Nouveau Novembre - week 4

[BlondeAFAmbition]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Hi Gang!

I was exhausted after work last and wanted to get the lights up on my huge tree, so that, plus making beef stew, took all of my energy. Had dinner and a walk around the block since it was so mild out (we hit the 60's yesterday...crazy weather for Nov!) then crashed on the couch and watched Alice in Wonderland...the one with Johnny Depp. Hadn't seen it in the theatres and always wanted to check it out...interesting and weird...lol.

Anyway, sorry to miss getting you that recipe in time Pap...I look at the link Lav sent and that one looks good too with the soup mix. Here is the one I meant to post over the weekend: Herbed Turkey Breast:

5 - 6 LB turkey breast, fresh or thawed
2 TBSP butter
1 TBPS Soy sauce
1 TBPS fresh parsley, minced
1/4 garden veggie cream whipped cream cheese
1/2 tsp dry basil
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Place turkey in stoneware. Combine remaining ingredietns and brush over turkey. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours.

I have adjusted this recipe based on seasonings I have on hand and it always comes out great. I have added poultry seasoning to the mix instead of the separate herbs and spices. Hope yours came out great Pap!

Off to work today...this is one Sunday I wish I had off...it's bright a sunny and WARM. 3 more days of work and then back to my normal 2 days off. Looking forward to that!

Have a lovely Sunday to all!

[Stargazerlily]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Good morning to all....

The rain has started here and it is going to get colder soon. We have been truly blessed with such a warm weather trend. I am back to my normal diet, thank goodness. I love holidays but always regret the overindulgence.

Today, I have vowed to clean a closet. Yuck. I will be happy when it is done. The pressure to buy Christmas presents is intense, so will be out looking for a few to get it over with.

To all, have a great day.

[cyntree]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Good Sunday evening, friends - a quick check -in here, kinda of hard to get any alone time to write, but at least I got caught up on the last couple of pages.

Lav - wow, the YB story is amazing...time will tell. Chill, I understand what you mean - I have always been able to 'fit' into spaces happily, but as you know this last one has been a little hard. HB is here until January, so that will be a nice break for me, and I hope to hold onto the feeling of 'home' by then. Dew - great job on riding the Crave Wave. You never know when it will crop up - I have a bag of cheerios with me all the time, great Serotonin food.

My Mom has been adorable on this stay. She is a real history buff, and loves all the towns from the 1700s. Last night we went to a small town to see the 'Holiday Parade', all the volunteer fire departments decorate their trucks, and the boy and girl scouts have floats, etc...such fun. My mom shouted and clapped through the entire thing - she's an amazing 84 year old, I am so lucky that she made the trip here.

Thanks everyone for the good wishes for my head...it is slowly healing, though I look horribly goolish, with purple and blue shiners. I had a appt set up with a new doc tomorrow anyway, so I guess I'll get an official opinion on it then. (Yes, I'm sure glad that I was not alone and passed out - my poor doggies waiting at the door to go out, yikes! I guess some angels were watching over me....)

Thinking of you all, and hoping you have a good evening and return to work tomorrow -

[spedteach]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Hey everyone,
My weekend turned out okay, not fantastic but okay. Know that a lot of my doldrums are due to being home with my husband for 4 days in a row. Know this is a long and old story, but after 30 years of marriage, it just doesn't work any more. Lav, I envy you, that YB actually goes "home" as in somewhere else and Cyn, I envy you that you can't wait til your HB is home. It is what it is, too early in this round of sobriety to do anything about it.

Star, you are on such a remarkable spiritual path, love reading your posts, keeps me in line.

Blonde, Johnny Depp on a couch...Wonderland. What a fine actor he is.

Lovely Sunday eve, folks.

[BlondeAFAmbition]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Hi Abbers!

Hope you all had a lovely Sunday! Glad to get this weekend behind me...2 more days of work and then a couple of days off, whooo hooo! Still recovering from the pre-Thanksgiving rush I think

Hitting MWO kinda late tonight but just wanted to check in with everyone and let you know that I'm doing alright. As I said in other post, it has been a tough weekend to make it through sober but I am feeling good about it tonight. I made sure I ate something low carb every 4 or 5 hours today. I think that helps curb cravings. It's also PMS week and that tends to be more difficult with the AL cravings maybe do to with wanting more sugar?

Hi to everyone and have a great night!

[papmom3]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

hey all-glad most everyone checked in today-Blonde I was getting just a tad worried about you!! Can't wait to see pics of the tree and all the decorations!

Well, I did the turkey crockpot thing. All I used was chix broth, onions and smeared some cream cheese over the bird. It was amazing to wake up at 4am to the aromas!! I stuck the whole thing in the fridge till I got home from work. then I picked off the meat and bagged it for the freezer-quite a bit! The bones and leftover crockpot juices and peices I poured into a dutch oven, added some water to cover and simmered for about an hour. Then I strained it all into another dutch oven and ladled it into 6 containers and an ice cube tray. Its all in the freezer now and that's all I know to do with it! Any suggestions?

Nice day at work today. I was pretty much on my own while my boss put up the christmas decorations. let me tell you-she could do this professionally. The girl is good!! We had a sing a long in the morning and in the afternoon I put on what I thought was the second half of The Sound of Music (they watched the first half yesterday). Unfortunately it turned out to be the last 20 min!! Disappointing. But, I had a Perry Como Christmas Around the World tape that everyone seemed to enjoy. I had 3 volunteers today which was awesome-made my life much easier. One of them was brand new, showed up late (she had been waiting in front of the building for over an hour for the other 2 girls who were already inside!) She was overwhelmed, embarrassed and the tears started flowing. I have never felt as much like a mother hen as I did today! Drama was quickly over tho and we got back to work. As I started to transport the residents back upstairs, I realized I was missing the 2 ambulatory ones!! Took me 15 minutes to find them sitting in the lobby thanks goodness! They both wear bracelets so i know they didn't wander outside as the alarm would have gone off. Heart Attack city tho as my boss had left for a few hours!! I'll know to keep a sharper eye on those two houligans from now on! :H

Chill-no special occassion for the turkey-just had a hankering for leftovers!!

Can't believe how fast this day has gone and that my holiday break is over so quickly. Looking forward to some tea and an apple turnover (I restrained myself on buying a whole pie!! :H)

Sped-I'm sorry things are still not going well with your marriage. I hope that you will come to the best decision for you. I totally feel that you are so much stronger these days and can handle whatever comes your way AF and clear headed. Much :h and :l.

[BlondeAFAmbition]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Hey Pap, sounds like your turkey in the crockpot was a smashing success! Doesn't the smell of a turkey cooking just make your mouth water!!!??? Enjoy your "left overs"...

We had a simple roast chicken tonight (well, we're on the subject of food, right...lol?) and a baked spinach dish that I do...super easy and yummy. Now I'm sipping on Gingerbread spice tea and may have another cup of tea before going to bed. My coffee pot is already prepped and ready to start when I wake up tomorrow morning. Tonight I will rest soundly knowing that the morning is the best part of sobriety (for me, it seems...but there are so many great parts to sobriety I won't just stop there!). I scored some pumpkin spice coffee and the supermarket last week and it is uber yummy!

Have a great evening everyone!

[BlondeAFAmbition]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

PS...got the lights on the tree last night after I got home from work. Then put up my mermaid tree topper. Still haven't got the ornaments on yet but I may have to wait till I get my days off...always too tired when I get home from work and my mornings are spent having coffee and catching up on here

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[BlondeAFAmbition]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Hi (again)...lol. Geez, you guys can't get rid of me tonight...haha. I just had a chance to go over the posts from this weekend and I wanted to chip in on the spiritual aspect of some of the posts by Star, Chill and Rusty. I feel as though I have "ignored" my spirituality in my years of numbing myself with red wine. I now feel as though I have a new door open to me with sobriety and spirituality and I am thrilled with this. I have just joined a small group of women who meet once a week to study "The Course in Miracles", which, first, we are reading Miriam Williamson's book that is sort of an "aide" to the course, called "The Gift of Change". I am really enjoying this way of looking at the world. I am also a firm believer in the philosophy of law of attraction...that by thinking positively, you attract positive things to your life. I love reading books like The Secret and The Power, by Rhonda Byrne. And someone mentioned on a post earlier the power of being happy in the moment. I am trying to train myself into this way of living...there is no past, there is no future, there is only now, and you can choose to be happy now by thinking in the positive, living with gratitude and being mindful. I find that it is really changing my life for the better!

Cyn, I wanted to say that I'm very sorry to hear of your fall. That sounds awful and I hope you are feeling better!

Chill, I am also a person who loves her "home" space and I imagine how difficult it feels for you in the rental situations. We live in a condo which we bought back in 2005. We are hoping to buy a larger, single family home in the near future, but I love our little place and am grateful to be here.

Dew-I too, had serious AL cravings this past weekend. Although I am still very early in the sobriety game, but for me, I know it is directly related to being hungry. Like Rusty mentioned from another poster, I also substitued AL for food...in order to maintain my weight and still drink like fish. I would purposely starve myself all day, eating just a little for breakfast and skipping lunch entirely so that when I came home (ravenous), the AL would enter my bloodstream on an empty stomach and I would get a stronger buzz. Then I would eat a normal dinner in most cases, washed down with lots of wine. Needless to say, this wasn't a sustainable diet for my figure, my skin, my health or my attitude. Now I am making a real effort to eat every 4 or 5 hours when I am hungry and to eat protein with each meal to help me feel satisfied for longer. I find that if I eat something high in carbs, I burn it up quicker and the hunger pangs will arrive faster...which will result in an AL craving. So, I am grateful for learning this now and will be able to monitor my diet better to alleviate those deadly cravings!

[Lavande]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Blondie - read Eckhart Tolle 'The Power of Now'

papmom, some day I'll tell you the story about the one that got away :H
No kidding, he actually walked out the front door of the hospital, got on a bus & rode it into Philadelphia. Making that police report was kind of embarassing Turned out the confused old coot actually (kinda) knew where he was going :H
Glad yuor turkey turned out good!

Shelley, old men can be so ________________
I think the best thing we can do for ourselves is just worry about ourselves & let them figure it out!!!
My mother's words haunt me. She told me something like 50 years ago that 'men are just stupid - they don't know when they have it good'!

I apologize to any man reading this - obviously there are one or two of you out there that are better than this

cyn, it's so nice that you get to spend time with your mom!

star, your rain is on the way here tomorrow!

Good night all!
Lav

[rustop59]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Good morning everyone

Cold and dark here this morning. A real winter morning, wish I could have stayed in bed.
Did not get near the computer yesterday so have to catch up on everyone's posts.

Dew/Blond - those cravings are a pain and sometimes come out of nowhere. Well done both of you for not caving in.

Sped - sorry you are having man trouble. As you say, its early in this AF journey to do anything. Get yourself in a good place first.

Cyn - Gather you had a bit of an accident, glad it was not serious. I once fell over the goldie while carrying two dinners, you should have seen the state of my leg. You are so lucky to still have your Mom around and are right to enjoy her.

Lav, Star, Papmom, Sooty, Chill and anyone else, big hello and have a great AF week.

Rustop

[Lavande]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Good morning rustop & everyone!

In a major rush to get to Curves then to my babysitting gig :H
Wishing everyone a terrific AF day - will ceheck in later.

Lav

[Stargazerlily]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Good morning everyone, so good to read your posts, I am feeling really discouraged, a combination of Monday and wishing I lived closer to family. It is Christmas depression, wishing things were the way they used to be. Plus, I had dreams of work being messed up, just little things, but it reflected my unsettled state of mind. It really helped to read everyone's posts, and get back to reality.

Blonde, you are so wise to realize that blood sugar level and eating every few hours makes a huge difference in cravings. They still hit but are manageable with stable blood sugar. Staying AF is a program of healthy eating, exercise, right thinking, spirituality, relationship; mindful living. Life is hard and drinking numbs us and takes away our problems for a little while, as we get older, it is just not enough. We must change our way of life and so the hard work of meaningful living. We can get through our feelings, not out of them. But, it is not easy. I am so glad you are part of our thread. You bring a fresh perspective and you are helping me.

Sped, what to do after all this time? No decisions need to be made right now. Over time marriages change and people change, making it effortful to stay together. After several days at home with my husband, I feel like I need time away from him, so off to work I go. Even though we get along and have fun, enough is enough!

Cyn, so sorry you were hurt, it is scary to have an accident and takes time to heal. Take care of yoruself.

Papmom, your recipe sounds yummy. What a great day you had with the oldsters. You are amazing.

Lav, hey, the wet weather is depressing, but the coming snow will be worse.

To all, have a great Monday.

[BlondeAFAmbition]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

Hi everyone!

Amen, Star, about the cravings and your paragraph in the post right above this one about the elements of recovery. I am learning this fast! Sounds like you and I think in the same way. I also feel the same way about relationships...I mean, I love my husband dearly but after he was home a few days and "around" me all the time...I also am glad to get back to our regular routine today...as you say (enough is enough...lol). It's true!!! Maybe it is good that hubs and I have very different work schedules...lol.

Lav-I just read over in Newbies Nest that you are coming on 1000 days! What is your anniversary date for that next month? WAY TO GO! Yes, I will read that Power Of Now title...it's on my list

Hi to Rustop, Dew, Sooty, SD, Sunny, LVt25, Pap, Rusty, Accountable, Universal, Momof3,ChillGirl and everyone else checking in. Hope you all had a lovely weekend and here we are back to Monday. See ya later!

[Chillgirl]

Nouveau Novembre - week 4

ALERT ALERT! NAME NEEDED FOR DECEMBER.......

:hiya: guys!

Wow, its been busy on here, I dont know where to start.
I have today and tomorrow off work and its sheer bliss although I have been so busy doing all the things I dont normally have time for that the day has whizzed by. I was up at my usual time as wanted to fit in a spin class which was fab! The rain stayed off long enough for me to get a really long walk in with Elle which was also fab. This afternoon was a trip to the Dentist :yuk:

Star - You may be on to something with "wishing Christmas was the way it used to be...." in my 1st years of marriage I LOVED it. The house always looked amazing and of course back then I was in full swing party mode and we were always invited to loads! I doubt I will bother with any tree or decorations and apart from dinner out on Christmas day with my Parents, I wont be doing any socializing. My Sisters do their own thing as one doesnt speak to the others husband :argh: (although I cant say I blame her) so a get-together with us all is not possible.

Lav - you post made me think of Forrest Gump "stupid is as stupid does" :H

Blondie - I have been on my Spiritual path for some time and knew in my heart that the AL would have to go for me to grow but I just kept putting it off. I recently found a note I wrote in Jan 2007 which reads: "WHAT I WANT MOST FOR MY LIFE- 1. Abstain from alcohol. 2. Eat healthy. 3. Meditate. 4. Live a peaceful, spiritual life." It wasnt until 3 years later that I finally gave up AL but by doing so I automatically made it easier to achieve the other 3.

Its cold, dark, wet and windy here (nothing new there) and im cosying in for the night.