost some weight after becoming AF but think it is starting to come back. :upset: (I am about 2 1/2 months AF)

"Sigh" I feel better for coming here and venting. Thanks MWO!

[4me]

Newbies Nest

Evening Nesters, Just a quick check in. My husband is getting his antibiotics, so I have a free minute.

Byrdie, Your posts are always spot on. You are soooo right, we are in control. Alcohol can't throw us in the trash, break us or share our thoughts. We can however throw it to the curb with our will to do so. Thanks for the uplifting post. :thanks:

Lav, your daughters items are beautiful. I love it. Wish I had some $'s to go shopping!

Windy, you are doing so great!

Lolab, I have had windows 7 for a couple of years now and know nothing about the window in the window, unless I do it and don't even know. :H Time to ask one of my sons.

Today, all I can say is 2 1/2 months....wow! Diet is a four letter word for me, I look at food and gain a pound. Check out the 17 day diet by Dr. Moreno. It works and is healthy!

Mtn Momma, where do you live. It looks like my home state of Montana. Love the picture!

Night Nesters.

[daisy45]

Newbies Nest

Today, oh if I could do anything to convince you not to break that 2 and a half months of AF I would. This time last year I clocked up 3 months and broke it on Christmas Day. It has taken me until now to get my act together again. I regret it so much and when I get there again there is no way I'm going back to the start. I go out more when AF as my drinking was at home, always afraid of making an ass of myself in public. When everyone is out drinking, there is a wee voice at the start when you feel you'd like to join in to get the craic going, but if you hold off, it doesn't take long before you start to notice how quickly the alcohol takes effect in the others. You can join in, enjoy the chat, antics, but you'll soon get to a stage where you can't believe some of the things people say and do under the influence. Some people, like myself, drink for confidence, but when you realise the rest are all tipsy or drunk, you can pretty much be yourself and not worry about them.
I was out Saturday night, as I posted here. Had a great night. The drunken behaviour of others at the end of the night though......talk about eye-opener! The most decent person you may know lets themselves down with alcohol. I went to bed that night thankful that I could enjoy a meal, pub, dancing without alcohol but also angry that alcohol is such an acceptable drug. I woke up proud and grateful to be AF.
I'm maybe not as good at getting my point across (bit waffly) as others here but please stay strong.....you'll have a great holiday!

[FreeFly]

Newbies Nest

Just wondering.. Since AF days (6 in last week) I've developed small lumps in both armpits. Yesterday I found the first and this morning I have one in the other armpit. They're sore and painful. I'm thinking it could be detox and the lymph nodes being a bit blocked, but just wondered if anyone had experienced this. Reluctant to go to dr as I would have to explain the detox which would indicate a problem with AL.

[Daya]

Newbies Nest

CantBelieveI'mStillAtIt;1194797 wrote: Just wondering.. Since AF days (6 in last week) I've developed small lumps in both armpits. Yesterday I found the first and this morning I have one in the other armpit. They're sore and painful. I'm thinking it could be detox and the lymph nodes being a bit blocked, but just wondered if anyone had experienced this. Reluctant to go to dr as I would have to explain the detox which would indicate a problem with AL.

I have had the same problem when I gave up, and I think it is tge lymph nodes also. I found washing under my arms with a disinfectant helped( makes me sound really manky, doesn't it

[FreeFly]

Newbies Nest

Thanks Daya. That's reassuring. I was feeling a bit manky too!

[gregorino]

Newbies Nest

CantBelieveI'mStillAtIt;1193894 wrote:

Hi Greg, thanks for the message but can I clear something up. I'm a lady don't you know!! :bust: Just saying cos you've called me "mate" before and think I drink pints! Very much a female and not even a butch one! :H

Whoops! So sorry! Yeah, sometimes gender is hard to guess on here....and I won't refer to you as Shelia either, because I think that's not an endearing term.

Your ladyship is duly acknowledged.

[Prairie Fairy]

Newbies Nest

Hi Nesters -

Lav asked about the book I was using to help create a behavior plan since Linehan's mindfulness/distress tolerance is mentioned in one post in the Toolkit as a key part of getting AF.

It's a a work book called "The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Wook Book - Practical DBT Exceecises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, & Distress Tolerance"

Basically - so far - it's about making you aware of what triggers your self destructive coping mechanisms and giving you active suggestions on other choices on positive things to replace them with. A friend who is a therapist suggested it as an adjunct to the hypnotherapy.

It really is making me think as I journal it out. Not yet ready to make my first run at AF - the CDs not here yet and I don't feel I have enough tools yet under my belt. But I am cutting back. Which is good. It's a start.

[gregorino]

Newbies Nest

Great Day Nesters!

Got back late last night from working on Chapter Two Sunday and Monday - and was I beat! Could never have accomplished a tenth of what I did when AL was hanging around. And it feels really good to be exhausted after a labor of love. We hope to have her back in the river before the new moon at the end of the month. Looking for a really low tide as we have to get a 47' mast under a 45' bridge!!

Lav - No link to the Bullwinkle goodies? Don't make me beg!

Lo - Three weeks is a good spot....you can almost touch 30 days which is an important milestone. You really sound grounded; lucid - alive! Isn't it cool?!

MtnMomma - Hey, all the "reasons" for being AF are there - so there's no question you want to be AF (right?). So, have a detailed plan that includes all three legs (or 4) and just make that decision - you are changing your life and nothing - nothing - will knock you off that plan. You can do this - and you have the Nest for encouragement!

Prairie - It is totally OK to fall asleep with the CD's! I do it all the time. Your subconscious can still "hear" everything just fine. I think of it as multitasking - I'm doing my therapy and getting a little nap! And always play your sleep cd all night long - you are re-programming the ol noggin while you are asleep - how cool is that?!

Hi Ellen - Yeah, the liver is amazing, but there's just no way to say that if you drank x amount of AL for Y number of years, then the detax period is equal to the coefficient of the square root of the blah blah blah.
It's individual - depends on your metabolism and your detox approach. Are you drinking half your body weight in ounces of water? Are you exercising yourself into a good healthy sweat? Are you using a liver cleanse? Lots of fresh fruits and veggies?
You can take heart in knowing that the better it gets, the better it gets - so keep your quit going and your liver will thank you! (BTW - I used acupuncture as well and it improved my enzymes very quickly - a few weeks!)

Ronnie - Staying busy is a good thing - glad to hear you doing that. I honestly do not have any clue what I used to do when drinking. Pretty much nothing besides sleep, work and drink. Not much of a life, but sometimes you have to walk away from something to have a look in hindsight. Stay with your quit and you'll see!

4Me - keep it going - every day without AL is another step toward regaining your true self!

Daisy - Sounds like you're going to have a great time seeing your son - enjoy!

Windy - Good point - I drank for stress, and also for just about any other emotion I may have been experiencing. But I do think there's a lot less stress when not drinking as you mentioned - what we have to do is watch that trigger however - how will we deal with stress when it arrives - if we have always used drinking to deal with stress- we have to know what we are going to do now without the AL. Personally, I like to go with supplements and some hypnotherapy!

Ms. Byrdie - Another awesome post! Thanks!

Mauri - Hello again. Lav is right - re-tool your plan - what lessons have been learned?

Hello Today! 2.5 months is a great start on your AL-Free New You. You don't need to be drinking to enjoy Vegas - stay on your quit!

CantBelieve - Yeah - sounds like detox symptoms for sure - drink lots of water and be happy your body is working - flushing out the poisons!!

Gotta run - Lots to do - Great Day Nestlings!