tuesday af 10 December

[treetops]

MAE everyone – afternoon here now and I am having a few minutes off work to start the thread.
The ice storm in the US sounds horrendous – as does the ghastly weather in the UK. We don’t get much on the news here about weather in Canada since people expect it to be artic-like there at this time of the year.

Bear – good on you for braving the elements and going for a run although I hope you are sound asleep as I post this.
Welcome back Mick!
Pauly – sorry about all the sickies you have. I especially hope the baby gets better soon as it is anxious tending to an ill little one.
Patrice – hope your Tuesday is starting out OK. Its great to not have a hangover isn’t it? Although for me, that feels so long ago – I musn’t get complacent. I know towards the end of my drinking I was not getting so many hangovers – because I was falling asleep earlier in the evening. This inspires a false sense of coping – which it is not really at all. I am grateful to have my evenings back – even if they are sometimes spent watching crappy DVDs.
Hi there SF, Sam, Narilly, PPQP, Det.
Lav – did you make the gingerbread?

I better sign off and get back to the salt mines although it looks like we are getting some more of the higher temperatures for the rest of the week.

Have a terrific AF Tuesday – even if the weather is getting you down.

[TheSunFlower]

tuesday af 10 December

I think the ice storm is on its way! Up late working on a project.....I hate it when this happens!

[Mick]

tuesday af 10 December

mae everyone ..how are we all today then?ok I hope ...well htats me back in the sunny uk ...actually not as bad as I had thought ..temp drop from 24 to 6 degrees but dry ..apparently last week there were horrendous storms.....garden still bears testament to it....cloches have been blown all over the place...went on the scales this morning ..woweee certainly paid for that plum pudding 10lbs on in 10 days!think it was lead lined ..Mind you didnt do too much exercise so it starts today .
when Iwas on holiday ,I was drinking water coke and lotsa soft drinks....now sometimes when I am on my jollies I will have an af bee ...theres something about the taste that I like,this time I had a small one ,and it was one that didnt appeal to me so I didnt have any more...now that pleased me as to me it shows that I aint looking for substitutes.What I did see tho was on one of the nights there was an Elvis impersonator..WTF..the guys been dead for 30 odd years..and to be honest I looked more like Elvis than this geezer!!but this lady who musta been in her 50s was obviously an official wine taster and had been at it for some time was all over him ..jeez..kinda sad really..anyway on we go mit der show.

Hiya tt ..how are you doing?time off work ? whats that all about ?cmon youve got the Antipodean economy to think about ..get back doon them mines!!!

Hiya Patrice ...how are you doing?lets get you back on the road ..as you say you have done so well ...now its just keeping focused on the big no no ..as Lav said in one her posts ...take that step ..you honestly wont regret it..we will help you all we can.

Hiya Pauly ..wow sounds like you are having it tough ...stay with it lady..you can do it ..how is everyone now?they gettin any better?Big hug to you..oh and some elephants foot garlic..Im growing that this year.

Lav ..and how are you today? hows things in shitty weather land?did you get your gingerbread baked?Here you go missus...one large coffee!did the duvet from Ikea come flat packed?

Hiya Narilly ....hows you ?I know you say you feel kinda bummed out..and that you dint think that you drank that much ...2 things ..maybe it aint booze could be anything ...seasonal adjustment the cold (thats for women ..we men get manflu big time :H)anything like that could put you under the weather .The second point is you say you didnt drink that much ...maybe you didnt ..or didnt think so ..its all relative to you and your individual system ..you are using others as a comparator..ie only drank 2 bottles of wine a week ...sounds nowt compared to someone drinking 2 per day ,but it relative to you not them.the other thing is its not necessarily the amount but how often..see didnt take long to get back into yapping mode for me did it?so lets see that smiley face!

ppqp ...you beat me to it with the Chrissy wabbit!!I was going to do that instead of mad jack on my avatar ...so how are things with you? ok I hope ? still keeping the Canadian economy afloat are you? Heres a coffee to drink on your snow covered way to work today

Hiya Det ..how are you my mate? ok I hope...well done on getting rid of the drinking thoughts "Sack the sauce" campaign.

Bear ..morning to you ..hope the meeting went well..yes you are right ..we do need stress ..the secret is to turn it into a positive rather than let it swamp you as a negative..as for the exercise ..godd on you ..will be joining you as from today!well done on 21 days too keep going..

Right peeps tis time to see to me garden and bunnies, whilst madam contemplates life in the universe lying in bed armed with a large coffee..so you take it easy and have a good one ...big shout to all those missing ...yoo hoo we can see ya!!!!

A man walks into a bar, and tells the bartender to pour him a 12 year old single malt scotch "before the trouble starts." The bartender pours his drink and quietly moves away.
After finishing his drink, the man calls the bartender back and tells him "pour me a 15 year old scotch before the trouble starts." The bartender thinks this is very strange but pours him the 15 year old scotch.
After finishing that drink, the man tells the bartender to pour him an 18 year old scotch "before the trouble starts." The bartender is becoming a little worried, but pours him the 18 year old scotch.
Before the man finishes his 18 year old scotch, the bartender finally gets up the nerve to ask: "Say friend, when this trouble is going to start?" To which the man replies: "The trouble starts, when you find out that I don't have any money."

A doctor worked on the tenth floor of an office building. In the building was a pub, where the doctor had a lemon daiquiri, every day at quitting time. The bartender's name was Dick.
One dyadic found out he didn't have any lemons and no time to get any. So he thought he would make up a hickory daiquiri instead and at the end of the day, the doctor would be too tired to notice.
The doctor sat down, took a sip and said "This isn't a lemon daiquiri, Dick!"...To which Dick replied, "No, it?s a hickory daiquiri,

A guy wants to become a magician so he goes out and buys a magician book. Later he gathers his family around the living room for his first trick. Reading his new book he reaches into a bag and pulls out a hammer and to the amazement of his family hits himself in the head with it. He's unconscious and spends a month in the hospital. Suddenly a nurse notices his eye lids flicker. She calls the family in and they gather around his bed. Just then he sits up in bed awake and says..."TA-DAA"

A skeleton walks down empty Main Street. Suddenly he sees another skeleton carrying a gravestone. "Hey, what are you doing?? the other skeleton answers "Just strolling", "Why do have the gravestone, buddy?", "Because I always want to have some ID?.

At a construction site on the 80th floor of a high rise building, the lone conservative on the crew was having a heated political discussion with the liberals on the project. Deciding to take a break, he called everyone over to the edge of the roof. "Did you know," he began, "that there are extremely violent invisible updrafts that are able to keep a body floating in mid-air? They only occur at certain times during the day between buildings. Here, I'll show you!" He then leaped off the side of the building, and with arms spread-eagle, floated effortlessly on an unseen cushion of air, and then gradually steered himself back to the safety of the roof. "That's awesome," one of the left-wingers shouted. "I want to try it." "Me too," another cried, and then another, and as they leaped over the side of the roof, one after the other, they fell 80 floors straight down to the ground, SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!
A crowd rushed over to witness the carnage, and while doing so, one of the spectators looked up and remarked, "Boy, Clark Kent sure hates liberals!"

Q: What did the windmill say when she met her favorite movie star?
A: "Nice to meet you. I'm a BIG FAN!"

Q: Did you hear about the fire in the bakery?
A: It burned 20 cakes and 30 loaves of bread, and there were plenty of hot cross buns!

A man looks out the window into his back yard and sees his dog shaking and tossing something into the air. He rushed out to find that it was the neighbors' rabbit, Mr. Bun Bun, and he was very dead. Mr. Bun Bun was also filthy with dog drool and mud, but thankfully there was no blood: his back must have broken at the first shake.
The man decided that he could not possibly explain to his neighbors how his dog had gotten into their yard and broke into the rabbit cage and killed Mr. Bun Bun while they were away.
He bathed Mr. Bun Bun until completely clean and dry, placed him back in his cage, re-latched the door and hoped they would believe that their rabbit had passed away peacefully.
Several days later, the man notices his neighbor mowing his lawn, so he walks over and asks how things were going.
"Well" the neighbor says, "not so well. We lost Mr. Bun Bun last week, and we are all still very upset about it all."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yes, we found him one day when we got home, and he must have died in his sleep because he looked so peaceful."
(Whew!) "Well, that does not sound too bad."
"Oh no, and we were not surprised: I mean he was very old, and had really started to show his age the last few months."
"I guess I am a bit confused then, as to why your family is still upset."
"Well, we buried the little guy out by the back fence and thought we were all done with it, but you are not going to believe this: Someone dug him up, cleaned him up and put his body back into his cage as some form of mean and nasty practical joke."

Q: Why couldn't the pony sing?
A: Because he's a little hoarse.

Two coworkers were talking by the water fountain one guy said, "Today I got through the first step of getting divorced." The second guy replies, "Oh, did you go to Mr. Guggenheim? Everyone goes to him for divorces." The first man replies, "No, I just got married".

The sergeant-major growled at the young soldier: ?I didn?t see you at camouflage training this morning.?
?Thank you very much, sir.?

It was dinner time on a British Airways flight from London to New York. As the flight attendant moved down the plane, she asked one of the passengers: ?Would you like dinner?? ?What are my choices?? asked the passenger. ?Yes or No,? replied the attendant

[bear73]

tuesday af 10 December

Hey TT - have been running on the treadmill,will be in open air Saturday and Sunday,brr - layering up! The meeting just went,she sat there in stony silence looking angry.Said what I needed to say and will write it up,HR are happy with it and boss is supportive.Moving on from it now,it sets the standard.

Otherwise today busy day at work, need to return a parcel,boss taking me for lunch and I've got a Christmas dinner tonight with friends, I am driving so no temptation there.I plan to leave work bit early to hit the gym to fit my run in and shower and get ready there.

I've been eating a few too many mince pies,time to reign it it, two more weeks until Christmas, I have five celebration dinners before then, I am seriously considering the 5:2 diet/or 1000 calories on non exercise/big meal days.

CBT mood diary is hard work!I've not written it up properly but I have the notes.One thing I am hanging onto is to just do it and don't worry about doing it perfectly. Have a great day everyone - day 22 starting here - please to be piling up the AF days.The difference exercise is making to my mood is amazing, I always knew it and I am so pleased I am motivated to keep doing it again.
Ho ho ho everyone

[bear73]

tuesday af 10 December

missed Mick too - nice to see you and hope you had fun, shoddy Elvis impersonator aside!There was some fairly dubious entertainment at our hotel too - bit ' phoenix nights' if you've ever seen that?!

[Mick]

tuesday af 10 December

yep sure have bear ...both series!!!glad all is well

[patrice]

tuesday af 10 December

Hi all
Mick so great to see you back but so glad you had a nice holiday too.
Hi Bear.. please keep writing about the exercise... it's the missing link for me!
TT - yes it is great to have evenings back... but love the mornings more. I too didn't get hangovers much but I do notice a difference. Sleep is slowly starting again (yay)
A friend of mine is visiting here and she came over tonight for a chat and drink. She had 2 cans of beer ( her usual) and I had sparking water and grapefruit. She was delighted I had stopped, spoke to her at great length as to why ( she kind of knew anyway) and I felt really supported and encouraged that I have made the best decision
Have a great MAE everyone.. might be back if the insomnia returns!
x
Patrice

[Lavande]

tuesday af 10 December

Good morning Abbers from the land of shitty weather :H

TT, I ended up dealing with snow yesterday so didn't get to any baking. Guess what? It's snowing again today, crap
I do have visions of gingerbread men dancing on my head though

Welcome back Mick!
Sounds like you ate your way through vacation - nice
I don't think I could sit through an Elvis show, no fanks :H

bear. don't worry about keeping the diary - just do it. It's meant to be a tool for you & your counselor to help direct your therapy

Patrice, nice that you were able to be honest with your friend & that she is supportive!
Hope you were able to sleep.

Well, dealing with the current snowstorm is top on my list today. I'll see what else I can squeeze in later.
Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[paulywogg]

tuesday af 10 December

Mae everybody,well i got reminded what a hangover feels like by of course getting this horrid stomach bug! the same symptoms to a tee,cant eat,nauseaus,horrible stomach,dizzy,headache sore bones,talk about deja vu! i should NOT be attempting to go to work today but bills dont pay themselves,glad your back mick,was the elvis dude at least a little good?at least the singing?i bought some garlic pills yesterday,no way i can choke down the real thing with this stmach,i know its not the same but it cant hurt,ugh wish me luck getting thru this work day,see ya later

[narilly]

tuesday af 10 December

Hello everyone! I am super busy at work so will post a 'real' post later.
Have a Great sober Tuesday.
Hugs,

[Samstone]

tuesday af 10 December

how do all
glad to see you back in form, Mick. Hope your holiday was a good one.
Little bit of the mixed wet stuff today, but not too bad. Dern sloppy out now.
I've been doing a little Xmas cleaning at home and took the occasion to go through some old papers and pictures I got when cleaning out my parents' house. There were original deeds from the early to mid 1800's of my great grandpa's land in NY. Very cool, but very brittle. Thinking of getting them in a frame. I had visited that area about 10 years ago... al different now, lots of farmetes. The old house was still there and it was a horse farm thing much smaller, but still semi rural.

Wish my folks were here to tell me who is in all these old pictures. Actually, wish they were here to just be here.

Hope everyone is doing well.

[narilly]

tuesday af 10 December

Thanks Mick for the post. Ya, I guess too much drink is different for everyone. For sure. I had a friend who used to say "you get drunk as soon as they uncork the wine" sheesh.

Sam, that is cool about your parent's house. Pretty emotional. I understand the missing part.
Pauly- hope you feel better.
Lav- hang in there with that snow storm. It is snowy here today too and quite cold -17C.
I'm still walking home though!
Pat, that is awesome you didn't drink. I really like grapefruit drinks myself these days!
Bear- dieting, ugh, its so hard in this season. Don't be too hard on yourself.

My mom's birthday is today and we are going out for supper tonight. I will have some yumm non AL drink. None of us will probably drink anyway. My mom doesn't drink. Anyway, we will have a great meal that I will remember. No slurring or trying to act sober.
Talk soon,

[porqoui]

tuesday af 10 December

MAE ALL....

Just home from a long day followed by an annual general meeting. Going to put my feet up and relax. Sorry for the brief post, just wanted to be accountable.....PPQP

[Determinator]

tuesday af 10 December

Late greetings from garlic breath ABenators near and far!

thanks for the kickstart TTops

Sunflower, you having internet probs? hope all is well

Bear and Patrice, you're both sounding good

Mick is back with his comedy routine! yay

Lav, hang in there with the crap weather. I'm not looking forward to my big drive tomorrow which will take me over the Sierras where I'm sure it's very snowy/icy. must get plenty of sleep tonight so I have my wits about me (both of them) LOL

today at an AA meeting we discussed the very common alchy problem of isolating. made me reflect that even when I'd try to be social with my drinking.... i was still isolating. once i started to drink the real 'me' vanished and there was an empty, dark, depressed shell of my former self. I felt alone everywhere, all the time. that's certainly no way to live.

off to keep packing

be well