January Jewel

[Lavande]

Good morning friends!

I have a few extra minutes this morning so I thought I'd hop on & wish everyone a Happy Friday the 13th

Sunny & warmish here, not complaining. Tomorrow the winter weather returns. I knew it would be back, ha ha!

Liz, you sound good, I am happy for you.
Good job getting the dress for the wedding. I hope you have a great day!

Star, don't you find it difficult to cope when certain people assign themselves a place of such high priority? I don't consider anyone more important or special than anyone else. To me, we are all humans, here together on the same planet & our job is to do the best we can do. Your neighborhood captain sounds like a real bore a$$, ha ha!
I hope this weekend is good for you

Greetings to Dill, Cyn & Pauly!
I'll check in later. Have a great AF day everyone.

Lav

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, my sleep hasn't been effected by the moon this month but it seems like poor hubs' has,he's been waking up at 3 or 3:30 for the past two days,I worry cuz he gos to bed later than I do so obviously he's not getting enough hours,then he's driving all day,eeeks!says he feels OK though, Lav,your temps are actually about the same as ours but we're weather wimps here,can't handle under 70 degrees haha,Can,good for you on getting all your stuff in order this week,Star,I don't deal with HOA and never will,I'm not gonna let anybody tell me what I can have in my yard,or how many cars can be on my property, etc,I understand the reason behind it but sometimes it goes too far,Dill,are things starting to settle with the kids? Raining here think I'll bundle up and take a walk wishing us all a HAPPY AF Friday

[paulywogg]

Can is Cyn,stupid spell check haha

[Lavande]

Getting colder now Pauly. We will be waking up to 29 degrees in the morning with some snow ~ swell.

[Lizann]

Good evening all! The full moon certainly explains the crazy busy day at work today! I got in a little after six and the next time I looked at the clock is was after 2! I'm glad I got through it!
Yes we enjoyed a little winter thaw. Temperature is already dropping. Our oldest daughter came by for dinner and our other two were home as well. A lovely evening with just the five of us, just like it used to be.
Wishing you all a peaceful AF night.

[Snoopy56]

Good morning...

Three day weekend looking forward to having a little time off. The weather is freezing rain so indoor activities are the order of the day. With all the stress I thought of drinking yesterday to make the irritable feelings go away, but truly, it was just a thought that went away. I immediately challenged the stupid thoughts, focused on how fleeting drinking is, then the immediate heart pounding, passing out, waking up in a sweat, GSR, and blowing all my time. NO WAY. The weird thing is I ended up having a good evening with my husband and son, binge watching Orange is the New Black. Slept well and woke up ready to plan my day. Thank goodness I am AF.

Lav, the neighborhood watch president was not very nice. I did not realize all the rules, and think I may be in violation of one thing, so keeping low on the radar. However, I will attend next month and will try to find out wherewhat the rules are. We are not allowed to have sheds, can you believe it? Weird. That is the least of the things on my mind though.

Cyn, hope you can rustle up some new clients. You help people reorganize, declutter? I would think helping older people who are down sizing would be a big client base, how do you find them? Hmmmm. I am also very grateful for this community.

Pauly, re: HOA, there was one in our old neighborhood, but they were not intrusive at all. This one is another story. I do not want to get involved with the politics now that I have been treated disrespectfully. I may tell the president that, but don't want drama. I need to think about it. Your grandson is so cute, I may get to see mine this weekend on Monday, depends if I want to drive an hour each way, and the weather.

Liz, glad your work day went quickly and well.

Have a great AF Saturday.

[dill]

Good morning, good to read that everyone is doing well. I am enjoying the visit with daughter and grandson, however hectic it may be! I will get back to normal in a couple of days. Sorry this is so short. Just wanted to check in and wish everyone a happy AF Saturday.

[paulywogg]

Morning friends, I'm so tired of working on Saturday I work with everyone who bugs me but then I think of staying home and that's too much time on my hands Fri,Sat and Sun,nah it would be counterproductive to my sobriety I think,Star,good on you for not letting your thoughts go there for too long that's one of my hurdles..getting a drink thought..dwelling on it...get physically uncomfortable from the thought..give in....regret it.if I squnch it in time I'm fine, if it festers it boils over,my brother got in trouble with HOA once cuz his garage door wouldn't close all the way,it was about 2-3 inches open all the time and they called him on it,stupid really nitpicky,Dill,glad things are settling in went to Sweet Tomatoes yesterday and Lou had his broccoli,we had our salad and soup,Kell said she didn't like it but I did and will probably go with hubs sometime, I think she was irritated cuz Louie was being a rat! We take him out all the time and he's a little gentleman, I think the getting up and down to get food was overstimulating or something cuz he was doing that running around thing,then making his body all heavy on the floor,grrrr,hello to Lav,Cyn and Liz I'm hoping for a peaceful AF day for us all

[Lavande]

Greetings friends,

Had a quiet Saturday & the snow never showed up - yay! Maybe it just got delayed or something.

Star, I have never lived anywhere with a HOA but I have heard some stories.
Can you imagine someone showing up at my door & announcing we can't have chickens, a second garage or a greenhouse? Ha ha, me neither I hope everything works out OK with that. Enjoy the 3 day weekend!

Dill, great that you are busy with family, have lots of fun!

Pauly, I don't mind taking the kids out to eat normally but every once in a while they can act like real buttheads. The one that really gets me is when they slide off of the booth seat & go under the table & won't come out, LOL
This is why we need to stay healthy so we can be around to remind them of this stuff when they graduate from college or get married, right?

Liz, a busy day at work was always better than that rare slow day that just dragged. Glad you got to enjoy the family unit!

Cyn, the busy one, hope you are doing OK! Not sure if this weather system is heading up your way. So far only light rain here to report.

Have a peaceful night everyone!
Lav

[Lizann]

Hey guys! We got the snow here! It didn't stick to the main roads but the side streets were covered. My son is staying at his friends house tonight because the roads up there are pretty slick. Just glad he's safe!

Pauly, I get what you mean about too much time on your hands and I couldn't agree more. Maybe someday, but not right now, time on my hands is not a good thing,
I remember the kids getting hyper sometimes too. I remember with us the time of day was a factor. The later in the day, the worse they were.

We did live with an HOA back in the day. It wasn't too bad. I'm happy to be where we are right now and we can do what we want. Star, glad you didn't drink! I actually a thoughts today too, but that's as far as it went, it was more like, in the past this would have been a reason to drink.
Hubby is not feeling well tonight. He finally took some NyQuil and is now sleeping. Hopefully it will be a good night for both of us.
Wishing you all a peaceful AF night!

[Snoopy56]

Good morning....

The topic of the day: Drinking thoughts. They still come and go of course. I get really stressed out, then drinking thoughts come, and it is up to me to either push them away, be sarcastic with myself (oh, that's really worked for you in the past, hasn't it), or think realistically what will happen if I do drink (fun going down, then heart pounding, possibly/likely passing out, doing stupid stuff, fighting with my husband because I am an ass when I drink, waking up sweating, nauseaous, heart pounding for hours, guilt, shame remorse, overeating, bloating, not worth it). Seriously,all that stuff for about an hour or two of alcohol. I cherish my evenings watching TV, hot tub, reading, relaxing, having good conversations, laughing really hard, having integrity, honesty, physically looking and feeling healthy, being caught up on my chores, regular exercise, cooking up a storm, feeling healthier, making good choices all the time. Yes,, there are still difficult feelings to manage, life is like that, but I am in a better place with no shame or remorse. Thanks Pauly, Liz, for responding, would love some feedback if you have the time.

Lav, nice to have a quiet day, this HOA is rude, I may have to plan a takeover, but probably too much work. We lucked out too, no snow, some ice, we were able to get out into our hot tub for the first time in about a week. I am making my favorite eggplant recipe tonight, exercising and taking it easy.

Hello Dill, enjoy your daughter and grandson, full house this weekend, making memories.

Shoutout to Cyn, hope things are going well.

Have a peaceful AF Sunday.

[dill]

Hello all, still extremely busy here, but today is the last day.

Star, that was a wonderful, thoughtful share. Thank you.
Lav, no HOA for me, either! I never liked the whole idea.
Pauly, TWD starts on the 12th of Feb!
Liz, I hope DH feels better.
Cyn, I hope you are remembering to take care of yourself.

Have a good AF Sunday everyone!

[treegirl]

Morning all - just a quick jump on for the moment to say that I hope all are well. And no one has gotten caught in the ice storms.

Will read back and post more later today, but I have to finish up a project for a client -- I was at it all day yesterday. Star I did see your thoughts about drinking --- good for you, you are walking away, despite the stress. Great job, great model for us all!

Dill, enjoy your family .

Wishing all well - more later ----

[Lizann]

Star, yes I do think the drink through all the way to the end. I am practicing being "mindful" during those thoughts. What am I feeling, why am I feeling this. I observe things around me, the sun is still shining, the clock is ticking soothingly, or whatever is around me at the moment. I have found that especially when I'm in social situations this helps. I am having fun without the alcohol, I am engaging, I can remember. It truly is a great place to be. I need to feel the feelings and not mask or numb them. For me that has been helpful. Just my 2 cents worth.

[abcowboy]

Howdy ho y'all, just a quick pop in about drinking thoughts... I think we all get them from time to time, not as often the further we get being alcohol free, but they still come. Mine are squashed by remembering six simple words my son said to me a year ago;
"I love having my dad back" That's all it takes for me...