MarathonMan

Good morning everyone....congratulations all those that made it through Thanksgiving sober, I know those big family meet ups where all the family drink can be amazingly tough.....they can be a bunch of people incredibly hard to lie to but also incredibly hard to tell the truth to. In a month you can do it all over for Xmas, luckily for me I've now confessed why I'm not drinking and all agree with my decision so there will hopefully be very little pressure.

Looking forward to a sober weekend, I'm having my nephew over for the weekend so we're going to decorate our tree and put the lights up all around the house. We now have a 9ft xmas tree which reaches all the way to the ceiling so it looks pretty special when it's all decorated.

For everyone struggling over this period, hold on and if you make it through that sense of achievement will go a long way to building some serious sober muscles.

Day 15 for me and onto my 3rd weekend sober...good luck to us all.

Erratic

Thanks gypsy for the mention. I should of updated last night saying that my daughter didn't want to go to hospital for her endoscope as she was scared. So we had to cancel. So just have to figure out what to do now. Well done to all above! Im not like gypsy as she seems to be able to remember everyone's names me I forget what I read soon as I hit next sentence lol. Oh and I'm on the SR. App as my daughter has my laptop grr lol Hope u all have another good day
Doh I forgot its day 31 for me.

Deleteda

Josharon let us know how you got on!! X I was wondering how she got on too Gypsy, hope your foot is healing up nicely and you enjoy your vegan (cool) meal today
Congratulations Erratic 31 days is awesome you are doing great staying sober when you've got family stress to deal with, hope your daughter is ok
Marathon Man ypu are doing great and sounding strong, I agree on the sobriety muscles and Thanksgiving must be an extreme workout to get through so fantastic job everyone who got through and if you slipped just start again today come right back here and post!
Day 27 and feeling very strong. Peace X

Magellan

Happy Day After Thanksgiving! It was a great day, enjoyed it all, the AV started on me after everyone had left and we had finished cleaning up. The AV started with the usual argument..."Great Job you deserve a glass of wine" - responded with "that is all you have pal?" - "why exactly do you want to give it up?" - "everyone brought lots of your favorite beer, just have one"..."don't drink beer late, it will wreck my stomach".. "There is a 1/2 bottle of Santa Marg in the frig, why not just finish that and call it a night?".... I thought about this one a long time, really couldn't hurt, that is really just 1 glass, then the AV followed up with "it is the end of Nov, just start on Monday Dec 1, you can finish what is left in the house and have a GREAT weekend with me (the AV)" The AV landed the one, two punch...I admit I was staggering and the third punch came when my wife walked into the living room with a glass....I really thought I was done, I was like Bruce the Shark from Finding Nemo..."I'm having fish (wine) tonight"), but my daughters saved me, they had me get the Christmas movies out and picked out Rudolph, I stepped back and said if I still want it after Rudolph I'll have it, well that was enough for the Sober Voice to come back...AVRA (thank you) "No one ever wishes they had a drink the night before", The holidays will be a new experience...sober, me & the Girls with Friday activities while my wife shops would be crazy - you know you can't just have one, nothing good comes from alcohol, etc. etc. - my sanity took control and the beast was defeated. Sorry for ramble but I was so committed coming into the week-end and I still needed to fight it and now I am stronger.
Congrats ANEWDAYNYC! - it will be a great Friday. Peace, MM Erractic Gypsy - you are all doing great! Gypsy, have a great day today!
Gypsy - I kind of let the boat dock, by telling everyone to bring what they want to drink, I had a few six packs and wine in the house but then everyone took that to heart and it was almost biblical, I have like 4-5 times more beer and wine in the house then when the night started. I asked all to take it when they left but no one did....I know what to do with it

beach20

I watched this documentary on Netflix instead of drinking on my day 2.
Now it is Day 3 and I am not craving but I am needing to be on SR to make sure that this day is another reprieve. Go class of Nov 2014!

Judas

Checking in on day six. I feel pretty good, the weekends are always the worst for me. Participated in an online meeting yesterday and I really got a lot from that. I think I'll keep on doing them whenever they're available. All in all though, I feel pretty positive and committed to my sobriety. Have a great day everyone.

BernieE

30 days today! woohoo! I'm ready for ya, December!

TXAlchy2

One holiday down, one to go.

Glad you've been able to open up MM.

Way to fight off the AV Magellan.

Glad to be headache free today and mentally present.

GroundhogDay

I had 1.5 glasses of wine with Thanksgiving dinner. Didn't have the heart to post it last night with everyone doing so well.

Jsbodhi

Morning Everyone!
Starting day 4. This is my danger area, day 4-6. But I'm so busy today I don't think I'll have time to drink anyway , working 10- midnight, and a class in there too, I've actually been dreading this long day all week
But, congratulations to everyone that made it sober through the holidays xoxo.
And for those who didn't, I hope you pick up where you left off sober. The show must go on!!!

gypsytears

Aww sorry your daughter was scared. Hospitals are pretty scary sometimes, even for adults! My oldest daughter was born with a birth defect so unfortunately she's used to hospital stuff... Which was actually very comforting for us both while I had my surgery, as she was a good companion . Now, my 14 year old son had to have an endoscopy in June for celiac diagnosis (still don't have a definitive answer)... He was scared. This child of mine has never been in the hospital thank God so it was all new, and he was nervous to say the least! I hope your daughter is okay in either case.

Oh and thank you but, I'm really not so great at remembering names lol. My kids would laugh at that since I mix them up all the time... I just call them all honey .


Woohoo on day 31 . Stay vigilent!

* I find long busy days the easiest to get through jsbodhi. Sucks that they're long of course, but busy is good!!! Power through it!!!

* Hi Bernie... Fantastic!

* Forums & online access help me so much. I started watching The Anonymous People, will have to go back and finish. Thanks for the recommendation Beach. How did you find an online meeting judas? On SR?

* MM, TX sounding good, strong!

* Knowing what to do is 1/2 the battle Magellan. Doing it, the other .

* My 14 year old son is taking care of the turkey and supervising my 16 year old son downstairs with dinner prep. I'm happy, drinking coffee on my bed avoiding all of that lol. I'll have to drag myself down soon to check on them but so far so good. I'm a happy proud mom.


* Awesome to have a vegan friend Peace! I tried going raw over the summer. Loved it! But sumner is easy when veggies are in season.

* groundhog . I'm glad you're here. Welcome back. Still class of November.

Kensho

Don’t beat up on yourself. I had it pretty easy: we had dinner at my wife’s daughter’s place, and no one was drinking (maybe partly for my benefit). Had I had 1 ½ glasses of wine, I would have had a lot more on top of it. I’m not saying that means you can do that makes it safe for you (only you know that); just saying it could’ve been worse—and for me, would have been.

By the way, Ground Hog Day is one of my favorite films of all time—not just the great comedy, but because it expresses some deep philosophy (which Murray knew, I think): The chronic nihilist (Murray) gets stuck in the “eternal recurrence of the same”, panics, then falls prey to acute nihilism (e.g., the suicide attempts), and ego inflation (“I’m god—well, not the god, but a god”), then finds amor fati—“love of fate”, the ability to embrace his fate, and pursue a flourishing life anyway . . . That’s part of it, anyway.

So, your avatar makes me think: maybe part of my “eternal recurrence” is alcoholism—both the drinking itself, and whatever are the underlying causes: neurology, psychology, etc. And the AA 1st Step is just about my acknowledging and embracing that “fate”, and perhaps that very fate—unwanted to be sure—is what might lead me to a more flourishing life (in sobriety) than I might have had otherwise. It certainly is making me dig deeper into my own spiritual path.

That might be a bit convoluted—and is my long-winded way of saying, Thanks for being here.

Be well.

andyroo72

Good morning. Day 13 here, but it's going to be lucky. Not much else to say.

GroundhogDay: It's a bummer about the slip, but it's great it didn't lead to anything worse. I'm not sure whether I could have done that. Take care.

Avra

Hi all, just checking in wuick to say i am still around. Have guests here and busy this week. Will pop in again as i can. Still sober!

GroundhogDay

Yeah, part of the problem is that I am not beating myself up for it. I think that I drank appropriately yesterday. 1.5 glasses of wine over the course of a large meal that lasts a couple of hours is "normal." I just don't want for it to lead to me thinking "oh, I can moderate like that any time I want."

The reality is that I was splitting the bottle with two other people. If I had been drinking it all by myself, I would have finished it and felt hungover today. When I start drinking bottles of wine by myself routinely, my GI tract gets upset and my brain gets foggy.

And, of course, who knows where it could lead? Alcohol abuse is progressive...two bottles of wine per day, then on to vodka...physical dependency...loss of my marriage and home.

Alcohol is dangerous.

GroundhogDay

I have been digger deeper into my own spiritual path for the past year--ever since I experienced a life-threatening illness (not alcohol-related). I went to a very dark place for a while, and since late January, had trouble caring if I was drinking too much or not. However, I recently emerged in a good place spiritually. Hence, my decision to pursue a goal of abstinence again.

It has been a little scary, though. Some of my views on religion/spirituality have shifted radically, and some I haven't sorted out yet.

Magellan

It is what it is GHD, just good that it wasn't more, last night when my AV was saying just finish the leftover bottle (probably only a glass) I knew I would not have stopped at that, I would have thought to myself...well I messed up may as well have some more and I would have been useless today. Great job at stopping at 1 1/2, don't start thinking you can moderate and drink normally, the AV would be loving that thought process.

Magellan

Glad to hear it AVRA

JustSarah

Day 9 done - phew! Off to bed now - double digits and a bbq tomoz - I'll check in as and when I can . Xx

Dee74

is that kind of social pressure a problem for you GD?

D