TooMuchRum

Hey folks - wishing everyone a happy and sober weekend!

BreakFree

Hello Everyone! :)

Just finished watching "The Jane Austen Book Club"...loved it :) Going to start reading Pride and Prejudice in a few days. My first Austen read ever and I'm looking forward to it. Time to hit the hay...

Sweet Dreams Everyone! :)

Richard54

KC - Yes we have Costco here in Canada.

These San Pellegrino's cost me $1.50 per quart... I'll be at Costco tomorrow. Thanks.

Having one now with lime- awesome drink!
Next one I'll try with a splash of cranberry juice.

Gofish -I also have over 200 channels with nothing on lol

Midton

Maybe I'm playing with fire but I've just taken my family to an Italian restaurant we go to monthly. I've never not drunk there before. On each table is a large bottle of Chianti waiting to be opened.

I was worried that the owner would ask why I wasn't drinking tonight but he never batted an eyelid. In the end I had a ginger ale, an orange juice and a coffee as well as copious amounts of water. For the first 5 minutes or so I really felt pretty uneasy and it took a few deep breaths and a lot of will power not to order. I thought of this site and numerous random posts/advice came into my head and I knew I was over the hurdle. I then was able to relax and enjoy the meal. After the restaurant I drove home. I can't remember the last time I drove in the dark as I was always drinking when it got dark.

As I sit at home now, drinking water, I feel really chuffed with myself. I feel empowered and in control and feel that I have added another piece of armour to my will power.

ViciousCycle

Midton: You HAVE added a piece of armor. You should be proud, that is so awesome. I don't know where we get the idea we need alcohol to do everything......and we don't! Part of that evil voice I guess.

I was bored last night......went to bed kind of early and had the most awesome dream. It's nice to have some normal sleep patterns back.....
I need a plan for today and tonight......things to keep me busy. Not that I will be tempted to drink, I just don't want to be bored again!

I do have to go to a funeral this morning.....a good friend's mom died after a horrible battle. She was a heavy smoker AND drinker........guess it all catches up to a person......

Will check in later, I hope you all have a great day today.....stand firm!

Lastthird

Good morning all!
So good to see all of us still hanging in there!
I almost bought a bottle of wine yesterday. After leaving the estates sale of my mother's belongings, I really, really, REALLY wanted a drink. I almost had myself convinced that I could have just a glass, because it had been an emotional day and I deserved it.

Wrong! I deserve to be sober. I deserve to start day 20 today without the wine-fuzz mouth and worrying that my breath will smell like alcohol this morning when I go back to the last day of the sale. I deserve to feel my emotions and deal with them, not cover them up, no matter how sad I am.

Boy, this is harder than I thought. But it does feel so good to know I made it one more day. Metallica was my savior yesterday. Came home from the sale and worked out really hard to their newest CD, Death Magnetic. It kept me from going to that damn liqour store and getting wine.

So on to a new day. Hope you all have good things planned for your weekend to help you stay on your paths.

Catch ya later-
Blessed Be

bohemianzen

hey all, made it to the 2nd version of the thread....wow we've come a long way LOL
sober weekend for me. planning on watching a lot of movies and chilling out. next weekend will be nervewracking that monday is my court date...trying not to think about it. i got a notice in the mail yesterday i have to pay 475 to get my license back from bureau of motor vehicles....that plus whatever the court costs are.... that was depressing....but i'm just trying not to think about it this weekend.
so happy ev1 seems to be doing so well - u guys rock!

BreakFree

Good Morning! :)

Good things are happening for this group...I CAN FEEL IT! :) My husband and I were just chatting on our porch and as I sipped my coffee, I was telling him how I am starting to feel so much better about myself and that I think I am ready to be ME again. Motherhood is an amazing gift, but when you fail to have balance, which was/is the case with me, it can really take a toll on your life...I have SO NEGLECTED myself over the past several years. I've been fighting the urges to have another baby and close this chapter of my life. I want to enjoy the children that I have and find myself again. I want to be the best wife, mother and individual I can be. I believe it's been 17 days since I returned to SR. During this time, I have continuously beat myself up over the poor choices I have made along the way...but this morning I realized something...instead of drinking for 17 days straight, I've probably only drank for 7. Not exactly what I am shooting for, but you know what? That is PROGRESS! I am choosing to celebrate this fact. No more glass is half empty mentality...the glass is going to be half full and I'm going to keep on filling it with San Pellegrino moments. I feel good. I am returning from a deep, dark journey and I am NOT looking back.

Today we have a family gathering to attend. I have grown to dread spending time with our families over the years. There is such an absence of closeness, respect and love within our extended family. It always makes me mourn. I usually leave feeling completely inadequate and bad about myself. Today I am not going to allow such feelings. I will be grateful that I have people to call family and enjoy what is placed before me. I will feel good about myself and my life and not look for approval from any of them, as I do not need it. I will do my best to carry the "glass is half full" mentality with me and I will be filling the rest of the glass with San Pellegrino all afternoon long! Geesh, San Pellegrino sales must be skyrocketing this month! Perhaps we should all purchase some stock? It sells for $1.99 per quart here...The cost makes me feel guilty, but it's better than purchasing alcohol and I SO DESERVE it! :)

I appreciate and care so much about this group. You all are such an important part of this new life. It's so good to log on and "see" you all here. I've noticed several absent members (from our earlier days) of late (you know who you are) and want to give you all a SHOUT OUT to please check-in. No matter where you are at...the important thing is that you are with us and I am missing you! :)

KC1

Good Morning! Hope everyone had a good night last night. We watched War of the Valkyries (Tom Cruise) and it was very good. Would highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. Anyhow, I slept for 10 hours!!!! Must be all of that "drunk" sleep catching up to me. My husband said I do not toss and turn all night like I used to. Of course, the sleeping pill helps, but that is going to be gone as of this week.

So, today is Day Six. I KNOW I can make it through today. It really is amazing to me that if you change your pattern of thinking how much it helps. Instead of letting the "LIES" (cravings) take over, I keep thinking of the WHYS. I feel so much better in the morning that it is hard to believe I ever allowed myself to get hammered every night. Of course, I know it will get harder.

Midton - I still think about "what the waiter or bartender will say" when we go to some of our regular spots, but I honestly don't think they really care. When I went out the other night, I ordered the St. Pauli N.A. and the bartender (who usually puts a nice cold glass of Chardonnay at my seat) never said a word. She looked kind of surprised, but did not say anything. So just keep doing what you're doing. Think about how great you felt being able to drive home in the dark. Keep thinking of the WHYS. Also, the Pellegrino/Lime really helps, and it's so refreshing.

Good Luck to everyone today. Will check in later on.

KC

groggles55

G'day to all of us. Looking forward to a sober and hopefully productive weekend here. I made and admission and apology to a person yesterday about my alcoholism and irresponsibility for not having a door built for he and his wife that should have been done a week ago. It did feel good to get that off of my chest since they have been pretty patient and they were very accepting of my issue. I hope that I can stay on track with the things that I have agreed to do for people and kind of put off or taken longer to do than it should have. I guess this beginning of the ammends process is necessary for me to help get rid of this demon. The admission to self was a while in coming, but a relief in a way since I was in the denial stage for some time. Now the even harder part is to, as best I can try to restore some kind of faith and belief in me by the family that I have lied to on many occasions and alienated. It was kind of ridiculous as obvious as it was to them that I had been drinking. One may be a fairly intelligent person, however when the first drink goes down you can throw that out the window. The people that I am beginning to know at AA have all expressed doing the same...the lying to the people you care about and destroying the trust. I guess there is some kind of comfort in knowing that I wasn't the only one hurting people by these same actions, not that it helps or makes ammends to the fact that I did do it, but it helps one to understand the disease a bit more, and I think that is necessary for me to be able to deal with and win this battle. It is my/our battle and we do have to fight it on our own with help from others who have done the same as people who have never had this inside of them and have only been hurt by the actions of someone who does have the problem will only know it from the outside and being hurt by us is what they know. I do hope with all sincerity that we all will eventually make it out of this self imposed hell we have and are putting ourselves and loved ones through. Good luck to us all!!!! If we fall off this horse get our asses up and back on it!!!

tallcactus

Good Morning all,
Gather around. Now, that I have gotten my virtual hug, I'm set to start the day.
Had a good day yesterday, spent most of it with my soon to be 25 year old son, across town. We had lunch, then later, before arriving home, the rains came. Nice and refreshing, put the windows and top down and blasted the music while driving home. Nice, I kinda felt new too. Watched 2 movies last night, then after 1AM went to bed and slept well. Still sober.
Plan today is to keep busy.
Listen to some music while cleaning the fish tank, later (?) and just keep on surrendering to my higher power.
Stay strong.

Gofish

Good morning friends! Sounds like we all made it through a Friday night without alcohol. I have to say that the cravings were really rough for me last night. I feel like I'm cheating being on the antabuse. You guys are so much stronger than I am. There's no way I could have made it last night without the meds. I would have been at the store buying beer had it been an option. Whatever it takes, I guess.

Can anyone tell us when the cravings start to disappear? Does this last forever or do you eventually stop wanting to drink?

Congrats to all who made it without drinking last night! Way to go guys. You make me want to keep fighting the fight!

BuddhaBear

Ok - it is really apparent that the makers of San Pellegrino owe me some kind of a royalty or at least a sales commission! glad everyone is enjoying it. Working on day 17.

wildrover080209

Hey Gang,
So great to see all the sucesses. Today will be 3 weeks sober. I am really happy and find that the desire to drink is getting less and less each day.

Today Hospice people are meeting with my Dad, sister and brother. Wish I could be there, but I was there last weekend and will be there next weekend.

My son just called from Afghanistan and said he might be home earlier that we thought. He MIGHT be home before Labor Day. Wow that would be awesome. Just want him out of there right now.

I have cleaned the house from top to bottom in preparation of my wife's return. 6 weeks is a LOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG time. She did get to see her 6 brothers and 3 sisters and their wives, husbands and significant others and children. The all live within 20 miles of each other.

Well, just wanted to say hi and wish everyone a happy sober weekend. Be good to yourself and those that you love.

God loves you and so do I

thirtybubba

Morning y'all. Now I have a day, too. Although I d- near died last night. And I learned that those twitchy muscle spasms are in fact seizures. Not sure if one led to the other, but they were getting closer to my heart (above the right breast), and I know nothing about doctor stuff, but that didn't seem good. But I woke up, and thanked God for that. It's much, much better now. Maybe sleep helps those.

Yeah, I don't know my stats, but it's a way to look at it. If I hadn't sobered up the first time in July, I would have been steady drinking a couple bottles a night still. I tend to look at it in terms of how I'm doing my body, and although I know that the withdrawals are the hardest on it, there can't be nothing nice said about a gallon ever couple/ three days either.

I got nothing to do today either, so I might do some laundry and clean up my apartment a little. Funny, I used to drink on purpose for that. I don't like cleaning, and drinking took my mind off the fact I was doing something I didn't like. Not gonna drink, though.

Groggles, I know almost exactly what you're going through with the apologizing. Fall 2007 I had to go to the dean in December and explain that instead of going to class and writing papers I was lost in the TN hills. I thought college was over for me, and was going in to resign. She told me there was a way to just cancel the semester and make it up, but warned me about another promising student, who sobered up and a few years later crashed into a tree after drinking again. That story has never left my mind.

And then the next year, I went and did the same thing--I don't know what it is with me and fall, but seems I have a bad habit of staying afloat till I crash around October every year. Maybe I ought to call it Autumn. Only thing, this time I knew there was a way around my mistakes, so I turned myself in earlier. Instead of an administrative way around it all, I had to approach each one of my teachers and confess and ask for some sort of deal. That was the fall after I realized I had a problem (yes, I did not know this the first time 'round), and it was hard as H- to admit I drank too much to people who had all indicated respect for me and a willingness to assist me in college any way they could. I felt I was letting them all down. Still do, actually.

The worst thing for me was I knew at the time I wasn't going to be sober for the make up work. And the lying made me feel guilt that could only be lessened by--drinking to forget it.

Still can't look a couple of them in the eyes for very long.

And the funny thing is, this week when I messed up, I got the same feeling, only this time with people in here and on the phone and that I met at the AA meetings. I guess it'd be easier to just not do it than keep on messing up and feeling guilty about it.

Then again, it'd be easier to not drink and then have to come down either. Since I probably can't stay drunk forever--I can only assume I'd run out of money or something--every time I put the bottle to my lips, I am ensuring that one day I will feel like I did last night.

This disease apparently kills the logic part of the brain.

KC1

A NEW TWIST FOR THE PELLEGRINO DRINKERS: In the midst of all of my cleaning this afternoon, I ended up cleaning out my dining room china/crystal hutch. There are my beautiful Waterford Crystal "highball" or "old fashioned" glasses - whatever you want to call them. We got them as wedding presents. I usually save them for a "special occasion" and it is usually filled with vodka. I thought "THIS is a special occasion - I have not had a drink in 6 entire days!!". So now I am drinking my Pellegrino/Lime/Cranberry in Waterford Crystal. Served in a nice fancy glass, even if it's not Waterford, makes it even better! And it looks pretty too! Only a few more hours until Day 7...........
Oh, and by the way, I HATE to cook, but I am even making homemade spaghetti sauce with all of the tomatoes we have. So fresh homemade sauce! My husband just called from work and asked what I am doing and when I told him I was actually cooking something there was complete silence on the phone. He then said he would have to compose himself and call back later! HA HA. Even I don't get it.

KC

ViciousCycle

Good for you KC! Look at all you have been missing!

nogard

I too detox'd on my own at home and I realise now I should have gone and seen a doctor.

Kevin

Gofish

Good night guys. I hope we're all safe and sober. Is anyone else sleeping a lot? I look forward to bedtime now.

traderjane

I'm here (been absent for a couple of weeks). Dealing with a failed relationship, but I'm feeling better. I'm sober and looking forward to a really good night's sleep. Glad to be back