Carlotta

Hi Class,

I am hanging there and still feeling good mentally (got a nasty cold though).
OMG, that Elvis is adorable!!! I want one LOL.
Blond, I am glad you are still around and doing good. Just be extremely careful. After my relapse, I was able to drink for 6 years. At parties sometimes a drink or two or none, I would have days I did not drink and days I drank fairly heavily.
Mind you even though my consumption was "normal" I was still drinking alcoholically in the sense that my relationship with alcohol was screwed up (I drank beer which I cannot stand on purpose so I would not be a drunk).
Ultimately, it ended up in that 3 weeks binge led me to recovery again.I was one step away from my 2001 bottom and mentally it was horrible.
I do not say that to lecture and be a party poopper. I am glad you are in good spirits and it is working for you I just don t want you to fall.Very few alcoholics can go dodging the bullet for 6 years like I did so if you see yourself going back to out of control drinking, go back to abstaining fully.
****{hugs}}

dorothyparker

I feel like chiming in again...Blondsober, there are people who are able to moderate after being heavy drinkers but they were not heavily addicted to start with. Only you and your family will see how comfortable it all is. I just hope that your kids are not fearful for you, or stressed and waiting for the shoe to drop sort of speak because that is putting some stress in it for all of you.

Still, it took courage for you to open up to us here so I can only give you support. I really wish you the best.

Siesta

Blond, I'm glad you posted. Moderation is not an option for me, but that doesn't mean it won't work for you. Best wishes to you.

LizG

Thanks for such an honest post; I'm jealous. Not in a cranky way; more wistful than anything. After 80 days, I still can't shake the thought that it would be nice to enjoy a glass of wine outside in this nice spring weather. And that I'm missing out now ... ah well, I'm certainly not missing the crappy hangovers, that's for sure ... bring on the club soda and cranberry!

Glad to see everyone is doing well! Keep up the good work

Siesta

Hey Dorothy,

Elvis is 3 years old. Boston's are really smart dogs. They tend to mirror the moods of their owners day by day which is cool. They have lots of energy so they need attention and obedience class. He's my little toddler and best friend. Best dog I've ever had. Read up on them if you're thinking of one though. He's a stinky little guy!
He's been a major help to me through this stage of my life and I think he really appreciates that I'm sober now and spend lots of time with him

Dee74

I can't remember a time I just had one glass and was satisfied

Liz I really believe, if you stick with this, you'll gain so much that the 'loss' of a glass of wine outside will be as nothing...you won't even see it as a loss anymore.

D

Rosieblue

Siesta elvis is so cute

One glass of anything was never enough for me however my av wraps it up.

To be honest although I acquired a taste for wine I rather the last taste of soft drinks, just think of all the different fruit juices and sodas around. Sitting sipping soda with lime lots of ice and reading a good novel in the sun seems much more relaxing and thirst quenching. You also got the advantage of after getting up to still be in control to do whatever you want. Once you drunk it's in your system you can't just switch it off.

Gilmer

Mmmm, Rosie, you put me in the mood for a Diet Coke with lime! :-)

Reeny

Yes, good idea, Like2Hike. So now I've become obsessive with going to the gym! The trouble is - am I still just "avoiding" whatever it is I was avoiding all those years by drinking? Agh!

Reeny

Love the pooch, Siesta!

Reeny

Thank you for sharing, blond. Your post didn't make me feel bad but it did remind me of when I tried to moderate. For me, it was the incremental creep. Slowly but surely, back I went into the dark. Just take care, blond.

Dorris

Liz stay strong, work hard this week on your sobrity, learn something new about it and, learn how to deal with that AV telling you how nice it would be to have one glass.

At 81 days I was tempted but that was after a weeks worth of thinking it would be ok to just have one and I gave in and had a few drinks and then durning the next 21 days I drunk for 13 of them and now I'm back to where I started.

But on a brighter note I'm doing ok, started a new job 3 days a week which is great, gets me out of the house and stops me feeling sorry for myself.

Love to you all

xxx

Gilmer

Congratulations on the new job, Dorris! Three days a week sounds great.

Siesta

Thanks Rosie!
Love what you said here! Love the variety of thirst quenching non alcoholic drinks available to me that I never considered wasting my precious drinking time with before. Also love the freedom of being in control after drinking them. It's a powerful feeling after not being in control for so long.

Rosieblue

Congratulations on your new job Dorris

Siesta

Happy for you Dorris!!

Babs1234

Congratulations Doris---I'm one of the lucky ones who loves my job. It does help and just the change of scenery changes my outlook on everything. I still struggle with that darn AV--- especially on my way home. It's day 45 for me and gosh darn I'm going to stay strong.

blondsober

Thanks Dee -

I've been through the cycle enough times that you may be right.
And I'm a big boy so it doesn't p*** me off at all, I appreciate it.
I'm preferring so many aspects of sobriety now that I never did
before, I am hoping that I can have the same relationship with
alcohol that I have with cigarettes - aware of their evil enough
that I never allow them to control me again . . .

blondsober

Thanks everyone for taking my post in the right way. I have turned a corner
to where I'm not "jealous" of someone who can really tie one on and then
stop. I recognize the fast slide it can take if I'm not careful.

I AM jealous of LizG and Dorris (and others) for their 80+ days!

And the coke with lime, Rosie, sounds great! I had Indian last night with
my GF, who got a HUGE pour of Malbec - I was tempted but I had some
rosewater/yoghurt drink and then slept like a baby last night. And I have
left 4 half-drunk glasses around that my GF left over the last couple of
days - normally I would have slugged those and then some.

Dorothy - definitely keeping the kids in mind--no drinks around them for
the time being, maybe never, we'll see about group social situations when
they are older--good timing with a teen in house; Carlotta - I will keep your
"6 year itch" warning in mind; Siesta - I guess I wouldn't say I'm doing
it in moderation - I want to trend toward not drinking, and that's the
way it is going. Moderation has always meant "more moderation" is OK
and then the bottom falls out . . . so I'm pretty much a non-drinker with
a very limited sip here and there.

For me there are more positives to not drinking than there are to drinking!

Gilmer

Hi, BlondSober! If you're going to go to all that trouble to be "very, very limited," it's so much easier not to bother with it at all. It's just not that great. A little is a waste of time. A lot is devastating for us. I admire you for being strong while your girlfriend was drinking--and that's really great that you didn't polish off the half-empties! I've never been a meticulous housekeeper, but back in the day I was right on the job when it came to cleaning up everybody's half-empties! :-)