Good Morning All
RAL - I hope your not suffering too much with that cold.

Tanky - hope your winning the fight against the negative thoughts.

Elly - it must be very hard having a loved one in a health facility under current conditions.

Hi Venus & Dee, hope all is well 🥰

Lixie - how are your projects coming along?

Chancellor - hoping your still rocking sobriety.

Missing Bob & Sunny lots
Yesterday, early morning, after I said I had nothing to report, my dog started making a huge fuss barking in the backyard. I looked out the front but there was nothing so I went out the back because he wasn't settling. He started barking and jumping at the sky, then my chickens exploded into a massive frenzy, squarking and flying around......I couldn't work out what on earth was going on. Then I heard this very loud, scary noise behind me, and swung around. There was a hot air balloon, really really low, just above my yard. Scared the absolute bejesus out of me 😂 I bet the people in the balloon had a good laugh watching us all jumping out of our skins 🤣 I was just hugely relieved it wasn't a snake freaking the animals out, for a minute I had thought a deadly brown snake had gotten in the chicken pen 😱

Oh Elly . Such difficult decisions about your beautiful mom. And so much for your family right now. I am sending you strength and love. ❤️❤️

re: meds , yes I believe they are starting to work . The one that works fast definitely reduced my anxiety a tonne & I am sleeping better , so that has got to help. The normal SSRI should kick in properly over the next 5 days.

zura, we used to live near where one of hot air balloon companies in Melbn landed. so I know exactly what you are talking about. 😂 It drove my beagle crazy. Only thing she would go nuts about that wasn’t food.

Haven’t seen a hot air balloon for a long time. partly because of where I live now , but also guessing that is something that may not have adapted to Covid, all that well. Given my current dog, Stormy, reaction to thunder , I can’t imagine what she would be like in a hot air balloon attack.

Just realise I have hit 30 days again today (103 days out of last 104 alcohol free) and 63 days for gaming/gambling. Feels like it has been a lot longer. 😂

That is wonderfuI Iove!!! :) :) :) ❤️

Congratulations on 30 days Tanky, and for the 63 days for gaming etc. That's so awesome! Gives me the warm and fuzzies ❤️

Living near a hot air balloon landing spot must have been.....interesting lol. We have an annual hot air balloon festival so we only usually see them once a year.....way way up in the sky. This one was an army defence balloon and being so low I wondered was it a training exercise or something. The propane burning was so loud and I could see the people in the basket quite clearly. The noise was extremely startling so I can understand why the poor animals get upset.

thankyou , sweet. How are you doing? What did little Fav bring you for your birthday? Two peanuts breakfast in bed, maybe?

❤️❤️ Zura. Feels like more of an achievement than when that milestone passed detoxing last year, somehow.

And yeah, hot air balloon is weirdest and most disturbing sound. Your poor chooks. But very glad it wasn’t a brown snake.

She came and sat in the window (hard to expIain as there is aII doubIe gIass here) and shivered at me.
So I fed her. She is adorabIe.

Prayers and best wishes for you and your mom Elly.

Congrats on 30 days Tanky :)

D

Morning folks 😊

Tanky-Many congrats on 1 month-that’s fantastic! how are you? Great news your meds are kicking in too. you sounded like you were not in a good place the other day. I’m sorry your friend is also struggling but this is not your doing or your fault. I once read a brilliant book called ‘Think Right, Feel right’ by Dr. R Isett. I would recommend it to you. I know you do AA but the SMART handbook or online stuff about changing thought patterns and how we see ourselves and our impact on others might be useful for you. How is lockdown going? Hopefully it’s not too difficult for you and the children.

Zura-I hope you are feeling better after the other day. Love the hot air balloon story 😊 Glad it wasn’t a deadly snake-how scary that would have been.

Lixie – hope you are doing ok.

Elly-I’m sorry to read about your mother. How is she doing?

Hi Bob, how are things? How is the Mediterranean eating plan going? Mine is going ok, I have the occasional lapse into cake but overall it’s going well.

Chancellor-think you are 50 days sober today or tomorrow my friend. Many congrats

Hi venus :) And hello to Venus squirrel :)

10 weeks for me today. I felt I had come to a bit of a standstill a couple of weeks ago. Sort of ‘is this it’ kind of feeling quickly followed by thoughts of drinking. Sure lockdown isn’t helping and winter is always rough here anyway. This week has been better. Feel more positive and looking a bit better too. Not much to report as not really doing anything apart from work, reading, jigsaws and binge watching! Oooh I am now onto ‘The Americans’ which is about a Russian couple working for the KGB in 1981 but living in America as an American couple. It’s brilliant! Perfect lockdown TV!!

Anyway, take care all.

Congrats dear RaI!!!!!!!!!! :) :hug: s xx ❤️

Thanks Venus. Hope you are keeping well.xx

I stiII have the same jaw etc issue. And a few other things. Not in good shape right now. In fact, very bad to be honest.
Today is my day 1 on the road to a heaIthy me again.

oh I'm very sorry to hear you are in pain and not feeling great. I hope you feel better soon and are being taken good care of.xx

Good Morning All
RAL - congratulations on 10 weeks!

Venus - so sorry you have this issue. I had a friend who suffered from very similar and gosh it was debilitating and unpleasant. My heart goes out to you ❤️

Tanky - I can understand feeling more confident the second "round" 😊

Elly - thinking of you as always, such alot going on for you. I hope your doing ok.

Been having some PTSD memories lately which surprised me. It's hard to know when is "the right" time to address these. Is it too early to be delving into the depths of this, or is it avoidance not to delve? No need to make a decision today on timeframes, staying sober and staying abuse free is the no 1 priority and if I find myself being overwhelmed by memories I have a professional support tool for that.

I wish everyone a wonderful day/evening xxoo

HI Zura, thanks for your kind wishes. Congrats to you too on your sober time :You_Rock_
I have no experience of PTSD so cannot really advise on therapy or counselling. Do you have someone to talk to irl? Or even a thread on the main newcomers section may get some good ideas and advice from people with similar expereinces. if you feel this would help.

Feel very peaceful. Had a good few days, albeit lazy. It is so cold here - with wind chill it has been -10 for the last few days. We are not used to such cold and even going outside for coal is horrendous. it is to improve tomorrow and be 10 degrees so that is a 20 degree difference and surely will feel quite tropical :)

Hope everyone is doing ok.xx

AIso very coId :hug: s

zura, this is challenging stuff and I imagine only you will know how to keep that balance right. When to delve or not. When to seek additional support. But definitely talk to your professional about it, I reckon. Just that the memories have been happening and what may have triggered that etc. and maybe a plan to deal. I found EMDR was very effective for metabolising some of my trauma when I was experiencing a lot of flashbacks , repetitive trauma dreams and dissociation.

But as it happens, I am right there with you at the moment, to be honest. So feel for you, because I know how scary these things are. I have had several flashbacks in past two weeks. Initially, I thought it was no big deal. Just a weaker version of previous experiences that would naturally occur during a period of high depression and high anxiety . But the last two were bad. So makes me less confident I can continue to monitor my own MH. Hopefully for me the medication will reduce all symptoms as it becomes active. it is still a few weeks before I can even do a new mental health plan w GP and get a new referral.

hey RAL, congrats on 10 weeks. And glad the “is this it?” phase seems to be lifting and you are feeling more positive. Lazy is okay sometimes. Everyday sober is still a huge win, right? That’s what I am telling myself anyway. 😂 I am doing okay. my mental health is still shaky to say least, but hopefully trending in right direction.