Melina

I'm just now able to check in, been very busy with work and dentist appt- GREAT JOB BIX AND GANG!!

It was like watching the Wimbledon of support!

I love us! That whole thing kept me proud to be sober another day!!

Soberpotamus

Lucy wearing her new PJ's - they are red with white snowflakes!!!







Yes, they are ridiculous

And yes, I'm a proud dog mom

biminiblue

Lucy! Cover your bottom! So frikkin cute.

Bix, have you ever heard the term "nervous energy?" I found out in that first six months of sobriety that I had a lot of anxiety. Exercise absolutely was my go-to cure. That and meditation and breathing exercises. Sometime during every day I would be so jumpy/spinny that I would HAVE TO do some exercise or burst. Pushups, running in place, jumping jacks, squats, resistance bands, Zumba DVDs - I did all that and more. It works. Dunno how, but I just kept thinking I needed to bleed off that nervous energy. Housework would do it, too.

Soberpotamus

Bix, housework was about all I could manage for the first year, lol. I tried running and lifting weights but after a while I crashed and burned. It was hard enough to find a balance with daily chores and housework. I'd been used to either letting the house go, or sweeping through the entire house like a whirlwind, doing way too much in one day. I didn't know or understand how to "moderate" my cleaning. Silly at age 30-something to realize you don't even know how to properly get things done without burning out, but that was my reality.

biminiblue

That makes sense to me too, SoberP. I think I would get overwhelmed with housework and feel like once I started I had to do it all. Black and white, perfectionist thinking. I went to flylady.net and finally learned to let go on the housework. Now I set a timer and quit when it goes off. I also have a list of things to do on each day (that s o m e t i m e s even get done.) They take 15 minutes more or less, but if I do each one, the place stays respectable at least. You know, if someone drops in I'm not mortified. Then I have a semi-big chore each day like on Saturday change the sheets, on Sunday take out the recycling and clean one window...that kind of stuff. I try to make the bed and keep the sink clean and do a bathroom spot clean every day.

BixBees505

LOL Bim, I think ALL my energy is the "nervous" kind. Well, it is not like I don't need the exercise!!

SoberP, I RELATE. Setting a timer is a good idea, tooo, but I bet I will just hit snooze repeatedly like I treat every alarm!

My anxiety also shows up in getting overwhelmed way too easily. Shopping for groceries can put me into a standstill, unable to choose between cans of BEANS. More sodium in this one, no unpronouncables in this one...screensaver kicks in. I freeze, unable to make a decision. Then I start questioning the decisions I've already made, and have had to just leave my cart in the middle of the store and flee it.

biminiblue

ohemmgee, Bix - grocery stores are insane. Trying to buy the "right" foods will send you over the edge. Can you imagine someone from some little Third World country moving here?
"I have to go buy shampoo."

"Why you give so many choices? Is whole AISLE of shampoos!!"

BixBees505

Cutest dog pics in this world today! Does Lucy have a gramma or mama that makes all her clothes?

happyandfree

Siesta time here....more like lazy time. I took a nice long hike with the doggies this morning and then came home and gave them all baths. The weather is supposed to get cold so I wanted to bathe them while they could dry off outside. Of course my bathroom is a mess when we finish. But now I have 3 clean dogs.
Lucy!!!!! You look so adorable in your pj's with your butt hanging out. What a sweetheart.
I have a question. ....every once in a while I get an email on my personal email account from SR. I suppose I must have given my address when I registered initially. I guess it's ok...it just feels a little odd to me. Today I got one titled Ten Hilarious Reasons to be Grateful in Sobriety. Do you guys get them? Any reason for concern?

BixBees505

Exactly!

Soberpotamus

No, haha! She doesn't, but that would be nice My husband found the pajamas today at the thrift store for only $2! He knew I'd love them, so ... guess he's trying to make me happy lately. He knows I've been upset about many things. It's a poor way to make up for it though. But I'll take the pj's. She wears them well. Just had to take pics and share with you all immediately.

happyandfree

Bixbee. ...I've had that grocery store anxiety too. It's just terrible. But thanks for the reminder, because it hasn't happened in a while. Maybe Ive gotten beyond it...see, there is hope! We do heal and return to normal functioning. My brain fog was awful the first few months.

BixBees505

Happyandfree, I also get emails occasionally from SR, but so far only for PMs and Friend requests. I bet there is a setting on your profile or dashboard,whatever they call it here, that let's you opt out of "push" emails.

saoutchik

Yes I get emails too HaF but only to my personal email A/C and only for Friend Req's and PM's

Excellent pics Soberpotamus -Lucy wears them well

Physical exercise was good for me in many ways BixBees. At first it was just walking in the evening to remove me from from my flat and the cravings I would get. Later I switched to light jogging to combat the awful insomnia I suffered from in the beginning. It also had the welcome side effect of helping me to lose weight ( I have arthritis so being overweight is not a good idea)

Maybe it's something to do with being a guy but i have no supermarket problems to share (except the need to go in them as little as possible)

Soberpotamus

Oh my gosh, I've eaten 20 mini Snickers again today. Ugh, again. This is crazy. Bimini, I am eating too much sugar. What is wrong with us?? Lol. We aren't bears going into hibernation for the winter.

I think it was a mistake to buy a huge bag of these mini Snickers, huge mistake. I can't seem to moderate them.

Snickers must be the best candy bar ever made. That, or Twix.

I've got to come up with a dinner idea tonight. No more takeout until later this week. I have to draw a line.

Soberpotamus

I get very overwhelmed shopping in the supermarket. I must take a list with me or I'm doomed. I go in for very few items at a time or I check things off a list and try not to veer from it. That seems to keep some of the anxiety at bay. I just really don't do well shopping in stores in general, never have. My mom said I was petrified in stores as a kid. We don't know why. It must be social anxiety, or general anxiety. Anyway, if I can stay on my list, check things off, and try to relax, and focus on breathing and not holding my breath, I do ok. But by the time I leave I'm usually very tense and so happy to get out of the store. I've pretty much come to accept that it might be a lifelong thing for me. And that's ok.

MLD51

Hahaha! Oh that made me laugh. I feel so overwhelmed in the hair care aisle. Always looking for the "perfect" combination of products. I thew away about 10 half-used bottles of shampoo recently.

Tetra

Day 2 of Gratitude Challenge. I am grateful for the amazing daybreak this morning. This is Silver Strand at 8 am.

Ruby2

Lovely photo Tetra!

I like grocery shopping. It's cleaning that gets to me after a while. I'm bad at focusing so I have anxiety about starting and completing tasks. Or there's so much to do that I can't start at just one thing, plug along until it's done, and go on to the next. I want to do a little on everything and consequently nothing gets done.

Okay. Got that out of my system. It's time to head home. I have to plan what I will feed the family when I get home. That should occupy my brain for a bit. Maybe I'll check that recipe for home made ice cubes

See you all later.

Soberpotamus

A-mazing photo, Tetra! I've got to get to Ireland soon