Welcome Mitty

I'm camping with my kids this weekend too! I don't know how old your children are (mine are in 7th grade), but its a great chance to get the kids away from electronics and us adults away from our usual responsibilities. It's a "free fishing" weekend in New York state as well. I'm planning on lots of hiking and fishing with the kids.

I'm not going with drinking buddies though, unless you include my fiance, but she understands I'm not drinking. I'm not sure what being normal is any more either. A lot of normal people die prematurely from their "normal" lifestyle. Some don't, but I think if we are here on SR, we already know we have a problem drinking. I don't want to be a downer, but the vacation that can't be canceled is a frequent cause for relapse. Any way you can get your husband on board?

Day 26. Yesterday was an exhausting day, I literally ran from one place to another from morning, 'til night, and then got some bad news about our move (there are some major issues with the new house, which might kill the deal). I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, so I may try to grab a nap later this afternoon. Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good. The brain fog is lifting a bit, and I'm feeling somewhat normal. Have a great day, everyone. :)

My son is in 8th grade and daughter is in 2nd grade and they keep me on my toes. We're a pretty tight family. This trip is yearly and there are 20 of us going so 4 families. Thankfully my brother who has been sober for 5 years now is coming along and has been helping me throughout this process. He is also best friends with my husband who drinks every single night. *sigh* I have somewhat of a plan though as I will NOT drink this weekend/week. I have the morning hike planned, boat trip planned and much much more so I'm going to try and stay busy with the kids. I'll probably run every morning as well, I wake up before everyone everyday even when I was drinking. My husband tried lastnight as I sat with him in our normal drinking spot being the garage. He walked to the fridge and said, "I'm not drinking tonight" then said, "okay yeah I am". Me not drinking has made him look at himself also which is good but will it stick... no idea. I do not tell him to stop or make comments or anything. I'm getting sober for me and I'm not judging anyone else or trying to change anyone else so I hope I'm not making him feel bad about himself. Alcoholism runs in my family. My sister is an alcoholic, my brother is and my father was until he passed away at the age of 59 two years ago from pancreatic cancer which was when my drinking got bad. I think the thought of going through that first week of sobriety again is what will keep me from drinking. I don't want my last 17 days to be for nothing and have to start over again. Man I hate this crap!!:headbange

Strange day starting out. Higher power pls take it, so I don't mess it up! Lol

One of my favorites these days is "Thy will be done".

Whatever will be will be.

Just a quick drop-in from the Class of March 2016 to tell you that you're all doing great. I love seeing these new classes come together and be there for each other. I'm 102 days sober today and I thank my fellow March classmates every single night before I go to bed for keeping me sober. I couldn't have done it without them.

Here's what's working for me:

1. Ask for help as soon as you need it. Don't wait. Don't try to do it alone.

2. Help others as much as you can. Even if it's just to tell someone "hello" or "I'm listening," getting out of my head has been a big part of my recovery so far.

3. Remember that it's the first drink that gets us drunk. As long as you don't take that first one, you won't have to worry about the second or third or tenth one. And you don't have to take that first drink today no matter what is going on in your life or what lies/rationalizations your addiction throws at you.

Wishing everyone here a safe and sober Wednesday!

Welcome!

Last night I worked late to finish a project, until about 10:30 or so. Didn't drink a drop.

Once upon a time - ten years ago - when I worked late I enjoyed a glass or two of wine from a stash I had in the office. Honestly it was fun - step back from the rhythm of the work day, take it easy, get that creative insight and a little bit of a buzz -

Fast forward to 2016. A couple of glasses of wine became a bunch. The "little bit" became blackout. "Working late" became afternoon. It wasn't fun anymore.

I finally, really came to grips with that a couple of weeks ago. And you know what? My "late night" work yesterday was way better than what it had been, and I had plenty of fun working on it.

Life's supposed to be fun. You should like it. Poisoning yourself isn't fun.

Welcome mitty

Casey's - congrats on big numbers !!

I'm aiming for the end of today and that's it. My anxious selfish butt will mess up even that if I don't turn things over and let go of what's bothering or worrying me. I've had to dumb it down, but if this was easy none of us would be posting !

On lunchbreak. 5 hrs to go.

Day 33. I was a pretty low-bottom alcoholic. Lost jobs, financial ruin, DUI, trips to the ER. At core of my troubles was undiagnosed ADHD. It's a condition that can cause severe impairment in various aspects of life if left untreated into adulthood. I was diagnosed only a age 35, after I had already ruined my life. They gave me a prescription and sent me on my way. I am unhirable these days because of the numerous red flags I raise. Can't pass a background check and have had large gaps of unemployment. Very pessimistic about my future opportunities as I have had many job offers rescinded after the background check. I'm turning 40 this year. I fear I will never find a decent career or be able to get married, have children.

Normally, I drink over these fears and nothing gets done. Need to get these out there instead if bottling them up

14 days complete, Wednesday will be 15. A multiple of 5!

All quiet on the sober front for me. I stay busy and read SR a lot. Also I'm binging the first season of Prison Break on Netflix, so exciting! Surprisingly, it has a lot of dark dry humor which I love. Still not sleeping well, which in turn makes me more emo than usual I think, but big deal. Haven't had even idle thoughts of drinking since Sunday, full steam ahead.

Do not give up, do not be so hard on yourself and stay sober because there is for sure a future for you. I've lived around addiction my entire life and watched the ones who wanted a great life get one and watched the others that lost it all due to not staying sober. You got this... :c011:

Days 3 and 4 are my hardest as wel"like. I am going to outline a plan for these tough days.

Hi there

Hey, your chances of all these things are way, way, 100% better than if you were still on the bottle.

Dammit
 

I was on day 18 and messed up. I'm going to lose everything. Sometimes I wish I just I was not in this world anymore. Dammit

WL,
I lost multiple jobs over the years, most of them I left before being fired for being out. My resume reads as I type it ( hint). It reads..... What I type into it.... Some companies go out of buisness....
Anyway, don't sell yourself short. Get into a recovery group, is my humble opinion. I am working a program at age 45 (45 next month). I have nothing, I mean nothing to lose. Wife left, kids left, home going soon, maybe. Not one thing I can do---- except not drink. If I drink, I'm gone. Sooner or later. You can do it, man. Getting in a program is what I'm doing now. If not for SR, I'd not even made to now.
Don't quit. Just stop.

Back and technically on Day 2 even though it feels like day 3 cuz of the time of day of my last sip. That really doesn't matter. And neither does the reason I drank. I'm just glad to be back and see others excelling. I gotta regroup and really have no excuses to drink in the future. I don't what know my plan is this time. But my mind is consumed with what it will be. I'm never in danger after a binge for 2-3 weeks. That's been my patter for 2 years. So I have time to really dig in. With myself. My therapist. And my family. It's crazy to believe I had 55 days just 3 months ago. Many Hugs.

Today is my day 3, hard since I got off work early, in the past that meant "plenty of time to drink and get stuff done", but I never got anything done except drinking : ( Day 3 or 4 have been where I've lapsed multiple times. I don't have a brilliant plan so far I have:
Ate when I got home from work. I was starving, and had a strong urge to stop at the liquor store on the way home. Smart people on SR say HALT is a trigger (hungry, angry, lonely, tired), so I ate. It helped that craving pass.
I think I am doing self-kidney dialysis with all my water drinking, lol. I can't seem to stop in taking fluids. I have splurged with some diet coke (a vice I have). The girls at work probably think I have a UTI or something. Normally I would be so dehydrated that I would use the bathroom like once in a 12 hour shift unless I had GI stuff from drinking too much. Sorry, TMI.
Eating half a bag of unshelled sunflower seeds to keep my hands and antsy-Ness busy.
Reading SR, hitting up old posts. I ran across a few I really needed to see today. One thread was along the lines of "why I should drink today" and then people listed things like "I need another DUI", "I haven't pissed the bed in a while" etc.
Snuggled with my dogs, NOT while passed out.
Took a short nap, NOT passed out. And didn't let myself feel guilty for doing so.
I finally feel past cravings enough for tonight that I am off to try to be productive for a few hours before bed.
Hang in there all, find the positives for today, and please post. I may not reply to every post but I am watching and cheering everyone on, the successes big or small, and thinking of those who are having a particularly hard day.
PS - how do you do the fun icons and smilies etc on posts??!!