A tip I read on another thread and save you money. Ask the hotel management to remove all alcohol from your fridge before you check in. Do it for all your hotels.

You can do it Lillian. Think of how strong you will feel after getting through it!

Lilian, you can do it! Don't pick up the first drink!

GUYS. I DID IT. I did the one thing I had been too afraid of doing and the thing I hadn't mentioned to our group. I had an unopened bottle of Shiraz in the house, just for me. It was given to me as a gift right before I decided to quit. I hadn't been able to get rid of it. It had been staring me in the face every day. I was too scared....I needed that bottle of wine around because even though I committed to today, tomorrow wasn't here yet.....
I had a stressful afternoon. Instead of wanting to drink it made me just want to throw the stupid bottle out. I chucked it into the garbage can which is being picked up tomorrow. Didn't even pour it out because I didn't want to smell it or see it.

I think about all of the beautiful wine glasses I bought recently and I feel so triggered. I LOVED drinking from those glasses. I think about those glasses and every cell in me goes WHAT THE EFF ARE YOU DOING?! I feel scared and uncomfortable. But I still threw that bottle away.

I am going to say goodnight. Turning in early to try to kick this bug. My daughter pressed my buttons tonight, getting very upset with me for not going to her school night thing, to see her teachers. I was simply too sick, blowing my nose every 3 minutes. I would not want to be near me. I understand she was disappointed, but I apologized and explained, and she would not drop it.

Had I not been unwell, which is making it very easy to not drink, it is just the thing that makes me crave one! Kid hysterics.

Renarde, is it too much of a trigger to use those pretty glasses for mineral water or such? I do. I enjoy a pretty glass. But for some, it makes them want the real deal.

Sleep well Rochele. You had to take care of yourself. Like you said, most grownups do not want other sick grownups coming up to them and shaking their hand!

And we do not even get to shake their hand! We sit in the class, and they talk for 10 minutes and we go on to the next class. Nothing personal. She will have conferences in a month or so. We will meet them then.

They do have alcohol free wines. I wonder if that's too close to the real thing?

Does not sound like a good idea.

I know, I am thinking the same. Too risky right now. I'll just keep them hidden in the cubbard. Maybe I won't even unpack them after we move.

They are awful. Hubby got me a bottle once when pregnant. It was not good. I did not want to drink then anyway, but he was trying to be nice. Got me a few NA beers too, but they do have like, 1% in them. I think it is too close to the real thing, and would not have them. I also do not like them, anyway.

Okay, goodnight for real this time.

:scoregood:dance4: woohoo renard you rock...
as for those lovely wine glasses, don't you know they're not wine glasses anymore? they are glasses for what ever kind of non alcoholic drink you want to put in them.......hell eat your yoghurt out of them if you want. They're not drink specific anymore.....
Anyway just wanted to say I'm proud of ya!! xo

Hmmm I didn't think of it being a trigger, ex beer drinker here. Maybe packed away is best.

Sudoku is a great way to get your mind off of things or if you're really bored you can start playing candy crush that will waste all your time

AWESOME !! :c011: Your knuckles deserve to be bronzed ;)

Good luck I have the same triggers I travel also. I took a red eye to Cincinnati Tuesday morning I wanted a Bloody Mary so bad...

BTW non-alcohlic beer does have a "minute" bit of alcohol...since I hate beer in the first place, my "drinking"friends were a little surprised that I was at all interested...

Hmmm. We are not the same as "them" LOL.

I am joining you. Day 1 for me. Not my first of course :)

Thank you guys so much. I really appreciate the pats on the back and input.

I am feeling really depressed tonight. I am revealing a bit more about my life because I really need the support. My family situation feels so out of control. My husband went to therapy tonight. Both the therapist and our MD now feel that husband needs to be on a daily dose of xanax in addition to the antidepressant. this really concerns me. He has lost almost 10 lbs in less than 10 days, isn't eating or sleeping. I just do not understand this. I feel so bewildered.

We are movign in less than 2 weeks and he said he would pack everything. Nothing is packed! Not sure what we are going to do.

Even worse, I think my child is absorbing his anxiety. Today at school baby was disruptive, pushed other children, and even hit a substitute teacher, and cried for mommy. Wtf? I am completely shocked because this is not normal behavior. Baby needs me and misses me and i cannot be there. The "work" I talk about all the time is actually an academic program that is very elite and one of the highest ranked in the nation for my field. It is totally all consuming and the chance to be in my shoes is one that most people cannot even dream of. We committed to this and now just a few months into it my husband is having this complete meltdown at the pinnacle of academic intensity in my program - when I need him to be keeping things together at home and taking on much of the parenting right now. I have zero options, zero flexibility with the pace, schedule, and intensity of the program. I feel like I am abandoning my child and my husband has completely disappeared into a different person. I feel sad about my husband, disappointed in him, and resentful of the position I am now in. I feel so guilty about my baby's day at school.
I have been very tempted to drink just to escape all of this tonight.

Renarde, it sounds you are going through a lot :-( Way to go for powering through and doing something good with your frustration (throwing out that bottle). Does your husband have a history of anxiety/depression? Maybe a new medication will help?