Friday 11th April

[Janice]

Morning everyone......come on, rise & shine!!!! Time you were all up, its Friday!!!!

I got a nice surprise last night. My son's coming home for the weekend (even though he just went back last week!). All his housemates are away so he's coming home to watch The Masters with his Dad!! So, I'm off to get food shopping!!

Hope everyone is good today - WantrealMeaning, its good to have you back on the boards; Barebones, keep posting, know you're not feeling so good right now; Beck, don't apologise - thats what we're all here for!! Mary - hope everything goes well next week for your husband's op. You must be shattered with all the babysitting!!

Second-chance, know what you mean about going to sleep AF. That is one of the main differences for me - waking in the night is no problem now, its so lovely being able to get back to sleep without having those awful panic/anxiety attacks - they were such long nights and I'm so glad they're in the past.

Had another afternoon in the garden working yesterday; it was hubby's day off and he worked too. When we came in, he couldn't wait for his glass of wine and I tootled off to my bath with a glass of tonic water. He later said he was so proud of me and what I was doing and that there was no way he could not have had a drink after working so hard like we did.......(Aaw!!)

Enjoy your Friday everyone.....I'll be back on later.

Janicexxx

[barebones]

Friday 11th April

janice (((((hugs))))) thanks for caring, ur a lovely lady.

well for me i woke up feeling bit better, so lets hope the day rides out the same.

janice i know where ur coming from, my husband will prob have a drink tonight or tomorrow, which i freely let him. he allways asks first if its ok though which is nice of him.

i have AA meeting tonight, so that be good, i have been intouch with 2 members this week, which is unusual for me, but it was the right step. one was my sponsor and shes a hoot lol. anyway even though the past few days have been tough on me mentaly, i havent felt like i needed a drink, so im proud in myself in that.

i hope everyone has a great AF day, yep its the weekend again for us, so lets just remeber its just another day, nothing special.

take care everyone

day 42 AF

[Guest]

Friday 11th April

Hi Janice and barebones.. and all to come later on,

The expectation of alcohol as a reward for hard days work, achievement, boredom, passing the time of day...anything is quite overpowering isnt it? I still find after nearly 2 and a half years sober that people are genuinely surprised when I say I dont drink... they think that after a bit i'll just go back to it (even my husband)... but no no no.. I wont.

However, keeping at the abstinence and saying no repeatedly without attitude gets easier over time.

Exercise is the thing that I think has really turned my life around. Today I so did not want to go to the gym, you wouldnt believe it but I felt brilliant once I finished up there. Its really as if my physical strength is a mirror to my emotional strength. Of course, exercise does not solve everything but it certainly makes ME better.

So I hope everyone on this thread does some exercise today.
Brigid

[Janice]

Friday 11th April

Brigid, gonna go and do my food shopping then hit the gym later this afternoon!!! Exercise has definitely made the difference this time round. Two and a half years is amazing - I think I remember reading Your Story?? What an inspiration to us all!!

Janicexxx

[Guest]

Friday 11th April

Glad to hear it Janice. Make sure you get a sweat up!!! Its not a good look, but it sure makes you feel great afterwards!!!

Best of luck
Brigid

[kaddy]

Friday 11th April

morning every one
well done brigid
janice have a good day with your son and shopping

[rustop61]

Friday 11th April

Hi everyone

Just back from my walk with the doggies so got my exercise for the day. I have always exercised so I guess I'll have to find somthing else to help. Doing the cd's at the moment and they seem to be helping.

Thanks for posting Brigid, good to know that it gets easier. I am going to a confirmation party this afternoon. Luckily I'm picking my daughter up later tonight so thats the perfect excuse for not drinking. I look forward to the day when I feel I dont have to make excuses.

Enjoy your week-end everyone.

Rustop

[Beck]

Friday 11th April

Morning Everyone!

I'm actually up a bit earlier than usual today. Husband and kids are off have no idea what we'll get up to.
Exercise makes all the difference for me as well. It's going to be a beautiful day here and I get to run.

Janice, thanks for starting us off. Don't envy you the food shopping, though. I think I will join a gym this weekend as I do have "swim envy". Wonderful that your husband is so supportive.

Bbones, you sound better - just keep doing what you need to do to stay on this path. contacting your AA folks sounds like it was very helpful. I'm 43 years old and I'm just now learning that asking for help is not a weakness but a strength.

About time - thank you for the post 2 1/2 years. Incredible.

Kaddy and Rustop, you both sound well.

Mary, hope all goes well for you and your husband. sending you some strength as I seem to have extra today.

I'm off to see what my day brings
Beck

[Cinders]

Friday 11th April

Hello my Abber friends,

Janice, as usual, thank you for starting the thread and being such a bright spot in the day.

Brigid, how nice of you to drop in and offer your words of advice and wisdom. It is always so uplifting to hear from someone who has done as well as you. I plan on being where you are in a couple of years!!

RU, Finally, Barebones, I've already said hi to you guys today and so here is another one.

Mary, hang in there. We are all here for you and you know that.

All, keeping this short. I am having a rough go with my little girl and have alreay posted about it. I don't want to go on and on about it.

So, with that in mind,

Love and Strength to all,
Cindi
XXVI

[retteacher]

Friday 11th April

I know you're all here for me. I know that being sober means I have to take life as it comes. I can't have it just the way I want it. My hubby is going in for surgery on Wed., so we don't have to wait long. The doc does think it's cancer, but it has a very high cure rate.

I love you all. Mary

PS: I'm staying sober today. No drinking! It'll only make everything much, much worse.

[charlee]

Friday 11th April

Morning all
For me, maintaing my sobriety is dealing with exactly what Mary has said..."I can't have it just the way I want it"...Although quitting the drink is number one, learning to live everyday with the ups and downs can have its challanges. I used to think a drink will make everything all better...it doesn't
Mary I will keep you in my thoughts.

Cindi...I am so very proud of you.......I wish Adrianne could see through the haze and see how you are facing your demons and know that although hard, it is doable....

I hopeeveryone has a good weekend..

[aquamarine]

Friday 11th April

Hi Everyone. Continue to feel good with the AF. It's probably not a great way to think but I am waiting to feel bad and have those cravings come back. It feels different this time, much more solid.Maybe I shouldn't over analyze it.
Mary- So sorry to hear about your husband. This must be a very stressful, scary time. I will keep you and him in my prayers that all goes well. He sounds like a wonderful man.
Barebones- You sound like you are doing a bit better than yesterday, that's good to hear.It's good that you reach out for help when you need it. We have both done 42 days- think how great that is!
Brigid- Thanks for posting today. You are an inspiration!
Hi to everyone else, it's great to hear from everyone, thanks for being here. Stay well and Stay Strong! Aquamarine

[Miss October]

Friday 11th April

Good Morning All,

Janice, you sound so upbeat. I tried to rise and shine today, but I had such a bad headache this morning and sinus pressure (not from AL either). Yesterday I started with a sore throat and then it went all to my head and sinuses. I eat right, exercise, take vitamins, abstain from AL as much as possible, wash my hands all the time.....and I still get sick. Oh well, I'm still exercising at lunch today, and when I get home from work. I'll sweat this stupid cold out. But at least I'm not bloated anymore

Mary, my prayers go out to you and your husband for strength, hope, and healing.

Hope everyone has a good day today. Make it good ! :rays:

[YoungAtHeart]

Friday 11th April

Hi Everyone,

It's good to see you all sounding so well. Keep up the good work.

Mary, I'm thinking of you and your hubby. Give him an extra hug for me. I'm sure he's a special guy, and I'll be praying for a good outcome for his surgery.:h

Cindi, keep taking care of yourself as you are doing. I'm sorry that Adrienne isn't doing that well; it's such a sorry situation. I am so proud of you for working so hard to be there for her and taking care of you at the same time. You are rocking it, girlfriend! :l

Thanks, Miss October, for the great idea of addressing different folks in different colours. It sure makes things stand out in a big way!

I'm just trying to cope with the vicsissitudes of life here. Pain in the butt. For any who are subscribers, you can read further in the *#%#^%#(&#%&! thread in subscribers. It's already a few pages back in the thread. The short version is that Maddy hit a deer over the weekend in her car, and the insurance co. wants to total it because of the dents in the front end (not major), but the real operating problem seems to be that it is leaking transmission fluid. I embellished the story with lots of the "f" word. I won't go further than to say that I seem to have more common sense than all of them. No one has even looked at the damn transmission yet. Oooo--maybe I need to go back to the (#(&%^#!! thread. I'm coping sober, although I must admit, I did think of wine when we had to abandon the car in the middle of nowhere.:H

Oh well, have a good AF day all. For those I didn't name by name, I'm thinking of you too.

:l

[Determinator]

Friday 11th April

Aloha Friday ABerooos!!

YAH, yikes, what a pain...sorry to hear that. glad you are sticking it out AF though.

Cindi, nice to see you being strong in spite of what life is dealing you. congrats to you.

ATToo! always great to have you in

I worked out TOO hard last night and am already so sore it's kwazy. we did two hours of boxing and wrestling take-downs which are extremely athletic and also something I don't do regularly. ow! but it beats being a couch potato any day of the week.

observations on looking in the mirror:

when I drank, no matter how good or bad my day was there was always a nagging feeling of guilt.

when I'm AF and I look in the mirror: no matter how good or bad the day was there is always at least a little feeling of pride in my decision.

be well friends!