Thanks - I've just looked it up. Scary.

I see there's a lot of talk of Christmas party's at the moment.
I suppose I'm lucky, as I have no desire to attend a works night out. I can't imagine anything worse than hanging around watching them all get drunk.

Christmas is a different kettle of fish! I've had a few invites out, as my family are too far away to visit for only a few days. But I'm just going to spend it on own and I'm actually looking forward to it. A long lie in, maybe a jog, do my yoga and possibly some DIY if the weathers not too bad. I am doing the works for my dinner though, as I do like to cook!

Over 4 weeks now. Sleeping quite well, still tired on an afternoon and a thick head on a morning. But I can see the benefits. And it's moments like now, I've just had a curry for tea and I would usually wash it down with a bottle of red, but not tonight. I'm having cranberry juice mixed with tonic water and lime juice. And I'm really enjoying drinking tea on an evening now, rather than coffee, weird how something's change!

Keep up the good work everyone, I'm talking in terms of weeks now, rather than days, as I'm passed a month.

Day 23 coming to a close.

I'm nowhere near being out of the woods yet but, for those of you on the first few days, I can honestly say that the cravings get less intense with time so give those first few days all you've got.

Overdid the caffeine today so feeling jittery and anxious tonight, need to keep that in check.

I'm looking forward to this week so I can just get Christmas Day over with!

After that I've booked a few days away so then I can escape and relax :D

Hi all. My last drink was Nov 30. I just reconnected with SR yesterday and wanted to get hooked up with the Class of Dec 2013.

Welcome Henry :)

VickyLou, having a spouse that drinks is difficult but it needn't be a deal breaker.

Many folks here on SR have drinking spouses and stay sober :)

what other people do, even your husband, is immaterial - do whats right for you - Aand remember you have a ton of support here. Post here before you drink :)

There's a lot of support available in the real world too, if you want to go that route.

Day 5, yay! I feel better today.

Day 5 begins. I feel like I've been drinking and smoking a pack cigarettes last night (despite have being clean). Strange these phantom hangovers. Anyway, it is usually gone after a few hours. No social stuff happening today, just a normal monday, so not much temptation to worry about.
Good luck everyone.

Hope everyones doing well :)

I'll be away for a day or so but I should be back for most people Christmasses.

I hope everyone has a good run up to Xmas - merry Christmas to all those in the Pacific time zone :)

D

Checking in. Day 10. Happy Monday everyone!

Today is my day 1. I want to stay sober. Noone else here drinks, I do it in secret. I find an excuse to drive to the city, buy a bottle of strong alcohol and then I drink it in the bedroom where nobody can see. I feel really stupid. My husband doesn't drink and I just keep thinking that what is wrong with me. I'm a woman, why can't I stop.

Welcome muhv - there's a lot of support and encouragement here :)
D

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to join the Class of December 2013. My quit date is 12/13/13, so it's been 10 days sober for me. I've been a member of SR for awhile now, but mainly a lurker. I'm going to try to be more active this time around. I could use the support and would like to help others as well. So grateful for this website!!

I'm struggling through the holidays. There's just so much added stress at this time of year! But, I believe I'm going to make it and I'm really looking forward to the new year.

SC

Welcome to the new joiners, since Thursday! Day 8 for me. Doing well but could still use a good night sleep. I am beginning to realize that drinking was definitely for a release of stress and sometimes to help me sleep. So looking forward to a really good night sleep one day soon!

Went to the liquor store yesterday to buy spirits/alcohol for family visiting. It was very interesting buying alcohol for everyone else except me. I was good with it but felt odd to not buy a bottle or two of vino.

My husband told me the other day that he is not drinking, in support of me, and in fact, when our middle daughter asked him what we like to drink (prior to her coming to visit)
he told her, "we don't drink". I could tell that she asked 'since when' and he simply said, 'oh for a long time now' (I was sooo grateful that he didn't say something to her about my drinking - he has a bad habit of telling the girls waaaay too much information). I would have been horrified if he told the girls that I had a drinking problem. I am fine with not drinking but definitely NOT prepared to tell everyone that I was drinking too much.

Question for you: Do you think it is important or necessary to tell family and friends, if you have a drinking problem? Do you think you should say something before, during, or after recovery?

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone, Happy New Year as well.

Good Morning Everyone -

Today is a tough day for me. My husband is at work and there's an itch to go to the liquor store, 'no one will know...' I can hang out alone and drink all day...Right? Wrong. Its gross and I know what will become of this. But its crossed my mind no doubt. Instead, my daughter and I are going to go out and run errands and get out of the house. This week will be tough though... being home alone during the day...just a huge trigger for me. I can totally understand how stay at home moms put wine in their coffee cups in the morning.... its a slippery slope no doubt.

A dear friend called to chat and told me about her Saturday where she spent the day at a Ritzy hotel drinking all day with a something we used to do. She told me how after a few hours things went sour and turned into a fight with her husband... oh yes. I know these days. We used to park it at the same hotel when we lived in the same city and a few mimosas would turn into wine... brunch into lunch into snacks.. into 'don't drive home...' and a drunken walk to my apartment, stopping by the 7-11 for another bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes... I have to remind myself how those days turned out for me and that's just not an option... but there's that knee jerk reaction... 'oh those days were so fun!' When the reality was they weren't fun.

All this on a Monday?! S@$%, this week is going to get easier right?

On day 3.

Took the family to dinner (no wine) and to see Saving Mr. Banks yesterday.

Great movie showing how alcohol destroyed a family and scarred the kids for life.

Hello everyone. I am starting my day 7. I like how my head doesn't hurt in the morning. I'm having a little bit of a time falling asleep at night and then sleeping in some. At least I can do that right now. I am also feeling anxiety in a mild but noticeable presence. I'm hanging in there though. My skin already looks more alive. I hope everyone is doing well.

Hi Wishes. I can relate to the sleeping issues. I am day 8 and still not sleeping through the night (trouble falling asleep and staying asleep). I hope you find sleep soon!

BlueSkies, I think this depends. You might be surprised at the support if you do but it can also be a very personal thing. For me, I would not tell my mother but I would tell my brother for example. My thoughts are that it depends on the family members. This is a great question! I sat here thinking about it and grew some from it. Sometimes it is "none of your business" and sometimes it's "this is who I am." When we get better at this we will most likely share more. How is that for a non answer from a non expert? :-)

Welcome SisterChristian :)

Blue Skies I told everyone I'd quit - but I was a very public drunk. If I had to do it again (God forbid) I'd probably keep it on a need to know basis.

Most people don't need to know anything beyond 'no thanks, I don't drink/don;t drink anymore'.

As wishes says, with family and those closest to us, it's an individual decision....you have to weight up things like how much that would help you against how mucj it might not help, or hurt them.

and,...with that - I'm off to brave my own family lol.

see you in a few, gang :)

D

Checking in if I may. Day 5 has just come to an end and as I'm about to hit the hardest few days of the year for me it will be good to be amongst likeminded people!