Sonky

Half way through day 3 and shaky. Friday is my 'reward' day - how it all started way back when. "Just make it through the week and you can relax with a few beers on Friday arvo". 5pm was always "beer o'clock".

Then weekends stopped being Friday and Saturday nights and went from Thursday arvo to Sunday night. 5pm got earlier and earlier, because it must be 5pm somewhere!!

Then when I started working from home and making my own hours the weekends lasted all week. I can work any day I want and make any day a weekend, so why wait till Thursday or Friday. Why punish myself just because everyone else only has 2 day weekends?

I have been through my house this past few days and cleaned and scrubbed. I have been repainting my son's bedroom today and, while I'm not close to being finished, the naughty voice is already saying, "Hey, it's Friday arvo. Only an hour till 4pm. Get that ceiling finished and kickback with a beer. You deserve it."

BKP

dude me too ever sense highschool in 1997 Friday was my drinking heavy day beyond control, and I calmed this down after college graduation in 04 but my friend Eric passed a few summers ago i got back into this routine with drinking every friday. This Friday i have a mental picture of not allowing myself to give in, hang in there we have the support :ghug3

flutter

This might be a silly question.. what's 'arvo'?

Keep it up, you can do it, and it's a great place to be

Lots of us will be sober with you on Friday (tomorrow for some of us ). and lots of us were sober with you all day today!

Congrats, the first few are so hard...

Taking5

Friday is STILL reward day, you just need to change the reward to sobriety.

I never heard of the word 'arvo' either.

Sonky

Thanks guys. Being here alone all day leaves plenty of time and space for the worms to tunnel through my defences and leave their "Go on, you deserve it." messages.

Arvo is afternoon. We tend to shorten most words here.

I'm going to finish the ceiling and check back - but a question.

Here in Australia we have light beer, which is half the alcohol content of regular beer. Is that still cheating??

Sonky

What I mean is, do I fall off the wagon if I get drunk, or if I have any alcohol at all?

I know it's only myself (and my family) that I am cheating......ok.....I get it!

Latte

I reward myself with all kinds of other things.

I buy really good meats and fruits and veggies and make yummy foods, I buy expensive ice teas and enjoy every drop, I am teaching myself to crochet again-it may be ugly but it keeps my hands busy, board games with the girls, Wii with the girls, one day I may be able to really bowl too.

Taking5

Australian Lite beer is still sa strong if not stronger than American beer.

I could go and have 2 drinks and not get drunk, however history has shown me - repeatedly - that I cannot have just 2 drinks. 2 turns into 3, then 5 then 10 then ????. If you can control your alcohol intake and not get drunk, you don't have a problem.

However I doubt that someone who could control their drinking would ever come to SR and pose such a question in the first place.

Dee74

hey Sonky
good to see another Aussie here

Like you said yourself, it'd be cheating you and your family.

Light beer never did anything much different for me - if it was alcohol it got me into trouble - sometimes it took more to 'do it' for me, sure, but not always...especially towrds the end of my drinking career

and who'd want to quickly slam down 20 cans to get a 'decent' buzz anyway?

good to meet you in any case
D

stone

The reward thing is weird idn't it? Just another battle-ground really.

I don't have any particular day triggers and if anything am more likely to get triggered in the mornings than the "arvo".

Sonky

Thanks heaps - everyone. I actually finished the painting and had a really long shower. I was going to the bottleshop but thought about everything I have read here, and all I have done to my family so far.

So, I took the kids out of the house and we got pizza and movies and came home and made popcorn. It's the most fun we have had on a Friday night, together, for ages. For my money anyway!!

I don't think I could have done this alone so far.

Anyway, the movies are now over, and the kids are in bed, and I'm all laughed out (I don't remember the original Get Smart being THAT funny?). Day 3 is in the BAG!!! Thanks...:ghug

stone

Good job Sonky!

Sonky

Hey Dee74 - before I go you are dead right. Light beer just makes me pee more, doesn't give me the buzz (release?) I am craving, anyway. Would have been a waste of good pizza money...
Day 4??? Bring it on!!!

Dee74

and don't forget the bloating...ugh

LOL I'm off to bed - night Sonky
see you tomorrow
D

weekendbinger

Sonky,

Way to go!!!! That is an amazing accomplishment....keep it up!!! I'm in the same boat tonight (Friday) with my family and will follow your fabulous example. Thanks!!!

flutter

for me, any puposeful drink of alcohol starts me at day 1.. I don't play around with this stuff. NO way

snowdog

Sonky- congrats on your success!!

I work from home too, and in addition live alone..... way too much time for my addict voice to engage me coupled with no accountability but my own to keep me on the right path. It is hard. But, I also have to admit that when I lived with bf in the past... I would resent him for cutting into my drinking time... so I guess whatever your situation is... getting sober is hard work.

Again, congrats to you on your decisions!

Mark75

yea - that reward thing, or that celebration thing... my biggest covert or surprise triggers... I try to laugh at them. Living in the moment is what I try to do to combat them. My work today is the reward itself. New concept for me, but I'm making progress...

least

Congrats on making it this far! I too have tried too many times to control my drinking, never was able to tho, and didn't enjoy it when I was controlling it. I can't drink AT ALL cause it always leads to more more more, and then feeling horrible the next day or two - and I'm sick of that. Sick of being sick.

Keep coming back!