MesaMan

No Rain, no Pain...

Which is not the case here just yet. Still sprinkling, but giving the Ground a good soak. Much needed. There was so much Hail South of Denver a few days ago, they brought out the Snow Plows to deal with it. Made for a nasty-lookin' Evening Commute for many.

The imposing Image of 'Goliath D. Spider' kinda dovetailed with another Freak-Out that popped up this morning. This poor lil Pup seen below looks identical to our Pooch, and we make a point to not subject him to such situations. As it is, he runs to hide by Mom's Legs when I let rip a major Allergy Sneeze. We make a point 'round here of skipping any/all Drama Trauma; regardless of the Species involved.

Someone puked up the exterior of a Dog Park Tennis Ball on the Runner Rug in front of the Slider Door. The list of Suspects is a short one. So, that Rug + the non-pukified Blanket over my Truck Back Seat just finished in the Dryer. 1 of 2 Laundry Loads already done this morning, since I spring out of Bed and get with The Program as do so many here. Morning Energy = Good Energy, eh? I'm dealing with the Fume de Legume side effects from the tasty Pea Soup last night, but I still smell better than when oozing odoriferous Vodka funkiness.

So, why not a lil Smokey Robinson for this Weekend Morn? No more Tears for this Clown, since I jumped on the Sober Bus 16 months ago yesterday. Actually, I fogettaboutit more often than not, since it's 'The New Normal'.


- 'Tears Of A Clown' ~ Smokey Robinson & Daryl Hall -
.

Ruby2

Good morning! Quiet morning here. Except for the spiders. Not creeped out. Now if it were a clown or a cockroach, that would be totally different.

Sitting at daughter's gymnastics class, catching up. Was up when saoutchik first posted but went back to bed. Still super tired.

Behan, glad Mrs. B is doing well.

BigS, the animal analogy is really excellent.

No catbirds here. Just cats. Saw a raccoon perched on the fence in the wee hours last night. Squirrels all over the place.

My brain is wandering. Have a good day all. It's cool and on and off drizzle today but still pretty with the vivid green that comes with rain.

LBrain

well I think Florentine Pogan would sound good. But most are not ready for it.
So in honor of Mothers Day, something short and tolerable for those who don't 'get it'. For those who do 'get it' isn't this cool? I suggest listen to a lot of FZ...

Dharma33

Climbing aboard!

Olive1

Happy Saturday!!!!!

Getting ready to head to the beach for the day. 80 degrees here today, and while I am very much not a fan of temps above 65, I shall make the best of it and see what other rocks I can add to my collection and the dog is really looking forward to much running on the sand

Did my stocking up shopping last night and lo, there was Taylor Pork Roll sitting in the deli case. I have never before seen it in any of my local stores. I had the whole crew of Weekenders whispering in my ear to put one in my basket. Very, very expensive....must be because it is imported.
Well, I have to say, it is pretty freakin good. Fried some slices with poached eggs for breakfast, then cut some into cubes, fried them and mixed those with a variety of beans and some greens and that will be my picnic lunch at the beach.

Well, off to get ready for some rock hunting!

Be well, Sober Enders and I will check in later!

lunar

gettingsmarter, her fangs are almost an inch long, so........
I really don't pick her up that often, although she doesn't
seem to mind being pet. Her abdomen is bald, meaning a molt
is coming, and is about the size of an egg. Still an adolescent.
Largest species in the world.
Saoutchik, you are right.
Funnel webbers have potent venom.

Weasel1966

Happy Saturday!

How are the newer folks doing today? Any tough spots we can talk you through?

Incontrol15

My 3rd sober weekend. Getting more and more comfortable with the idea. Last night was relaxing. Something I'm still working through is addressing all the responsibilities I've ignored and let get out of hand.

Yesterday, my therapist was talking about changing my inner voice and using more constructive words. Like "I have to mow the lawn." Do I really have to? Am I going to die if I don't? Nah.

The hard part is finding more constructive options, because "I want to mow the lawn" is very far from the truth. Lol.

Solarion

inspired by ZaBoozer and Trachemys:




MesaMan, that Roomba pic is missing a cat on the Roomba.

And congratulations on your new normal!

lanier

I'm on day 3. Just left a meeting and am going to spend the afternoon at the dog park and then some shopping. Feeling surprisingly good - nice to actually spend the afternoon outside doing something productive.

biminiblue

Yay, lanier


That spider is huge.

My cats love to kill spiders. I'm not sure about that one.

Nonsensical

Zounds, it's lunchtime and I haven't checked in yet! I guess it's a good thing when I am so busy living my sober life that I forget I am an alcoholic.

Did a little studying first thing this morning, then I went to the Home Depot and got a new hose, pruning shears, work gloves, and a hose reel. Came home and started hacking back the trees again. Now it's time for lunch! Yay food!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Soberwolf

Hope everyone is having a nice saturday afternoon

Ruby2

Back from gymnastics. Daughter's, not mine. Bought two hanging baskets for mother's day gifts. Fighting with son to practice his music for end of year band concert at school. Always bargaining.

May go visit a friend who's working her church's rummage sale today. She said she'd help me sort stuff for a flea market my children's school is hosting. Buy table space and sell your own stuff. Could be a good way to get rid of a bunch of kid stuff. I'd ship it to Behan but transatlantic rates are a big high.

saoutchik

They have one of those Goliath spiders in London Zoo. I remember the blurb underneath the glass said that it could sometimes catch small birds in its Web. I was a bit doubtful until I saw it's Web - you could have caught a jumbo jet in it!

I have been working on my old Lancia today. I bought it 9 months ago when I was still a drunk. Had I been sober then common sense would have stopped me from buying it. Too late to turn back now, I'm in for too much money. I'll probably be skirting with bankruptcy by the time its finished.

How are you doing this weekend Mecanix?

Congratulations to everyone who got through Friday

EndGameNYC

And again:

Reminds me of Brooks, the librarian, in The Shawshank Redemption. We often don't realize we're imprisoned unless and until something changes dramatically, and we tend to grab what's on the top of the pile when we're afraid which, for most of us, is living an extremely narrow life within the confines that we allow alcohol to set for us. When we do realize where we are, we convince ourselves that the relative "safety" of our self-constructed walls afford us much more safety than stepping into what is possible for us in our lives would provide. So we live and die in captivity.

Not only do caged animals choose to remain in their cages when they have the option to roam freely, it's extremely difficult to coax them to come out, even with the lure of extra food or companionship.

There was a growing moral conundrum that continued through the 1980s, at least, that arose from the growing success of medications that helped people with schizophrenia (Sz) and other psychotic disorders. The dilemma was as follows: What if, after living their lives in a very frightening alternate reality, completely cut off from the real world as we know it, people with Sz were to become asymptomatic, and then came to learn that their thinking and behaviors were quite literally insane for their entire lives? How would someone in their thirties, forties, fifties and beyond cope with this disturbing awareness? Do we have the right to resolve their symptoms, knowing and believing what would happen with this newly gained and potentially terrifying insight?

The result of all this, fortunately, was a focus on what came to be known as "community reentry" for those who suffered Sz, and experienced symptom relief. Psychiatric rehab trumped keeping these people in the dark around what is considered to be the most serious and most terrifying among all psychiatric conditions. Many patients, perhaps most, balked at this opportunity, choosing instead to remain in the "safety" of the world they had not only come to know, but which they had also learned to prefer, given their largely incidental and often terrifying experiences with what we refer to as "reality." They generally were noncompliant with medications that resolved their symptoms and with treatment programs that prepared them to begin a very new life.

We see it here all the time on SR. Personally, I simply did not want to return to what had become for me a harsh reality when I was in the throes of my relapse. The motivation to get sober is not a simple or unitary phenomenon. It demands a level of courage and a way of thinking that is alien to many of us. People who don't have problems with alcohol rarely ask of themselves the kinds of things that someone who struggles with alcohol do in order to achieve sobriety. The process of moving from a drunken life to a life of sobriety is a dramatic departure from everything we know and everything we only seem to love. Many of us seemed to know everything while we were drinking, only to find that we know nothing when we first get sober. We've all but burned through the hope of a better life, and we seek certainty that things will improve after we put down the drink, rather than embrace an uneasy and untested faith that there is a better way for us. We put down the drink and make few if any other meaningful changes in our lives, and then complain that sobriety sucks.

In the end, and as Dee any many others here have rightly claimed, if getting sober and living a sober life were only to produce additional, though somewhat different states of misery, then none of us would be here.

lunar

Bullseye with the Shawshank comparison, EndGameNYC!

Weasel1966

Hey Sao.... M is out home shopping. He is with us.

Relaxing here. Slow day.....

Ruby2

Hey everyone. Was kind of in two minds in posting. Then thought I would anyway. I'm still not feeling well and my plans to go to a sober dance/party with my daughter will not go through. I'm laying on the couch watching my other guilty old lady pleasure. NCIS. Lord of the Rings Two Towers is on but I'm not in the mood.

So a warm cat on my lap and peace and quiet. Disappointed but I won't kick this thing if I keep over doing it.

Tetra

Well that wasn't as bad as I thought. Went shopping today to buy a dress for my friends wedding. I ended up buying two dresses: one for the wedding and another one just because my dad said it suited me and it would be a pretty dress for summer. Now hoping for good weather!

It feels good to take care of myself and dress up. When I was drinking I didn't care how I looked and usually wore jeans, a hooding and converse. I still like converse though!

Other small things make me feel good as well. My job is far from well paid, but I felt good being able to contribute to the dinner bill, and I know my parents appreciated that too.

I surprised my mom with a small gift: a bottle of fancy bubble bath. She had tears in her eyes when I handed it to her and said "you still are my sweet and thoughtful child".