af Sunday 6 October

[treetops]

MAE all
How are the sober people on this Sunday. Misty here but it will be sunnier later in the day.

Mick - you will be off today on Mission Top Secret. Hope the day goes well.

Hope you enjoyed the spa Bear. I have a confession -I have never got into spas. The whole 'pampering' thing has gone right by me. I do go to the hairdresser - out of necessity and vanity - but I have never found it relaxing. Quite the opposite -I get very bored, restless andI hate the noise and smell.

Speaking of smell - thanks for the breakfast treat Lavande (its brekkie here now). We have had some immature stink bugs in NZ but very few. Our border security is one of the toughest in the word for plant/animal detection - and now I can see why.These critters seem to not only pong but also cause lots of damage. I sympathise greatly with your personal mission there Lav!

Not many others on the thread so far yesterday - so I am a bit out of words

Hope all are doing well - Pauly, SF, Det, Sam, AFM, Blondie, PPQP, Cinders - and all others far and wide, sober and super-sober. I am off to make some pancakes for the others. :baaah: (thats the sheep outside)!!

[Lavande]

af Sunday 6 October

Well, it's finally Sunday morning here in the US TT :H
Hope the pancakes were good - making me hungry now!

I think living in the midst of a farming community has made this stink bug invasion such a 'in your face' situation. There were no stink bugs here 10 years ago, they arrived enmasse just a few years ago
Not sure yet but I think this year's invasion is winding down a bit - we shall see.

Sam, it was a hot day yesterday, today will be the same. Looks like the tropical storm is losing strength so maybe we won't get the 3 or more inches of rain that was predicted!! You historical discoveries sound very interesting!

OK, off to check on the welfare of my chicks after their first night in the 'big house'!
Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[bear73]

af Sunday 6 October

confession time - had to google stink bugs,think we have something similar that is green but could be wrong. I had a lovely time chatting,spaing and just lazing with my old friends.we agreed to book in several weekends now for next year so we know what we have in the diary.

I had also double booked (shocker!) xmas lunch with old friends then xmas evening do with derby team that same evening in another town - gonna pull out of derby team do and enjoy lazy time with friends and staying over.Progress?? i've binned off decluttering - doing washing and lazing about instead,may go for walk/run round park - or do dvd.

feeling good day 16 af - lovely to see everyone - interesting how many of us used booze for anxiety.happy sunday xx

[paulywogg]

af Sunday 6 October

Mae everybody, how's everyone doing? Good I hope, last night we went out for dinner for steak and all you can eat shrimp at outback it was pretty good i hadn't been out to eat for a bit so I got a brownish sundae to to go, still waking up here so off to get another cup of java, love to everyone have a good day

[Mick]

af Sunday 6 October

Hi everyone how are you all doing. ... been a pretty successful day today at the moment on the motorway 60 miles from home and starving

[Determinator]

af Sunday 6 October

Ahoy ABenators!!!

Mick, don't get too hungry and lonelys, danger zone!

Lav, the vacuum we got is a Bissell 9595 which got good ratings on Amazon and cost only 98.00 shipped from ebay. it's bagless which is great and so far so good....

lazy day here, slept waaaaay in then made egg/veggie frittatas for us, now Dx is off to a job interview (on Sunday? yes...).

wishing you all a marvelous sober Sunday

be well

[TheSunFlower]

af Sunday 6 October

Checking in after a relaxing weekend. It rained here today...so I made big pot of chili...and did not accomplish much.

TT-the placebo effect-does it make me "think" my wrinkles are disappearing? I guess if someone "thinks" it is working and its not harmful then whatever works. I still take a B-complex even though it is pretty clear I am peeing it out.

Bear-even though I get worked up at times...it is nothing compared to the crushing anxiety I had while drinking. I would have all out panic attacks while hungover. It took time...but, the crushing anxiety did subside.

Mick-hope you found something to eat on your travel home.

Lav-yuck on the stink bugs. Moving to the south we have all kinds of bugs (outside)....really big ones!

Det- I am grateful I don't have to travel for work. All my clients are in 15 mile radius of where I live. I had one that was a 45 minute drive...and traded it off for one closer to home.

AFM-wish I could actually go to sleep at 6pm. It would turn into a nap....that would keep me up til the wee hours.

Pauly....I keep meaning to go to Outback....hope you enjoyed it!

Sam-homemade salsa sounds wonderful.

My oldest had a meltdown today when I asked him to clean his room. This is the first time he blew up at me about my drinking days. When he calmed down we had a long talk. I was never in denial that I had a drinking problem, but I certainly was in denial about how it affected other people. We are in a good place now.

I just watched a video on how alcoholics tend to isolate while drinking. That certainly was true for me. But, I also find myself isolating in sobriety. Seems like everyone is too busy during the day to meet up for lunch....and usually wants to meet up for drinks after work....which I decline. I need to make more of an effort to suggest alternative things with friends.

[Cinders]

af Sunday 6 October

Yoo Whoo Abbers,

I know I went absent for a bit and I apologize for not checking in.

TT and Mick, thanks for the pms. I am doing fine. Hubby finally left today and I am settled into my temporary apartment. My first day on the job is tomorrow morning. Quite excited!!

Hubby connected my pc to the flat screen tv, so I can go back and forth between tv and computer whilst sitting on the couch. Hopefully I don't end up sitting here all the time and not getting my butt into gear and exercising.

The complex I am staying in has a very nice exercise room open 24/7. No excuses for me. :-)

I hope all have been doing well. I am going to poke around a bit and then off to beddy bye soon.

Love,

Cindi

[treetops]

af Sunday 6 October

Good to see you Cinders!, and good luck with the new job. Nite nite

[Determinator]

af Sunday 6 October

Cindi!!! glad you are alive and kickin' missed you.

Sun, what a great way to engage with your children. in many ways the disease of alcoholism has brought me closer to my wife. in odd and surprising ways, there are many silver linings to sobriety, aside from the more obvious ones.

[TheSunFlower]

af Sunday 6 October

Cinders....great to see you....good luck on your first day.

Det...I was in denial long enough to know that not discussing the issue openly with the kids would be another form of denial. It has led to a much closer relationship with my kids than I see other famlies have. They come to me with things they are going through...not scared of saying they "screwed up". Our talk was me acknowledging his feelings about the hurt I caused and saying I was sorry. We talked a bit about how addiction sneaks into your life and then grabs ahold of you (me throwing a little caution in there as this runs in my family). We both ended up crying. Later he came to me and said that he was sorry....he was just mad about having to clean his room, overreacted and said stupid things just to hurt me.

Hubby and I are working through things. A bit later tonight my son asked me if it was true that the night I brought him home from the hospital did I buy beer. I did, but did not drink it. He told me his Dad told him that and I could see the hurt in eyes. As my hubby's frustration with my drinking grew....he told my kids things that I do not think should have been told...example above. I don't see what his purpose was in telling my kids things like that, things that will only hurt them. I felt the anger rise in me....but, in the end I have to forgive him. We both screwed up. And there is no point in me telling my kids...."Dad was basically high 24/7 up until a few months ago". But it does still get to me that he did that to them.

My relationship with my parents and sister is slowly coming together. Actually called my sister to chat on Friday. I am sure she was wondering if I had started drinking again