Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

[Dottie Belle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

:bday7: Happy Birthday J-vo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HumbleRider]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Happy birthday J-vo!:heart::bday3:

Happy 7 days, Roxane! :day5::applaud:

[daisy45]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Happy birthday J-vo!

[available]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Oh NS I SO LOVE THAT CAKE. Oh hey wait a minute i am the same age as Jvo. Damn.

Having a much better day at work though i could probably kill people if they annoyed me. I have a botox clinic this afternoon, for patients with medical problems so it will be busy. Normally this clinic i talk and talk and talk but i have so much work to do that i should stick my head down but they love a chat, me personally i am not in the mood.

Oh i did get my gas put back on but i would not be suprised if the boys use all the hot water before i get home. i will just smile and wait for it to heat up. as long as i have hot water i dont care.

[j-vo]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Glad your day is going better dear Ava!

Thank you girls for all the birthday wishes! NS, I think you forgot a few candles!!!!! My day was perfect, in that it was a regular, normal day, had a gyn. appt. after work, went to rite aide to buy some much needed things, then went out to dinner with hubby and son - sushi. Now I'm getting ready for good sleep. So thanks again. I'm so grateful for a sober birthday and for all you girls!

[little beagle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Happy happy birthday J-vo. Sober birthdays are the best.
I have been working on a plan for tomorrows meeting so a quick post.
Ava enjoy that hot water.

[Pavati]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Hi, All:

Rox! Happy Week! Amazing stuff, and we're so glad you came here to keep Ava company while we're all asleep.

J-vo - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :alf: Why did I think it is in April? I thought we'd be celebrating your 100 days around your birthday? The mind is shot, ladies. That's the kind of day I like for my birthday (minus the work, the gyn appt. and the stop at Rite Aid :H). Ha ha. I love the sushi with the family part, though.

NS - Don't tempt me with those cakes. I am on a food/sugar binge! I have been much better the last two days, but I really need to rein this in. When it is my birthday (a few months away), I'll have a nice fruit salad. (I'm hoping you'll forget this request by the time it rolls around).

I am back in a bit of a funk - here's what I wrote about it in the nest:

I've been feeling a bit blah, too. I'm wondering if is just a part of the process, as I have read. The giddy feeling of Yahoo, I'm sober! giving way to the perpetual ups and downs of life. I feel like I'm experiencing all of my feelings at once - all that I had kept at bay with alcohol. This makes sense to me - I spent so much of my focus on getting sober, that now with several weeks in (73 days to be exact) all of the other stuff is coming to the surface.

I am heading out of town for a few days this weekend and then again next week (I'm on vacation). I am tentative for a couple of reasons - not afraid of drinking, but some family stuff (and here I show my desire to remain anonymous on an online forum by not revealing too much detail!)

Sorry all of my posts have been about me lately - I do care about what you all are doing, and I have read it all. I might have trouble getting long posts in on vacation, but I'll sneak in from time to time and I'm not leaving until Friday.

Take care, lovelies. I hope you're all feeling strong.

xo

[roxane]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

thanks pav, little steps and all that.

the candles on that cake! it made me laugh!

just had a call from mother in aus, all polite chit chat.

[available]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Loamers

Well Rox at least she rang, think positive, at least she was thinking of you to ring.

Well something i posted on NN tonight that i will post here for you guys like Pav did. Pav i hope you have a great holiday and hold off those al thoughts. I have been having niggling ones, like they are whispering in my ear but they are not winning with me. al will not pay my bills, will not make me feel better, will not give me a better life, only I can do that.

"Well Pav i read your post and thought WOW that is what i am so going through now also. The "what nows". Yes i'm sober, i'm content, i'm like "yep, yep yep". Life is going along just fine but what now? The worst thing imaginable to me now is drinking but there is that tiny thought of "well i have done it, i've done 74 days", woo hoo for me. What do i do now? I stay on here, i stay determined and i stay af. If i feel threatened by the thought of drinking i go straight to my support network which are my children. I think also now that the accolades of giving up al are gone. When i tell the kids it is "whatever" days they just smile and say "great". Great, its farking fantastic still, isnt it? I was leaving work today and imagined what i would feel like if i drank tonight and how i would feel tomorrow. The thought made me shudder of a hangover, it is terrifying and that is what keeps me strong and all of the support i get from here. So Pav as per usual, we try and outpost each other and we have the same feelings. These are huge days for us and everyday like Pav, i am soooo grateful for them, so this weekend is a rethink weekend on a plan for this shift of emotions that i am having. Life is great sober, never want to drink again and its just a stage like Day 1 that i have to experience and go through. So Newbies as you know some days are better than others but keep strong and on track and you cant go wrong."

Thank god tomorrow is Friday is all i can say and i am going to keep extremely busy on the weekend. It is supposed to rain on the weekend so i will definitely be standing in that as have not seen rain in such a long time. Its the little things i need to appreciate in life.

Hugs to you all.

[roxane]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

wish i could send some of our rain over, we are getting trench foot over here.

Life is great sober, never want to drink again and its just a stage like Day 1 that i have to experience and go through.

day 1? maybe, sounds like a backward step.
more like stage 3 (?), another chapter. you seem to be looking backwards rather than looking back and seeing the difference of what was then and what is now. and what can be. a plateau if you like, to take stock before going on.

ava, she has a list of people to call and does them every month. ticks and job done. it is what it is, to quote ivan trump!

[available]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Yes i seen that on the news that it was peeing down rain over there, makes walking a tad tedious!

No i meant i am feeling like i have been having a day 1 and i have to deal with the emotions of that. Yes i have to look forward and it looks good being af but yes it seems like a plateau, bit like losing weight "do i give up or go on". I know the answer to that one definitely.

I'm so tired also and that does not help one iota.

[little beagle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

No Ava, being tired DOES NOT help. I like the plateau analysis. That helps me.
Pav hpoe your vacation is good.
Roxy we are having huge amounts of moisture here too. I have to wear my rain boots most days. Oh well, they are cute.
I too have been going through the emotional issue. Like I said before, sometimes its just about figuring out what the real issue is. I came to the bottom of the issue when I realized that I am having huge doubts about my ability to really help my loved ones with our little meetings. Do I want to spend this much time planning, reading, and talking about this subject?
This is what life has handed me so I will persevere. But I am not doing this alone. I mean it. I am counting on all of you. Your insightful posts help me more then you will know.
And yes, they are telling me that it is working. Tonight I want to talk about the feelings that Dream brought up and the "what nows".
Thank you ladies for letting me get that off my chest.
Have a great day.
Sorry if I waffled a bit.

[NoSugar]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Hey, Loamers

I'd been looking through old posts and my computer trying to find this but luckily for me, Byrdie is organized and posted it in the Nest this morning. Around 4 months, I was really kind of down on this whole business and Fallen Angel shared the following with me:



In-between
by Melody Beattie

Sometimes, to get from where we are to where we are going, we have to be willing to be in-between.

One of the hardest parts of growth is the concept of letting go of what is old and familiar, but what we don't want, and being willing to stand with our hands empty while we wait for them to be filled.

This may apply to feelings. We may have been full of hurt and anger. In some ways, these feelings may have become comfortably familiar. When we finally face and relinquish our grief, we may feel empty for a time. We are in-between pain and the joy of serenity and acceptance.

Being in-between can apply to relationships. To prepare ourselves for the new, we need first to let go of the old. This can be frightening. We may feel empty and lost for a time. We may feel all alone, wondering what is wrong with us for letting go of the proverbial bird-in-hand, when there is nothing in the bush.

Being in-between can apply to many areas of life and growth. We can be in-between jobs, careers, homes, or goals. We can be in-between behaviors as we let go of the old and are not certain what we will replace it with. This can apply to behaviors that have protected and served us well all of our life such as care-taking and controlling.

We may have many feelings going on when we're in-between: spurts of grief about what we have let go of or lost, and feelings of anxiety, fear, and apprehension about what's ahead. These are normal feelings for the in-between place. Accept them. Feel them. Release them.

Being in-between isn't fun, but it's necessary. It will not last forever. It may feel like we're standing still, but we're not. We're standing at the in-between place. It's how we get from there to here. It is not the destination. We are moving forward, even when we're in-between.

[roxane]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Put so much better than I did, and in so much more depth.

I know what I want to put down but it comes out so clumsily.

[daisy45]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

NoSugar, I am so glad you posted this - seems it applies to everyone here, no matter what stage of the journey.......notice myself thinking 'what if' kinda thoughts for further down the line and I do not want to even go there. This post really helps clarify where I am and it is important to just ride it out......becoming stronger in the process....