All I Want Is 30 Days AF

[scottish lass]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Day 5, and i am managing! Yahoo! Hopefully I get thru today, but starting off strong after a good nights sleep (work woke me up - not desparation for water, or dread as to who i called/facebooked etc last night!!).
I really think I can do this this time - this being AF August, and my first 30 days in maybe as many years!!
My ex-wedding anniversary present to myself is an AF anniversary - and wake up on Saturday ready to take my fabulous girls shopping to the mall for back to school clothes - just imagine how less traumatic this day will be when not hungover and wondering when to get home for a drink or 10! I might even enjoy it - imagine that!!!!
I feel stronger than ever before, but so aware of the ups and downs, so enjoying this feeling, before teh others creep up.
it was hard printing Fridays coupons off and not adding the wine of the week savings to the list.....being Scottish I can't pay full price, so maybe no coupons will speed me past the wine ailse when i do the weekend grocery shop.
have a fabulous, strong day everyone - keep the voices at bay, and conquer the dragon...

[SarahJane]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Day 14 & doing great!
Looking forward to my 6 mile run in the morning, far more fun than having a hangover.
Must fly & clean the kitchen- my house is far more organised these days. Because I want it that way & not out of guilt.
Hope you are all having a fabulous Friday.

[Queenbug]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Hya ladies....you all sound so strong and positive....love it! And thank you so much for all your positive thoughts...:heart:
My time with my girl was lovely...truely lovely...and having us all under the same roof is such a rare thing these days with our busy lives...but it was pretty perfect...I'm so amazed.
The best thing, apart from being altogether, was being awake, energetic and clear headed and sober enough to savour it all and still be able to remember it! AND she said I'd lost weight!
Found out today that my other daughter has got the job I took her 250 miles away to interveiw the other day...and it means a 6 month stretch on the other side of the world(jeez!) and (best of all IMO) NO drinking allowed...
I've managed (struggled), but got Day 7 done...onwards and upwards!
Have done lots of excercise today so am zonked...off to bed soon...I'll check in again tomorrow...Have a strong, sober, funtimes Saturday xx

[WineSucks]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!! What a freakin week! Work was so stressful, I'm so glad to be home and getting ready to go play cards with my friends (no drinking). End of Day 17 for me and I went to the gym this morning and did 3 miles, then I did weights. Tomorrow, I'll do body pump then going to get manicure/pedicure with the money I would have spent on wine. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm so happy to see that everyone is doing so well. Queenie....I'm glad things went well with your daughter. Scottish Lass.......5 days is awesome and something tells me you WILL get 30 days in. If I can do it, anyone can (although, I'm not there yet).


Hope everyone has a great evening!

[Queenbug]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

WS...that sounds like such a great way to cope with stressful times! I'm just venturing into the gym and having a go on a crosstrainer...kind of liking it...not amazing at it yet...but getting braver..

day 17...I just can't imagine getting that far...I'm really impressed!
Have a great evening...catch up tomorrow x

[Clover]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Good Evening, Ladies! I'm finally home, exhausted and starving. I'm going to eat something and then get back on and catch up on my reading. It is so ridiculously hot where I am, when I get home from work and running around, I really need to just sit and absorb some A.C. Oh, yeah .... no wine tonight! Yay! I really like Friday nights again!!

[Clover]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Scottish Lass, I had to laugh when you mentioned FaceBook. I heard someone say that everyone should take a Breath-A-Lyzer before they get on Facebook! That was certainly the case for me; damn, was that invented for isolated drinkers like me? I CRINGE when I think of some of the messages I exchanged with people on FB.

Queenbug, how wonderful that the time with your girl went so well; that is great news! I think of the times my own daughter got mad at me for drinking, but the truth is she was just plain worried. No matter how old our kids are, they don't want anything bad to happen to their parents.

SarahJane, isn't running great? I honestly can't seem to do it right now, it feels like 100 degrees outside! The gym will have to do for me until it cools off. And I really must be more dedicated to that. I'm sure it would boost the energy and I really need that!

WS, my week was very stressful; it was not from work, but from the ongoing saga with my son. The doc gave him pain pills (something called Tramadol) for his painful feet and knees on Monday. Well, my poor, foolish boy took them over to his psycho girlfriend's and 18 of them "disappeared." In one night! He told us someone "stole" them. I am sick over this kid, but I told his dad that I am pulling out of the picture. It is too heartbreaking to watch him do all of these awful things to himself. I have had no contact with my son for several days now, and I think it's going to have to be that way between us for a while. My sanity and especially my sobriety matter right now.

Speaking of sobriety, isn't it wonderful to have a nice, clear-headed Friday evening? I'm getting up bright and early tomorrow morning and going to a church rummage sale with a friend. I wish you all a terrific Friday night! See you later!

[akazia21]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Hey everyone, I'm still here, car still in shop Guess there are a lot of cars broken down this week or something. It is a 3 hour job and a 30 dollar part, going to cost me 300 with the labor costs though
Got my modem back so all is good. Fortunately I am stranded and I don't live near a liquor store otherwise this boredom would get to me-I haven't been to the gym since Monday and I am very antsy.
Hopefully it will be fixed by Monday-have a good weekend everyone I am going out of town this weekend to take my daughter to see her dad so may not be on much!

[WineSucks]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Where are my Peeps??? I haven't seen anyone on the thread all weekend. I hope everyone is doing okay.

Having sort of a lazy Sunday....doing some work, then we are meeting my youngest daughter and her BF for dinner. Still having some stomach discomfort and I may have to go to the doctor's next week.

I'll check back later.

[SarahJane]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Hi all,
Have been keeping an eye here all weekend but have been too busy to post.
Been a bit naughty with chocolate but that is stopping right now!
Have been great on the AL front though- don't even want it. Went to Book Club last night- is a very social group- and drove home at 2am very happy with myself. Had a great chat with them all about AL, one of them checked the bottle of red she had drunk & was amazed it was 15%. I told them I was enjoying my life without it & that a few months ago couldn't have imagined a life without it.
Day 16 today & feeling really good. More connected to my kids & others- think I was living in a haze for a long time. Feel I can make good decisions about the future now, not just be thinking if there is enough wine in the house to last me until I can get to the shops. Now there is plenty of wine, didn't realise how much we get given by other people. Doesn't bother me having it there but I don't leave it sitting on the counter- I don't need to look at it. I know I need to stay vigilant, it is still very early days.
Enjoyed my 6 mile run yesterday, will run again on Tues. Will do some weights tomorrow- to work off the chocolate!
It is lovely to be sober on a Sunday night- was my hardest night not to drink in the past. The domesticity of life used to get to me so I used to bury my feelings in a bottle. Now I realise how lucky I am to have a healthy family & I just get on with what I need to do. I used to call wine my crutch- but it wasn't holding me up at all.
Night all.

[Clover]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Hi, Ladies! I'm still here, too, and doing okay. It's Day 30 for me - yes, I actually made it! I posted on the Newbies Nest earlier, but wanted to say "hey" to all of the gals here. Now that I've gotten 30 days under my belt, I want many, many more. No attempts to mod for me, I am convinced that it simply will not work. If I take a drink, I will get drunk; there's no doubt in my mind about it.

It was a rough day, though. I talked to a counselor about the situation with my son, and he told me that his dad and I should sit down with him and tell him that if he continues to see someone who has torn his family apart, if he continues on his self-destructive path, then he will have to move out. Well, we really let him have it and, naturally, he is very depressed. I guess that's why they call it tough love! But, geez, it is tough on everyone!

I DO NOT like Sundays to begin with. What is it about this day that drives me a little batty? I call it Sunday Psychosis and usually open a bottle of wine at around 2 o'clock and am loaded by evening. But not today! I am prone to anxiety and nervousness and yes, alcohol does calm me down. But the depression that hits me afterward is absolutely horrible! With everything that has been happening, I do feel somewhat anxious .... and sad .... but since I haven't been drinking, that black depression is gone! And Monday mornings are actually very nice! I hope you are all having a lovely, sober Sunday!

[WineSucks]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Hey everyone....I just wanted to get some feedback on something I've been thinking about. I'm not counting days anymore. I feel, for me, that counting days is just me giving in, waiting to happen. It keeps the thought of drinking in my mind. I've been teetering with the "what do I do after 30 days?" and my answer has come down to I'm never going to drink again....period, end of story. I've been wasting my life for too many years over AL and I'm moving on from it. I haven't been feeling good lately, stomach issues, and I am upset because I want to feel good and be healthy. I think back to all the time I've wasted hungover and feeling like crap, remorseful when I should have been having a good day and I just hope that I have many years of healthy living in front of me. So, no more day counting for me....I will never drink again!

[scottish lass]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

Clover, many congratulations!!!! You Rock!
Wines - good point - I started counting days, then changed to looking as to how many days in a month I was AF, that way I did not feel so bad about the lapses and the lack of guilt felt so much healthier.
I think the ODAT system is geared more to this frame of mind.
My feeling is, that it really does not matter how you get there, it just matters that we do get there - and there will be different strokes for different folks.
After many false starts I have a feeling that I need teh 30 days just to believe that I can do it - then hopefully I can relax and take ODAT, however I will not beat myself if I slip as long as I get back on the horse.
I have not managed over 22 days, but if i conversly count the days in the last 6 months that i have drunk, my success (in my eyes - and that is what counts) is HUGE!!! So much better than the last 20 years that is for sure!
So, good thought...and a good reminder to me as I am diligently counting away. Instead, I am looking forward to my first Monday in a month (July was a bad month - Apr, May and June were the successes) that I will wake up ready to sing my way to work (in the privacy of my car - no panic!)

[Clover]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

WS, I would imagine that you should do this however it works for you. I don't wake up and immediately think, "Oh, it's Day ___." I only know that a month ago, 30 days seemed impossible and now it is here. And I am sure that in just 10 short days it will be here for you. I, too, never want to drink again and that is what matters, not how many days I've logged in. If you are really feeling ill, perhaps you should see the doctor. I've had stomach issues on and off through the years, and it can be worrisome, but it usually turned out to be mostly stress related. When I was drinking, there were days when I thought a hole had been burned in my stomach! Have you tried eating lots yogurt or taking probiotics? I hope you feel better soon!

[WineSucks]

All I Want Is 30 Days AF

SL - Thanks for the input. You are so right....whatever it takes to get us there.

Clover - 30 Days is AWESOME!!!! You must feel so good. I remember when you started posting on this thread with me and we both struggled. I'm sending you congrats hugs and wishing you many, many more sober days. I didn't mean to sound like a downer about counting, it's just that I had some self-realization today that kind of hit me upside the head.
As far as the stomach issues, I wonder how much damage the AL did and the fact that I was numbing myself with drink and not paying attention to my health kind of freaks me out. I actually bought some Activia yogurt today and am going to start tomorrow. Hopefully this helps.

I owe most of my AF days to this site and the wonderful people that post here. I consider you all my friends and I look forward to continuing this journey with you!