Happy, and Merry, Christmas everyone :)

D

Merry Christmas to the Fort
:acch::acca::abcu:

I know....I always refer to CHucky Cheese as Ricky Rat. I have no idea why a rodent would be considered a good mascot for a restaurant.

Because people associate rats with loving good cheese? It is rather weird. Also, did you ever notice that the beer was strong has H*ll there? I think that was for the dads in misery. I never left that less than drunk.

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone! I've been my usual introspective self and boy, what a year. Both the hardest and best year of my life.....and this is the happiest I've been at Christmas....get this because I remember.....since 1989.

I have completely and utterly disregarded Christmas for 6 years since my mother's death....she has been weighing heavily on me so.....so difficult to have lost both parents by 39 years old you guys.....miss them so much. They were a little nutty but good people deep down.

I'm here in the mountains in Highlands, NC and it is beautiful. I am still quite sick, but we would have had to forfeit a TON of money if we had canceled...the trip was rough on me but now that we are here it is very beautiful........

299 glorious days for me today.......300 for you PHRD....what a GIFT!

Be well, be happy, and I hope you are with loved ones--
All the best,
Lee

Happy Christmas Eve, all!

Why am I up at 5am? No idea. Didn't take my sleep med last night. Anyway, such a wonderful start to Christmas so far. I cannot remember ever having been so calm (read: not antsy) in a church service, probably ever; it was just so nice to be there with Cliff and it felt....normal.

Dinner was a trip. Short version is....very nice place....very tiny writing on the menu where it said "steaks are served with a rich demi-glace, mashed potatoes, and an onion ring garnish." Those last two things are weird (why would there be such when it's the kind of place you order the expensive steaks then the shareable sides a la carte) but it's that first one....yep, a burgundy wine demi-glace. We'd had the calamari and Caesar salad and were just enjoying a wonderful time and all that, and they brought the steaks out. (Record screech)

We just looked at each other and had to laugh. I can picture it all in my head and rather than blather all will just say that we - ME- handled it like champs. I was polite and firm - the server was pretty weak and didn't know what to do when Cliff and I started asking questions- when another person came over to explain that most of the alcohol gets cooked off blah blah (um, no, because see, it's a rich sauce covering the plate, dude)....he said my polite but firm phrase "alcohol in the food is non-negotiable" was just right. And it was all....fine. I decided to pass on steak entirely - he was ok with them remaking it (I was skeptical that it might just get replated and still have wine sauce) and it did seem ok when it came back - oh! did I mention that our side of mushrooms was.....cooked in madeira wine? HA. I put some on my plate and took a bite- looked at him and was like "oh, boy! I didn't even think about the mushrooms!"

There were a lot of cool things about the whole deal. It was life, it happens, and I handled it. I get to choose what to do and in this case eat, and I made good choices for me. Also, I have realized how safe most of my dining out things have been and I need to pay more attention to menus when in new places, and ask more questions- when people ask me about things when they have allergies, the nice and polite and specific people are ones I know are sincere and I always help them- same principle for me. And, emotionally and as a couple, this was all just smooth- we handle stuff.

I told him when we got home the whole night had been one of our best dates. There was a time when I would have had an epic meltdown or something over food not being right (for whatever reason, and not necessarily when drinking). He was so proud of how I handled it that we called my mom to tell her the whole story.

Anyway, that's my holiday news so far. He did have me open a couple presents last night and the pretty jacket from Banana Republic is too small, but that's fixable too ;)

Lee- when are you coming to Atlanta? Enjoy Highlands- it really is beautiful.

Happy days to all-
A

Merry Christmas guys!!!

Back to you

well done to all you guys :)

D

300 Lee!

Congrats Lee! :You_Rock_

great stuff Lee :)

D

Congrats Lee.

Here's my favorite bit Floyd-ness. No meaning, I just love posting it:
"Hello..?"
"Yes, a collect call for Mrs. Floyd from Mr. Floyd.
Will you accept the charges from United States?"
[clunk! of phone being put down]
"Oh, He hung up! That's your residence, right? I wonder why he hung up?
Is there supposed to be someone else there besides your wife there to answer?"
[Phone rings again...clunk of receiver being picked up]
"Hello?"
"This is United States calling, are we reaching...
[interrupted by phone being put down]
"See he keeps hanging up, and it's a man answering."
[whirr of connection being closed]

Merry Christmas everyone.

Everything great in Jeni-land off to help my Mum cook the Christmas dinner in a bit.

I'm feeling very grateful for my sobriety right now.

Love to you all ❤️

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! :Xmaste

Merry Christmas, everyone! My heart is so full and joyful - y'all are part of my gratitude for sure!

So many things happening now that are big and small, all part of doing the right things consistently and making the right (and a couple, brave) choices.

Smooches
A

Hey everyone. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. What a great flipping year 2016 was. Now lets do 365 days of sobriety in 2017.

Morning all- still feeling the joy from the past few days....mentally cementing it in my head that THIS is just how the promises are supposed to feel as they come true, for future reference ;)

Happy Boxing day and second day of the 12 to all-
A

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays all!

Merry Christmas all! Aug - Smooches back! I always text Smooch to my husband. Love it! Thanks Lee for keeping track of my days for me! Life just couldn't be better. My step son who is a bit distant at times came and stayed over for two days! It was just awesome. What a year we've all had and how great 2017 will be! I cannot wait for my one year sober date! Dee your tired/rest sticky reminds me of how I would drink to try to have energy to stay awake. Probably shouldve realized I was anemic a long time ago. Gained 4 pounds over the holidays after hitting a really nice low target weight (not the final target but a good one). Time to get back to eating lean and healthy. Night all. Great to see you Jeni! Merry Christmas Aug, Lee, OT, OOTT, Badger,PL, Phoenix, Dee and if I missed anyone I apologize!

Happy Belated Christmas everyone! I didn't have time to log-in yesterday, and earlier today it seemed like the page was stuck.

Had a great holiday. Still on the mend, but starting to feel MUCH better. The steroids are now gone, and even though they help they make me feel so bad. So I have not quite so 'roidy today. :)

Hope everyone had fun. I am now in Atlanta and will be here for 3 nights, then back home.

Being sick has helped....if I would have had any cravings I think being sick would have killed them anyway.

It has been an amazing year. Challenging, interesting, one that will NEVER be forgotten. And here I am on day 301 (302 for you PHRD). We are all facing our ONE YEAR very soon!!!!!

Hugs to all,
Lee