Class of May 2015 (Part 3)
 

last part here:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...rt-2-a-20.html

Hi all. Had an awesome 35km mountain bike ride this morning. Very technical and as a result fell my @#$& off. No broken bones at least.

Great to be sober and do the things i love.

Good luck all for the week ahead. Feeling confident

Part 3! Wow! This class is really gaining some momentum!

Starting day 17 now. Very vivid dreams last night but at least they weren't drinking-related this time.

No big plans for today. Looks like the cool, windy, rainy weather is gone and summer is really starting here. Might try to go find a pool to lay next to and read for a while this afternoon I've got some chicken marinating in the fridge right now so going to fix a nice lunch first. Two of my favorite television shows--Silicon Valley and Game of Thrones on tonight.

I'm still feeling really good about my sobriety right now. Haven't had any major urges/cravings in four or five days and haven't even really had much in the way of minor thoughts either. I like the direction my life is headed in right now and feel confident that I'm on the right path and have a good support system and plan in place if those urges do return. Once again, thanks to each and every one of you for helping to keep me sober!

FarToGo -- welcome to the Class of May 2015! The classes are just a good way to talk with and learn from others who are basically at the same stage of recovery as you are. We've got a great group here and I'm so happy you've joined us. Please post often!

JL2014--Sorry you drank but glad you're right back in. Dee's right--a plan will help. What did you not do before you drank that you can do different this time? We're here for you, buddy. I know you got that bad news at work last week, but drinking at the problem isn't the answer, as you well know.

nmd--a vegetable garden sounds wonderful. There's nothing more satisfying than making a meal with something you've grown yourself. Yet another reason I need to move soon--I need a place where I can have a garden.

bdj--congrats on day 20! That's huge!

anattaboy--glad you decided to join us in the Class of May 2015! I'd give that bottle of booze to the drain of your sink. Sinks need lots of hydration and don't have livers that can be ruined by moonshine. I'm sorry if you've addressed this in another post and I missed it, but does your wife want to sober up? Be careful tying your own sobriety to someone else's, even if that someone else is your wife.

Dee74--thanks for the new thread and also thanks for that link to that plan document. I'm sure I've seen you post links to it a million times (or maybe one hundred thousand, if I want to be realistic) before but I don't guess I'd ever actually read it. I've got it bookmarked now.

Hi to odisnow and Freedom1982 and AllieKat and Jimuk and jazzfish and anyone else I missed who posted since I last did.

Thanks for the new thread Dee!

Can't wait to get home later and catch up on all the posts. I'm so far behind!

I can't believe what I have been able to achieve in 20 sober days. Between working 60 hours a week and working around the house on projects I started and never finished, the time is flying by. I am a binge drinker and never had time for anything, now I look back at all the time I wasted and think to myself "what an idiot you were ". My wife is amazed and loves the new me. Thanks again for everyone's support. I love sobriety.

Thanks for the link Dee. That looks really helpful. I don't have time to read it right now but I definitely will when I get some down time this evening.

Day 22 for me. I feel like the vitamins I have been religiously are helping. I have a lot more motivation to get stuff done. Maybe I'm just getting better and it's not the vitamins...no way to know for sure but I'm going to keep taking them anyway.

No real cravings so far this weekend...that is good news! I was very worried about stressing out this weekend but so far it hasn't happened. Again I would like to thank my husband for his effort and support. Without it, I don't know if I would have made it this far.

Today I am going to finish my house cleaning. Yesterday it took me all day to clean up the downstairs. Today I will do the upstairs. It's hard work cleaning up a lot of dirt that has build up due to a long period of alcoholic neglect. It is really refreshing to get it done though.

It kind of makes me feel like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. That sounds stupid but getting my motivation back and getting this house back in order feels amazing. I feel like a new person today. :) Hoping the feeling sticks around for a while...

My thoughts exactly...

For me, there's not much that feels better than finishing the last corner of a deep house cleaning and being able to sit back and put my feet up and see actual tangible results for all the hard work I've just put in. Thinking about that feeling, I can relate it to the work I put into my sobriety today as well.

Have a great and happy Sunday, AllieK!

Decided it was a good idea to check in....

Day 17: Rage

I feel like ripping someone's throat out. Today feels like day #3 all over again and I think I know why- sleep deprived + no exercise (run). Took the boys camping last night and I don't do well on hard ground. This is not the day to consider my sobriety in mellow or joyful terms. Part of me wants to fall across the finish line at day 30 and try to go moderation...which will fail (I know me).

I've heard that when the craving is strong to try to wait it out one more hour, like a thunderstorm passing. Will do.

Good luck to all.

4

AllieKat--me too on the housecleaning (inside and out). I'm 17 days today and feel that as I clean my home I am cleaning my soul. Listening to recovery podcast while working--feeling blessed

Day 3 for me .. made it through the terrible 2's. Again! :-| Felt so awful yesterday - the worst headache, ever. Better today but still fuzzy. Sad.

Going to get out of the house today even though I feel like being a lump on the couch and do something active. I had been doing a great job of running / exercising pretty much daily up until last week and I'm sure that contributed to my bad attitude! So... even though I just feel like wallowing it's time to get out into the world.

Wishing everyone a sober Sunday. Thank you for being here!

If you think those are the reasons, why don't you go for a run and then take a nap? Or vice versa?

Glad you took your kids camping though. I'm sure they enjoyed it even if not sleeping well was a sacrifice for you. The name you chose to go by in here says you did this for your kids. You did a good thing taking them camping.

You've already acknowledged that the thought of moderation at 30 days is your addiction talking. What's going to be different at 30 days that makes drinking then a good idea? Nothing. Drinking for an alcoholic like us only gets worse over time, not better. But you already know this. You wouldn't be here if you didn't.

Anyways, I know you were just venting and I'm glad you came in here to do it. That's what we're here for. Please please please check in here often and remember that you don't have to take that first drink today no matter what.

Hi, everyone. I read everything you all post and I am in each of your corners but I just can't comment on things that I'd like to. There are so many of us and I'd have to do multiquotes or take notes in order to keep it all straight. Saying that, I am so proud of each of you who are holding strong to sobriety even in the face of strong temptation, and I'm filled with hope for those of you who have stumbled but are still here with us. It takes a lot of courage to stand there and say, "I oopsed again." If I did it, it wouldn't be just for one day but more like for one week.

You athletic ones are blowing my socks off. I'm a couch potato and I hate that about me but I guess it's never too late to get active. Where I'm moving to, I can't let the dog out alone so I'll be taking her out for walks at least 4 times a day. Maybe not necessarily a "walk" each time but at least I will have to leave the house on a regular basis.

And because I'm moving, I'm about to join you ladies who are talking about how great it feels to kick some @$$ around the house. I'm going to look at the whole process like you said, as if I'm not just cleansing the house but scrubbing the dirt and grime from my former life off of me as well. When I move, I will be in a place that has never seen a bottle of wine or 12-pack of beer. (Or big-ass bottle of vodka.) :)

I was thinking that I would want to drink when I got all moved in, just to christen the place or as a reward for having gotten the move accomplished but that's just my AV talking. I will resist and if it's truly a struggle, I know to come here first so you can talk me through it.

Sorry the weather is so sucky in Wisconsin. It's absolutely glorious on the northeastern part of the USA. Hardly ever happens when there's a holiday that's known for big outdoor festivities so we earned this one! Planning a camping trip? Bring tarps and umbrellas. Outdoor wedding? You're a real gambler.

I gotta say though. Lately I'm not feeling so bad about living here. It's been downright pleasant. Spring fills me with wonder and a sense of gratitude though.

Before I start to wax poetic (wish I could but don't have that skill,) I'm going to post this and let you all read it and then I'm going to actually get something done around here. Thanks for the inspiration!

Oh! And all the newcomers need to get onboard the "explain your name and avi" train. Happy Memorial Day weekend, all. (((Hugs)))

I'm looking forward to getting on track. I don't even really enjoy drinking anymore - I hate feeling hungover and I'm tired of wasting money on this. I want to take care of my health. One day at a time.

Hello, ANewDayNYC. We've been together in at least a couple of monthly classes here before. Glad to see your name again. I'm planning on making this my forever class, there's some great people here.

Thanks Casey – I am going to post here and on the daily check ins to keep myself accountable. You sound firm in your commitment which is awesome.

Ah, a new part to this thread and a new commitment to stay sober for the next 500 posts. Gray and rainy today, and I think it is a perfect time for the first of what will be several naps today.

Almost done cleaning! What do do then? It's a beautiful day here in Missouri but quite windy. I definitely need a shower and then I am thinking online shopping so I don't have to leave this sparkling clean house. :)

I will need to go to the store to get something to make for dinner. Over the last few days while I've been off work I have enjoyed a daily trip to the store to pick out dinner instead of a giant shopping trip to get groceries for the whole week. Maybe it is because in the past I would make sure I had the whole weekend covered so I didn't have to leave the house (more for the family than me since I barely ate anything) so now it feels like I am accomplishing something by getting a dinner, cooking it and actually eating it! It's strange to think that eating food on the weekend was so abnormal for me that it seems like a lifestyle change in itself. Alcohol does some pretty weird things to your brain.

Had a nice family day today. Went to my sons Rugby club for end of season awards, then the cinema and now Dominoes pizza and films at home. We have an event in our village tomorrow which usually involves a long visit to the local pub. I'm heading to my workshop for the day out of the way of temptation.

Day 1 nearly over

Hope you're all well!

Sounds like a nice day 1 and a good plan for day 2, Jimuk. Thanks for checking in!

Hey all, I'm on Day 4 so I hope you don't mind if I join you?

(Thanks Casey :biggrin:)

Just had a good friend who lives in Austin (250 miles from me) text me saying I should be in town today that her and her sister are going to a bar we used to go to a lot on lazy Sunday afternoons. I told her thanks for the invite but hey while we're on the subject I am not drinking anymore. We had a nice talk after that about my drinking issues.

She's a good friend, definitely more than a drinking buddy, so it was nice to have this talk. She was very understanding as she grew up in an alcoholic household.

I usually sleep in her guest bed when I go to Austin, and she made it very clear that if and when I came down to visit again that she'd be more than happy to not drink as well and reminded me of the dozens and dozens of non-drinking activities we've partaken in before and can again.

I mean, I'm still not going to head down there anytime soon as I think it's best to get my feet firmly planted in sobriety around the home front for a bit*, but it was a nice and reassuring conversation.

*I am going on a trip to the Texas coast starting this Saturday for eight or nine days, but I'm going with my dad and stepmom (basically my mom) and nine-year old nephew. My dad has been sober for 32 years now and he met my stepmom at an AA meeting room actually. (She's not an alcoholic but grew up in an alcoholic household and was leading the Alateen meetings there at the time. She used to have a glass of wine once every couple of months but I don't think she's even done that in years.) So I will not be around alcohol on this trip at all. Doesn't mean I won't have to be vigilant. Lots of stores selling booze down there, lots of opportunities to go off by myself if I wanted. But I'm not going to. I'll still have you guys for support via my phone, of course.

Welcome to the Class of May 2015, Carrie1974! I'm a 1974 baby myself. In fact, assuming I stick with staying sober this time (which I will), I will have exactly 100 days sober on my birthday this year.

There's a lot of great support and wisdom in here. Hope you check in often and look forward to getting to know you better!

Life does begin at 40 for us then!

Welcome Carrie, congrats on 4 days.

I'm a 73 baby haha, must have been a bumper couple of years for future problem drinkers. X

Great work friends

Thanks Jim

It was the fashion - scarred us for life :biggrin:

Checking in, day #3.

Just finished my Sunday walk. Did 6 miles this afternoon instead of my usual 8 in the morning.

I'm a kind of 1974 baby, too. That's the year I turned 18 and started drinking.

Here's to all the sober Sundays out there, and a wish for sober Mondays all around.

Checking in. Welcome to the newest newbies!
Am going through the latest family crisis (story of my life), but so far all is OK. I have to hire a lawyer in this case, but I'm doing OK, thank God. I always feel that God is with me in difficult circumstances.
I'm so happy because I'm also getting involved in my daughter's baby shower, and having friends who are so supportive in this. It's amazingly fun. I work in the schools and for the first time in 5 years, I'm not doing summer school. My plan for this summer is to improve my health. I'm blessed in that my knee problem is resolving nicely and think I'll be able to do most everything exercise-wise with just a little bit more time.
To all newbies, everything does get better with time. Don't give up!! Be proactive in your recovery, doing everything in your power to stop drinking. It does get better. Find things to do that are outside of yourself. Charitable things. just get outside of yourself. I like to think of it as feeding my soul with good things and letting the bad things dissipate over time.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!