Just checking in after a sunny holiday without alcohol. Italy is a bit limited for soft drinks - I've drunk gallons of fizzy water but my proudest moment was refusing a free glass of prosecco. 66 days, It doesn't seem real but it feels great. If I wake up with a headache it goes within minutes, I have started to loose weight which is good and the sobriety facial works better than any other treatment I've tried.
It was great to catch up on how well everyone is doing and how supportive the group is. It is great not feeling alone in this.

Day 16 here. Had my 3rd group treatment today and I love it! I met s wonderfully sassy lady that I can really identify with. I take a county job exam tomorrow then its back to treatment Friday. Then ill get a head start on homework this weekend.

SoberMarathon, congratulations on your 31 days and bringing everything out in the open.

Mustdoit, not sure I could go to Italy and not drink, I am impressed.

LiveLikeGold6, so glad you are enjoying your therapy and keeping busy.

To anyone I have missed, great job and cheers to being sober.

Day 27 and not so great. Work is so stressful and I can't seem to get myself to make the time to exercise except on the weekends. I still want to drink so badly at the end of the day and then I eat too much which does curb the cravings but there still seems to be this hole inside me that just wants beer or wine. I have so much I could do, yet I"m lazy and bored. I guess I just feel like I don't know what to do with myself. Besides drink. I'm not going to tonight, but I hope this is just a one day mood because I"m afraid that in the back of my mind I"m planning to drink this weekend. Saturday will be day 30. I don't want to ruin all this hard work. Things will get better, I just need to keep telling myself that.
Great job everybody. Livelikegold, therapy is awesome. Maybe that is what I need.

Fabl

I can't begin to know the stress you're dealing with, but I do get the feeling of being lazy, bored, not knowing what to do. I've done nothing all day, except read a book which is depressing me further (the empty room by Lauren b Davis ) about a lonely alcoholic woman about my age. I fear being alone for the rest of my life, but at the very least, I want to have some pride in myself, not try to drink away my sorrow, age myself even quicker.

Just a bad couple of days for me after a fun weekend.
Tomorrow I have a yoga class, that will help.

I'd recommend yoga to you, if you can't get to a class, you can get DVDs from your library no doubt. Also, I find listening to tibetan bowl meditation music (lots on youtube) is soothing.

But sometimes we just have a bad day or run of bad days, and all we can do is hope the next day will bring something better. Whereas, if we drink, the outcome of the next day is assured, and it ain't pretty.

Try not to think about the weekend, almost at 30, and beyond!
Take care.

Forabetterlife, sounds like youve got to surround yourself with positive thinking and people. I hear u so much on the lazy and bored part. But I did learn that an alcoholic on his or her own is in bad company. Exercise is a good idea as it will lift your mood. Whatever you do do something. You will make it to 30 days!

Thank you both so much! I do know that exercise is key for improving my mood. And I guess at this stage of sobriety laziness and boredom just might come with the territory.

As for being with positive people, I have little or no social life. Not that I don't have friends, I do, but the friends I have where I live here are mostly co-workers or mothers of my kids friends and we rarely get together socially. My closest friends live in my hometown back up north, where I wish I still lived. My best friend for 30 years died from cancer this summer and I don't think I have fully accepted or dealt with that either. She is always in the back of my mind and I could cry at any given moment about it if I let myself think about her enough.

Anyway, as a mother and a teacher, I spend 90% of my time with children! Or alone. I interact with my co-workers of course, but it's different. Anyway, yes, I'm lonely too!

Sorry to go on and on about myself. Looking forward to escaping into sleep :(

Hi everyone!

Ending Day 13 and feeling pretty good. Went to the gym this morning and then packed a picnic lunch and took my daughter to her favorite park. I am finding that on nice days I need to get out of the house. When I am home I tend to think about drinking more and I get lethargic and moody. Not getting any housework done, but that can wait for a rainy day, I guess.

FABL - hang in there, you are doing great. I can relate to how you are feeling, but you will regret it so much if you give in. Trust me, after my slip at 48 days (and other slips) I felt awful about myself and it just wasn't worth that night of drinks that made me feel like crap. 30 days is huge, you can do this!

Hope everyone is doing well tonight. (((HUGS))) to all :)

Well, day 19 is drawing to a close. Gee, getting close to 3 weeks now.
First week went by so slow. Now the days seem to go by so much better.
Getting so a lot done around the yard. Stacked a cord of wood after work today.

Well reaching the end of day 25. Left work early to get a leaky tire fixed. Then on to what truly could drive a person to drink - checking in on my Grandmother. I do this every other Wednesday to help her write out checks for bills, take laundry home to do, general welfare check etc. Sounds sweet, right, and aren't I a nice granddaughter. Well no....in all honesty my grandmother is a crazy, selfish, manipulative, habitual liar (tell us how you really feel, NCG!) I stop by only because I believe my mother - who used to do this - would have asked me to if she'd had a chance to before she passed away in 2007. My mom used to go every week. I did too at first, but eventually I had to limit it to every other week because I was tired of dealing with someone who would look me in the face and lie to me every week.

And no it's not alzheimers or dementia. She's been this way forever.

But enough about my Grandma - I could go on and on with stories about her crazy ways! I'm home now, the cats are fed, and I've got dvr'd Top Chef Masters on the tv. Orange soda in hand. Still sober even after a very trying visit with Grandma. Sigh. And yay!

Keep up the good work everyone!

Idk about granny but that soda dvr n cats fed deal sounds fab lol.

Goodnight all.

Day 33 for me. Learning to live a new life.

Hi everyone....Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for your support yesterday. It was just a day, and today is a new one, thankfully! I didn't drink, thank goodness. I'm sorry for my pity party, I think I need to leave that stuff for my journal :)

NorCal- you are a good grandaughter, and a wonderful daughter for doing what you know your mother would have wanted.

Yoohoo- 33 days is awesome! And that really what all of this is about, learning to live a new life. Responding to life's highs and lows and everyday feelings, good or bad, without alcohol. It's tough at that trying moments, but once we get through them, so very worth it. To me, it's real living.

Have a wonderful day everyone. I don't know about you, but I cannot wait for the weekend! (not to drink of course :) )

Thank you FABL. I definitely don't have any joy in my heart when dealing with my grandma. But I am really good at setting boundaries with her and calling her on her bs. And I don't go back for two weeks!

On day 26. Keep on keeping on Class of July!

Day 27 is done. I worked lunch and dinner and both shifts stunk. We were busy and our kitchen just did a lousy job all day. Been in the restaurant business a long time and that's going to happen sometimes but it doesn't make it any less stressful when it does. Still didn't think about drinking, which is amazing, since an after-work drink or ten on days like that was my norm for a long, long time. Who am I kidding? It was my norm almost every day, the work problems just gave me a different reason to drink in the past. But like I said, I didn't even have any thoughts of drinking. I was just ready to go home and crawl into bed. Anyways, I didn't get home until around 10:30 last night and immediately crashed until my dad's dumb dog woke me up just now.

Day 28 starts now. I'm off work. Hooray! It's my belly button birthday. No plans besides having lunch with my family today. Going to babysit my nephew this evening and over night. My birthday has never been a big drinking day for me, why should it have been since I drank EVERY day? But watching him will keep me from even beginning to have any thoughts of imbibing. Hope every one has a great and sober day!

Happy Birthday Casey!

Casey

Happy Birthday!!

Hope you have a good day!

Happy birthday, Casey, you have given yourself the best gift of all...sobriety.

Happy Birthday Casey!! Hope you enjoy your day :)

Day 14 and had a slight craving earlier today, but it has passed. Another beautiful, low-humidity day here. For some reason this kind of weather is a trigger. Guess it reminds me of the days I used to sit out at outdoor restaurants for lunch/drinks? Instead I took my daughter to a dentist appt (ugh) and then to a local amusement park we have a season pass for. Think I really tired her out (combination of the traumatic dentist appt and being in sun all day) ;) So, home now and preparing for my cranky time of the day (4pm) :( Oh how I would love to sit out in the sun on our back patio with a bottle of cold wine :headbange Won't do it though because it won't be worth it.

Hope everyone else is enjoying their day. We are all doing great :)

Happy Birthday Casey:-) All the best and congratulations on continued sobriety!