MantaLady

Reminds me of that great line from Freddie Mercury when he was being interviewed and was asked by an American journalist why he has not had his teeth fixed and he retorted “I live in England, wouldn’t want to stand out” 😬

Been a long day and a bit of a waste of time IMHO, everyone went to the bar straight after work and had downed 3 pints each by the time I left after an hour and a bit. Was nice being out in london but didn’t like the smell of alcohol in the bar and glad I left just about the time they all started talking $hit!

Hotel average, but has great pillows lol. Anyhow, night night lovely weekenders and hope you get your tooth sorted vman! xx

Willow00

I love hanging out with the butterflies Dragon ❤️

Yes it was blissful Zoeydog, I’m not back working yet so I may need some more pool floating well done on resisting the screaming AV!

I hope the toothache settles down quickly Vman. Toothache is so awful

MB well done on taking a risk and getting out there! You’re very brave. It’s good to get clarity early in the ‘not-a-date’ picture before things get complicated.

Bim I’m definitely with you on this one ! "Your screaming glass-hitting children will be gorilla food if you don't control them."

Hi Leigh, Sao, Manta, MLD, Purps , Caramel, Snazzy, Andy, Hawkeye, PJ, Guener, Mesa, Dee and all the rest of the weekenders

It’s hump day morning here, sunny and hot already at 9.25am

Willow00

Glad you made it home unscathed Manta, well done on escaping the bar, sleep well!

biminiblue

Good pillows. I like it.

I'm also in for the night. Spaghetti with zucchini for dinner. I already had my salad. I have enough calories left for popcorn. With butter. Excellent.

Nite all.

PhoenixJ

hi Willow

MidnightBlue

Morning, weekenders.

Happy humpday!

theVman31

Morning all, morning MB.
It's a very mild 6°c here this morning.
Very welcome change to the freezing cold we have had lately.
Later weekenders

MidnightBlue

Morning, Vinny.

I want your weather. -13C here.

Willow00

Night Bim

Hi PJ

Hi MB and Vman, 6 and - 13 both sound freezing to me
It was 33C here today, still 29C at nearly 7pm... going down to 26 overnight...

theVman31

wouldnt say no to 33c tbh. I always wait for the winter to come back around after suffering from the heat in the south of france. Now i have enough of cold

STDragon

Morning all from the metropolis known as WinterPeg. -18c this morning with blowing winds creating a wind-chill of -30c. (Exposed skin can freeze in 10 to 30 minutes). But it's a nice, warm, serene, sober morning inside!

zoeydog

Big snowstorm just starting to work itself up here … I love it!

Another really tough AV night. Wonder what's going on … it's taking all my willpower to resist. Two tough nights in a row. But I'm so happy that I've stayed sober, and love waking up clearheaded (after a cup of hot java!).

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday. Talk to you tonight.

biminiblue

zoey, I don't know how long sober you are, but I had a big bout of fighting the AV at around 5-6 months. No idea where it came from, but my mind grabbed onto it and it was difficult. Think of something that is bizzare and completely unrelated...like a blue snow cone...

Also, there seems to be some thing that hits some people after they've successfully navigated some event where they would have drank in the past. Maybe journaling will help you uncover what your thoughts are.

The important thing is you didn't drink.

SoberLeigh

Please stay close to us, zoeydog. Our collective strength will prove a formidable foe as we stand with you against your AV. Remember, the AV always lies and cares nothing about your wellbeing. We do.

CaptainHaddock

Evening all. First post in a while for me, but I enjoyed keeping up with all of you.

Wishing everyone a wonderful year ahead with continued sobriety and the benefits that come part and parcel.

As for the rest all I have to say at this stage is that I just barely managed to survive the first day back at work. For a change I almost didn’t mind being caught up in horrendous start-of-the-year traffic on the way there.

The change of avatar is in solidarity to the freezing temperatures that I have seen being reported by our valued members in the northern hemisphere.

saoutchik

Hang in there Zoeydog, it will pass. 6 months is about the point where we can forget how bad things used to be but not quite long enough to feel secure. You can do it though.

Great to see you Captain. Somewhat jealous of you guys south of the equator but I appreciate too many °C's is no fun either.

-18°C! Surely that's below absolute zero?

Long and unproductive day at work, not good.

Willow00

Zoeydog I had some huge attacks by the AV around 6 months. The AV launched some full blown attacks and I found myself engaging with it and arguing with it and nearly caved in a number of times. It was trying to tell me I had proven I was fine so it was totally ok to have a drink now, and that I could drink at Christmas and that there was no reason at all not to have a drink with friends and that I was obviously over any issues with it now so I could simply moderate blah blah blah.....

And it was starting to suck me in, I was starting to listen. But I just kept coming back to SR and kept taking one day at a time. “Whatever AV, but I will not drink today “.

I’m coming up to 8 months and the AV has been quiet of late. An occasional whisper here and there but not as bad. I suspect it’s probably just biding it’s time and rallying for another attack, but I’m starting to get to a point now where I can actually believe I might be able to do this for life. That I’m not missing out. I already knew this intellectually, but perhaps now I’m starting to actually really know it, viscerally, if that makes sense...

Great to see you Captain!

I hope your day improves Sao, and that tomorrow is a better day.

MantaLady

Zoedog, I echo what Willow said above! I have just hit 7 months and around 5.5-6 the same thing happened with me as Willow, strong AV, I engaged with it and it nearly won a few times. For the few months previous I had felt super confident in my sobriety so it was a bit of shocker for me to be hit so strong. Happpy to say it’s levelled back out again and it will for you too, just keep on the right path and keep close to SR. Reading here kept my mind in the right place to fight it xx

Got back from London an hour ago, shattered and having a brew then straight in bed and up at 5am for another very long and stressful day tomorrow. Goodnight everyone and welcome call Captain Haddock! xx

Willow00

That sounds huge Manta! Is it going to be like this long term? I hope you can manage the stress and find time for yourself to recharge, that’s really important, as I know you already know (sorry if I’m preaching, I just know for myself how important rest and quiet time is for me). I hope you get a really good sleep.

MantaLady

Thanks Willow, this contract is due to finish at the end of February and I am just trying to hang on till then to be honest. I am in London every week for he next 3 weeks for a 2 days/1 night and it's only going to get more stressful and harder. Struggling to find time to do the things I have to do for my recovery but I can't afford to leave this contract early and need to build up my bank account again so feeling a bit trapped. But...I won't pick up and whatever my problems are right now, a glass of vino is certainly not the solution xx