melissa6381

Hey just popping in to say hi and see how everyone's doing, xo- M

Dee74

hi Mel

D

venuscat

Hi love. Good to see you. ♥♥

SereneEdition

Hi all -

Good catch V. Yes, my date is Jan 17, not Feb. durrr. That wasn't just a typo either - I had Feb incorrectly logged in my mind. Oh my brain, you're so tricksi!

And congrats to you V on 10 months going on 11! How are you feeling right now?

A big hello to Mel & Dee too! I bet baby was a hit at the wedding. How was his sleep schedule with the time change?

Update on me: I just did a week of live aboard sailing and I got my 'sailing license.' Not much internet and even less wind, so we are heading back next week to do another week of practice. It is one of my fantasies to be able to do a sailing week with friends, so this was the first step.

Turns out that a week on a boat w/o a fridge and eating dinner meals out and little exercise b/c you're in a tiny space is not a great recipe for working on lifestyle changes around the weight, though. It's kinda like going car camping that way.

I am still looking forward to putting my energy into my weight and hope that we will go sit on a beach for a week before we head to Asia Oct 5th - starting with Indonesia.

Off to bed. Night Night everyone!

SereneEdition

Oh, and foot is finally starting to get back to active and weight bearing again at about 80%

melissa6381

Hey serene, glad to hear your foot is feeling better and that you are living out one of your dreams. One of my girlfriends lives on a sail boat- they really are beautiful, I would totally have sailed more often with her if it didn't make me so seasick!

Are you headed to Thailand or Cambodia? I spent five weeks there in 2010, it's really amazing. Is your fiancée still traveling with you? I hope you continue to have an amazing time!

Baby didn't take well to the time change at all, his schedule I had in place is still off, but he's also changing so much right now so who knows. That being said he was sooooo good the whole trip. Everyone keeps telling me he's the most relaxed baby they've ever seen. He's very go with the flow, I'm one lucky mama xo, M

SereneEdition

Hi all!

Happy 11 months V & early congrats on this milestone!!!!! I was really looking forward to messaging you on the 27th, but I anticipate no internet in the backwoods of Albania. Still, I'll be thinking of you. How is your recovery feeling?

Mel - Very glad to hear that his nature is mellow. It also sounds like you're comfortable adjusted to being a mom despite all the ongoing changes and hard work. Congrats to you to!

Gosh we've each gone through some big changes this year.....

Dee - I'm less aware of what is going on in your life, but I hope your health is well. Long overdue, but I think Scott is doing a bang up job as a moderator on newcomers. You, Ann, and Scott work well together as a team to cover the various view points and approaches that will resonate.

Yes, fiance and I are still traveling. He just hit 3 months and is getting a bit homesick. It is easy for me to forget that this type of travel is outside of his comfort zone and makes grateful he is willing to do it with me. After discussion, he's starting to get itchy to start the next phase in his life, so he will likely pull off early to do a 2 month intensive coding school. I definitely have 2 months worth of places to visit that he has no interest in, so it is all coming together. Cambodia and Thailand look amazing!!! We're saving SE Asia for the last part of our trip b/c together we think we'll enjoy it the most.

We wrapped up our 2nd week of sailing last week in Croatia with the strongest winds of the season - sustained 30mph with gusts up to 50. It was trying for the seasoned sailors, so I'm feeling much more confident with my skill level. Currently in Montenegro in thunderstorms. Yesterday we went to a rain forest high in the hills and got chantrells, and now we are cooking up yummy mushrooms. We head to Albania next, and then fly out of Macedonia to Jakarta Oct 5th.

Dee74

I'm fine thanks SE - sounds like you're having a great time

D

SereneEdition

Also, things are good on the recovery front right now.

The slavic countries tend to have stinky older men who sweat out alcohol. There is at least 1 -2 on every bus. I know full well that that used to be me, and I'm grateful that it isn't. While not enjoyable, it is a reminder...

So far we've managed to stay out of the areas in the news with the refugee crisis at the problem time. The closest was leaving Budapest 2 days before the train station shut down.

Hugs!!!!

SereneEdition

Good news. Fantail is here with 72 days sober and is posting on the Jul 15 class thread. She sounds well.

SereneEdition

Happy to report that men's track suits are still at the height of fashion here in Albania

venuscat

Wow Serene, it all sounds so wonderful. Hopefully there will be pictures at some point.

And thank you for the Congrats. My recovery. Hmm. All I keep thinking is that it's the only reason I have survived this year. So that's what it is for me right now, it's my lifeline. I don't know what my future holds right now other than that.

And yes, it's awesome news abut fantail...I did a huge happy dance in my October class thread when she messaged me last month...we all need to sit down with a cuppa and catch up. Now wouldn't that be the best?

fantail

Hello!! Wehav2day stopped by the July 15 thread and it reminded me to come hunt you all down.

Serene sounds like an amazing trip!! I haven't been to Indonesia but it looms large on my travel to do list. I have many friends who've spent time there and I've heard the most wonderful things.

Venus, I hope you're feeling better. I need to say hello in October as well! Although that resurfacing was kind of brief, sigh. So I don't remember everyone nearly as well as the Febs.

So yes, 76 days now for me. Going to make it for real this time. I "came out" to my family, went to rehab, and moved in with my mother for a few months in Philadelphia (til the end of the year at least, then I'll decide whether to move here or head back to California). I'm doing AA... the rehab made me do the steps and go to meetings every night, so by the end of that I was like OK, I'll go to some meetings. Found one I really like so that's good. Good people who I enjoy grabbing coffee with, and no one pushing too hard on the God stuff or the slogans. I'm on SR pretty much daily. And I'm on a good start professionally at building my own business as a marketing/communications consultant. I think I'm better, avoiding-relapse-wise, at the stress of an inconsistent paycheck than I am at the stress of feeling trapped in inflexible work.

So yeah. It's big, and it's not been great... I really wish I'd just stayed freaking sober since Feb. 13, I really did not need those 2 years of relapsing. But this is the longest I've made it since then, and I feel like I'm doing everything I need to to make it this time.

Big hugs!

venuscat

I hear you fantail...I wish I hadn't relapsed last year either. But it is what it is, and we get to choose to take strength from our struggles. And that's empowering.

The job thing sounds good for you love; I wish you all the best with it.

And day 76 is awesome, and so is the AA commitment. And your mum and family sound amazing. Proud of you fantail!!! ♥

SereneEdition

Day 80?!!!! Congrats fantail!

Wonderful to hear that you are well and that you have a good support routine in place. My sister's main tool is AA, also because she started in rehab, and she is not into God in the least bit. She's met a lot of good friends that way and it's her 'go to' when she needs it. Glad to hear that it is working for you too!

I hear you on wanting to stay stopped. My first stint at sobriety was at 25 and I REALLY wish I had those 8 year back. I think all those attempts helped me to stay stopped this last time - my brain just had run out of tricks

V - I'm glad you know what you're lifeline is and that you've got a hold of it with both hands. Congrats again to you for your strength.

RE: pictures - yes you guys read my mind. I can't figure out how to upload photos here, but this blog has photos from the itinerary we've been doing in Albania. I'm enjoying this country quite a bit and I wish I would have scheduled more time to do the highlands.

Ok, off to bed. Sleep well everyone!

link - this blog has photos from the itinerary we've been doing in Albania. I'm enjoying this country quite a bit and I wish I would have scheduled more time to do the highlands.

http://www.rearviewmirror.tv/albania/"]link[/URL]

SereneEdition

Ha, ok, I am about to faceplant and can't seem to even do links in my tiredness. durr.....

if you copy the link address at the bottom and paste it into a url, it should show you some photos

venuscat

Those pictures are amazing Serene. I don't think I know anyone else who has been to Albania, and now I wonder why. Wow. It looks like somewhere you'd never want to leave.

Enjoy love. ♥

wehav2day

Wow, sorry I missed the memo on your 11 months v!! Happy 11 months!!!! Awesome!

Fantail, it was a little birdie called SE who told us you were back. that's awesome you went to rehab and are taking care of yourself! Don't beat yourself up about the last two years, you just weren't ready to go all in with sobriety. It took me forever. I released too, before I joined this group I had been class of May 2012. I would have had almost 3.5 years if not for a three month hiccup a while back. You deserve a ton of respect for coming back and staying back!

My
A in objections with the god thing fixed themselves pretty much before I got sober. Mine were based on being wounded, when I got down to it. I felt very scarred and hurt and I think somewhere I wondered how a loving god could let that happen. But then I realized this is a big world and it's not all about me.

I don't think it's important for a person to believe in god for aa to work. We have to believe there's other stuff in the world bigger than us. It's often hard for us alkies to let to of that for some reason.

I also had to get through the gay thing , I decided that people who hate me don't hold all the cards when it comes to god. God and I are good, they can think whatever they like. I do find comfort in believing in god, but that's not everybody's thing. I don't think it should be a stumbling block on working a program.

Wow that was a bit stream of consciousness! Lol. Take it or leave it, sure wasn't meant to be preachy.

Have a good night ladies!!

fantail

Not preachy at all, wehav! Thank you for sharing that perspective. I've been doing a LOT of spiritual thinking lately and really like hearing other people's stories on that front. The rehab was 12-step based and so some of the staff were really adamant about a one-size-fits-all-or-you-die-drunk spirituality, so I poured a ton of honest effort into thinking more concretely than ever about what I believe. It's lead me to try a bunch of new things, like Quaker meetings, and get into some of my older stuff, like meditation. But I did discover that one belief that I have that is rock solid is that any higher power is not personified and does not intervene directly in people's lives. I'm still working out what the relationship is in my view, but I know that my heart is 100% set on that one point. And it was such a relief to find an AA meeting where people don't just push the same god on everyone. There are two I go to now, and at both of them people really talk -- it's not formulaic, it's often surprising, and when faith does come in it comes in richly and with variety and respect. For the first time I understand how incredibly wonderful it can feel to be surrounded by other people who've gone through this . These meetings feel more like in-person-SR than the other AA meetings I've been to. I like being able to hear different people talk about different existential experiences, and being able to talk about mine without fear that someone's going to grab me and tell me that I'm a dry drunk unless I pray every day.

OK oops that was very long.

fantail

Oh, and thanks Serene for finding me again.