Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

[j-vo]

Congrats on your 11 months SL! That's awesome.

Had a bad day yesterday. Lots of crying. I've been really emotional lately. I'm going to live, though, and live through it soberly. I cried last night for about a half hour straight. It didn't kill me. I actually felt better afterwards.

Going to Bob Seger tonight. J. Guiles Band opens for him. Should be a great show. I haven't been to a concert for a good while. I love the music, so I'm going to be singing and dancing along tonight. Need to do more of this. It's a healthy way to relieve stress and enjoyable/entertaining. I know I'll be smiling tonight...soberly smiling.

[narilly]

Morning,
Hi J-Vo. Hang in there it gets better. I am sure you will enjoy tonight. I used to have the J Giles band record when I was in high school. I played the heck out of it. "Freeze Frame" "My Baby is a Centerfold"
Those were the days. I drank a lot back then which was really stupid but hey, I am sober now. At least I learned...although I learned very slowly.
That's addiction for ya.

Hey Lil B, hope you are doing ok. Im thinking about you and Mr B too.

Hi Pav you hard worker you! And SL too.

I get tomorrow off and am really looking forward to that. Have a great sober day everyone.

Cowboy, hope you are doing well. :hug:

[scottish lass]

Thanks for all the congrats - got here today with a lot of help from my friends - you guys are a huge support!
j-vo - lots of discussion here about the healing power of tears, and the need for us to be able to cry - so well done for letting it out!
Enjoy the concert...
on a conf call - not really concentrating

[little beagle]

J-vo that sounds like a great concert. Have fun.

[narilly]

Goodnight Gloamers, I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow. Hoping to buy some groceries and enjoy my day.
Un Hung

Xo

[patrice]

Hi all,

No lie in for me tomorrow .. Got the annual cross country starting at 7 am.. Yes 7am on a Saturday!
Very mindful of what happened last Friday so have arranged to do a jungle walk with some friends .. Now straight from work.. Hoping when I come back I will be feeling good..at the moment I feel like a worn out rag!
Back later
X
Pat

[j-vo]

Hi Gloamers,
I think I had a breakthrough, maybe it was a spirtual experience. I don't know, and I guess I don't need to try and define it.

I went to Bob Seger last night and not only did he sound and look great, I loved being able to dance and sing along, listen to the words, and feel everything. It was amazing. And I feel great about it. It was my first sober concert, and the last time I went to see him, I was drunk. The difference in being able to enjoy music that i love made my whole body and mind feel good. I'm grateful today for last night and grateful I made it through an ugly week that ended on a good note.

[abcowboy]

Howdy gloamers! Not much to report on my end except that I had one of the best weeks that I can remember in a long time!

Nar - you get more days off than a teacher lol! Must be nice!

j-vo - great to see you feeling better! It helps me as well, knowing that good things come to those who have patience..glad you had a fantastic time at the concert and enjoyed it the way it was meant to be!

Will post a bit more to everyone over the weekend when I have time, and make sure everyone gives peppersnow a big hug :hug:

Congrats on your 10 month milestone pepper!

[narilly]

Morning everyone.
Cowboy, J-Vo, glad you two had a good day yesterday.
Cowboy, I get every other Friday off but the way oil prices are going I might get every day off soon! Pretty scary out there. I really do enjoy my Friday's off for sure.

I am going to the market today and going to visit my momma this morning. I had a great chat with my SIL yesterday by text. She was talking about the challenges she has with my brother. It was SO good to have that conversation because I have so much trouble talking to him. A lot of the troubles she is having with him, I have with him so Now I know it is not Just me. It was quite a relief because he made me feel terrible and I had a lot of pain over our relationship. Now I can see most of our problems come from HIM. Mr wonderful... which he thinks he is. I did not talk about it here too much but it was something that I found very painful in my life. I feel Better now. Yay! Now I know that it is his own shit and how he perceives himself. He is right and everyone else wrong.
Anyway, that was a good one.

Friday is going to be an awesome day. We are going to +9. Holy Smokes! Freakin' Balmy weather for Calgary in January. Last year we were -30C so I am enjoying this.

Have a great day Gloamers.

[NoSugar]

Glad you feel better about your brother, Nar, but it makes me feel kind of sorry for his wife. She CHOSE him!!

It is good to hear that you're feeling better, ABCowboy and J-vo. Keep on noticing what is better NOW than it was THEN and after awhile, going back will seem like such an awful idea, it won't even be what comes to mind in times of stress, such as:

My husband pulled an out-of-character stunt the other night that made me very worried about him and then when I found out he was ok, FURIOUS!. When one of his (inebriated) co-offenders said I needed a drink and what would I have, I said Soda water and lime. He chuckled and said With a lot of vodka. And I said No, that really wouldn't help. Anyway, he came back with my drink and I'll tell you, it tasted weird. I've never had vodka but I thought it had no taste so I wasn't sure if Mr. Drunk had thought he was being cute or not. I think maybe they used tonic water instead of sparkling water but I just didn't drink it.

Even during this Bad Experience, I was thinking several positive things:
1. I was fine to be driving around after 7 pm.
2. The fact that I was then walking around at night in a couple less than ideal places was ok b/c I had my wits about me.
3. I didn't have an alcohol-fueled screaming fit when his safety was confirmed.
4. I had no desire to drink.
5. It occurred to me that if he was injured or dead, I was in shape to deal with it.
6. I FULLY expressed my opinion about what had happened later that night, not feeling like I don't have "rights" to expect certain courtesies b/c I'm engaging in some very bad behavior, too.

Even Bad Stuff is better AF!

[scottish lass]

j-vo and ABC - well done you guys, great news for a Friday - loving reading posts like this!

[lifechange]

Hello lovely Gloamers!

SL!! Congrats on 11 months! and Pepper on 10 months!! You ladies are rockin' it!

Everyone is sounding positive right now..
J-vo, I was so happy to hear of your concert experience.. I love Bob Seger and the J Geils Band (how were they?). The crying must have been a great release to begin with.. and then the great music and dancing.. retraining the brain. I'm glad you're feeling so much better!! I don't think I've ever been to a concert sober and will have the chance in mid March-- actually, I don't know yet for sure if I will go.. we'll see.

Nar, hope you had a lovely time at the market! Nice to have that extra day off every two weeks. Enjoy your warm weekend.. we are also having unseasonably warm weather, which we're enjoying.. Nice for us humans, but I feel bad for the rest of nature!

I have had a very trying week-- I think I went to bed with the girls M-W between 830-9! And I was still tired. Yesterday I began to feel like I was getting some of my energy back and was even in a fairly good mood for most of the day. It's like a roller coaster and I never really know when I'm going to take a dive-- but I've tried to just sit down and take a breath when I need to, have been as straightforward as possible with my kids and BF about my needs, have tried not to put so much stress and importance on things like planning dinner and doing the dishes (I'm usually obsessive about dinner plans!)-- I've been reading here every day and I went to another AA meeting this afternoon which was good. I find that for no other reason, it's good for me because I am forced to sit still for 1 hour!

I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend. An old friend of mine who moved back to the US around 3 years ago and with whom I'd sort of lost contact just wrote to tell me she's back and would I like to meet up? I am SO grateful that I haven't been drinking as I'd surely make up excuses as to why I couldn't see her for at least a week while I tried to pull my shit together again..

Big hugs to all of you!!!!

[narilly]

Life, you sound good. Its funny how we have to force ourselves to slow down- I guess going to an AA meeting Would do that! I Bet it helps to stay on track too. I find AA meetings are a Really good reminder of Why I don't drink. Hope you get more energy soon. How are your iron levels? Mine are low all the time so that's why I ask. I take an iron supplement that helps me out. This is something I will always have to take because I have these deformed blood cells...AND I thought I was perfect!

NS, looks like you done good girl! I know exactly what you are saying about being drunk and then getting into that situation, having a blow out drunk fight with your hubby and being in an unsafe situation. Sometimes I can't believe my husband and I made it through all the drunk fights we had. I sometimes think about how lucky I am that I was never raped or did not end up getting killed by doing stupid things when I was drunk.
Sure glad things went well for you NS. That inebriated guy, really? Bringing you weird tasting drinks, stupid drunk guy.

I did not get to the market but went to Super Store which is a huge grocery store in Alberta. I like shopping there because they have a Joe Fresh which is a great place to buy inexpensive clothes. The designer was the original designer for Club Monaco so the clothes are really nice. A gals gotta look good you know. A sober gal especially!

Well, I just applied for a job at a different company. Hopefully I will get an interview. The oil patch is pretty iffy right now and this other company is a Pipeline company and a bit more stable. We will see.

Have a great Friday peeps.

[peppersnow]

Hey friends....super huge bad craving hit me like a truck. Am flying back from DC after super bad news with regard to a legal matter I've been working on for work. Didn't drink but it was/is the worst craving I've had in many months. Am safely on the plane and have to power down my phone. I took L Glutamine and GABA which I usually take before bed to make me sleepy as I was desperate. Wow this is intense. Posting to be accountable but have to shut off phone now.

[little beagle]

Hang in there Pepper. It will pass. I promise. I hope you turn your phone on ASAP.
Congratulations on that 10 months.
NS yes. Even bad stuff is way better sober. I am prepared to DEAL with it.
Narilly I'm jealous. Every other Friday. I use to have Mondays off, then every other Monday, now no Monday. But I am working and busy, so I just can't have everything.
J-vo. Good for you. Hang on to this good feeling. The good stuff feels fantastic sober. A reward in itself.
Lifechange hope you get more energy. My life feels like a toller coaster ride at times too.
I'm getting my float ready for the doggie parade this weekend. The theme of the parade is Marvelous Mutts. So we are going with the Spider-man motif.
Yes it's that time of year again. Mardi Gras. I had a hard time with the cravings to drink for it last year, but this year I remember how much fun I had not drinking. That's amazing. To me, I can't believe how fast the sober time has gone after that first hard start and once I got past the 6 month mark. So worth it. So worth it. Hey that's worth repeating.
I look forward to those long posts cowboy.