Congrats on the new job Glee! :c011:

Key your very talented with your writing. What a great way to express yourself.

Glee congrats on the promotion, that's awesome.

Carlos neat story about the presentation.

Well my friend flaked on the meeting idea so I stayed home tonight. Feeling a little lonely heading into this Halloween weekend with everyone talking about their plans. I'll just be at home watching tv I guess.

Congrats Glee, I remember how resentful you felt ( for a short while before you pulled yourself out of it!) when a previous promotion was given to someone else . I am so happy you have had the chance to show what you are made of.

Key on the Limerick thread ( not sure if it's still running - must check!) we did have some fun with varied topics, but we also spelled our guts in rhyme. It became something of an addiction in itself. If you read the poems from the start of the first thread, they reveal the trials and tribulations of a struggling addict on the path ( and occasionally falling off) of recovery. Some of it was powerful stuff.

Thanks for the reminder Carlos, I'm going for a trip down memory lane as soon as time allows!!

BeFree, why allow yourself to be reliant on others for your recovery? Is it nor important enough to you to make plans for it regardless? So your friend let you down, why not go anyway? As for weekend plans, do you not have young cousins? Perhaps you could offer to take them trick or treating, dress up yourself for them.

Have a safe happy and sober weekend undies. You have the power, dig deep and find it.

Oh BoozeFree! I am so sorry about your friend.

It's been my experience, in my limited time in AA, that perfect strangers will juggle their schedules to get a struggling alcoholic to a meeting.

That said, I think your story is a cautionary tale about relying on another person's program for your own recovery.

Ultimately, I had to face my fears straight on and get myself into a meeting. I had to make choices - would I tempt myself at a party surrounded by booze, sit home alone, or surround myself with other alcoholics who were staying sober.

Choice one usually got me drunk. Choice two usually got me drunk (eventually). Choosing the third option has helped me build my recovery. I'm not going to say it was easy for me to ask for help, but I figured it was only an hour, and I could do anything for an hour. Why not invest in my sobriety for an hour? I didn't have anything to lose.

If I were in SoCal, I'd go with you. PM me any time this weekend for moral support to get yourself in the room, BoozeFree. I'll be here. It's what we do for each other.

Morning (hug)! I feel a little better today. Just wish I knew what caused this. Like I went to bed and woke up. In that yime what happened...I was sleeping! Lol
Glee maybe it is like you said. I want so much to just be better. I'm not a good "waiter". No patience here. I read those who know patience gave the greatest peace and the most ease at letting go because they just let life happen. Well good Jesus, I'll never get there! I have none of that! I'm sarcastic here of course because I am trying. It's been a hard hard lesson to let go, let God, let Lego just happen and be patient while it does.
Toots I'll have to check out that thread. IWLSAST mentioned it too!
I do find a lot of therapy in my music and writing. My drawing hit the tank again. Not sure why.
Saskia! (Hug)
Thank you everyone for liking my poem and having nice comments. Just something I thought I'd share. Y'all are the best! Thank you for sharing! It always helps me! (Hug)!!! To everyone!

Congrats Glee

:hug: Key

Good morning everyone. Things are still crazy busy at work, especially yesterday, but I do think I've gotten better at not letting things get to me. It is raining here so I had to cancel my walk this morning. I'm still staying sober and that is the important thing right now.

Congratulations on the job glee!

Glad you feel better this morning key. I know we can all get in a funk sometimes. Great poem! You obviously have a wonder gift here by being able to express your thoughts like that. I wish I could do that.

Thanks for everyone posting here. I truly find inspiration with your posts and they help me a lot in my own recovery effort.

Hi undies.
Just checking in before womp. Tired and looking forward to my womp free day Sunday

CONGRATULATIONS, Glee!

Congratulations to you, too, Key for 100--and (((hugs))) for you and BFree!

Still here and sober. Glad for that. Been reading and posting.

Enjoying each newly sober day. I rationalized yesterday that being sober after so many drunk years is going to have layer after layer of different emotional experiences.

I used to think, why can't I just feel normal now..it has been almost 2, 3 etc months. Why am I still suffering?

That got old and depressing. So now I just deal w it. Embrace the pain. It goes away when I do. I am so much stronger than I was nearly 6 months ago.

Everything is better. I am so glad to be a proudly sober man.

Thanks for the therapy session.

D112y, I agree. I'm also learning if I embrace it it seems to go smoother. The old me still sometimes wants to know "why" and try to control it. It's hard to let go and let things happen. I'm getting better at it, but got a long way to go!
Hope everyone has a nice Saturday. I'm gonna be hanging out with my trucker today! So happy for that. Gotta get my cup back to "runneth over" again before he leaves again this week! (Hug) to you all (even the quiet ones in the background just reading, yes YOU-Hug! Gotcha!)

Same here. I'm looking forward to Sunday as well! It is very busy at work so I do have to go in for a few hours this afternoon but Sunday I'm off. Sorry your friend skipped out.

Thanks for your post d122y. You are absolutely right. I do believe now that embracing it works much better than fighting it.

Thanks for all of your updates! It's good to see so many progressing along. I also found that "relaxing into" sobriety made it so much easier. My take on it is that we need to get to a certain point in our sobriety to be able do that. It starts feeling like the new normal :-)

Happy Halloween Guys

Hi undies.
Survived another day at womp. Happy to have the next 2 days off. Mellow Halloween for me. Just watching tv with my dog.

Good morning. Wow when I got home from work it was crazy and I could barely get through the traffic as one house a few blocks away had a haunted house (they do every year) and two Halloween parties next door. It was obvious the booze was flowing freely in both places. It is a totally different perspective when you are sober isn't it? A good reminder of why I decided that the booze had to go and why I need to stay sober.

My wife said it was very busy with the trick 'o treating kids ( and some adults even- what's up with that). She had to turn off the lights at about 8 PM as we ran out of candy, and we had quite a bit.

I thought I slept in but I am enjoying my extra hour!

I have today off and I'm confident I will stay sober today.

Have a nice two days off BF!

I am a Halloween Grinch by nature and with a World Series game going on as well, I stayed in from the crazy crowds. There is a big entertainment district with many bars a few blocks away (my name is a legend in at least a couple of them) and I can hear the crowds cheer and revel.

Some guys I know always throw a big Halloween bash and this year I was not invited. Neither was another friend... guess what? Neither of us drink and go nuts about Halloween... so I guess I am off the A list. Saved me the time to travel across town. But is tacky to post pics all over social media and name who was there... all big boozers, as are the hosts.

No church sing today... like having an extra vacation day!

Keep on going Undies! :grouphug:

Speaking of Halloween parties....as I have gotten older, starting around 30 or so, I started feeling awkward at parties where the we're a bunch of 21 to 27 year Olds. They would be drinking and trying to meet a girl or boy.

I felt old. I felt tired early. Even though I was young still. I would end up home alone, or with my girlfriend..if I had one at the time...but always drinking. Having my own party i would think...With no DUI risk...win win...wrong...

Now...at 51...i don't get invited to most young people's parties. Honestly don't really care for most of the young people I work with anyway. A few old guys might get invited. But, think of them like they are asking for trouble.

My job is where I hear the talking about the fun they are had with out me. It hurts a bit. But, I just do my thing, don't react, don't laugh when they laugh...I feel it is a form of office bullying...leaving us poor old folks off the guest list and then laughing later...if it floats their boat. ..can't worry about that...

I have a lot of fun with my family now. Me and my wife have been together for 15 years. I play golf. I do jiu jitsu. I work out. My young Co workers don't get invited....ever...

If I didn't have a family, it would be tough. I would be lonely. That is why I drank a lot when I was single.

Finally, Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I'm not into dressing up like a monster or a zombie or worse. It is not my thing.

Dee--congrats!
Key--Lovely

Just checking in. Had a great week off--Halloween was great depsite rain and wind. We had about 1/2 the kids and the poor things were inevitably wet but we made it worth their while--house looked awesome and we gave them lots of candy. We also had a new fortune teller thing in her booth that was cool-had a lot too scared to push the button lol, by the time they got to the doorstep. I drank some fresh hot apple cider I got from the farms instead of my usual bottle of desert wine and had lots of kettle corn instead of (a lot of) candy. As our farms around here are closing I got some bargains and did a lot of chopping and freezing.

D122y, it might not be office bullying - people can often be thoughtless. I've always been a loner and understand the feelings. And yes, loneliness is one of many reasons we drink. But, there are lonely people in the world who are not alcoholics.

In my current living situation I have a great balance between easy and informal socializing and privacy. People are generally kind and thoughtful. Perhaps age has something to do with it?

Blue, good to hear you enjoyed your week off ... and Halloween :-)