Ladies on a Mission: The Official Site

[j-vo]

Morning all,
Well, good news! Son has made his final decision on where he'll attend college. And I couldn't be more excited for him. He's worked so hard for this and I'm thrilled and such a proud mom. And...it's close to home! Yay! Not that going two hours away would have been far, but I just have such a good feeling that this is the right match for him.

Feeling strong AF. I'm grateful.

Choices, glad you had a good time camping. I'm not one for roughing it. The Holiday Inn Express is pretty much roughing it for me!! Oh, maybe I'll have time to become adventurous in my AF life.

LB, hope you're doing well. Been thinking about you.

Pav, take it easy when you can.

[Choices]

Hi all, really doing well with AF. I've got my head into a bunch of other interests and it feels gooood. Most of them are all health stuff. What I am loving about technology is how quickly I can research any random question I have on my mind and then find a whole group discussing it! I think I'm definitely in a learning new things mode and it feels healing for my brain. I woke up thinking... How limiting alcohol can be on thoughts. It all seams like a boring activity to me now. This being a week ago when I off loaded my gift of booze. Amazing how different a week AF can be compared to if I'd drank the stuff... I'd still be wining about how bad I felt, emotionally, physically... You name it! My head would have traveled to past hurts and upsets... Ug! Instead, I feel miles away from the temptation now.. And, can't really believe I was tempted in the first place.

[NoSugar]

You sound great Choices! I'm so glad to hear it :hug:. I LOVE to learn about new topics and really dig deep. I've done that for years now about diet and addiction. My latest obsession is the 3 Principles and it turns out there are loads of videos and blogs on the subject online. I'm in Happy Nerd mode :smile:.

Glad to see you, Pav, even if from a phone. I can barely post using an iPad - I'd never get it done with a phone!

LB, I think about you every day and hope you're seeing the best way to handle the situation with your husband.

J-vo, how nice that your son will be nearby! I went to college in my hometown and didn't go home at all the first semester - I guess I was trying to prove how independent I was. By senior year, I was going home every Sunday!

Nar, you sound upbeat as usual. You're my role-model!

I know you won't see this for awhile, Steady, but I hope you are having a wonderful vacation.

All's fine here. Still grateful every day that I finally got my head out of my rear end and quit drinking. I am not a procrastinator in general but I sure kept putting off what needed to be done in this arena. I mean, once you've come to a site like this, it's pretty clear you're going to need to quit eventually. It's so much easier to just get it over with. I'm so so glad we have! xx, NS

[narilly]

That is so good Choices. You know what helped me a lot in the first year was listening to The Bubble Hour. I just found it helpful to listen to a bunch of people (mostly women) talking about being sober and different issues that come up with it. I am totally into health stuff too. NS and I both read a ton about the low carb high fat diet and how it really can change your life. Check out Dietdoctor.com, it is very informative.

So my FIL is in the hospital with Heart Failure and I took Friday off to help out. I didn't get home until 8pm. I was there on Monday morning too- in Emergency. He had a heart attack on the weekend. So that is taking up a lot of time and energy. My hubby comes back from Up North tomorrow and will help although he thinks he is going snow boarding Thursday and Friday. His family is going to freak!
A friend of mine died the other day from Brain Cancer. She was a single mom and her son is about 21. It is so sad. I will be going to her funeral next week.

I am so glad I am sober.

Hey JVo, congrats on your son picking his school. I guess that is a big deal down there. Not so much here.
My son is just working right now and going to pay a bit of rent then he will travel. I think he still needs to grow up so hopefully he figures it out.

Hope you are doing ok Lil B. Take care of yourself.

Hey, does anyone know how SL is? I hope she is ok.

Pav, hang in there. Pick up that phone

Talk soon peeps!

[NoSugar]

Nar, we x-posted.

I'm sorry about your FIL and friend. It is so good that you are solidly sober. xx, NS

[jane27]

Hi Gloamers,

Back from a trip to Chicago to visit Dad in the hospital. It turns out that he did not have a stroke but has a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus. Per the internet

is an abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain's ventricles, or cavities. It occurs if the normal flow of CSF throughout the brain and spinal cord is blocked in some way. This causes the ventricles to enlarge, putting pressure on the brain..

It is treated by putting a shunt into the brain to help the flow of the fluid. Surgery was this morning and went well. I am waiting to hear more from my step mom. During the time I visited with him my Dad seemed out of it but not dementia-ish. When they were doing tests to try and diagnose the cause of his acute cognitive dysfunction, they did a a lumbar puncture- and afterwards he regained almost all of his cognitive ability. This and the CT scan made them believe the shunt will alleviate the issue. Fingers crossed.

I am still in a major funk. Doc has me decreasing my Prozac and adding low dose Vibryd (with the ultimate goal of stopping the Prozac and moving to the Vibryd instead). Putting that to one side, for the last 5 years I have noticed a decline in my short term memory, and in light of my Dad's illness decided to look into it on the internet. I decided to consider my other major symptoms- the chronic fatigue mystery illness which comes with low grade fevers (been a problem since I got mono in '84), total lack of motivation to do anything- I DO enjoy and am able to focus on creating graphics for folks reaching milestones in NN Roll Call- but that's basically it). Clothes are strewn about, mail unsorted- I cant get motivated to give a shit. While I was researching memory loss I saw antidepressants listed as the possible culprit. Over the course of the years experimenting with different antid's I've HAVE experienced a total kill to my drive /motivation as the side effect of at least 1 med (Lexapro)- so maybe meds need to be considered. I take a number of them daily- I cant help but feel like its for naught when I'm feeling so blah. I do NOT feel sad or suicidal, and am grateful for that- but I have reminisced about the way wine was an effective tool in years gone by to jump start my engine and manufacture enthusiasm. I am not thinking about drinking, but remembering alcohol's "usefulness" is not something to take lightly and I get that.

I also feel kind of out of it. Maybe the Lamictal my doc added in a couple months ago. I like her very much and trust her knowledge, but maybe I should seek out a pharmacologist with expertise on this stuff? (She works with one, and suggested that as an option). Fuck if I know. Pardon the French there. My Dad made me laugh yesterday when he kicked off our phone conversation with "And so begins the era of the whole in the head" (meaning his shunt surgery). < ps That's a perfect example of how fluffy I feel- swinging between unrelated thoughts.

On the subject of Red, we had a trainer come over and we were given green, mesh bean-bags that contain what sound like jacks. When he does something bad, we are supposed say BAH! and throw the bean bag on the ground. It really works! I think its helpful that we use this one thing instead of all the random things we were saying , "No!" "STOP" etc. So he's definitely learning right from wrong with the help of these bags, but just now he threw one at my feet to get my attention. This dog is one smart cookie.

Choices- I am glad to see you plowing along. Everything got easier for me after 120 days- but getting there was slow at times.

JVO- I'm with you re roughing it. Why even pretend- Hyatt or bust, baybee!
On a serious note, I was sick to read about the car accident that claimed the life of your son's friend. My heart breaks for his family.

Pav, I drop my phone a lot. My case is called The Otter. Its been a good thing!

Lil B, I'm guessing accidental death and/or murder have crossed your mind? (Always looking for the funny)

Steady- Enjoy your vaca! Sounds relaxing!

Nar- You must be freezing your boobs off. How the heck do you get Elvis to do his business when its so cold? Does he have sweaters & coats? They used to make the JCrew roll neck sweater for dogs. It was so cute ☺ Red has a coat which he tolerates.

Lifechange- 3 months tomorrow. You'll come out of hiding for that I hope!

TT- Have a wonderful vaca and looking forward to hearing about it. Excellent news regarding your doctors appointment! Hope you relax and feel good about how much you've achieved!

NS- Always great to see you stopping by. Like you, I have a 1/2 sister that drinks occasionally and doesn't give it much thought. I mentioned that I don't drink anymore and she said something like, "I never knew there was any reason for you to give that thought." We left it at that. I'm pretty sure that if I could get hooked, she could too. It took me a while, but it happened in TECHNICOLOR exactly the way the books say it does. I hope she never falls into the pit.

Nora- Great to see you making huge strides & love having you as a constant on roll call. I'd love to see people with higher numbers checking in. I think it sends a strong message to newbies that quitting drinking is possible AND that people that do it successfully work on it every day.

Hiya G! Congrats on 164! Seems like your wheels are oiled and you are moving along nicely ☺

I was gonna say something else....but I forgot. (something new and different).

Hubs is away for the night and I have the house to myself which is a treat for a change.

Talk about zero to 100. Time to let some other people talk.
OH...one last thing, dog owners- anyone have a barker? How do you deal with it?
Love to all xoxox

PS Can anyone offer suggestions of how I can describe feeling out of it to my doc? I almost feel like I'm on drugs today. Street drugs that is...

[little beagle]

Jane I've been feeling a bit bleh too. But I was thinking it was probably the winter blahs. Not enough vitamin D. I do take vitamin D, but sunshine seems to work best.
Talk about barkers. I have 4 as you can probably guess. They know what the word enough means though. All but Little Man. Boy he loves to push my buttons. Then he comes overcand sits on my lap, puts his little paw on my cheek and I just forget what it was he was doing.
NS I have been leaving the subject alone as much as I can for now. Not doing anything when I'm not emotionally or physically ready to deal with it. Today iI actually felt a bit better, but tgat last cold I had really took it out of me. No strength. I'm glad to be able to come here.
Choices you're sounding good. Alcohol really seemed to limit my thinking too. My creativity. It's fun to learn new things.
J-vo I'm glad your son made his choice. That's great. I think about you too.
Narilly my thoughts are with you. Your FIL and friend. I'm glad your there for your family. That means so much. I know when hubby was with his family as his father died it made a huge difference to everyone. Being sober and strong.

[jane27]

So my FIL is in the hospital with Heart Failure and I took Friday off to help out. I didn't get home until 8pm. I was there on Monday morning too- in Emergency. He had a heart attack on the weekend. So that is taking up a lot of time and energy. My hubby comes back from Up North tomorrow and will help although he thinks he is going snow boarding Thursday and Friday. His family is going to freak!
A friend of mine died the other day from Brain Cancer. She was a single mom and her son is about 21. It is so sad. I will be going to her funeral next week.

Nar, I missed this earlier when I posted. My God that's a lot of sad and hard stuff. You sound strong. I wish there was something I could do to help you or take a load off. Your Gloamer family is right here for you whenever you need us. Please remember to take care of yourself and check in when you can. xoxo Jane

[Pavati]

Hi, Everyone:

Glad to see the waffles from some old favorites, even if some of the news is no good. Strength and love to you Nar and Jane.

I am loving this project I am working on, but it is WORK. Not a lot of down time. That's ok for now - just have to remember to take care of myself anyway. Vitamin D, LB!

Night, all.
Pav

[j-vo]

Great to see all the posts.

Yesterday when I was excited about son, I was also sleep deprived. Didn't sleep much the night before, and OH, that really messes me up. I've always needed my sleep and when I don't get it, I don't function at all. Not good for anyone and not me. That's also a big reason for people drinking - just tired and that's an easy fix. I will make it a priority to take breaks and go to bed early when I can because I don't want any slips because of lack of sleep. One of my triggers and I need to remind myself of this out loud.

Nar, so sorry about FIL and friend. Hugs to you, Friend.:hug:

Jane, I wish there were some magic pill for your depression. I was reading about Kitty Dukakis last night - her alcoholism, and her decision to do ECT. I know this is something you considered, and it's so different from the treatment from years ago. Actually my grandmother had it a long time ago. It did help her but I don't know what she was like prior to the treatment. Hang in there Jane. And glad your Father is feeling better.

To all Gloamers, have a great Wednesday.

[NoSugar]

Going to bed is my solution for many of life's ills, J-vo. It's amazing how things look so different after some rest.

Jane, are you on numerous medications? Given how long you've been struggling with mystery illnesses, I'd sure consider drug interactions perhaps contributing to the problems. We finally got one doctor to look at all my mom's drugs (prescribed by different specialists) and figure out which ones she really needed and which might be negatively interacting. Thankfully she now takes several fewer than she was before.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of No Travel!!!! Have a great day, GLoamers, NS

[lifechange]

Hi Gloamers,

I am coming out of the woodwork for a 90 day celebration... I've been on a bit of a downer and am happy to be coming out of it. I would have come here to talk about it if I'd thought it would do any good.. but it was more of a pity party for reasons I couldn't put my finger on.. so I couldn't even complain!:happy2: which I'm trying to cut waaaay back on anyway..

Jane, thanks for the shout out.. I'm glad you were able to spend some time with your dad and that you were able to communicate..even joke around a bit. I sure hope you'll figure out what's going on regarding your meds and health..I wish I had some advice or experience that could help you.. or that I could give you a big fat hug :hug:

It's funny, I think I mentioned that I've started hugging anyone who would give me a chance since being "on my own" and some of my co-workers are actually enjoying it.. (the others I've stopped hugging!).. I'm thinking there might be lots of us who need more hugs/human physical contact than we think or are accustomed to..just thought of it today as one woman, who was a bit unsure at first, gave me the hugest hug good-bye today.

LB, I've been thinking of you and was glad to see your post. I think part of the reason I've been down is the winter/weather. I've been sleeping more (could the whole day!) and just generally a bit bleh.. today the sun was out and I couldn't help but feel better. Love to hear of your little man putting his paw on your cheek.. so sweet.

Nar, I'm sorry to hear of your FIL and your friend..so sad with brain cancer. With the people I've known it's come as out of nowhere and then they're gone so quickly.. strength and love to you.
I've also been wondering about SL and hope she's ok.. and checking in at times to see that we're thinking of her!! and missing her!

Choices, so nice to read your posts! Good job on getting rid of that stuff.. I was worried when you first mentioned it, then relieved that you recognized immediately what was going on.. Freedom, girl!! I LOVE camping!! We can pitch a tent outside the Hyatt.. as long as it's on the beach and we can hear the waves, or in the forest or near a river.. actually I love cushy hotels, too! As long as someone else is paying..You are sounding great..

J-vo, awesome that your son has found and been accepted to a school he likes that is also close by. My nephew has just found out he's been accepted to a school near Chicago.. and my family is in AZ. They're happy for him because it's what he wants (he can play football, it's small) but sad for themselves! It's great when you can have both..
I hope you get a good night's rest tonight! I'm also as good as nothing and much more likely to have my head go to hell if I'm tired..

Pav, I'm just the same!..dropping phones..the other day I was talking on my phone, had it cradled between my shoulder and my ear, while I multi-tasked at washing spinach.. and of course it fell in the water. duh. I can't post, let alone read! on anything smaller than a laptop set at 150%.. ha. I know, I need glasses! Glad you're doing all right with the major work load..

NS! I'm always following you around on the boards..:love: How nice to have a quiet weekend planned.. or at least quieter. I'm looking forward to the same, with a bit of housework thrown in. Or maybe not!

Hi Gman!! and Steady and TT on vacation.. hope it's lovely where you are!

[jane27]

Checking in for sanity/accountability. 1 year ago our basement was flooding (for the 3rd time in 2 years). Wow wee am I glad not to be dealing with that today. Love to all. xoxo

[little beagle]

Glad to hear from you LC. Hugs are wonderful. I wasn'ta hugger, but living down here, I am now. Congratulations on 90 days.
Glad your not flooded either Jane.
We're getting ready for the big yearly Mardi Gras party on Saturday. 3 years ago I was really stressed. Worried about being tempted to drink. This year I'm relaxed because I know I won't drink and I won't have any regrets the next day. My favorite way to party now. But I will eat and laugh and talk and try to catch beads. Yay!

[Choices]

Just read back and now not much time but wanted to check in. Good to read everyone's posts. Jane I'd just describe exactly how you described being on street drugs to your Dr exactly how you did here. Ah.. Gotta run!