sat 3 dec af daily

[bear73]

morning all - up early to do cleaning - need coffee!
Cold is kicking in a bit so not feeling amazing, not feeling any remote temptation to drink at all.

I had really got into dissatisfied mode - about house - and also really analysing my feelings ' is this depression' - no it's just feeling anxious about seeing someone and also sad about saying goodbye to a good friend. i think i had made all these feelings much more intense by analysing them/rather than just feeling them. Then i turn to my thoughts of booze to soothe myself.

LVT - you are so right - i lost count of the number of wine adverts/promotions that i see at the moment. it is so over glamourised - think i need to remember the hideous hangovers, how it feels to have had far too much of the stuff,all the reasons why i am not drinking in the first place.

for me now it's coffee then collecting friend then we'll see what the day brings. other friend arriving about 2. good day everyone - cat needs something i am being summoned

[BlondeAFAmbition]

sat 3 dec af daily

Good morning Bear! Sorry that your cold seems to be getting worse...hope you can stop it from getting any further.

Hi to everyone checking in today! I've gotta dash to work bright and early today. Saturday is my earliest day since I am the one who opens shop promtly at 8AM. I am usually beat by the end of busy Saturdays but I hope to get on later and catch up with you all.

Happy Saturday to everyone! Have a great day!

[greeneyes]

sat 3 dec af daily

FABBIES!!

bear, good on you for sitting with your feelings and recognizing the old pattern of booze to soothe. Yep, dead end road, that one is.

I'm off early too blondiegirl. Yoga and then to work.

I saw this on another thread and wanted to put it here for a lookie for you. A really good conversation I thought.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sapphire60
And you too Geestar I read your new beginnings thread late last night and was reminded in a very timely way that we cant let our guard down and dance with the beast. My new fella likes a drink or two, so that has thrown up a few challenges for me. So far so good, I havent given in, but have been tempted. I just have to keep firmly in my mind that my brain isnt wired the way it used to be, due to the damage that the grog has done over the years, therefore social drinking will never be an option, but it is so bloody easy to fall into the trap. Even my family whoi have borne the brunt of my maniacal recklessness over the last ten or so years, have this idea that one day I will be able to sit down with them and share a nice glass of wine. But I know the truth at an intrinsic level these days....it aint gonna happen cause the minute I put the bottle to my lips, its lights out 24/7 until I get so wretched and deathly ill that I have to go cold turkey and endure the hell all over again. Not to mention the money that I will fritter away and the dangerous situations that I will invariably find myself. Who wants to wake up in a prison cell wearing only a flthy nighty and not know how the hell I got there? I get my licence back soon after 2 and a half very long years and I could never risk being tempted to drive under the influence again, and risk a jail term, fusk I have been blessed to get this far and still have my freedom and my choices.

Anyway enough about me, I hope you have a wonderful day my friend and that things get easier and easier, as we both know they will. Saff

Sometimes we have to try drinking again if we haven't yet got it through our thick heads (in my case, and i know in your case recently) that we are for whatever reason, chemically wired differently than most folks. Particularly it appears when we've 'crossed the line' into problem drinking/alcoholism, it's a battle to moderate, and frankly, who'd bloody want to in our case. My recent adventures show me drinking is boring, a waste of my precious time (and of others'), and not necessary for me to 'enhance' any situation, or to believe the myth that i'm enjoying my life more. It also puts me out of action and not at my best for a couple of days. We don't need it, and each day we are AF, taking positive action, and being true to ourselves, i know that old habits and negative thinking patterns become weaker and weaker as the positive patterns begin to take over. There is no tomorrow. Freedom is here now. There are no negatives in being sober.

Tally ho! Is marshy in viet nam?

[Marshy]

sat 3 dec af daily

greeneyes;1219707 wrote: Is marshy in viet nam?

Fly out two weeks today - can't wait! I've been halfway through posting a few times lately (at work) and then have to drop it because there's work to do. And I'm not using my computer at home much in the evenings at the mo - spending time with GF instead

Bear - good that you're working things through.

Greenie & Blonde - have good days at work. I'm at work too - and someone is putting up a bright orange Christmas tree with a parrot on top.

Hello to all to come.

[universal]

sat 3 dec af daily

Morning abbies!

Bear, hope the cold goes away soon - have fun with your GF's today - AF of course.
Greenie, thanks for that posting, it's a good reminder.
Marshy - GF time in the evening (hmmmmmm)

I am up, but tired today - the dumb dog woke me up in the middle of the night and interupted my beautiful sleep! But that's okay, I still feel good this morning. I have some cleaning to do and have to write in my journal. Then work on a homework assignment, then hockey (of course! LOL)

I will not drink today - today is 6 months with a bump. And I intend to continue on my path to a clean and healthy life! My therapist is going to wonder WTF is up with me on Monday when I tell her that all week I have been getting out of bed and doing things! LOL

Okay I'm off to empty the diswasher, have a shower and start my day. Have a great AF Saturday folks!

[Lavande]

sat 3 dec af daily

Good morning Abbers!

Wow Marshy, I'm trying to imagine a bright orange tree with a parrot on top :H :H

bear, congrats on your 30 AF days
Stay true to your commitment!

Greenie & Blondie, have a great day at work ~ I'll be working in a few minutes myself!

Wishing everyone a fantastic AF Saturday!

Lav

[sunshine_gg]

sat 3 dec af daily

Good morning FABbalicious ones!

Bear, hope you feel better and have fun with the girls today.
Greenie, thanks for the quote.
Marshy, there better be a picture of that tree.
Uni, no psycho hockey mom, ok?
Lav, have a fabby day. Oh.. and much like Det, I'm wondering about that diaper cake?

Looking rather dark and grey and uninviting out today. Oh well. I'm planning on playing a bit of domestic goddess anyways. Not that I WANT to but I really need to. Have I ever shown you pictures of my dog? We have a brush session every weekend, mainly because it makes absolutely NO sense vacuuming before that (and little after). This is what it looks like:



So that's coming up today as well. It puzzles me that he isn't bald by now. Alrighty, off I go to find more coffee. Have a sensational Saturday! One thing is for sure....

[Kaslo]

sat 3 dec af daily

Thanks Bear for starting this thread, and Im glad you are coping, passed the test, etc. You got us going there for a while, whew!!! Sunni as well. Cross Post Sunni, which one of those is the dog...?And YES. What IS a diaper cake?

Wow, I thought I was up early! Ha ha ha. Its still dark here. Everyone sounds so great.

Thanks Greenmachine for the quote. It was a good follow up to yesterday. I found LVs description yesterday disturbingly attractive and it started me thinking, stinking thinking, I think. Poured myself my current favorite which is cranberry pomegranate, with a touch of lemonaide on ice. Lovely. That was my friday night drink. And of course now I am happy as a clam, I have no feelings of etc etc we have all been there.

Blonde, so how are you liking your new stove? Im ready for a new one but I cant complain about the old one, its a gas Jennair, and it rocks, but the oven is set cold I think. THe convect roast sounds like Im cooking a Harley Davidson motorcycle in there.

Hi to Lav, Uni....Marshy where the heck are you going NOW? Greece again? Orange tree with a parrot sounds good. Pretty soon my grand parrot Toby is coming home (with our youngest daughter) for Christmas. Looking forward to seeing both of them.

Well I am off to rustle up coffee, toast then enter data again, because I have to do my boxplots a second time, I have one more paper after this too, before Christmas, but if I am a good girl I hope to go skiing today, and some shopping in the aft for Xmas presents.

Love to all, on a fine December day, no hang over and not feeling like death in a bucket. Kind of a no brainer, really dont you all think?

Kaslo of the Snow

[Kaslo]

sat 3 dec af daily

BTW,,,We dont have quite this much snow right now, but this is what it often looks like here in December January

[mylife]

sat 3 dec af daily

Good morning Abbers!

Wow, this group is up early! I slept in and it felt great.

Blonde - all I can say is WOW! That dog has a lot of hair!! We're thinking of getting another dog this year - it's been two years since our beloved 17 year old shepherd/collie passed and I miss having a dog around. But the hair is giving me a reminder!! :H

Kaslo - your pictures reminded me of my old life in Alaska. That's a distant memory for me now. I miss the snow sometimes....but not THAT much.!

Bear congratulations on 30 days!!!
Blonde, Lav and Green have good days at work. I wouldn't mind working weekends I don't think...it would be nice to have a couple of weekdays off! Especially now that a weekend is just another day.

[sunshine_gg]

sat 3 dec af daily

Awww.. mylife... I had a Shepherd/Collie mix as well, my old Maxi girl. She got to be 16 1/2 when I had to put her down. This one is Chow/Collie and the hair on him (or better, the hair that gets away from him) is truly unbelievable.

Kas, that's a lovely picture. I still don't want any snow, though

[Turnagain]

sat 3 dec af daily

I was tromped on by a pug so I am up VERY early for a Saturday. When I first checked in here this morning there were already 10 posts and it wasn't even 7 am in my part of the world.

Today, it may hit 41 f here. We have been getting rain on top of nearly 3 feet of snow. That is not a good situation at all! Mylife....this is the part of far north living that no one should ever miss!

My husband and I are actually looking for a place in Camp Verde, AZ. He is retiring in 4 years and I think I have him talked into getting the hell outta here for most of the winter. If the kids are still here, we'll 'visit' for the holidays. Oh, and Blondie....I was raised in AZ....Flagstaff, to be precise. I would be happy to share some travel tips with you. Will you have access to a car for some independent sightseeing or will bro and family be in charge of sightseeing? I can tell you that your trip to the canyon in February will be marvelous. It's so quiet and serene compared to the madness of the summer.

Marshy...Vietnam is on my bucket list...we're looking at a trip in 2014 perhaps. I'll have to get some tips from you.

Uni...it is truly amazing what good sleep can do for one's health. When I was drinking, like most of us, I wasn't sleeping well at all. After the week of withdrawal...it felt like such a luxury to really have a restful night....it was a revelation. Oh, and lest my faulty memory gets the best of me....

WAY TO GO on 6 MONTHS! This is a good stretch of AF time and represents a lot of learning on your part. You sure didn't let the bumps cause a catastrophe. That shows strength and a will to choose life over a powerful addiction.

Bear...I know exactly what you're saying about getting into a funky feeling rut. It sounds you are taking the right action to banish the blues. Lav's example of having an attitude of gratitude is what I try to practice when I start feeling 'depressed' about any situation.

Sunni....back in the day, I had a fluffy, shedding Collie. I was lucky to have met someone who was into spinning yarn. She would come over and brush our dog on a regular basis to get the fur for her endeavors. The yarn she made was gorgeous and the pieces she knitted were stunning. Greenie....it's too bad short human hair isn't good for much....you'd be sitting on a gold mine!

Lav....I'm with Kas....WTH is a DIAPER CAKE? Is it something that Blondie can carry at her store? Is it bigger than a bread box?

wishing a fabulous AF Saturday to all who've been here and those to come!

[papmom3]

sat 3 dec af daily

:HOK, how come the childless papmom knows what a diaper cake is and you all don't???? Come on Lav, post the picture of the one you did and put them out of their misery!!

Sunnibutt-LOVE your dog! would love to see his face too! yes, I can imagine the the fur is daunting. I'm lucky that papillions are pretty easy care in the fur department. However, my freddy cat isn't.

Kas-love that pic! That poor flicker-"where'd the food go?". I for one give thanks every day that the temps don't go below 40 and the sun is shining. If we don't get snow until March that would be fine with me! No snow at all would be even better but I do know it would be a huge problem with the resevoirs come spring.

Thanks greenie for the quote.

Turn-lucky you getting out of the frozen north soon! Hope your hubby sees it your way when the time comes.

Yes Marshy-please post a pic of the orange tree!

Uni-congrats girl on 6 months!

OK got the pedi done, did some shopping after, house is presentable, doing some laundry and lunch is done. Might actually be able to relax until we leave for the Dog Whisperer (but I doubt it :H )

I'll let you all know how the show goes.

[sunshine_gg]

sat 3 dec af daily

No way Turn!! We always joke that gosh, this would make someone a fine new dog, or winter sweater at the least! You're saying that dog hair can actually be spun into yarn??? :H

Papmom - you can see his face a bit better in the photo I have in the gallery:
https://www.mywayout.org/community/ph...ckens_july.jpg

I try not to take pictures of his face anymore. His tumors in his mouth are growing much more rapidly now and I've seen people look rather disgusted when looking at him. He's over 11 now, slowly losing his hearing and started cataracts about 2 years ago. I'm not putting him through surgery to try and remove the tumors. They are not malignant and thus far are not preventing him from eating and don't seem to cause him any discomfort. Just really stinky breath uch:

Mylife.. it only sank in now.. yours was 17 as well!? Wow! Must be something in that German Shepherd/Collie breed combination, huh? This was my old girl the year before she passed:

I got her when she was 10 already (her owner had passed away). It was one of those deals where she chose me... not so much the other way around. But I came to love that dog like none other and she was the most loyal creature ever. *sniff*

[Lavande]

sat 3 dec af daily

Beautiful doggies

Now about the diaper cake :H :H