December Determination ~ Week 4

[Rusty]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Good Morning Determined Friends!

It's a winterwonderland day here in Wisconsin, the sun's out, and I slept in until 7:00 a.m. OMG! I'm 3 hours late for starting my day.

mg72....congratulations on Day 5 AF! :goodjob: I'm such a dumb*ss...I asked you where you were from and I see you live in Kansas. I went to college in Missouri and Kansas was a huge rival. I am glad you decided that you didn't fit in AA. I agree with you. It sounds like you got a handle on a habit that was becoming more of one....although not necessarily problematic, and now it is a non-issue. Again, good for you. It sounds like you have a very healthy lifestyle and have a wonderful support system in a loving family. Rare these days. Interesting that you bring up moderation....I still have a glass of wine now and then with my mother or my family, and I don't know why I've been able to moderate without a struggle, other than like you, I had to change my habits and my drinking thinking. It's been quite a journey, let me tell you. Baclofen helps with that and I am making a plan to be AF the rest of this year and into 2011.

Paguy-so sorry you have to work today. Rusty - I saw on another thread that Mr. G is planning to go 'commando' on New Year's Eve. Have you booked your flight to Australia yet ??

G-all I can say is....if that's going to happen, can we hold off until Feb.10....my 50th birthday? Oh what a fine gift that would be!:H

Star-so sorry to hear of your fall. You asked me what my goals were for 2011. These are not in order of priority.

1) Lose 45 pounds by June 11.
2) Investing more aggressively for my retirement
3) Pass my industry recertification exam...the first time....in May, 2011. This exam only has a 54% first-time success rate.
4) Volunteer my time to people who need it/want it. Do this on a regularly planned basis.
5) Strive to be AF

Lav-you broke your bed? OMG! Good thing it wasn't a bunk bed:H As far as lifting help, time to call YB's brother, I think.

Chill-you are so athletic....I so admire that! I echo everyone here on the NYE plans...do what's best for you. Papmom and I have to live vicariously through you since we don't date. I'll write the NYE episode about your made-for-TV relationship with McLibra: "When we last left our heroine, Chillgirl and McLibra were snuggled in front of Chill's fireplace when McLibra lovingly tried to run his hand up her thigh. Chill, wanting to keep their relationship platonic, playfully slapped his hand and said, "Wait! That's tomorrow's episode!":H

Sooty-I want to know what Christmas songs you sang in your choir the last few weeks. I don't think we've decided on a name for January but Jubilant January sounds like it's the most popular.

Papmom-it sounds like you have really ambitious goals for 2011 and I know you'll achieve them.

Hi Dill! I read your NVPeale quote every day. It gives me focus.

Rebirth and SD....I'm worried about you two and I am going to PM you because I am worried.

Shelley-green chill-I always find your meals fascinating!

As far as NYE, I am staying home this year, and I will be AF. I have my annual doctor's appt. on Monday, complete with bloodwork and I'll be damned if she'll be able to detect any AL in my system. At my last year's appt. in September 2009, my liver panel results were normal but I was Vitamins D, E and Folic acid deficient due to 3 years of heavy drinking. No more. Those days are done! I have spent a few NYEs AF and a few filled with heavy drinking and a horrible hangover the next day.

A cheery hello to LBH, Rustop, Cyn, Raven, and anyone I've missed, have a wonderful AF humpday!

[rustop61]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Hi everyone

Have visitors so am afraid getting no computer time. Just wanted to log in and tell you all I am thinking of you. Star - sorry about your fall but onwards and upwards. :welcome: MG, good to have you on the thread. Lav - sorry about the bed, guess a new one might be on the cards for the new year. My washing machine has finally packed it in after 12 years and the car is giving trouble, must be something in the air.

Everyone else big hello.

Rustop

[Chillgirl]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Evening guys

Star - sending you healing thoughts for these cuts and bruises :l

Dill - the Red boat floats sound good, my fav non AL drink is tonic water a with angostura bitters.

Lav - :no: the bed!! Hope you get some help and get it put back together. My bed is one of my prize possessions. Its an enormous custom made antique brass one which I brought all the way from Scotland with plain pure white bedding....its heaven!

MG - A yoga instructor! How fabulous, do tell me more! I LOVE yoga and thats me in my avatar. I have just finished a 3 day workshop of Iyengar yoga but normal I practice Vinyasa. I used to take 4 classes a week but there arent many now where I live and I miss it so much. I have also been on yoga retreats and love the philosophy as well as the activity.

Rusty - Love your goals for 2011! And a big birthday coming up too.... I feel an abstainers party coming on.
Dont worry I will keep you up dated on the next episode of McLibra Actually its tonight!

Im feeling incredibly alive today! I have had a few epiphanies that have left me feeling optimistic. There is nothing worse when you cant get clarity over to go in one direction or another but im learning with patience my inner knowing eventually shines through and when it does, boy! does it feel good.....

I will tell you more soon.......

[Rusty]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Good Afternoon Friends,

I ended up working for my client in Spain all day. So, now I am off to play and exercise.

Chill- That IS you in the avatar. Wow, the only way I could manage that pose is if 2 good-looking men were holding me up, and one of them would have to be Mr. G Please share your epiphanies when you get the chance. Bitters and Lime? Bitters has 44.7% AL in it, but when you mix it with a big glass of something, the AL content is less than non-AL beer. My favorite is sparkling water with bitters, and a squeeze of lemon, lime or orange. Anything citrus added to this combo cures my upset stomach, and is great for a hangover, as I was told by a bartender last year. Glad I don't have to worry about hangovers anymore. :-).

Have fun with McLibra tonight and let me know when I can post the 2nd episolde.

[Lavande]

December Determination ~ Week 4

I love soap operas on TV or online Rusty :H
I'm sure our chill will keep us entertained!

Well, my 38 year old bed has been repaired by guess who???
I walked around all morning trying to decide: 1. spend money to buy a new bed & have it delivered or 2. call YB because he's sitting on his a$$ all week doing nothing (the campus is closed). I called him & just told him to come fix it & he did :H Calling my BIL was not an option because he's having terrible back problems after 3 failed surgeries (no wonder he's such a chronic grump). The metal bar that supports the center of the bed frame just gave way but it was fixable

Rustop, I'm like you wondering what appliance, car or whatever is going to go next. For me, I'm pretty sure it's going to be my refrigerator because it's now 15 years old!!!!!

I have a pot of my favorite mushroom, vegetable barley soup on so that will make me happy this evening

[mylife]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Hello All,

I've been "lurking" on this thread and reading all your very entertaining posts for a couple days now. I thought I'd wait until you have a January start to join in -- but I just couldn't resist anymore!

Chill -- I'm with Rusty - I am so impressed that's you in your avatar!! I have been thinking I might take up yoga -- I hurt my back and had to have surgery about 2 years ago due to some high impact sports I was doing and ever since I've been contemplating how to change my view of exercise. Now, I'm thinking Yoga!

Anyway, just wanted to pop in and say Hello. I'm also planning a sober and quiet NYE with my hubby.

Have a great afternoon/evening all!

[Rusty]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Hello, mylife!:welcome:

I'm glad you're joining us and please stick around. Yes, we are a lively and entertaining bunch!

Regarding yoga, my 47-year-old male and not-at-all athletic friend bought the book, "Yoga For Dummies." He taught himself, has lost tons of weight (70 lbs.) and he has found it very relaxing. He is also someone who has been sober 19 years.

Ok, now I really am signing off. Man, this site is addicting!

Lav, good for you for calling YB (mylife, that means Yard Boy...or another title Lav would prefer) to fix your bed. Now, quit jumping on it! You are not 5-years-old anymore young lady, you're 29! hahahaahhahahh!!!!!

Later...

[mylife]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Rusty;1030793 wrote: Ok, now I really am signing off. Man, this site is addicting!

:H:H Yes, I have wondered myself if I'm just switching to a new addiction! Oh well, better than my old one. Thanks for the book suggestion, I will look it up! I could use some weight loss too...!!

[Lavande]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Ah geez Rusty!

I'd be a much happier camper these days if I could jump on the bed :H
Unfortunately my stiff & achey joints prevent that activity........most 29 year olds have great difficulty in that dept. :H

Don't listen to us mylife........Rusty is such a tease

[mg72]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Rusty, Did you go to MU? If you are a football fan I bet the game last night was disappointing. I actually went to KSU so KU is a big rival of ours too. The last time I was in Wisconsin it was 12 degrees below zero and the snow was piled higher than tracter trailors in parking lots! It is bueatiful in summer but the winters would be very hard for me. We used to live in San Antonio,Tx and that was what I call good winter weather.

Sooth, thanks for the welcome.

Chillgirl, That is excellent that you enjoy your yoga practice so much and is a shame it is not available to you. I have read a book by Iyengar and would like to do a workshop someday. I began practicing eight years ago because of sports injuries I could not overcome. Within a short time of following a DVD at home I started getting relief. I took my first class after about six months and I got hooked right away. I am a Registered Yoga Teacher by the Yoga Alliance. I completed a 200 hour teacher training program to receive my registration. I teach two regular classes a week, one is core/hatha and other is gentle hot class. Both are at a local yoga studio. I also try to get in two practices a week where I do not teach. Portugal is on my bucket list for countries to visit. Someday I would like to do Spain and Portugal together.

I am off to Hawaii tomorrow so probably will not post for a couple of weeks. It is already fund being on this thread and I look forward to communicating on the other side(of the new year).

[spedteach]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Stop, stop, stop, I'm 60 and I jump on the bed all the time. Actually for the last 30 years most of our house is just box spring and mattresses. So when you fall off the bed you don't fall very far. At least I don't have to clean under the bed. And re appliances, the wonderful thing about Indiana is new appliances in my son's condo. In NM they are all ancient, especially dryer and dish washer!

mg72, don't be offended but every time I see your avatar I'm gonna think payguy. He's been with us for a while. How attached are you to that beautiful yellow shot? And you will soon find out how much I covet grandchildren. All I have so far are grad students.

Chill, I need suggestions for yoga. You all know how aerobic I am. Yoga always feels too slow for me. Plus I have a problem having my head upside down, makes me feel nauseous. Do you think Pilates might be a better fit for me than yoga? And 3 hours of yoga!!! Three hours of running, walking, biking, that's what's going to make me feel good.

Hey Rusty, be careful with your relaxed alcohol consumption. For me consuming any al is always dangerous. No way can I ever think an occasional glass of wine is going to stay occasional. Just want you to be safe.

Chill, have been thinking about your year's anniversary coming up here soon. As the year passed I always thought, smart Chill, easy to remember your sobriety date when it's Jan. !st! One thing I love to do on NYE is to be awakened by distant rumblings of fireworks at midnight. Wale up, wish myself a HNY and sink right back into a dream.

Payguy, is a Mummer like a mummy?? Sounds like a Pennsylvania Mardi Gras.
And someone younger than me, commando means no undies??

Tomorrow brings to NM beautiful aspiring actress, Lauren from LA. Son #2's sweetheart of 6 years. Also a forecast of snow. I love winter.

Where is LBH, ReB, Cyn, check in ladies.

[spedteach]

December Determination ~ Week 4

And Rusty, thought you went to college in Chicago or Madison??

[ladybirdheart]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Heavens, breaking beds, Falling Stars, and pretzel yoga, you never know what sober people will do. Welcome Mylife and MG, it will be good to have you here. Any troops who are now having a hard time please check in. This thread is a strong one and has endured I think because it is eclectic, some people thrive for years AF, others find that the monthly goal broken up into weeks makes fostering a way out more manageable. I am one of the people who need little boundaries in big landscapes. A number of us at one time or another have experienced a relapse and not met our stated or implicit goals, and I have loved that I have found intelligent support at such times, I acquired increasing mastery of my emotions, was directed to skills and behaviors that give hope its actual punch, and understood that just as a burnt forest recovers why not us. I have entertained all sorts of crummy feelings in recent weeks, you know the drill, what?s the point, and fortunately I had a funny unexpected meeting today with an old friend. It was so hilariously dark in the way that perhaps only can be pulled off by atheists of a certain age, that the fact that we did not actually shoot each other or die from existential angst was a miracle. So one more day of (this time funny) sobriety. Tomorrow we start over. Love, Ladybird.

[paguy]

December Determination ~ Week 4

spedteach;1030858 wrote: Payguy, is a Mummer like a mummy?? Sounds like a Pennsylvania Mardi Gras.
And someone younger than me, commando means no undies??

Sped - The Mummer's Parade is very similar to Mardi Gras - it's a traditional New Year's Day parade held in Philadelphia.

And, Yes, 'Commando' means in the buff - no undies. :H

[Lavande]

December Determination ~ Week 4

Shelley - here ya go:
The Mummers Parade Philadelphia — visitphilly.com

I lived all my life just a few miles outside of Philadelphia but never went to see the parade. But we watched it on TV
I hope nothing else falls apart around here - last night's adventure really freaked me out :H

Still no sign of rebirth, LBH & cyn........hmmm! Hope everyone is OK.

New Years Eve will be here with my animal friends. I'm thinking about making party hats for the chickens :H

Hope to get some decent sleep tonight..........I am tired.