Operation October - week three

[ladybirdheart]

Operation October - week three

Good night here. Did very well without alcohol at a party where just about everybody was new to me and armed with a margarita. The guest of honor, however, was a large and delightfully intelligent fellow who as it turned out was on a diet and not drinking at the request of his physician. Most of the people ended up drinking and visiting in the ?smoking room? while those of us in the main house had wonderful music and conversation. I found myself involved in the moment and having a much better time than I normally do at such events. I think I caught a lucky break in many respects but I also had a plan beforehand and used skills I have learned along with you. Onward. Love, Ladybird.

[cyntree]

Operation October - week three

Hello Gang - wonderful posts, thanks. I'm late checking in, and pooped as usual, sorry for a quick message. Just got home from a fund-raising event where (unfortunately) all the talk in my group was about drinking! Is it true UKers, that some people there mix beer and 7up? Wacky! Anyway, 'no thanks I don't drink, no thanks I don't drink, no thanks I don't drink' and a Kudzu got me through the end of day 16 (this is the longest I've gone in over a year or maybe more). I'm actually starting to feel a little detached from drinking (for the moment at least); like I can see it from afar instead of having it whispering in my ear all the time.....
Anyway, all best for 'humpday' - see you on the other side of the day -
Be gentle with yourselves and keep the faith!

[FindingMyself]

Operation October - week three

Hello all

Lil, seriously on getting through the holidays in good form – I’m with you.

:hiya: Yes Lav, add me to the list. I can see that the drinking really snowballed at the beginning of my 40s.

Pam, it's nice that you felt like participating and that you spoke up and made your voice count. That's a toughie for me, but I am feeling more confident these days.

Red, sorry you caught whatever bug is going around. I know what you mean about wondering how anything was ever accomplished while drinking all of the time.

Em, good for you for listening to yourself, seeing some red flags and doing something about it. We each have to live in our own skins and be comfortable there whether others are okay with our outward actions or not. Listen to your instincts and intuition. Mine got buried under the mind-numbing effects of alcohol and I think I'm just beginning to pay attention to this part of myself again. I think it is a valuable part of each of us.

LadyBird and Cyn - sounds like you both had challenging days - congratulations to you. I still have not faced the social situation, as Red mentioned that will be a toughie.

I'm getting sleepy - lights out for me. Peanut, I hope you get some good rest tonight. Not getting enough sleep is no fun!

Dill, Sooty, BP, everyone - hope your day was good!

[redhibiscus]

Operation October - week three

Good morning. I am still sick, and wish this would go away. I hate getting a cold, it goes on for so long.

Ladybirdand Cyntree, I am really impressed with your planning and success at a social event. It just shows that we have to be committed and plan ahead of time what to say, what to drink, and use all of the tools we learn on this site from others experiences. Thanks so much for sharing your successes.

I know I will not be tempted to drink today because I feel horrible anyways, drinking would just make it worse. IS that the silver lining in the dark cloud of this cold? Take care and looking forward to your posts today.

[dill]

Operation October - week three

Good Morning! Once again I am grateful to be among this group. Well done, LBH and Cyntree! Myself, I am able to avoid drinking in social settings without too much trouble. However, they tend to trigger my to go home and "reward myself" for good behavior. I think I've heard this referred to on other threads as "stinkin' thinkin'". Apt description!

Red, please feel better soon! It's funny you managed to find a silver lining though! You are a glass-half-full person, aren't you.

Cyntree, I'm glad you are getting a little breathing space between you an alc. That feels good, eh?

Emmy, I found your conversation with you HB interesting. I agree with Finding's response. Curious: does you HB drink? Mine does not. That is a tremendous help, here.

Pamina, I'm glad you have found moments of feeling present and grounded. You have been through so much recently!

Lav, thank you for the important reminder of finding a strong motivator and keeping it in the fore front. I don't know why it is so hard to do that for me. You'd think just the feeling good and healthy would be enough, but it's not. I'm going to make a list of motivators today. I know, I've done it before, but I think it's good to do it periodically.

Pnut, I know what you mean about sleep. I have been taking a supplement called Alteril. It contains L-tryptophan, melatonin and valerian all in one capsule. It's been good for me. But, I look forward to not needing it. I do think that day will come.

My contribution for today is this motto: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And keep the wine and spirits out of the house!

Hello Finding, Lil, Sooty, Being, and I hope not to leave anyone out, but if I do, please forgive me!

Lil, I like your new avatar!

I'll check in later.

[Lavande]

Operation October - week three

Good morning October friends!

50 degrees & sunny, going to 70 - can't ask for much more this time of year
Prepping myself for the return of the Energizer Bunny this afternoon - thinking about a morning nap, ha ha!!

Dill - love your motto, especially keeping the wine & sprirts out of the house! None of us should have to deal with that kind of temptation. I keep a bottle of Tylenol handy for 'pain relief' now - that's the only self medicating substance I have in the house

Red, hope you feel better today, sounds like you need chicken soup, I'll put a pot on!

Lil, are we cross posting right now?

Hello to LBH, cyntree, Being, Finding, Pam, Emmy, Pnut and everyone!! Sooty was planning to retun today (Humpday) wasn't she??

Need to get moving, work is calling. Have a great day everyone, I'll check in later
Lav

[ladybirdheart]

Operation October - week three

Good Wednesday everybody. It is remarkably soggy here this morning and my plans to begin removing the flagstones from a path to a temporary pile in the initiation of an off-season garden project have been formally scrapped. That?s cool, many weeks unfold ahead. Thank you everybody for posting about your ongoing concerns and efforts to work through them. When I had a few weeks alcohol free, I was reluctant to post that I did not seem to feel as chipper as everybody else seemed to be; I was afraid of inadvertently being a negative influence or get my feelings hurt and I thought I should go away until I got myself together. Now, obviously, I am much braver! Hope we each learn something today about how to live well in the world. See you later. Love, Ladybird.

[Emmy]

Operation October - week three

Good Morning Everyone..
NO... Hubby does Not drink , children all in their 20's DO NOT Drink !!! Just Mom.. Maybe I hid it well .. When I quit smoking everyone was so happy , I got hugs and flowers constantly , Hubby took my car and had it detailed , kids kept sending me cute e-cards ! OK , I think you get it ! But with these 23days under my belt , no one is noticing ! I'm ok with it , I'm doing this for me and I'm thankful that I found MWO and all of you !:l Em

[dill]

Operation October - week three

It was another beautiful Autumn day in these parts! Mr. Dill and I went for a ride on old US 35 heading East. There is an old apple orchard out that way where we stopped and bought a 1/2 peck of apples and a gallon of fresh cider. Next stop was a Pumpkin patch that leaves you to your own devices: just pick out what you want from among the gourds, Indian corn, pumpkins, squash, etc., and leave your money in the box. All in all, a nice day. Of course I looked a bit like a crazy person walking around talking to myself because every now and then I would say aloud to myself: "I'm fine. I'm just fine.", trying to baby myself through some cravings in the late afternoon!


Emmy, hang in there, even if nobody around you notices. It's really about you. You know you are doing the right thing for yourself. BTW, I too like that song. Here's a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y96-Lmo2eM[/video]]YouTube - T Graham Brown ~ Wine into water

LBH, I too struggle with posting when not feeling positive. I completely understand! But, I am learning that is as important as posting when things are easy.

I hope you are all doing well.

[mica]

Operation October - week three

So many people doing so well!

Emmy, this is for you..:l. I hope your family sees what you are doing and gives you the credit you deserve! Congratulations on your hard work.

Ladybird and Cyn, good work to you two, as well. It is so hard, isn't it! I hope that you each treated yourselves in some lovely way when you could, and that the warm glow of waking up the next morning knowing you handled the evening well made it worth it. Great work! :goodjob:

Here's a Howdy to everyone else, too: Dill, RedHibisicus, Pamina, Peanut, Finding Myself, Trucker, Lilmea, Lav, and a hearty welcome to Being Present! (I always hesitate to list names knowing full well that this old brain is going to forget someone... please forgive me.) I wanted to say hello to everyone first, since I haven't been able to come here often, and I always feel like a visitor instead of family.

So, OK, now for the bad news. I'm going to post it also in the main forum, because I think the warning is important for us all to hear, but I just found out yesterday that a good friend of ours died this weekend from the results of his alcoholism. He was young, and intelligent and successful, and had this horrible monkey on his back. And I wish I had been a better friend. And yesterday I had a little meltdown at work, and because I was still in the 6 month probationary period, this morning I was fired.

In the old days, like last month, I would have spent the rest of the day drowning my sorrows, but thankfully, that was only a passing thought. So instead, I spent the day crying and cuddling my kitties, and then coming here and reading your lovely stories about rats in the back yard and success stories at parties.

Thanks for being here for me. I guess that one bright spot in being fired is now I won't be spending all that &*(% time at work on the computer, so I'll feel more like getting online and coming here each day instead of once a week.

See you soon. Love, Mica

[choppersmom]

Operation October - week three

Hi October Friends! Just wanted to post a quick hello. I am super busy with final exams right now, so I haven't been posting much. Taking a quick break to check in with all of you, as I have been reading the thread. Here's to everyone meeting and exceeding goals. I will have exams done at the end of the month, so I am really ready for the November thread. Talk to you all soon. Take care and big hugs to everyone...I miss you all :l :l :l

[ladybirdheart]

Operation October - week three

Hello Chops, I am looking forward to November already so you can be here. And Mica (Mica :h), I am so glad you are going to be here; it is really hard keeping all this together, and looking forward to being on the same road again with somebody I like as much as you has warmed me. Let?s honor your dear lost friend with truth and courage. I am so deeply sorry for your loss and everything that surrounds it in your loving heart. Love, Ladybird.

[Lavande]

Operation October - week three

Evening October friends,

LBH, be sure you keep posting regardless of your mood or whatever - we need to hear from you

Em, I'll let you in on a little secret. I tried to tell my family a little about this program when I first started but they weren't interested....... they all had opinions about what I should & should not do. Not one of them had any special knowledge or experience on this topic. So, I pretty much thumbed my nose at them & started the program. I have not shared anything else with them - not even my success. They don't even have a clue that I am nearly 7 months AF. I think I really prefer it this way because I'm not interested in anymore opinions.........celebrate your victories, keep them close because they are precious

Dill, glad you enjoyed this nice day! And yes, you are fine.....just fine

Mica, so sorry about the death of your friend, that's a tragedy. Losing your job right on top of that news is a real blow too. I'm glad that you are here with us, please stay close, we'll try to walk along the road with you!

Chops, exam time already??? Such a busy girl you are......stay well!

I'm tuckered out, putting my feet up right now!
Have a good night everyone.
Lav

[being present]

Operation October - week three

Well all, I tried to go through and address each if you with a comment, and after taking way longer than this should have, I just lost the message. I am exhausted now and ready for bed and even in a worse mood. I am really down about this drinking thing. It is not that I haven't been successful at not drinking so far, but I am just feeling pressure to be able to keep this up and then all my other little voices telling me I can moderate, even though I am pretty sure I can't or I would have been able to do this before. I actually got a little chastised to night for not drinking at a work happy hour at a wine bar. I am just tired and down. Do any of you go to AA? I am contemplating it, but I am scared. Sorry this post is so down, hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. Your lost comments were all positive though!

[FindingMyself]

Operation October - week three

Dill, Sounds like you had a wonderful day. I want a gourd! I did go to the farmer’s market today and got some good veggies. I’ll have to look for gourds next time.

LadyBird, I was on such a high the first 2 weeks of being AF – didn’t know I could do it, and was feeling so vastly different from when I was drinking. Now, I still feel good, but I may be coming down a bit from that initial whoop-te-do feeling. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel very good about continuing to be AF and am in a much better place both physically and emotionally, but it’s not quite the same ecstatic little place I was in. Then I have to think that whenever I have a little bit of success in other parts of my life that thrill naturally doesn’t last forever either. So, maybe this is just the natural flow of things, a little up, a little down. I am a bit too tired after work today to be especially chipper, but I have to say reconnecting with you and others here always lifts my spirits!

Em, you are doing well to hold that special part of your healing close to you.

Mica, I’m sorry that you lost your friend. It is so sad that he died so young, so needlessly. And then to lose your job, too! I’m glad you have the comfort of your pets. (((hugs)))
BP, Sorry you are feeling down. I have to keep telling myself that I’m not depriving myself but am treating my body and mind well when I don’t drink. I’ve heard that from many people here on the boards that we have to try to think differently than we used to about alcohol being a treat. I’ve not succeeded in changing that thought pattern, yet, but I do keep reminding myself. You were successful today – take pride in that accomplishment and treat yourself well. Keep posting and letting us know how you are doing.

Choppermom, sounds like you are in a busy time of year. Looking forward to getting to know you in November!

Lav, give those dogs a rest – you deserve it!

Red, hope your talking good care of yourself and getting over your cold.

Lil, Peanut, Pam, Cyn, Sooty(it’s humpday!) and everyone, have a good evening.