Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

[patrice]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Hi all

Patrice - day 4

[Pavati]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Night, all:

I had a fabulous Saturday night - went to a party where there was drinking but it was overall very moderate. I talked to a woman who thinks her husband drinks too much (he does), and told two other people that "I am not drinking." Still not the full Monty, but I'm getting there. I had a very good time and am happily heading to bed sober.

Yes, LB, the mission seems to be working. Sobriety as a social contagion!

I'll weigh in on the June 1 roll call when it is June 1 here - tomorrow...

xo
Pav

[narilly]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

SL, way to go babes! 100days!!
Yippee! Rock n' Roll!
We have sure come a long way, it is quite amazing and awesome.

Pat, glad your here.

Thanks j-Vo for the grad wishes. It was a nice grad. My son had a 'friend' sleep over again...uh boy.
Oh well, they were safe and sound.
Ordered my mini pad today, I can hardly wait to get it! Yippee! Typing on my phone is killing me.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is June 1st and I am 49 days. No problem!

No drink, no problem

Xo

[narilly]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Pav, cross post! Lol!
Ya, so many people have a problem with AL. How could they not?
Glad you are doing so well girl.

Lil B, we do have something special here. I am so glad that you are on this thread. Hey, it was interesting what you were saying about the coffins floating due to the high water table. That's just crazy!

Xo

[NoSugar]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Happy June 1, Friends

This is usually my favorite month of the year. Today is beautiful here and other than feeling sore from all the stuff I did yesterday, I feel great. Hope that is the same for all of you :hug:.

I am especially feeling better because I wrote a tough post in the Newbies Nest a couple days ago and until now, the person it was directed to hadn't posted. I reread what I'd written about 10 times and knew that it was pointed but I meant everything I said and I truly was trying to help, not hurt, her. Plus, I was trying to talk to some other people at the same time (or I would have just sent her a PM and not risked having everyone think that NoSugar is a mean bitch). Anyway, she posted today and seems to have taken everything in the spirit in which I (and Ava and Jane) offered it. Thank goodness - I would feel so bad if anything I said drove someone away from here. This was a long way to get to my point that if anything I write here makes you feel bad, please know that that was not my intention. I do tend to be very direct . One time my boss sarcastically said, "NoSugar, it sure would be nice if we knew what you really think about what is going on here...".

Today is my day 493 of AF Better Living.

[ToMyHealth]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Hello ~ I follow your thread religiously. Admire each and every one of you and how you support each other. I've been around a long while, consider myself a Modder, sometimes goes ok, many times not so much.

NS, saw your post in NN. Might I be one person you were also trying to reach? I loved your post, and the woman's acceptance of such. Imagine it did make you anxious for a bit. I doubt anyone thinks you don't have anything but good intentions. Thanks for telling it like it is.

TMH
Day 2

[scottish lass]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Making this short as having log in issues today - think this is 10th time I have had to log in, and lost a good long post!
Thanks for all the lovely comments yesterday, and even more - the huge support along the way! Still in a bit of disbelief here! I think due to the birthday and then milestone, I have been doing some introspection - not bad, but not sleeping well! Taking stock is ok though.
NS - I have a similar reputation at work, and can be a little blunt at times - I try to check my responds, but that is who I am and it works for some. I don't intend to hurt anyone either. I do think that different strokes work for different folks, and that is another timing that works on this site - you can find what works for you here, and get your own kind of support! Don't sweat it NS - I see so many people who think you are truly amazing, so if an odd one or two don't - so be it:l
I do want to respond to you each for some lovely things written - will try again later!

[j-vo]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Morning Lady Loamers,

NS, you are admired for all you do here. Yes, you tell it like it is, and that's what we/everyone needs here. If they wanted to be coddled, then they should go to romper room on youtube, and hang out with Miss Barbara and either choose to be a "Do Bee" or "Don't Bee." Ooh. Yes, I'm old...

LB, woot! woot! 13 months...

Patrice, so glad you're hanging out here and racking up your days with us.

Nar, so glad you ordered the mini pad! If you type lots, like I do, then you might wanna think about purchasing a keyboard for it. It makes life so much easier.

Day 63!!!!!!!

Have a great day ladies!

[NoSugar]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

j-vo;1667078 wrote: If they wanted to be coddled, then they should go to romper room on youtube, and hang out with Miss Barbara and either choose to be a "Do Bee" or "Don't Bee." Ooh. Yes, I'm old...

I'm older . What a great memory! Here's an idea, anyone I piss off can pretend my head is the Romper Room Punch Ball:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R8QQ3GbkYKo :H.
Good grief what an awful show that was!

Thanks TMH, J-vo, and SL for the reassurance. xx-NS.

[j-vo]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

LOL!!!!! "Punch, punch, punch the ball..." Ok NS, if you say so!

[Dottie Belle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Hello ladies,
NS I will have to go back to the NN and read your post. I dont go there much lately but maybe I should to keep in touch. I feel bad for folks starting over and over like I did. Sometimes I am not sure what to say to them except to keep trying....anyway....
Getting hot here in Ohio. I need a pedi in the worst way. May try to sneak one in later today. Dh thinks it is a waste of time but I like how it makes me feel so why not.
Have a great Sunday!!

[Dottie Belle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

NS found the post and that was a great one. Wish someone had written that to me last year this time.
I was such a total mess. What a difference a year makes..

[NoSugar]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Good to see you DB!

Byrdie advises visiting the nest (or living there like she does, thank goodness!) so that while helping others, you remind yourself where you've been and where you'll be again if you drink.

Even though you've typed the same thing before, typing it again and again is sort of like maintenance on the rewiring we've done on our brains. And when you go out on a limb with your ideas, you sure as heck better mean exactly what you say, be willing to defend it, and be ready to live up to what you wrote.

Hope things are going well with getting your house ready to put on the market. You've made me realize that maybe I'm glad my parents have moved from the home I grew up in although it did not feel that way at the time. Thinking of you, NS.

PS - thank you.

[Pavati]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

MAE, All:

I just wrote this in the nest but wanted to share it here:

I took a hike and listened to a Bubble Hour (podcast) yesterday on acceptance. Two things hit home for me (well, a lot did, but I won't go into it all - take a listen!). First, they talk about the difference between knowing you have a problem with alcohol (even knowing you're an alcoholic) and accepting that you are an alcoholic. The first part was easy for me - yes, I am an alcoholic (that is still hard for me to put in writing, though). Yes, I have a problem with alcohol. But even 6 months in, I am working on accepting this. Mostly i feel ok with it, mostly I can accept this, but every so often I get into a "why me" state. "Why is this my life? Why did this happen? I SHOULD have done things differently before it got too bad." That is the controller in me, and that is the opposite of acceptance. I continue to work on this. I am an alcoholic. That is a fact. No amount of hand wringing, or wishing I wasn't will make that fact change. Accept the fact and move on. Live my life with that knowledge and plan accordingly, but don't let it drag me around.

The other thing that resonated with me is the idea of accepting what I have to do to stay sober. I do have to work to stay sober, I do have to connect with others who are staying sober (thank goodness for MWO - I think I'd still be stumbling around if my only choice were an in-person meeting), I do have to take care of myself. The other part of this is accepting that _______ and staying sober is a possible combination. For Juja, it is difficulties with her ex. For DD it is breast cancer. Mine seems simple, but for now it is a big vacation and being sober ARE a possible combination. A nasty boss and staying sober - possible. Depression and sobriety, check. A wedding and being sober? Yep. People work through all sorts of things sober that we alcoholics can use as excuses. Accepting that hardship (or celebration) are possible without booze goes a long way to helping us stay healed.


I really am so happy to have found the Bubble Hour - thank you NoSugar! I feel like listening to an episode as I am hiking on the weekend is a great meditation, and works like a long "meeting" might. There is a guest on this episode who waffles a bit, but there are always some gems they talk about.

NS - I loved what you wrote in the nest. I have seen comments like that drive some away (there was a brouhaha when I first joined and that person still hasn't returned), but so be it. I think that having someone on there drinking daily and saying woe is me needs a kick in the butt. That's why the sober community works - you might be able to be in denial for yourself, but we won't sit around and take our alcoholic brain BS about why we are different and why it is harder for us. Funny, my boss always says, "tell us what you REALLY think," as I have the reputation of being very direct also. People tell me they appreciate it, but it can be off putting if there has been false harmony forever.

Nar - good luck with the mini pad - I am a laptop person for posting - I don't know how you do it on a phone. I learned to touch type when I was younger, so it is painful for me to not have a keyboard. Congratulations on the graduation - will he be flying the nest, too? Will it just be you and DH at home? I am interested in what that feels like - have about 6 years until then myself...

J-Vo - Whoot. You sound great. Your support has been all over the forums, too. Your positive attitude is contagious, but you bring necessary reality, too. 63 days! Amazing.

SL - In the Bubble Hour I mentioned above one of the women talks about being anxious and depressed more than she was expecting, especially around 4 to 7 months. I feel like I am experiencing that, too. I have bouts of what I have been calling "jitters" but what feels like anxiety and general jumpiness, as well as feeling down and lost sometimes. I am chalking it up to the journey and trying to be with it rather than fighting against it. As one of the ladies said, I have anxiety right now, not - "I am an anxious person and will be my whole life..." I was especially feeling it around 90 - 100 days.

Jane - I also love what you wrote to Sarah in the nest. Insightful and vulnerable. Very cool.

Patrice, how are you feeling? Glad you're back in the saddle.

TMH - Yes! I think a lot of what people write around here is for ALL of us. That's why reading around helps so much. I heartily recommend the 30 day commitment - it truly CAN be done, and with amazing results...

LB - How is your family? Is it still raining? 13 months is awesome!

Ava - I've been stalking you all over the threads saying how proud I am of you, and how in awe I am of your inspirational journey. You strike this amazing tone of humor, compassion and straight talk - people couldn't be mad at you because you're so self-aware as you're giving the tough advice. I am calling today 6 months (because according to the date calculator, I get to count today as sober), so we can celebrate together. Thanks for being here with all of us along this journey...

Dot - I just won a mani/pedi in a raffle - I have only had three in my life - looks like Pav will have some hot toes for the summer (well, a couple of weeks, anyway...) I do think it is good to pop in the nest to support the newbies - contemplating where they are helps me reflect on my own sobriety as well.

Daisy - How are you today, lovely?

When I list everyone like this, I know I am going to miss someone, especially because by now I have been working on this for quite a while. Way to stay strong and rack up those days, loamers!

Pavati, over and out, day 182 (six months!!)

xo

[Dottie Belle]

Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

Thanks everyone u are right. I will pop into the nest more often. The oldies helped me so I should go back and try to help someone. If that is possible.
What is BubbleHour..I must have missed that post..