Journey through June - week 1

[Rusty]

Journey through June - week 1

Good Evening Abbers,

Sorry I have not been able to post until just now. I have just returned home from a long work trip and leave REALLY EARLY tomorrow for Dayton, OH. It's our annual conference and I am receiving an award (a miracle, considering my drinking life the last 1 1/2 years)

Hi Sooty, Mstall, LBH, DG, Sped, Spud, Star and Red....hope you're all doing well.

Chill-I hope you can finally rid your poor tired body of the horrible virus you have...I hate to be sick. A thought for you...Ask your doctor if you have Acid Reflux. I am not kidding. About 3 years ago, at the time when I started drinking every day, I had this non-stop horrendous cough and my Ear Nose and Throat doctor put me temporarily on this medication. It turns out I had Acid Reflux. I wasn't on the Prevacid very long (you can get Prilosec over the counter and it works just as well) before it went away...but that's what it was. Another thought? Maybe you have bronchitis, as I have had when I can't stop coughing. I ask because I care :h

Dill-You're a Speech Therapist?! I have the utmost respect for you and your profession...we need more of you. My job is challenging and EXTREMELY stressful because I travel all over the world and work very long hours, but I love it!

Sped-given my career, I can so understand the loneliness of sitting in a hotel room by yourself. Happens to me all the time. Sucks, doesn't it? It's gotten better since I no longer use AL as a companion in the evening.


Lav, glad you're getting quality time in with your favorite baby beau!

Nite nite everyone. I have to get up at 3:15 a.m. to catch my flight.

My apologies if I've forgotten anyone.

Rusty

[Chillgirl]

Journey through June - week 1

Good Morning!

Rusty you are a real sweetie being concerned about me, I prefer not to take any medication and will flush this cold out with lots of fluids, Im definitely feeling better today and hope by the weekend that i can start exercising again, thats my biggest complaint as I love working out and it keeps me so mentally enriched.

Mollyka - Lovely to have you here! :l

Lav - Would love some of your broccoli, I a huge fan!

I have signed up for a free teleseminar tonight on addiction and have pasted the details below in case anyone is interested, if you are in the US it will be this afternoon but all the times are shown:-

Are you someone who drinks more than you would like to? Or do you dream of the day that you can finally quit smoking for good? Would you like to stop the yo-yo dieting and release weight naturally? Do you suffer with irrational fears, phobias or sleep disorders that are negatively affecting your life?

What if these substances are not the problem, but instead are actually symptomatic of something else?

In this teleseminar, I will be interviewing clinical hypnotherapist Georgia Foster.

Georgia struggled with food and self esteem issues for over sixteen years before finally breaking free of these negative emotional states, using her own form of Voice Dialogue and hypnotherapy.

If you are ready to break free of pain, suffering and addictions so that you can move forward in your life, then make sure you are on this call....

'Breaking Adiction with Hypnosis'

Interview with Georgia Foster

Clinical Hypnotherapist, Author and
Founder of the Foster Technique.

Here's what you will learn ...

How to use the power of your sub-conscious mind to break free of any addiction, with no need for struggle, deprivation or will power.
How to move beyond unconscious behaviour, old habits and patterns to create a new life that inspires and energises you.
How to free yourself from the past to reconnect with your authentic, powerful and magnificent self.
Please note that this is a free call but places are strictly limited.

To secure your place please click the following link now!

Interviews by Damien Senn | People You Should Meet

Live like your life depends on it!

Damien Senn

PS. You can transform your addictions...

Interviews by Damien Senn | People You Should Meet

[Stargazerlily]

Journey through June - week 1

Good morning all. I woke up and my coffee pot was not working I drove to the closest gas station, loaded up on coffee, and here I am.

Mollyka, welcome, I have read your posts, love your story and efforts, and will appreciate having you as a regular on this thread.

Sped, thanks for sharing your journey. I too have journals from the 1980s that I wrote, bemoaning my drinking. Even in my 20's, I knew my alcohol consumption was not healthy. Yet, here I still am. It is so sad for me to look back at it and now. My side still hurts today, this cannot be good. I am lucky, like dill, I never had a horrible public episode, humiliation.
So Sped, how did you finally quit, if DUI, pictures, lists have not helped? I ask because I want to stop for good. I have stopped for long periods of time, and even moderated for a time. But then, it gets out of control again. Now, older, my body is giving out, and I know I will die with a horrible illness if I don't stop. Plus, I like to be AF, I have more fun, remember everything, laugh alot, and it is real. Whew, all this and it is still not 7 a.m. here.

I miss lilmea, cyn, and others who have left for a time. I welcome Rusty, you are a great addition, thanks for taking the time to contribute.

Well, have a great day. Thank goodness for gas station coffee!!!

[dill]

Journey through June - week 1

Good morning friends,
Welcome to you Mollyka! I too have read many of your posts and am honored that you would like to join us here.
Rusty, I agree with Red/Star. You have been a very positive addition here and I am happy you joined us. It is intriguing to me to think of you flying to and from Dayton. Next time I fly anywhere I will be looking around on my plane thinking, "Is that Rusty?".
Chill, are you feeling better?
Lav, those eggs come in shades of blue/green. Ours were mostly green. They are beautiful and taste just like the brown eggs. I think you'd like them! Our hens were ameraucana, not aracauna as I originally had posted. Ameraucanas - Back Yard Chickens
Sped, I'm glad you're having a good time. I kinda' feel like I'm on vacation with you, and it's helping me get through this tough last few stressfull days of school.
I heard from Lil! She sent me an email. She says she's been having trouble logging on to MWO but she is doing great. She is really busy with her remodel, as she and her hb are doing most of it themselves. She sounded wonderful!

[Lavande]

Journey through June - week 1

Good morning friends,

Wow, I really slept last night - knew I would after spending the entire day with my little buddy yesterday

Dill, those Ameraucans are very handsome birds! We've had batches of day old hatchlings shipped to us twice now that have included a few 'Exotics' but the poor things didn't last long. I swear they were abused by the others!!!

I have to get to work now so I'm free to take my car in for inspection this afternoon.
Wishing everyone a terrific AF Thursday - I;ll be back tonight

Lav

[spedteach]

Journey through June - week 1

Whew, glad I have you all here to touch base with. Feel like I'm skating on such thin ice right now. I knew summer would be a huge trigger for me and indeed it is. Remembered this morning on a walk that I was here a year ago in southern California. The weather was the same, cool and gray in the morning giving way to sunny and warm in the afternoon. But a year ago I was drinking, a lot. What terrible memories I have of drinking. It's bad enough to make me want to drink.
Red, I don't know how I quit. It was just like something snapped. I'd had enough. Really felt like I'd rather die than drink again.
Know our thread is usually so upbeat. I am just having a very hard time on this trip.

[dill]

Journey through June - week 1

Sped,
I'm sorry you're having such a topsy turvy time. I can relate to having bad memories flood in, triggered by a place or a smell, or what ever. Hang tough! You'll get through this and those old memories will become less powerful and more distant as you build new memories on this trip.
You said "something snapped" and you had had enough. I've "had enough" many times, but I guess I haven't had the 'snap'. I am still moving towards it though. I will never give up. I actually ordered antabuse at one point but was afraid to take it. Finally I took it but after a short time, I stopped. I didn't have the commitment to keep at it. A couple days later, I drank. The stuff was still in my system and the drinking made me feel awful. It really scared me. I am mulling over whether or not I should go back on antabuse. You definitely cannot drink while on it and for several days after going off of it.

Star, what do you think is causing the right side pain? Does it go away after a few AF days? Do you think you should have the doctor check it? Could it be gall bladder? It might not be liver. Have you had your liver panel done lately?

Three more days of work for me. Tomorrow being the most stressful, as I have to assess preschoolers and then start writing reports and IEPs. We have our meetings with parents on the 8th, and then I am FREEEEEEE!!!!

[rustop61]

Journey through June - week 1

Hi everyone

A late check in from me today. My visitors arrived from the US, they just popped in to say hello and are continuing down the country and coming back to stay with us next week-end.

Sped, try and stay strong. It's great that at least you can check in while on vacation. Being out of routine and in an environment where you once drank is really tough. Sending you lots of positive vibes and remember we are here for you.

Everyone else big hello, will catch up on all the posts tomorrow.

Rustop

[mollyka]

Journey through June - week 1

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your welcomes, I was chuffed to know that anyone even knew who I was!!! Having a tricky day today, my daughter has emigrated to Canada and I feel quite lonely and vulnerable. Am ok tho I think, actually I must watch myself because someone here asked me what my triggers are to drink and I seem to get though dramas and then when all seems well I cock up. Anyway all good at the moment and am going to bed - safest place!!
Molly

[sooty]

Journey through June - week 1

Hi June-ers. Sorry I've been missing ~ my daughter who's at university has broken her foot and we had to go and bring her and her car home so its been a bit busy!
Anyway she's home now and feeling a bit better. Dill she's training to be a speech therapist!!!!!
And we've got flowers on our peas but no peas yet - yours must be much further advanced than ours.
Lovely to see so many of us on the bus this month, lets hope that some of the missing passengers return soon.
I'm off to bed now cos its been a long, hot day. I'll catch up tomorrow
love sooty

[Chillgirl]

Journey through June - week 1

Good Morning! Beautiful day here and I just got back from a gentle cycle. My cold is on its way out and its so good to be able to exercise again, I love the high it gives me...

I listened to the interview last night on addictions and picked up some interesting snippits. 80% of people use alcohol excessively because of emotional issues (which I will explain) and only 20% is actually a chemical addiction to the substance. The main emotional issue is "the inner critic" which is that voice in our heads constantly telling us we are not good enough or that things arent going well or life would be better like this or that or whatever... you know the voice I mean! Anyway we all have this voice "the inner critic" and what we subconsciously discover is that by drinking we can shut this voice up for a while. We can get to that peaceful place where the voice cant reach us and we like that place. Of course then we wake up the next day and the inner critic is going balistic at us!! And so the pattern continues. I have always been a bit of a perfectionist and it really irked me that I had this terrible flaw regarding AL but the interview explained that many addicts are perfectionists and when they fail with just one drink or cigarette they then have a complete binge, which I can totally relate to, and the reason for this is because they feel the need to purge themselves!!

Apparrently when we form a habit of any kind our brain automatically creates a logical pathway as to why this habit makes sense - hence why we can justify all our crazy irrational behaviour when we drink!! Doesnt this just make so much sense now!?
The fantastic news is that the same applies when we create a positive habit and therefore our brain should support us in finding logic for our new postive behaviour......

I wish you all a wonderful AF Friday & will check in later :l

[spuddleduck]

Journey through June - week 1

so true about the habit brain patterns. ive always been a bit negative but im trying hard to put in positive thoughts, they will in time become the natural way of thinking. AL really brings the negative to the front of my mind so with that out of the way things are looking much sunnier

[Stargazerlily]

Journey through June - week 1

Chill,
Wow, my inner critic has been the trigger for me to use. Let's see, I'm bored, not good enough, (that's a big one, after all, what is good enough) I would feel better if I had something more interesting to do, more friends, more money, were younger, weighed less, was in better shape.....yada yada yada. Alcohol does temporarily shut that stupid inner critic up, but boy, waking up after a binge and that critic is YELLING at you. It is so painful. Interesting. Yes, it does make sense.

Dill, thanks for sharing your struggles.

Sped, I find that having time off is a huge issue for me, so I wish you the best. What tools are you using to stay AF? Keep close, we are here for you.

I will be out of town till Monday, so will not be posting. I will be taking care to not get to HALT. I am bringing healthy snacks with me and water. I so want to come back and be proud that I stayed AF and honest and true to myself. I will see family that I have not seen for a long time and want to be the real me and enjoy being with all the people I love. That is what my life is about....relationships and being the best wife, mother, aunt, daughter, friend, etc., that I can be.

Sending you peace and hope. Have a great AF weekend.

[dill]

Journey through June - week 1

Greetings Juners,

Sooty, I?m glad you?re back. I missed you. Sorry about your daughter! Just when you are finally getting healed up, now your daughter has to! That?s awesome that she is going to be a speech therapist. It has been a great career for me. Has she begun taking classes?

Molly, how old is your daughter and why is she emmigrating to Canada? I know exactly what you mean about doing OK al-wise during tough times, but losing it after the fact. That tends to be my pattern as well. Strength to you!

Spud, you are so right about the positive thinking. It is something I work at, too.

Chill, thanks for sharing about the tele-meeting. I thought it very interesting food for thought, but I must be in the 20% group. I am not a perfectionist. I drink because I like it. Well, that's not true. I drank because I liked it. Now I drink because it's an addiction, or at least a very hard to break habit. I am fortunate not to have that 'inner critic' that you described. I have realized after much introspection that I do drink for escape, but not from inner stresses, but from outer stresses. It's like when you want to rest on a bright sunny day: you go to your room, shut the door, pull the shades and feel alone and at peace. That's why I use alcohol. Well at least most of why.

Star, enjoy your family visit. I will be sending you strength.

[Lavande]

Journey through June - week 1

Good morning friends,

Sooty, soory to hear about your daughter's fracture. Fortunately they heal quicker at that age

Chill, what you heard is true! 28 days to break a bad habit, 90 days for your brain to form a new pathway to forming a new & better habit! I sure don't miss the blabbering of the 'inner critic'

Dill, the school year is ending for you. I know you are happy!!!!

Spud, what's going on with you?

Red(Star), safe travels this weekend. Hope you enjoy visiting with your family

Looks like I'm sporting my annual case of poison ivy - have it on my neck, chin & arms...........lovely!

Wishing everyone a fabulous AF Friday!
Lav