One Year and Under Club Part 59
 

last part here

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...t-58-a-20.html

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I was worried about the warm weather coming and drinking/yard work but so far it's not been a problem. I used to have to drink before I started any kind of project or yard work. Heck I even had to have a few in me just to take the dog for a walk.

Thanks Dee :)

Thanks for the new thread Dee!

Thanks Dee!

Thanks for the new thread Dee.

Barbs I'm glad the meditation helped. It's amazing how easily we can forget such a forceful tool. And your bosses words just go to show how everyone in the western world seems to see alcohol as a reward, normies and alkies both. It's no wonder we have such a struggle each time we 'achieve' something, like completing an unpleasant chore. It's important in the early days, to consider the end of a project, and how we will reward ourselves, before we begin. That way we can avoid some of the temptation, can be forearmed and have an alternative reward already in our back pocket.
After a ton of yard work yesterday, and a trip to the dump with my rickety trailer, my reward was a loooonng shower to get all the bits of greenery from places they had no right to find themselves! Felt cooler, refreshed cleaner and relaxed. ( still ached like buggery when I stood up after sitting down for five minutes though!!)

This is really good advice, toots. Thanks. :tyou

Ugh. I had a drinking dream last night and woke up feeling awful. My guess is it is to do with me going to a winery yesterday to bring visiting relatives from overseas on an outing. We had a really nice lunch there and then I bought a couple of bottles of my favourite wine to go with the dinner I am making for them today. I know I won't touch it but it is obviously on my mind.

Off to do some housework to clear my head.

Have a good one everyone.

I hope the house work helps Helen. I feel totally discombobulated for the entire day after some drinking dreams. We just have to accept that the drinking memories and thoughts will remain in our subconscious minds and will occasionally pop up in our sleep. We can't control them, but we can control what we do when we are awake.

Thanks Toots.

I got busy and was ok after that. My AV has been getting quite loud lately. I have had no problem ignoring it and I know (not think but know) I won't act on it, but it's there.

I was reflecting on the dinner when I woke up this morning and it went really well. When drinking, dinner would have been late and I would have been very tipsy (and loud!) by the time dinner was done. Instead my meal turned out perfectly (I rotisseried a couple of chickens on the bbq) and I of course had no hangover this morning, nor any regrets of being loud, obnoxious and repetitive. I have also gotten to the point that I am no longer hyper aware of the bottle of wine on the table. I had my own bottle of sparkling fruit juice and Mr. Troy had his Perrier but we all used wine glasses and it was a really nice dinner. A good time was had by all.

Later in the evening after our company left Mr. Troy and I sat outside watching a sheet lightening show. It was a really good night, and I feel great today. It's one more day that I am again so grateful that I found this site to help me on my journey.

Have a good one everyone!

:c011::c011::grouphug:

Helen I'm so glad your dinner went well. I don't know if it's just the time of year when summer is just beginning as well as all the parties/cook outs, but drinking has been on my mind a lot lately. Like you, I know that I will not drink, but the thoughts are tough to squash sometimes.

My anxiety seems to have died down a bit and hubby and I are very excited to leave on vacation tomorrow night!

Hope everyone has a great day :)

Enjoy the vacay Barbs, try to stick close if you feel any AV moments.

Helen, is t it great when someone else might say " whoop-de-do, you went a whole meal without a drink, big deal" you can come here where others totally get what a challenge something like that can be and what an achievement it is to be looking back at it sober and happy. Great going!

Well done Helen. I haven't tried sitting through a dinner with wine on the table yet. I used to gulp a lot of chilled Chardonnay in the summer, and I don't know if even smelling it would be a trigger. Wine hangovers are among the worst, though. I am truly grateful not waking up each morning with a pounding head and drinking multiple cups of coffee trying to awake myself from the dead.

Have a great day all!

Yeah the sulphides in some cheap reds would really do my head in. So glad now that if I ever feel ill it's not self inflicted and I can totally feel sorry for myself!!

I like how you put that toots, "it's not self inflicted and I can totally feel sorry for myself!! "

I hope all Undies are having a quiet time with your AVs, it's been a while since it's gone this quiet here!

Good morning folks.

Yes it has been quiet, Toots. I know I haven't been posting much mainly because there hasn't been much going on to post about. I do check in and read all my favourite threads several times a day.

I'm up at Mr. Troy's for the weekend. Thor loves it here, because there is lots of grassy open area to chase the ball and go for walks. My house has a cement backyard because of the pool - not ideal for a big German Shephard. We go to bed here listening to the frogs serenading and wake up to a peacock calling. As annoying as that must sound we love it.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Toots, The AV is still jabbering away in the background, but his voice is getting weaker and I can just barely understand him. Thanks for asking!

Sounds like fun Helen!

I was revisiting some old messages here on SR. I reread the congrats I received from my monthly thread when I hit 150 days. That seemed to be the most incredible milestone any of us could imagine. Looking at my phone this morning, I see that I am sitting at 800 days. As I have mentioned before, at times it seems as though I haven't had a drink in decades. Then there are times when it feels like I was drinking last week. The alcoholic brain defies logic at times.

I find that I am still evolving and learning each and every day. I think in early sobriety, I thought that I would eventually hit a point where I got it, I'm fixed up and done. Nope, it really is a continuing challenge that changes slowly from year to year but never comes to an end. Being able to grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually at my point of life is a pretty amazing thing. Never take it for granted.

Have a great day all!

Congrats on 800 days, Stargazer!

congrats from me too SG! :)

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800 that's a great round number SG! Congratulations!

I don't think any of us really know what recovery means to us until we begin the journey. Stopping drinking is only the first step on the long road of the rest of our life. It is only once we have stopped drinking, and begin to see both our selves and the world around us with clear eyes, begin to think with a clear mind and to allow ourselves to feel and develop, that life beyond alcohol kicks into gear.
At that point for me certainly, there was no closing my eyes and pretending it was the same life just without alcohol.
Life wasn't the same, I wasn't the same. And I couldn't be the same. Recovery is scary, but it is also a wonderous opportunity to begin anew. It is a life changing experience, and that is a gift. Very few people get the kind of life changing chances that we have. Oh, everyone can wake up one day and say "I'm going to live my life differently." But usually it takes a big thing like a major illness or loss to force someone to see their lives differently enough to notice it.
We have an incredible gift of a second chance, and it is wonderful here on SR, and specifically on this thread, to see so many grabbing that chance with both hands and making it count for them.

I am proud to know all of you, and to be a part in your personal challenges and growth.

Hear Hear Toots! good post, thanks.

Great post Toots! Congrats SG on your 800 days :)

So true! I am definitely not the same person I was when I started this journey. It is scary! I am learning so much about myself!

I haven't been on SR as much lately because my husband picked up drinking after 3 months sober. It really threw me for a loop because I hadn't had to deal with any of that crazy stuff for so long it really overwhelmed me and made me kind of quiet... I had no thoughts about drinking myself though. I just had to deal with the feelings on my own and I did. :) I think he is getting back on track today.

I guess I am learning how to live life on life's terms. :)

Congratulation Stargazer! 800 days is amazing!

Hey Overs! :) Got Billie's DNA results last Friday. She is 62.5% beagle, 25% chihuahua, and 12.5 % mixed breeds. :) It was a detailed report, went back to her great grandparents. Well worth the $80.

It is so cool to know her ancestry. She also tested normal for multi-drug sensitivity, whatever that is.

Two of my daughters recently did a DNA test but they didn't tell me what it said. Maybe I'm not their mother after all...;)

Just noticed I posted in the Unders, not Overs... oops! :dee

Thank you everyone!

Beautiful post Toots! You have the gift of being able to put to words thoughts that just bounce randomly around my head.

Midwest, sometimes just starting to punch out a message on SR can help me organize and evaluate my thinking, and I encourage you to actually post more often, and not go quiet during stressful times. I am sure that many of us here have been in your situation with a spouse or loved one and have ideas to share. Don't suffer in silence!

Midwest, I am so glad that your hubby's binge didn't trigger in you, for many that AV would be going h e double hockey sticks for leather. I'm glad you are able to deal with the emotions it caused, as SG says, there is always someone here to speak to. You can post on the friends and family thread too. If anyone understands how to manage your feelings living with an alcoholic they do.

Thanks SG - maybe I'll make a writer yet! :lmao

Stargazer & Toots- thank you. I'll work on reaching out more during those times. I know that would be really helpful. :) That is a time when I should be posting more not less. I can see where that could lead to trouble for me.