sat 18/09 af daily

[bear73]

hey all - hope you're all well, been catching up on posts.I read every day on mobile but can't post and sometimes I don't feel like getting on PC in the evening.
Busy busy busy week at work - having big talk with job share on Tuesday re how it's working(it's not) after she blew up at me on the phone.
I'm viewing this as a positive and a chance to affirm boundaries and agree better way forward.stressful and not going to be fun BUT I am dealing with it so much better sober!
Took self off to spa for sauna,swim, steam etc and it was lovely.

I am loving being sober and cigarette free - starting to feel positive feelings now it's been 2 weeks, ordered 'drinking a love story' and am reading another book which I soooo identify with - family background/self esteem the lot.

Band night tonight - I AM DRIVING - I've also told more people that drinking makes me feel sad so it feels easier to stick to.I don't feel unspoken pressure then.
good day all to come - off to get hair cut BADLY needed and hopefully have a shopping binge for work clothes - also badly needed!
Happy Saturday!

[Raven.joy]

sat 18/09 af daily

Hi all, have not been on much lately, but its nearly a year sober now and feeling reflective. Love you all and very grateful for the help and guidance this site. In the early days I came here daily and will try and come on more.

[Guitarista]

sat 18/09 af daily

Greeting's Abberoo's!

Great stuff on 2 week's Bear! And smoke free too, you beauty! Safe travel's, and have a great night.
A safe, sober, and magical weekend to all.

[Guitarista]

sat 18/09 af daily

Almost 1 year Raven? Ah, great work friend. Keep it going, and make sure you let us know when that special anniversary is here, will you? Bravo!

[greeneyes]

sat 18/09 af daily

Good morning Fabbies!

Good to see you bear and hear you are doing well! :goodjob: on 2 weeks!! Do you feel a difference having given up the idea of modding? Good stuff on your positive view of affirming boundaries - I love that!

Raven, what a difference a year makes, eh? Good on you!

Hallo, g-bloke! XO

I hope Lav's yard sale is rockin' the hood by now :H I could go for one of those blondies she made to have with my coffee.

This AM I had an e-mail from employment office about a job opp. It has to do with worker's health and safety (OSHA, etc.) of workers at a meat processing plant relative to waste disposal and management of such disposal. :yuk: Honestly... I could almost not drink my coffee! I'll have to plead vegetarianism on that one!

There was an interesting clay art sculputre show at that gallery I like last night. It is STILL strange for me to go there and drink soda. I saw that all the pieces by one artist (and there were many) were for sale for a local women's shelter.

M3 remodeling upsets the chi in the house and the energetic chaos can be really unsettling. Hang in there!

Zooming off for a busy one... hoping for rain some time in the near future!

[Doggygirl]

sat 18/09 af daily

Good morning fabbie abbies! Bear, congrats on 2 weeks AF/NF and also on your personal progress. (facing the challenges at work, getting more honest with people close to you, etc.) "Not drinking" is only the beginning. The things you are doing - facing your life issues (life on life's terms) and being honest are IMO, things that will help you in your journey.

Raven.joy it is fabulous to see you as always! Yes - please do tell us when your special day arrives!! 1 year is an exciting anniversary IMO.

G-Man!!! :h Glad to see you spreading your magical magic here among us today.

Greenie....I don't think there is enough money on the planet to make me want that job you described.... :yuk: Hopefully they can come up with something not so disgusting. Good for that artist benefiting the local shelter. I know what you mean about occassional situations where it feels strange to be drinking a non-AL. For me, I know the key is just pushing through and getting practice doing it the "new way." But sometimes I'd rather just skip it.

Gaia I hope your sore throat is better today!

PA Guy - I hope the hole in the bed does not swallow you up. I've never tried Quinoa but keep hearing about it's amazing qualities here and everywhere so I bookmarked the link. I just want to come eat my meals at your house. That is all.

Lav, thinking of you today and the yard sale. Hope everything goes!

M3, we were expecting to start the renovation project sooner. But we got the confirmed start date yesterday - next Friday. Not looking forward to the disruption and mess. Maybe we can offer each other some moral support! I missed a lot of posting details this week but I get the feeling your project is under way?

Uni - what do you think about the WFS meetings? I'd be interested in hearing your view on similarities / differences with AA. I've always been curious and I'm sure there are some meetings around here. Don't know where I'd find the time at this stage but my curiousity remains open! Good for you deciding to take a step back from high stress job and just get yourself in order first. We are no good to anyone if we are stressed out, drunk, and dead. (literally or figuratively)

Marshy - how is your Mom doing? What are you up to this weekend? (nosy, aren't I?)

Mo - congrats on 2 weeks today!

P3, good luck at the trial! I hope you are able to post videos from your phone. That would be amazing. I'm wondering how dinner was last night.

OMW - great to see you and glad life is good! My life keeps getting better and better too and it's hard sometimes not to wonder "what if" I had never touched a drop of AL. That's a silly pattern of thinking though - goes nowhere useful.

Rebirth, congrats on your sugar free days. I MUST MUST MUST get a handle on that.

It's been a busy week so this morning I didn't set the alarm and slept all the way until 5:30. One of our dogs has had on-going health issues for a long time and is having another episode this past week of a problem. Back to the vet she goes today with Mr. D. I'm not sure what's wrong this time but I don't think she will be a long lived one.

For me, I'm going to drink a bit more coffee and then go work out since I didn't do it yesterday. Then some office puttering. That's about it for me today!

One thing is for sure...

DG

[momof3]

sat 18/09 af daily

Good Morning All,

Happy that it's Saturday on this end. It was a tough week. Greenie and DG...yes the remodeling is well underway. The framing and siding is up on the screened in porch and family room. I'm in the midst of designing the kitchen, picking out cabinets, appliances, etc. What you said about upsetting the chi Greenie is spot on. I can feel it. Plus, I work at home so it is sometimes hard to get away from it. I am quite excited about it all and grateful that we are able to do this. I never forget that there are so many out there who don't even have homes.

My state of overwhelm has lots to do with being a bit over committed and to the time of year. I am a girl scout leader, on the board at my church, a religiouis education teacher at the church and also involved in each of the 3 girls schools. All of these activities involve lots of meetings and start up in September when kids go back to school. Work is busy too. Plus I have a husband who is clueless about getting things done. I have decided this week that I am going to seek out a therapist to help me with managing the stress associated with my family, particularly my oldest daughter. I have not been to therapy in a very long time and I think I could use it. I haven't felt compelled to drink but all of the behaviors/thoughts are there such as feeling restless, overwhelmed, resentful, etc. Time to do something now.

Bear, Will be thinking of you tonight. I hope you have an exit plan in place. Which means that whomever you are driving tonight should be able to get a ride home with someone else if you need to leave. Don't forget that if you want to be AF, you have to put that priority above anything else. The queen has spoken (I share the thone with Greenie).

Raven...kudos to you on approaching one year. Feels good doesn't it?


M3

[Marshy]

sat 18/09 af daily

DG - mum's doing OK, thank you. The lung op has been a success so far, the radiotherapy has helped her hip/leg so she's walking a lot better. There's no improvement on the breast cancer but it hasn't got worse in the last few weeks either. She's on drugs for that at the moment but her oncologist says they might talk about surgery at their next appointment. And she's still in good spirits.

Re popcorn tour: this is the view from the outside cafe where me and the non-girlfriend had lunch the other day. Lovely sludgy brown Thames! It's not dirty (so they say :H), it's tidal with very strong currents so is constantly churning up mud as the tide rises and falls. You're welcome anytime!



Raven - when's the big day?

Mom3 - no wonder you're overwhelmed with all that going on! Is there anything you can drop?

Greenie - any jobs going at the gallery?

Hi Bear & G & all to come. Have a good 'un. Attached files [img]/converted_files/1371240=5694-attachment.jpg[/img]

[momof3]

sat 18/09 af daily

Hey Marshy,

Thinking of you and your mom.

Well, the photo is a bit of a downer. Would like to see more blue sky and blue water!!

Does your non-girlfriend want to be a girlfriend?

M3

[Doggygirl]

sat 18/09 af daily

M3, if counseling has helped before and you are feeling the need for that type of support then I hope you go for it! It must feel frustrating to have a "not get it done" Mr. during such busy times. These are the kinds of situations where I always find it helpful to think back about how I USED to handle it (get drunk, have pity party, repeat). No matter how frustrated I might get today, I'm wading through the muck of life (at those times when it's mucky) so much better than days of old. I know that stressful feeling when the schedule seems overwhelming. :l I am getting better and just taking things 1 thing at a time and not over-worrying. I still need a lot more practice though! You are going to be so glad you took on the overwhelming remodel when it's all done and it's all fabulous!

Marshy, so glad to hear that Mom is hanging in there. She sounds like she is being very strong through this. I'm sure that is a blessing for you and your Dad. Do you have any brothers or sisters? I get the sense not, but not sure I've seen you say one way or the other? (my memory is also very bad!) Love the view from the cafe despite the clouds. Next time you and non-GF go there, we would like more notice please for arrangement of transportation and popcorn. I too am dying to know more about non-GF and it is taking a lot of will power not to be nosy. :H

Greenie, (well, and now M3!) A funny from yesterdays Tough Chicks meeting. One woman who I am growing to like a lot was talking about her personality (the topic was "control") and she said she thinks she is Queen of the Universe. :H I was very sad that she spoke after me around the table. Otherwise I would have pointed out the error of her ways, and told her who the REAL Queen is. :H I am trying to visualize the heads of Greenie and M3 sharing one tiara.

I also was thinking of something rather sadly ironic (funny in a sick sort of way) from Community Leadership School this week. A brief step back to review recent events:

1. The entire population of the US is probably aware of the recent events surrounding X-IL Gov Bloggo, and the news highlights of the depth of corruption in IL politics. 4 of our last 6 governors have been indicted on various charges related to corruption.

2. In recent local news, yet another priest was indicted for pedophelia related activities. This from a student at the Catholic school where he used to teach. It has come to light that the "powers that be" moved him out of that school when accusations started. Where did they put him? As a teacher in another private Catholic middle school right here in my town! Needless to say, that parents etc. are very upset.

So... The topic for CLS this past Thursday was "Ethics in Business."

The speakers were..... are you ready???

1. Our very own local State Senator
2. A local Catholic College's leader who is a Brother in the scheme of Catholic male titles. (or whatever the right words are - I am not Catholic and mean no disrespect0

Ironic, huh?

My question to the Senator after his presentation....

"So let's just imagine that I am a newly elected Freshman State Senator. I want to do something positive about the known corruption in the State. What would you advise me to do about it?"

Of course, he had a well practiced political campaign sort of answer for that one. :H

Those are my funnies for the week that I've been saving up.

DG

[greeneyes]

sat 18/09 af daily

Doggygirl;962299 wrote: :H I am trying to visualize the heads of Greenie and M3 sharing one tiara.

Tiara?? I'm trying to visualize our arses sharing the one throne. :H

[Doggygirl]

sat 18/09 af daily

greeneyes;962338 wrote: Tiara?? I'm trying to visualize our arses sharing the one throne. :H

You said it, not me. :H

[momof3]

sat 18/09 af daily

Well, maybe we could have two thrones.

DG, Here's a link to the liquid stevia I use. I love the rootbeer, vanilla cream, and chocolate.

Wisdom Natural Sweet Leaf Liquid Stevia Cinnamon -- 2 fl oz - Vitacost

[Determinator]

sat 18/09 af daily

Top of the weekend ABerooooooos across the fruited plains.

thanks for the kickstart Bear, you sound great!

so glad to be home. got back in late last night and catching up on the most important thing....snuggling with my dear Dx and of course enjoying a clear productive AF lifestyle.

getting packed for trip to my martial arts class (it's held outdoors in the park which is awesome) then back home to cook something with insane amounts of garlic.

be well friends and all to come.

[momof3]

sat 18/09 af daily

Determinator,

I love that you have dusted yourself, put down the drink, and marching on!!