Mags1

Morning Weekenders, just gone 7am here in U.K.

Pete, how did the work’s party go?

Mesaman, great post, Hi to Mesadog

I read so much wisdom from you guys, all added up together gives us a solid footing for our sobriety.

Petecrab

Agreed Kaily. I did 2 and half years and thought I had it in the bag. One drink on my honeymoon and 3 years later I’m back where I was before. I guess it’s one of those things, we are all here for a reason. Yes it’s sad but in reality it’s our only option to living a fulfilled life.

MantaLady

Completely agree with you dpac! And great post too Mesa and the fear thing resonates with me hugely. I have always struggled with the “fear” of what might or might not happen whether it’s drinking or life situation related. But I face the fear now rather than try and circumvent / avoid or drink at it.

Lately the weekenders has become full of some of the most wise and wonderful posts and I feel pretty inadequate as I struggle to articulate my thoughts as beautifully as most of you can, so I kind of hold off posting. But no good comes of letting those kind of feelings run the show so posting anyway lol!

I have absolutely accepted I can’t drink again but not sure who posted it but like them I have had a fleeting moment when seeing alcohol thinking “one won’t hurt”. It comes and goes in a millisecond and is the remnants of my auto pilot default thinking. But I am aware that thought is just a “blip” in my programming and can just let it go without acting on it. xx

Mags1

I love your posts MantaLady. inspiring and interesting.

saoutchik

I agree MesaMan. I think of having a drink very occasionally and it's a bit like scaling Mount Everest, nice to contemplate sometimes but not something I am ever going to do. Great post btw Mesa.

I went to visit Fox Tor Mire just south of a village called Princetown - the one that Grimpen Mire from the Hound of the Baskervilles is based on. I never got to see it as the footpath to it was TOO BOGGY! True story.

I had thought to buy a cheap hat or cap, hurl it onto the mire then point at it wildly when a visitor came by but had changed my mind by the time of my attempted visit on two grounds 1.) It is not very environmentally friendly and 2.) I am no longer14 years old.

The Hound itself has now retired to a thatched kennel in a nearby village.

STDragon

Good morning everyone. Wow, great posts. I didn't check in last night, up too late learning a song on my Banjolele. Lesson learned, don't skip a check-in.

As I said great reads. One cannot expect to simply stop drinking and go about as tho nothing has changed. You need to build a new sober life and a new perspective . At least that's what I had to do. I didn't set out with a plan, rather things naturally progressed. So pick up and old hobby, learn something new and do stuff.

Some people can sing most beautifly, it took me some time to learn to wail right along side them in my pitchy voice and find the joy.

biminiblue

A thatched kennel. Now that is predictably wonderful.

Kaily, how's your dad?

Sober Saturday morning. I'll never take that for granted. Heck, by the end of my drinking it was a crap shoot on any given morning, so there's that.

I'm so so grateful to not have picked up a drink in a few years now. Not always easy, but always the right thing and at this point in life the most important thing to me is to try not to create any more problems for myself - I've done enough of that.

JADIII - how did you get on at the pool party?

Mags1

I love the thatched kennel!

Bonniefloyd

saoutchik

Have a grrreat day Bonniefloyd! Persian food is superb, one of my favourite cuisines.

This is not exactly cutting edge but but top marks fo lushness.

Petecrab

Hope you have all had a good productive Saturday!

WaterOx

Man what a rough day. Terrible mood- and the worst part is I don't even know why! I'm on week 23, just under 6 months and suddenly feel like I'm on day 7 where I want to claw someone's eyes out for the slightest irritation.

lol please tell me this passes and isn't unheard of. I already bit someone's head off out of nowhere (figuratively speaking of course). It makes me want to just shut the blinds and eat ice cream, which is what I did, so...feeling a tiny bit better but still wtf.

I guess the 96 degree weather doesn't help.
Alright I'm off to the gym. Here's hoping I get through the rest of the weekend OK.

Canadian Koala

Hello WaterOx

It will pass, just stay calm and carry on with us

Remember this rule of thumb :
When things are going bad : it will always pass.
And when things are going well : same rule.

Seriously, congrats on 23 weeks!
Your 6 months achievement is just a few days away! ☼

dpac414

WaterOx, I think sometimes in sobriety we forget that we won't be happy all the time. Emotions ebb and flow naturally and you can't control how you feel. If you wanna shut the blinds and eat ice cream, it's okay to do it sometimes.

As long as you don't drink of course. The best part about sobriety is that I can finally see the patterns in my emotions and what's normal and what's not, cuz it's really my brain. I have foul moods that can last a while but as long as they pass naturally I don't have to consider adjusting things with my psych.

I think you're doing great, for what it's worth. Some people have seasonal affective disorder with winter and stuff, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went the other way with summer bringing weird emotions too.

I had a good day at the zoo. The weather has been so beautiful the past two days after over two weeks of rain, and it was busy! Almost 10k people today and we were short staffed but my staff pulled it out and I'm proud of them. These kids are doing their best. Another beautiful day in the forecast for tomorrow so it'll probably be busy again.

I'm starting to really enjoy my sober weekends now. I no longer feel like I'm missing out when my friends go to bars and stuff. Maybe someday, way down the line I can sit in a bar and not drink, but I'm not gonna take that risk any time soon (if ever tbh). I did some laundry tonight and am watching wrestling, an NXT takeover in Chicago from last year that was a barn burner. There's a PPV tomorrow where I'll get my relaxed social interaction watching it with my friends so I'm looking forward to it.

Had a brief brief moment where I almost half considered getting blasted tonight cuz that's what I've always done when I had a busy day, but it passed very quickly.

Night all.

dpac414

Also, JAD, how was the pool party? Thought of you and hope it wasn't too tough.

STDragon

Not as a productive day as I'd like. But I did manage to get a few things done. Tomorrow, me and the family are meeting my brother and sister-in-law for breakfast. They flew into town for an event yesterday and are headed back out tomorrow. We manage to get together about once a year, so I'm looking forward to catching up.

Mags1

Hi Weekenders

WaterOx, I thought by drinking my moods would change, when I stopped I realised that these moods still come and go, heck with all the hormones and testosterone flying about, it’s not surprising. Learning to accept it without thinking a drink will help , as CK says, ‘it shall come to pass’ and it does.

Saou, nice music, I see the magnificent seven music is on there too. Now that is some good tunes. I don’t know if it’s a man thing but Mr.M knew all the openers and sounds when the films were on. More entertaining than the films!

dpac sounds a busy day at the zoo, I’m pleased all was well. It’s great to have a fulfilling job...I didn’t hang about where anyone was drinking for about the first year I was sober.

Have a good day.

saoutchik

The feelings you are having should pass soon enough WaterOx, "normal" drinkers can still feel like that from time to time so I guess it is no surprise that we feel that way too.

Sounds like a great day at the zoo dpac. I find that I can be around drinkers as long as the drinking isn't the main focus but even after four and a half years I still avoid regular bars and pubs where drinking is the main activity. It gets easier with time.

Enjoy the time with your brother and his family Dragon.

I do remember the soundtrack to the Magnificent Seven as being pretty good Mags. Ages since I've seen the film. It does sound like a man thing although the former Mrs S used to know all the songs to some musicals.

Kaily

Thanks for asking Bim. He is doing ok for now and think he might be discharged next week. He is going to be closely monitored as his heart is now extremely weak plus one of the valves is leaking. Possible open heart surgery in near future but I don't think it is all that likely. He had to have his heart restarted 6 times in the last few days. Incredible what they can do.

The hospital is in the centre of London, very close to St Pauls Cathedral, long journey everyday which means leaving my dogs on their own much more than they are used to. This makes me feel so guilty. Emotions are being pulled from pillar to post, exhausted!

Mags1

Kaily ’s love.