Anam Cara AF April

[Lavande]

Good Tuesday morning friends!

My early tulips bloomed but my daffs never did. Did they know about the return of winter or what? 28 degrees, ridiculous
I soaked beans overnight so I will be making this bone healthy soup today:

http://veggieandthebeastfeast.com/2016/03/22/creamy-roasted-garlic-white-bean-soup/

I am a bit concerned about my daughter. She just contacted me & said she is going to seek urgent care for a headache with facial pain & now neck pain. This has been getting progressively worse over a few days. Geez!

Hello to Star, Dill, Cyn & Pauly! Hope to see everyone here today.
Have a good AF day everyone.

Lav

[dill]

Hello all,

Lav, I hope your daughter is doing better! Did she get a diagnosis or are they running tests?

Star, funny you should bring up donuts. They are a weakness of mine too. It reminded me of something I noticed about myself very early on, as long ago as my early 20's. I sometimes would try to cut back on my wine consumption and invariably my donut consumption would go up! I cut back on my wine consumption in my later 20's and 30's during my child rearing years, but my sweet tooth took over again then.

Hello dear Cyn, I hope you are well.

I am worried about Pauly. I looked for her around the boards but she hasn't posted anywhere since the 1st. I hope she is OK.

Sun is shining today, but the air is still cool. I'm not happy with this return to winter like weather!

Let's all have a peaceful af Tuesday evening.

[paulywogg]

Evening friends,I'm ok Dill,just the whole house caught Lou's stomach bug and I haven't felt like checking in,hope everyone's well,btw,I have a donut every morning haha

[treegirl]

We ended up with about 8 inches of snow yesterday! Sheesh. I even like snow, but it would have been nicer to have it on Christmas (when it was 60 degrees instead) rather than yesterday! Fortunately, the strong sun got through the snow in a few places and there is green lawn there. My daffs hadn't even thought about opening yet, so that was a good thing.

Busy busy here. Getting HB ready to go to the city for the next month - lots of laundry and packing. I'll be driving him there tomorrow, so I hope I'll have some time to pop in here. I don't look forward to driving in the city (you all know my history with that!), but I can't see him struggling on the train and the subway to a new apartment. This way we get a little more time together too.

Lav - so sorry to hear about your daughter! Is it stress-related, do you think? Sounds pretty scary.

Dill - yep, AL or refined sugar and wheat; it's just about the same! I never went to an AA meeting where there weren't donuts!

Star - how is your son coming along? Sending you good energy to share with him.

Pauly - gosh, you really are dealing with a lot --- good luck, and hope you feel better soon.

Hopefully more tomorrow - will try to post when I get home. Cheers all for a happy Hump Day tomorrow --

[treegirl]

Lav, thanks for that link. I'll be looking at it. I made a gorgeous big pot of lentil soup during the snow storm. It's finished with balsamic vinegar - yum! Time for more soup ---

[Lavande]

Dill, my daughter ended up having an emergency root canal at 8 am!!!!
The migraine like head pain, the facial pain moving down her neck turned out to be nerve pain from an infected tooth - goodness! She was given an antibiotic & some strong pain med afterwards. She is reporting she feels much better tonight. She had a bad night & missed school today but should be good to go tomorrow.

Pauly, I hope you feel better very soon & be sure you read what I just posted on the Daily thread, please.

Cyn, the soup is good & very garlicky, ha ha!!
I used to love lentils but just cannot digest them anymore - odd but true. I have no problems with any of the beans.
My tulips were shivering out there today, Brrr!!

Peace to everyone tonight!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning to all...

Dill, donuts are just not in my life! Alcohol too! Hope your week is going well.

Lav, pain from root canals is really severe, glad your daughter got it taken care of when she did. Your soup sounds wonderful.

Cyn, eight inches of snow, yuck. May it melt soon.

Pauly, so sorry your have a stomach bug in your house, let's hope it leaves quickly.

Have a good one.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends, happy Hump day!

30 degrees but sunny here today. I see we are getting snow on Saturday, geez
Garden planting will just have to wait awhile, oh well.

Today is my younger grandson's 5th birthday. We be heading over this evening for cake & gifts. Time is flying ladies!!!

Wishing everyone a great AF day!

Lav

[dill]

Hello All,

Lav, I'm glad your daughter's pain was easy to diagnose and relatively easy to fix! I was wondering if it might have been tooth related. We are so lucky we live in a time when such things are easily treated.

Pauly, I'm glad to see you! I hope you stick with the site, but I myself have taken breaks in the past, thinkng I was getting nowhere and feeling ashamed by it. But I eventually returned because I did much worse out on my own without the support. I get how you are feeling.

Cyn, I never knew you tried AA! Did you ever mention it here? Did you have a group you felt comfortable with? I tried AA just one time and I am sure I didn't give it a fair try. I should have looked for a different meeting but it took me so much nerve to get myself to the one! I didn't have the courage to try again. MWO is all I have in the way of daily support. Knowing you all understand where I am coming from means the world to me.

Star, back to donuts....There is a donut shop in the area that has the absolute BEST donuts and it took me forever to break myself from them. Now, it turns out that they supply the donuts for the hospital coffee shop where I volunteer! The tempation is killing me! LOL. I haven't given in yet, but I've only been there two times. Fingers crossed!

Happy AF Hump Day everyone.

[treegirl]

Hello all - good evening.
This is a quick one, as I just got home, and I'm pooped from the drive and the anxiety. We saw a really bad accident when we were driving into the city --what a good reminder that stuff really can happen. It was my first time driving in Queens/Astoria, and shoot, that was a trip! But made it all OK. Pups did fine with an early feeding from dear neighbor. Glad to be home.

Dill - I tried AA only briefly, and am not a fan of the program. I don't want to discourage anyone for whom it might work, but to me it seemed quite dated, and male-centric. Just remembering the chilly church basements, stale cigarette smell and lots of men and lots of donuts make my palms sweat even now. MWO was the turning point for me, and the community that I needed. I like what Star said - we have power over AL because we don't use it anymore!

Wishing all a peaceful night and a great morning tomorrow. (Lav so glad to hear that your daughter is better. Whew, that's a lot to deal with as an adult...I had one out through emergency surgery, and it was no picnic...)

[paulywogg]

I tried AA too briefly,in all of the meetings I felt "hit on" by the men,gross! I realize that there's women's only groups as well,I never went to any of those cuz I was sort of put off by the women in the group seeming like they were circling me like buzzards looking to sponsor me,it just wasn't for me but I know it does work for a lot of peeps,Lav,glad your daughter went in to see what was wrong and got it fixed,Cyn,you're home safe now so you can unwind,hello Star and Dill hope we all have a nice night

[aihfl]

I tried AA too briefly,in all of the meetings I felt "hit on" by the men,gross! I realize that there's women's only groups as well,I never went to any of those cuz I was sort of put off by the women in the group seeming like they were circling me like buzzards looking to sponsor me,it just wasn't for me but I know it does work for a lot of peeps,Lav,glad your daughter went in to see what was wrong and got it fixed,Cyn,you're home safe now so you can unwind,hello Star and Dill hope we all have a nice night

Pauly, I will admit that thirteenth stepping is a problem in many AA groups. But good meetings are out there if you keep looking. I was stumbling drunk down a street about a year ago and the cop that picked me up took me to detox instead of charging me with public intox. A man came in to run an AA meeting and I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of AA. He just looked at me and very matter of factly asked, "Have you tried a different meeting?" Not preaching, just letting the voice of experience speak, you have to have a support network. Just trying to stop rarely works. My dad was one of those remarkable alcoholics that just stopped, but that is so rare. If your friends and/or family aren't providing adequate support you have to find it somewhere else. I go to a meeting of younger people and an agnostic/atheist meeting and I've succeeded in creating a tight circle of friends who are constantly checking up on me, especially since the last relapse.

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

AA meetings work for some, it is important to get to a meeting where you feel comfortable. There are supposed to be no bosses, but.....It is just important to find what works for you, period. Aihfl, I have heard of several people who just stopped drinking, never looked back, they were just done. MWO is unique in that it was supposed to be a mod program, but members do what works for them and the person who started the program is now abstinent too. So, I think at some point it is just easier to not drink, rather than try to moderate.

Hello to Lav, Cyn, Dill, and Pauly. Let's make this a great day, AF.

[dill]

My AA meeting experience: first of all, I had to make up a story about where I was going since I didn't want to talk with my hb about it. He wasn't working then so it was hard to get out of the house without him asking where I was going. Second, I ran in just as the meeting began and ran out as soon as it ended because I was so anxious about being there and having anyone talk to me about any sort of committment. Third of all, It was a small meeting and most knew each other. I felt like I was under a microscope. Most of my problems at that meeting were of my own making. At that point I was really, really concerned about anonymity bc of my job and also, I wasn't really ready to be honest with myself as to the true nature of my problem. You have to be ready to say, "I am an alcoholic." I wasn't ready then. I still am not, truth be told! Am I the only one here who has trouble with that label?

Welcome Aihfl and greetings Star, Lav, Cyn and Pauly.

[Samstone]

Dill
I used to attend meetings as well, the mouthing of the words " hi, I'm blah blah and I'm an alcoholic" always seemed rather like a put down on one's self but I reckon for a lot of folks, it makes them look at it square in the face for the first time. I ended up not going any more because it was depressing as hell how, at this meeting, people talked about how sick they were and they'd never get over this sickness and the only way was to go to these meetings. I know all meetings are not like this but at that time I wasn't ready by stuck with this label (I was in my 30's, recently divorced etc). Now in my later life I still don't like the label. I've decided to become a nondrinker This is a personal thing where I don't have defend myself, I just don't drink. My friends know the score and frankly I'm much better off not worrying about the label. HOWEVER I know AA has helped a lot of people, my sister has attended meetings for over 20 years. Still goes to them, she lives in a more progressive environment so it makes a big difference. Wonder what would happen if you went in and said "hello I'm Dill and I don't drink".

sneaking out of the house so you don't drink, there's an ironic twist!