Sat 27th

[Changeling]

Celebrating 1 month AF today.
Can't begin to describe how strong and positive I feel.
No comparison to the shame & self loathing that have been my constant companions for so long.

Best wishes for the weekend to everyone.
Stay happy & sober
Changeling

[bear73]

Sat 27th

that's brilliant - well done to you, and thanks for your encouragement.
Time for a bit of retail therapy maybe???

[Popeye]

Sat 27th

Well done Changeling

I am truely happy for you.

[Java]

Sat 27th

Congrats Changeling!!

Day 15 for me, I am doing really well, thanks to all your support. I am off now, long training run this morning (6miles) yes, it does suck....but you feel good afterwards...talk to you all later.


Victoria

[wwbarb]

Sat 27th

Congrats, Changling - we are really pround of you!

Victoria, enjoy being done! Feel the burn. It will be worth it - congrats on day 15.

Day 13 for me. I don't want a drink, but it sucks sometimes when it gets lonely and boring. I work out my house a lot, and yesterday I didn't even leave it. Fridays are my slower days usually and I like to get stuff around the house done, grocery shopping, etc. - didn't happen. When hubby got home, I didn't have anything to talk about. We had rented two movies from Netflix - both were cracked. I ended up going to bed at 9:00. Oh well, some days just bees like that. I did put quite a dent in the jacket I'm knitting.

Now I'm off to work this morning and knitting with the girls this afternoon. No drinking today. You guys have a great aay

[AAthlete]

Sat 27th

Congrats Changeling!

What an awesome accomplishment!

[MaggieD47]

Sat 27th

"Time for a bit of retail therapy?" I LOVE that and I'm not a big shopper but some kind of reward is definately in order at this one month anniversary! Victoria, newgrl you guys are well on your way! :goodjob:

Barb....bored and lonesome get to me too. Like you, it's not that there's a shortage of stuff to be done. But you did great. I know how to do the basic knit action but don't know how to start or stop! My sister does. I think I should start a scarf or something. I could use it here in Minnesota.

Paul...you've been kinda quiet lately. You're doing awesome as usual.

And AAthlete...I'm planning to start Campral again. I feel a little reluctant because my weight didn't drop the last time I took it (only 4 or 5 days). I think adding a consistent work out should help, as you suggested.

The best to all to follow this fine AF Saturday!

Maggie

[YoungAtHeart]

Sat 27th

Hi All,

I just wanted to start off by addressing Rivirgirl's post from last night. I think that sometimes, seemingly for no reason and out of the blue, we just get down and cranky and want to have a drink to soothe those feelings. I'm glad that you didn't succumb to those feelings on the plane. You have a lot of reasons to be proud for not caving. It is almost a high not to drink at first, but there are always times where it just doesn't feel so terrific. It could just be real life and getting home after a hard week. You did wonderfully to get yourself home without a drink. I hope you felt better after a bit.

Congratulations, Changeling!! Well done!:goodjob: I'm glad that you're feeling so good about yourself!

Barb, lonely and boring are ALWAYS what get to me. There's always more than enough to do, but it's nice to have a change in the routine or something different and exciting to do. I'm glad you got to bed early!

Maggie, casting on and off isn't that hard. If you have a local craft store they will show you how, and then you'll be off the the races with knitting. Good luck with re-starting Campral!

I posted last night about a difficult e-mail that I had to write. Well, confession time--I had two drinks while I wrote it. Now that I'm generally sober (and being more reflective about my sobriety than last time), I'm realizing how co-dependent I really am. It was so hard to write something that might make someone else angry with me that I turned to a drink for courage. I am working toward the day when I can handle life and assert myself WITHOUT alcohol to bolster me. Oh well. I think I will buy myself some AF wine today, just as insurance that I won't do something stupid later.:sigh: Meanwhile, live and learn.

Victoria, Paul, bear, Aathlete, I hope you all, and everyone to come, have a good day.

Hugs,
Kathy:l

[Birdman]

Sat 27th

Good morning everyone,

I finally made it back. I think there was an international attempt to keep me from getting back on line or else my incredible lack of computer skills. Anyway, today marks 33 days AF. I haven't been able to post but I have been keeping up with all of you by reading your posts. Changleing, the 30 days is really something to pause for a moment and think, "Wow". In the process it doesn't seem any different then 29 or 31 but remember back to day 2 or day 7 and then day 30 is a pretty cool thing. So congrats to your day 30 and to all the 30 days for the rest of you abbers to follow.

Bear, we haven't met but hello.

Victoria, six miles, you just keep going farther and farther. Barb, I hope you have a great afternoon at knitting and Aathlete and Maggie, good day to you as well and to all who will check in later.

Kathy, as always I thought you had some wise advise about the NA wine. When that trigger mechanism kicks in we can always tell oursleves, "Okay, I am nervous. I want something to calm me down a bit. I will pour myself a glass of NA wine."

But I have a question for you. I was wondering if maybe just the process of going to the fridge or the wine cabinet and getting the bottle and opening it. And then getting our favorite glass and then listneing to the wine splashing into the glass and then holding it in our hand and all of the oral fixation stuff would be enough to sooth the savage beast. But would that be a bad idea to trick ourselves like that?

Birdman

[YoungAtHeart]

Sat 27th

Truth be told, I'm not sure yet, Birdman. I think a good case could be made for either point of view. I'm kind of wondering though, with a few slips with the real thing, if I wouldn't have been better off if I'd had some AF wine around. Would that have soothed the savage beast, or would I have gone for the real thing anyway? I think that this needs the test of time.

I wrote a separate thread about it asking for other peoples' opinions. It's further down in the Monthly Abs board if you want to read it.

Gotta run! XOXOX

[Andy1111]

Sat 27th

OK, oh what a night! I came SO SO SO close to drinking last night, but my wife talked me out of it and I had a lot of help on the boards. So I am happy to announce day number 13 AF for me! You just never know when that beast will reappear, but I think the more days under your belt, the less frequent he arrives at the doorstep of your mind. Off to get a haircut, the gym, maybe watch a movie.
Good luck to everyone, I might visit chat later tonight.
-Andy

[weemelonhead]

Sat 27th

Bonjour toute le monde!!!!
Bravo and happy clappings to the Changeling....the melon performs a complicated fruit salute to you my friend on your achievement....it just feels great to see those little yellow eggs mount up in the drinktracker doesn't it?
Victoria...a 6 mile run???????? This little canteloupe can barely run a bath without having to stop and have a slice of orange and a lie down....and well done on the day 15!!
Barb....yup....I'm with you and YatH...the boredom and the lonelyonly can really seem like a big space in the day that can sometimes only be filled by a drink....so it's good to hear the click of those needles and see the jacket increasing in girth...well done for finding something productive to do with those twitchy fingers...it's always the best plan, but not always the one that's most easily followed!
Good luck with the campral Mags....that's another notch on the 'campral quacky quota' for the little tutu clad one, I hear the Lucky cheering in the background....don't go too far down the slimming track though...haven't you heard? With the American Idol girl now causing a rucus in the 'Dreamgirls' film....curvey is the new skinny!! Embrace those muffins my friend.
And dear Kathy...I agree that there are definitely two camps for your AF wine theory, there are probably all sorts of psychologically based reasons as to why this may not be a good idea.....still creating a 'crutch' pattern etc.....but the only thing that really matters is whether or not it works for you!! Everyone has to find another beverage of choice when going abs, and if one of yours is the AF vino, then great..... I feel that, initially, any alternative could be a good one, as long as it serves the purpose of reducing the need for anything with a percent in it!...perhaps when you feel more settled in your abs situation, you can change this as part of the process if it makes you feel uncomfortable, but in the beginning, I reckon that just staying sober is the thing to be thankful for. Building up the confidence with increasing amounts of AF days then seems to give one the strength to make necessary changes further down the track....You say you are far more reflective about your situation this time, so I have no doubt that you can analyse your own needs, and decide for yourself, as you go along, what needs to be discarded, and what seems to be doing good, as any of us who stay sober will always have to do ......
Avian hombre...sooper dooper to hear about your 33 days!!! Sorry to hear about your 'pooter trubs, but I'm glad you could still get on to read
And a jolly good morning and a big toodle pip to the Cycling man, Superscot and the hairybeary, and anyone else who scampers in behind me....xxx
Ooh yes!!!! 51 days for the weesobermelon YAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
And Andy...sorry, we were posting at the same time.....enjoy your film...and i suggest asking for a Mullet at the barbers they are VERY 'in' and will go nicely with the 'shortie' shorts and that brown and mustard tank top xx

[abby1]

Sat 27th

Hello Absville Friends,

First, CONGRATS to Changeling on 30 days!!! I bet you feel so good about yourself, as you should....
Victoria, Kathy, Olly, Maggie, Athlete,Kathy,Andy.... great going....Victoria how was the run?
I managed to get four miles in this morning.
Maggie, good luck on the knitting. I am craft impaired, so I admire anyone who can knit, sew, glue or cut.
Minnesota huh? Me too...
For all those to follow, have a great day.
Abby

[southernbelle47]

Sat 27th

Hi all Absville.
I'm loving being "in town" this weekend and have already eaten out and going to the Auburn-Flordia game today @ 4:00! Lots of activity for a country gal! )

Congrats to all of you who have days adding up!
Barb and Kathy, I get the "at home too long" blues too!
"Some days are diamonds and some days are just stones!"

I do like the idea of "retail therapy"!! Did some yesterday! ;o)

Must go for now.....I'll check back later..

I want to hear about "someone's" dates today! Yes........I did say DATES!!

xoxoxo to all who come here.
Nancy
AF
"All the lessons of history in four sentences:
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.
The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.
The bee fertilizes the flower it robs.
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." - Charles Beard
I especially love the last sentence of that! I am livin proof of that!

[Newyear]

Sat 27th

:goodjob: Changeling!! Congrats on 30 - It is an accomplishment and a good time to look back at how far you have come. Also a good time to look at the future, or maybe just the next 30 days.
Andy- SOoooo happy you made it thru last night. I was pulling for you too. It just seems so important at the time and the pressure is hard to take - but you did it! YouDid It!

Lots of stuff going on today. Ok...Date update: This is awful but I'm going to share it with you all. I had a first date (blind date) set for this morning for coffee. We were meeting at 10am but he said he would call in the morning to verify where we were meeting...ok, fine. No call! This is the email I got from him that was sent last night at 11:28pm:

Lisa, I did not get home until late, so if you don't mind, I would like to try to meet later than 10:00 Saturday morning. If that is not convenient, I can meet you anytime tomorrow afternoon. I will call you when I get up in the morning - probably around 10 am. Bye for now.
Johnny
I was more than a little annoyed.

This was my response:
Johnny,
I was looking forward to meeting you this morning. I got up about 7:30, got in the shower, figured out what to wear, blow dried my hair, put on make up and waited for your call so we could decide exactly where to meet. I figured you would call about 9am. At 9:30am I decided to check my email and then saw your note.
Since our first meeting didn't seem that important to you, I decided to make other plans and meet a friend for breakfast.
Sorry, but it doesn't look like this is going to work out.
Lisa
What do you think?
And to give you more background on me....the old me would have waited around and been happy to meet him anytime and then offer to pay for his meal and thank him for making time for me!!

So, hopefully date number two tonight (going bowling) works out better :sigh:

Lisa