AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

[Loppy lugs]

Good morning folks.

Sorry for the mistype on Sundays thread heading. Who would have thought they would put the 9 next to the 0 on a keyboard!

Glad they don't have ! limits like they have :H:H or I would never finish a post.

Came home last night feeling an overwhelming need for a hug. One of those days when it is nothing big that anyone can help you with but you would like a bit of comfort. Unfortunately my parents are dead and my siblings live far too far away so I just went to bed. Realise I should have come here and got a virtual:l. I am proud of the fact that I didn't turn to AL for oblivion which is actually a poor substitute for comfort.

So sending :l loads of :l to everyone having a rubbish time at the moment.

Off to WW catch you all later.

Take care

[bear73]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

hey loppy lugs :l for you.

DG - I spent 10 hours at hospital yesterday and OH has kidney stone - identical symptoms to your OH - are they sure it isn't the stones causing this?That's a bit of a spooky identical day!
I hope he feels better.We have some decent painkillers now.

In the bed next to OH was man detoxing from alcohol with partial liver failure - that's a stark reminder.He had chance for it to heal but was told not to drink at all from now on.

Re socialising - I think some of this may have been lost in translation.
I'm not going to big boozy parties/bars/nights in pub - these are the situations that trip me up. I am going out to events where primary purpose is not drinking BUT there may be alcohol there e.g. meal out, small party at a friend's house and driving there and back so I don't drink.I was having drinking thoughts last week/week before but not this week,I know they'll be back and I have the tools to handle them.Vigilance! Have a good day all - cleaning gardening and gym for me today in between nursing duties.

[Doggygirl]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Hi all!! Loppy, thanks for getting us started. Virtual hugs here 24X7!! One of the beauties of MWO. Here are some for YOU!! :l:l:l

Bear, I'm sorry to hear about OH!!! I hope he is better today. Mr. D does indeed have a couple of small stones that showed up on the cat scan. (no cats though, thank goodness!) They don't think the pain was related to them though. So we're sticking with the food poisoning thing - he is feeling fine this morning. Fingers crossed it stays that way. Let us know how OH is doing later today. Is he still in the hospital?

I think you are wise to look at these social events and evaluate the primary purpose. I am that way - no booze events that are mainly for drinking. There has to be a business reason or some other very good purpose or I don't go. These days, that is not due to concerns that I will drink as much as it is about my complete boredom being around heavy drinking. They do all the boring crap I used to do. Slur, stumble, repeat themselves, get loud, etc. Or they do what I never could - drink one or two and stop. Watching either of those things take place just doesn't interest me any more.

I'm wondering what it takes to become an addiction counselor. A guy I go to AA with is pursuing it now (he is my age - 29). I think I'll ask him how he got started on that path. Maybe look into it. I am missing work that I feel passionate about. I don't think it's going to fall in my lap so I need to get busy and look around.

Well, fABbies, thank you again for all your wonderful support yesterday. Virtual :l all the way around. I love you guys! Wishing everyone a day filled with wonder, joy, and no AL.

DG

[momof3]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Good Morning All,

Loppy....Virtual hug for you!!!!:l

DG, I'm happy that you checked in. I was anxious to hear about your hubby. Is he home? Hope he continues to feel better. My husband has a tendency toward kidney stones and he always has a few sitting in his kidney. The pain comes when little pieces chip off the larger stone and they start moving and their way down the ureter (long tube that connects kidneys to bladder) into the bladder. SO COOL that you are thinking about addiction counselor training. You would be GREAT at it and you have enought sobriety behind you to become one!!!! Keep us posted.

Bear, hope OH is feeling better soon.

M3

[Lavande]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Good morning Abbers & lots of :l for everyone!!!!!
We all need a hug once in a while

Hope today is much improved for you Loppy :l

bear, it is kind of freakish that your OH was suffering symptoms similar to Mr DG's yesterday Glad you are set on keeping AL out of your life.

DG, I certainly hope your day goes better as well! Keeping my fingers crossed for Mr DG today!!

Looks like YB could use my nursing skills as well. Heard thru the grapevine yesterday that he's to have an MRI for c/o hip pain radiating down the leg & is on pain pills. This is a chronic situation with him that he has ignored way too long. I'll shut up about it for now & see what develops

I have work scheduled for the morning, meeting to GFs for lunch & expecting my daughter & the high maintenance Ms Lily for dinner. She's become quite a squiggler(?) lately ~ wants to wiggle & squirm constantly :H

Wishing everyone a wonderful AF Hump day!

Lav

[AAthlete]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Morning all, and thanks for getting started Loppy! Glad to see everyone doing so well this morning and DG glad to hear that your hubby is doing better. Nice that you can now focus on getting him better with a clear head as opposed to trying to do the same while also nursing a hangeover....

DG, I think you would make a fantastic counselor - at the very least it doesn't hurt to look into what the requirements are.

[Determinator]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

hugs for Loppy and Bear xxxxxxxx

zoom zooom

[Determinator]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

and DoggyGirl. ok, hugs for everyone! xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[greeneyes]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

:groupluv:

Still not quite back up to speed from toiling in the tundra. Guess it was a bit of heat exhaustion. Possible lunch w/ a GF and a visit/ meeting at nursing home. Otherwise INSIDE! Already had brekkie under the fig tree.

Echo AA on the counselor opinion, DG.

[papmom3]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Go for it DG!! You would be awesome! You're in an area of wonderful universities and community colleges but don't over look the money mills: i.e. U of Phoenx, DeVry etc. They have tons of online programs that might at least get you started. And non accredited schools that are career focused have their place too. I would start with your state's licensing board to see what the requirements if any are to do this kind of work, as well as speak to the guy in AA. I'm having all I can do to keep from researching this for you :H! I love this kind of stuff but I have hundreds of evals to do for our new transfers so I better get my heiny moving or I'll be looking for a new career not out of choice! :H

Hugs to everyone who needs them, pings that everyone in pain gets better and prayers that this hot humid weather takes a break!

[LVT25]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Hello friends,

I was up and out early, delivered my son to basketball clinic, and decided to come home and deal with some of the big piles of laundry and dishes. We got a nice rain last night, so things will be a little wet at the cemetery.

Hugs to you Loppy :l I hope you are feeling better this morning!

Hope your hubby is feeling better too Bear. I hear kidney stones can be pretty painful!
We have a friend that has a bad liver. He is a great guy, but has been a heavy drinker as long as we've known him. He was even offered a transplant, but he turned it down. Said to give it to someone that deserved it more than him. I guess he would rather keep drinking and die. It is hard for his family to understand. And he has a good family--no underlying childhood issues that I know of for his lack of self image. So sad. We lost a friend a few years ago from acute liver failure. Not a good way to go. A somber reminder of what alcohol can truly do. To anyone.

DG-glad your hubby is feeling better. I am intrigued by your interest in addiction counseling. I would be VERY interested in hearing what the requirements are. I keep thinking 29 may be a little too old (speaking for me only of course) to change careers, but what an exciting thought. I clicked on one of those ads that comes up on facebook about it one time, but they wanted me to go to the university which is not an option. PLEASE let me know what you find out. Maybe we can become partners with satellite clinics!

Mom3--my hubby wants to go back to DC. I think it is funny, since he really didn't want to go in the first place. His comment was, of all the places he has been, this was the most important one. I've been trying to think of a way, to tell him about this friend I have that lives there that has offered to take us sightseeing.

I had to take my sons to the orthodontist yesterday for a checkup. I knew before we left it was not going to be a good trip. #1 son drove, #2 son called "shotgun" and I rode in back. I get really nervous traveling with #1 son he is almost 17, and a good driver, but just goes a little too fast (in town) and needs more experience. But then you add #2 son punching #1 son whenever he sees a Volkswagon (slug bug-no hit backs) or a PT Cruiser (cruiser bruiser) and fiddly farting around with the stereo that is blasting too much bass and too many "F" words for me in the first place and :headbanger: Not to mention being under the gun time wise because we had to be back for shooting practice, but #1 son insisted on visiting the tattoo parlor to schedule the tattoo he thinks he needs--which we never did find after driving all over the place! When I came out of "Furburgers" the trunk on my sons car was open, as I approached, he drove off and back up and I'm like WTH are you doing? I guess he can shut his trunk by backing up and stopping really fast. OMG--you just had to be there. These are the times I wish I still drank.:H Not really.

Fortunately shooting practice went pretty well, after I found my car keys and retrieved my car from the cemetery--they were in my purse the whole time. I was a little torked at hubby when I found the 6-pack cooler in his vehicle for after shooting practice. I mean really, can't he go one day with out it? At least it was only a 6-pack and he took the dog swimming, so not a big deal I guess.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed with work and a messy house, so I've negotiated with my sons and they HAVE to work for me at the cemetery and at home. BUT, they mostly have to mow and I've asked one of our friends (almost 17) if he would do some trimming and he is happy to for the extra money. It is not the funnest job, and I can only do it for about 2 hours at a time, but if he can do 2 hours a day for awhile and my boys help me with the mowing, it will be a good thing. With all the insurance rules and stuff, #2 son really shouldn't be on the mower, but it is a small one, and he has been mowing at home with the rider for about 3 years. Hell, when my hubby and myself were younger we were driving tractors at age 7.

A friend of ours is turning 60 Saturday and his wife is throwing him a party. He quit drinking after a DUI probably about 15 years ago. I was always really impressed with that and I remember asking him a lot of questions like "Don't you miss it?" Anyway, this particular group of friends used to drink and party a lot. Now, most of us either don't drink at all, or very little. My how times have changed.

I think that is quite enough about me for one day.:applaud:

Good to see you AFM. Nice picture Det and Kaslo--yes you have some photography talent indeed! Like I said, I would love to go to Montana. THAT is where the REAL prairie women reside!

Best wishes to everyone else that posts and reads on this thread. I'm sorry, I do not have the capacity to comment on all the posts, but I do care!

Have a great af day all!:h (STUPID SMILIE LIMIT__WE NEED TO GET THIS RULE CHANGED!)

[Kaslo]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Good morning absters!

Loppy what ever is it? Hope you feel better soon.
DG great idea, you would be good at it. One of my closest friends has been a drug addictions welfare money person for 30 years, and she is worn right out by it, but maybe you can find it rewarding. Funny but she was the only one of my friends who figured out on her own I was drinking too much. She is British and didnt interfere. Now she knows I have quit she raised one eyebrow, that is all.
Bear my comments re moderating were directed to Bean, I should have been only including her in my assessment of the idea of trying to mod when AL is a problem. I guess if you want to go to events, ANY events, there is usually AL there. There was AL at the wedding, and a few drunks too, but like DG, I dont do events where the sole purpose is to get smashed.

DG, food poisoning never gets better than worse again. But gall bladder issues can. Also KStones.

Lav, I bet that YB needs a hip replacement. Then you wont need to get the whip out, cause they are no picnic. Had two. And they are very expensive if you dont have insurance in the states.

Enough of Kaslo being an internet medical consultant.

Greenie, you have a FIG TREE? I am so envious.

LV, I love your description of driving with your sons, I can just hear it /feel it! I endured my two girls driving escapades, terrifying as they were. We have a graduated program here, kids cant drive alone or with friends for the first year, there HAS to be an adult in the car, then its another two years of restrictions. And two tests in between. Its saved lives, but it IS painful. But necessary.

Well I am off cause I gotta get ready for a trip to an old spill site that happened before I was born and has since had huge amounts of soil removed, and a salt spill further north from that, and a gas plant at the Yukon border that has a bunch of dead trees. Long trip three stops. Not much time to deadhead my roses, or fish fertilize things and generally drift around the homestead before taking off north. (The Arctic trip is in August). Already it has the cool fall nip in the air here, what is with that? Shortest summer on record.

Why is time speeding up?

Here is one of my passions, photographing very old derelict buildings...EVERYONE have a great AF day. Tomorrow is my 6 month anni!

[Doggygirl]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Kaz - another FAB photo!!!! The pictures in our living room are blown up photos taken by a friend of ours. One of them is a classic old red barn with a stunning, large, very old oak tree in front of it - full fall colors. Your picture would fit in just fine here!

Thanks everyone for words of encouragement about addiction counseling. I called the Exec Director of one of the local treatment programs. I am taking him to lunch in two weeks to hear his take on it. Mean time, he directed me to a web site that has all the state credentialing info. Most of it is giberish right now - all kinds of acronyms and whatnot. But it will be a good basis for study and development of questions before we meet. LVT - it's a state by state thing. Maybe we could move to Montana and be room mates and do this together there. You can be the prairie woman and I'll cook. Hows that? :H No teenage drivers either. I'll do that too.

I'm totally all about a :soapbox: to raise the smilie limit!

Greenie - I can relate to your tundra tiredness. Mine isnt from tundra work (although this heat has been exhausting even while not doing tundra work!) Just the stress and lack of sleep the last couple of days with Mr. D has me worn out. Hope you enjoy some rest today! That's what I'm about to do. I'm hoping there is a Brady Bunch Telethon on the TVLand channel or something like that.

Lav, I didn't mean to hurt YB's hip. Honest. :b&d: Squiggly Lily. That sounds fun!

P3 - I will be happy to have all the researching help I can get! Heck - we should all get certified and open a MWO Rehab.

Hugs Back At 'ya Det! I like your pic from yesterday. Did I say that already?

AA - several years ago our power was out for TEN DAYS. That's when Mr. D got serious about all the "survival" stuff and we are more than prepared for a small power outage, or even a real live version of The Stand or something. One expensive generator for all the computer equipment, and a cheap one for the fridges, freezers. Food, water, you wouldn't believe this place. Now that we are prepared, our power stays on. :H

M3 - yes hubby is home. Doc released him at 9PM last night. Way past my bed time by the time we got all the paperwork done, went and got a prescription filled, etc. How is your back?

Kaz - I forgot to mention earlier that I was really glad for what you wrote yesterday about some odd feelings you had about Mr. Kaz's family at the wedding. I have always had negative strange thoughts about these inlaws, and also my previous inlaws that were really never provoked or earned. I realized after reading your post and thinking about it, that my feelings are really to do with me and some of my baggage and nothing to do with them. Those little revelations promote so much healing. You just never know who you help when you share stuff, eh??? THANK YOU!

Well - hello to anyone I missed and anyone yet to come. I want to be eating popcorn and spying on Marshy and XNGF in Greece. That is all. I am going to seriously lounge in bed and watch TV all afternoon. If I can stay put that long.

One thing is for sure.

DG

[bear73]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

All good here thanks - had lazy day - cleaned bathroom thoroughly though and did a food shop.Stocked up on diet 7UP & ginger beer.
OH much better now. Now to put washing away and do tabata training - 4 mins of v intense exercise 20 seconds on -10 seconds off.I've not made the gym today so this at least will make me feel better - too late to do a big workout or I won't sleep.

I read something today about someone saying they self harm with overeating - that rang a bell with me.

There was also an article on a new anxiety treatment that is based on mindfulness and keeping busy, and carrying on as normal - rather than having a plan to prevent anxiety feelings (the theory is that this identifies you to yourself as someone with a problem with anxiety that you have to keep thinking about,therefore means you are focusing a lot on anxiety and focusing so much on preventing it perversely encourages anxiety).They suggest you respond to the anxious feelings when they happen by saying you are going to carry on with what you are doing and focus on what is happening around you. I like it - it also talked about keeping busy as well.This is similar to how Allen Carr talks about drinking thoughts/quitting drinking.

Kaslo - not a problem - I just thought I'd given the impression I was at a really wild boozy do - I wasn't I'm avoiding those.I'm feeling good AF - struggling to keep it but am determined to keep on with it.I still have conflicted thoughts - rational recovery recommends we call the 'drinking thoughts 'the beast' - separates it from the person and means we can control it/loses sense of being conflicted with yourself - 'I don't want to drink, my beast does, but i control my beast'.

anyway - until tomorrow - now to put away my washing.

[Lavande]

AF Daily - Wednesday 13 July

Wow!
Hello again to everyone

Had a nice lunch with my friends & really do need to put myself back to work for a while tonight ~ I will ~ at some point

Greenie, you must have really overdone it yesterday in the heat! I know I just don't tolerate it anymore & it's worse now because of a couple of meds I'm on so I hide in the AC & wait for YBs to cut grass. I'll trade you zucchini & cucumers for figs!!!!

Kaslo, what a cool pic! Love it!

DG, glad Mr DG is Ok today.
YB emailed me today that his hip problem (that he's had for years) is probably not what is causing his current pain but may be a lumbar disc problem since the pain is radiating down the leg. He's allergic to so much that he was put on GABA & Prednisone for pain relief. I wish him luck
You probably would be a very good addictions counselor but beware of the burn out that comes with those professions..........been there & done it. Was just talking with my 2 nursing friends about that at lunch, hmm.

LVT, it took a long time before I felt comfortable with my kids driving me around. I feel for you!

Better get that work done