Reeny

Your posts are keeping me going here, SR friends. Woke up feeling really sad and tearful. Have a lunchtime commitment with some workmates and I don't want to go. But will go out for a run and try and clear my head first.

Really cute grandson, W! So sorry to hear about your friend; he'd be smiling now!

Please keep up the strong words, Gilmer, and stay strong, pianowoman!

Dee74

I found that even a little change in my usual routine could throw me way off - and sometimes still can - even good changes like people visiting.

Even just getting out in the sun can help Reeny - assuming you have sun
Hope your day gets better

D

LizG

Reeny -- Can you do more things (like your running) that are part of your routine even if they fall outside the usual time parameters? I find that an unplanned swim makes me feel like a million bucks! L. p.s. And another vote for your great country. I know Sydney doesn't equal Australia in its entirety, but like travellin' Coach Wood, I've been to lots of places and Sydney battles it out with Istanbul for my # 1 :-)

LizG

Stop giving the man ideas, Carlotta. :-) Soon the child will be sporting a hunting rifle and measuring tines.

LizG

I picked up <<Black Cherry Blues>> because it was the only thing the local un-virtual bookstore had, but having finished that, I've started at the beginning of the Robicheaux series with <<Neon Rain.>> It's been fun discovering a new author!

hmmmm ... camping ... enjoyable pastime or forced weekend exile spent covered in dirt? ... debate.

LizG

Sorry you're feeling depressed. How was the meeting? I hope things are better soon!

LizG

What a lovely, poignant post. Thank you.

woodhead

Well, there is this nice youth model deer rifle I've been looking at online...............

Reeny

Thanks, Liz. You are such a sweetheart with your support for everyone. I feel a whole lot better today. Went for a long run and then to the lunch and it was good - not even tempted by the wine - and saw a Brad Pitt movie today with my sons. The pits and troughs ...

Really starting to reappraise my work/life balance and this is probably a good - and long overdue - thing.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Like2Hike

We're leaving this morning for a week of camping. Liz, I'll post some pics if we do any frog gigging. Tastey morsels they make on an open fire.

I hope everyone has a good week.

woodhead

Frogs' legs, now that's something our friends with French heritage should be able to get behind - delicious, especially deep fried. Have a great camping trip.

Have a great Sunday All.

Carlotta

I LOVE deep fried frog legs (cuisses de grenouilles).
I hope everyone is having a good week end and that you are feeling better Reeny. I myself am reevaluating my workload and I am seriously thinking about a career change, I just don t want to make such an important decision in early sobriety though.
I hope you have a great camping trip Like2hike
I have to go to a stupid work meeting today and I'd rather be in bed reading and relaxing (it's raining) but hey, I m lucky to have a job in this economy.

DarkDays

Hey all I am still in the Jan 2012 group approaching 18 months stone cold sober This time last year my feelings cravings thoughts where very wild all over the place. Grind it out guys/gals because things do get so so much better, I love being sober now more than anything.

Never ever give in or go back, grind through the bad days !

Dee74

have a great break L2H

D

LizG

I picked this one up at a market outside Pretoria, South Africa many years ago. I gave it to my best friend who had broken his back falling off a ladder. He was a heavy drinker and my partner in crime. With pain control problems he ended up dying of respiratory failure after mixing methadone and wine. I miss him very much, and was able to get a few reminders of him including this cane. He would laugh at the irony of me having to use it now, as I was the one who carted him around after the accident. I know this is a maudlin thing I'm revealing here, but my history with this man imparts some of the reasoning behind my decision to quit drinking. I think he would smile about that.
Best,
W

***************

What a lovely, poignant post. Thank you.

**************

Apologies; with a couple of coffees and fresh eyes, I see that I meant to express what a lovely post re: how this cane came to be in your possession. Not about the loss of your friend. That's a very sad story. You must indeed miss him.

LizG

I picked this one up at a market outside Pretoria, South Africa many years ago. I gave it to my best friend who had broken his back falling off a ladder. He was a heavy drinker and my partner in crime. With pain control problems he ended up dying of respiratory failure after mixing methadone and wine. I miss him very much, and was able to get a few reminders of him including this cane. He would laugh at the irony of me having to use it now, as I was the one who carted him around after the accident. I know this is a maudlin thing I'm revealing here, but my history with this man imparts some of the reasoning behind my decision to quit drinking. I think he would smile about that.
Best,
W

***************

What a lovely, poignant post. Thank you.

**************

Apologies; with a couple of coffees and fresh eyes, I see that I meant to express what a lovely post re: how this cane came to be in your possession. Not about the loss of your friend. That's a very sad story. You must indeed miss him.

****************

Ok, that's not what I meant either. Jeesh. Perhaps after driving 1,000 kilometres in two days, one should refrain from posting anything other than food shots. I give you asparagus wrapped in prosciutto ... a delicious veg&meat BBQ item perfect for this group :-)

woodhead

Liz,
You have no reason to apologize. I took your post in the spirit of complimenting a friend on my expression of a tough subject. You are a kind person with a great personality, and I enjoy our banter. The asparagus looks great!
Best,
W

LizG

Whew. You are very gracious, Woodhead, thank you. Nothing like bungling not one, but two, posts about the death of someone's best friend. :-(

In booze news, I discovered this weekend that my brother has recently jumped on the wagon, for just a momentary break, he says, but a break nonetheless. I didn't think he was a very heavy drinker, but I'm sure most people would have said that about me as well. Apparently, even my purposely cryptic responses as to why I've quit must have resonated with him on some level. Sis-in-law said as much. So we enjoyed a good yack with some club & pomegranate for me and lemonade for him ... nice!

Reeny

Thank you for your support, DarkDays. In my first few months, I'd look longingly at the long-term forums and wonder if I'd make it that long. Getting towards 6 months but still having days where I feel on skid row.

Have a great trip, L2H. 0 degrees C here on the way to work - way too cold for camping!

A career change might be something to angle for further down the track, Carlotta...

dorothyparker

Hurray, I found you guys. Usually I'm lost between the part 5 thread and the 7 one left on my browser's history.

I didn't want to stray too far after my party last night. Outdoor in the country with a BBQ. EVERYBODY was drinking like there was no tomorrow. And apart from one person whom I clearly recognised as alcoholic, everybody seemed to handle booze and pot really well, all the way into the wee hours with the sky bright from the amazing supermoon. Everyone was a "normal" drinker.

I said booze didn't agree with me and my friend said: yes and wouldn't expand saying I knew very well how I became under the influence but I wanted to hear it. She said I became really nasty and argumentative.

PFFF.., that's a lot of negative comments from friends in a few days. First, I'm crazy, second I'm nasty. Now the really stupid thing is it makes me feel like saying F..k all, I'm just going to drink into oblivion on my own. I KNOW I should feel grateful and the opposite, "see now, how nice and proper I've become...?" but no, the rebel in me just wants to drink until I collapse.

Yesterday was hard and I'm sober and back home thank god, and fine. But I so so so feel like stopping to the shop for a chilled bottle of white wine.

Are relapses made of these black thoughts ? Probably...So Reeny, Pianowoman, and everyone else who is having a hard time these days, I think we should remember that to create a life we love living, we have to choose sobriety. If all these awful feelings about ourselves, about life brought us to drinking, then it,s logical that stopping drinking will bring us back to these awful feelings. A perfect time and place to make peace with them...


Have a great Monday.