AlaskaGirl

Hello crew,

I just wanted to check in. It seems due to the nature of RR this forum is slow moving, which totally makes sense. Everyone is busy living life!

All is well on my front. AV activity has been low lately. I did politely decline an invitation to hit the bars on St. Paddy's Day, because, why do that to myself?

I would love to hear from the group if you happen to check in. How are you all doing?

Maudcat

Hi, AlaskaGirl! Good to hear from you. Been wondering how you are doing. Glad things are going well. St Patrick's Day seems to have been a thing for lots of folks here as well. Good that you avoided potentially bad situations.

MesaMan

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Hey, thanks for asking!

Lovin' Life here. Been out in the spiffy RV Trailer for ~7 Weeks around the S.W., and been back here in MesaVille for a couple. Below, see Sunrise this Morning from our Patio. Sober Mon, here, pops up early and refreshed, and I really enjoy checking out the Dark Skies before Sunrise. Plus, I see only one set of Stars these Days!

St. Patrick's Day was a giant non-Event for us, but I enjoyed that Day with Beer in Hand. A Diet Ginger Beer, that is.

We've got all kinda Home Improvement 'stuff' going on, and more Travel planned. Ya can't beat permanent Sobriety with a Stick!

- 'You Never Can Tell' ~ Chuck Berry ~ Pulp Fiction -
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soberlicious

Hey there AG
Glad to hear you are doing well. Things are fine over here in SoberliciousLand as well. I'm on Spring Break this week (woot woot) No big plans to do anything super exciting, but to be honest, just sleeping in is all kinds of awesome and a slow quiet week is something I relish these days. Doing whatever I want, even it that means doing not much at all...I like it. I like it a lot.

tursiops999

Hi AG! Things are good. I enjoyed a quiet Sunday, took a long hike in the hills. Now I'm cooking, puttering, doing laundry, and resting up. This time of year I work long hours so my Sunday time is precious. St Patrick's day I went out for Vietnamese food, but I did wear green at least!

Just enjoying the peaceful day.

AlaskaGirl

So great to have such happy updates!

Maudcat, thank you for thinking of me

MesaMan, traveling the country in an RV is on my bucket list! What a gorgeous picture you posted.

soberlicious & tursiops999, I've found out that I love my peaceful weekend downtime too. What a blessing this journey has been!

Thank you all for replying, you all sound so good, It makes me happy!!!

tursiops999

I'm glad you're well AG - you deserve happiness!

Fusion

Thank you for the thread AlaskaGirl! It was so great to read this morning, I'm so happy to read of people's contentment with the sober-life. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Here in Tatsyland I'm still decorating and gardening. I just love going to bed, reflecting on what I've achieved, with these manual tasks progress is so visual.

I've found my dogs more responsive and obedient, I guess they were dominant when I drank, because they felt insecure and took on the role I ought've. I've also resumed reading, instead of endlessly browsing the Internet on autopilot, plus I'm enjoying cooking.

I'm just so relieved to be a non-drinker, that I'm still in awe. It's like living in a newfound Tatsyland of peace, calm and routine.

flame11

Hi AlaskaGirl, good to hear you are doing well.

All good in this non drinking little corner of the world. On Saturday I went to my daughters university open day, it was amazing. I felt soo proud to be there with her, had to fight back a few tears at a couple of points during the day, felt like I was going to burst with happiness! My relationships with both my daughter and son are blossoming nicely.

I have stepped up my exercise routine both running and swimming, I'm slowly getting my fitness back and enjoying every minute of it. I'm reading again too and have got alot of great book suggestions off of this site, my Amazon account is getting used at last.

Really enjoying living my life and often get moments of the ACE!

Iv actually had alot of AV the past couple of weeks but guess what...IT can shout and scream, have a tantrum, whatever...I will never drink again and I will never change my mind. So so grateful for sober recovery and especially secular connections and all the help I was given at the beginning of my sober life, thankyou everyone.

dwtbd

AG! Great thread , so happy to see all these positive responses from all these bad asses
Looking forward to riding this part of the globe right through the vernal equinox and heading to the solstice!
The feeling of enjoying the freedom from addiction , never gets old, can I get an AMEN ?!

Behappy1

Hi all, still getting my feet wet with AVRT and learning the ropes. Doing ok! It feels good to have my life organized and in control again. Still reeling from the shame and guilt though of my actions. Trying to let that go and focus on the positive.

Wholesome

Hey gang! I'm alright. I've been finding my emotions to be running wild and my frustration level to be quite low these days. But hey I guess years of numbing myself is going to take longer than a few weeks to undo. I just have to ride it out and be patient and trust that things will even out. I mean I can't stay an emotional whirlwind forever can I?

Otherwise it feels great to be a non drinker! Amen.

tursiops999

Amen, dwtbd. It feels so good to have this freedom, clarity, and natural contentment.

Behappy and zen chaser--- just keep on keeping on, and try to be especially kind and gentle to yourselves. I felt very raw in my early weeks and months of sobriety. It really will get better with time.

Calicofish

Well, my life is going just gang busters, wonderful. I'll be starting a new job, that I think is going to be awesome. I'm involved in two community organizations - little theatre and choir. Not only is it great fun at rehearsals, but it's also a wonderful social gathering of people.

But probably the biggest milestone that happened to me was that I finally overcame my fear of a physical relationship with a new man. I've never had sober sex before (sorry if this is too much info). I can tell you that I did think...gee a drink would certainly calm my nerves and make this so much easier, but - it was just a fleeting thought. Anyway - I pushed through my fear and guess what.... I didn't die! Instead, it was rather nice :-) Guys - I'd not been with anyone for a long, long, long time and I think this was even more "new" than my very first time. And - I hope to do it again :-)

Anyway - I'm thinking that I've finally rounded some kind of corner and see a wonderful world out there. All sober too and I don't want to change a thing.

CF

shockozulu

Holding up today. A friend of mine was found deceased in his bed last night in New York City. It really hurts as he tried the last few years or so to "get recovery." I kept telling myself to let him know about SMART as with his artistic and general way of thinking I thought it would be something that would really help. Kept putting it off and now it's too late.

Its always good to see you Alaska Girl. Also another question. Our check-in threads keep seeming to drop down under active threads and get lost. Do you mind if I pin this?

MrPoutine

I am doing fine, thanks for asking. My last drink was in late 2012, and about the only time I think about drinking is occasionally when I eat out I will glance at the wine menu to remind myself how much money I am saving by not drinking. It doesn't bother me at all if other people at the table drink, as long as they don't expect me to help pay for the booze. I look in at SR fairly frequently, but I don't 'work a program', I just live my life.
I am retired, so I am getting to spend time doing pretty much what I want to do, including some volunteer work. I just got back from 6 weeks at a Spanish language school in Central America and got back to Canada just before the first official day of spring.

AlaskaGirl

Hi All! How fun this has turned out to be! Thank you all for responding, it's great too learn a little more about everyone.

Behappy1 and Zenchaser, good for both of you for riding out the harder times. I'm so glad you are here.

Calicofish-you go girl!

shockozulu-I would be honored if you pinned the thread. Truly.

I'm traveling for work right now, hence the delayed check in. My industry is pretty well known for lots of drinking, especially during the nighttime receptions, dinners, then after parties. I wasn't too worried about how I would feel, but part of me thought it would be a little hard. It hasn't been as difficult as I imagined.

One of my former drinking buddies was surprised when I told her I was abstaining (I just said for my health.) She asked how long it has been and I told her since New Years. I wish I had a picture of her face when I said that. She was shocked. Other than that nobody has batted an eye. They ask me if I want a drink, I casually turn it down. The best part has been not feeling like hell during the all day meetings. Small victories adding up to a great big win.

Thank you all again for being here!!! You are all a big part of my new journey. XOXO

Calicofish

Alaskagirl - congratulations on keeping it real while on your business trip. I've had many social occasions on the last 2 years and really no one cares at all whether I drink. I've attended galas, dances, pub nights, parties and I'm always offered a drink and I reply - sure, I'll have a club soda and lime with a splash of cranberry (if I'm at pub/restaurant). At a person's home, I either bring my own, or sometimes just have water. The company I hang with now do not drink to excess - if they do, they must do at home because I've never seen anyone drunk. I rarely stay much later than 11 pm at these events. Waking refreshed is awesome and I never will return to those horrible days of hangovers.

Wholesome

I have one of these social events this weekend and I am learning for you people about how to handle it like a BOSS! I've been having tons of anxiety about it but I think I'm playing it up too much in my mind. Just go and be cool and don't drink and catch up with everyone and then get out of there early and sober.

Calicofish

Hi Zenchaser - I think you might be overthinking this. When I first went out, I did too. A few people simply said to me, "do you not drink?" and I just said, "No". No one cared. I had my club soda with lime/cranberry. There were a few other people who also just ordered soft drinks.

I found that I was just tired around 11 pm and I really didn't want to stay up much later, so I just went home.

I'd say if you're at a party where people are heavy drinkers, you are not going to like it anyway, because they get silly and boring the more they drink. Fortunately for me, I don't hang around those type of people now. Most are social drinkers and no one becomes a jerk.

Just have fun and plan to leave when you get tired. Relax - you're got this.