Mags1

Welcome to the Weekenders

Christmas meant one thing for me. Getting plastered.

No one minded because they seemed to be all drinking to excess too. It was wonderful, everyone was like me!

That was it after then, I usually missed Christmas lunch, family time....and nursing a massive hangover for days.



I called that a great Christmas

That was then....this is now.....

Sober and present through all the festivities, even though it is pretty quiet with just the two of us.

Families and friends visited, shopping done, time for quality time at home.

It seems a pretty simple life...in fact it is a simple life....but it’s sober. It beats my past drunk life a zillion times.



If you’re thinking of a sober Christmas, why not start right now. Yes, I know! Sounds impossible! It isn’t!

But we’re all here on this forum for a reason. So give it a go, you won’t be sorry.

If this is your first weekend sober, or many, come join us for support and chat...as we know the weekends can be a struggle sometimes. (We’re here all week too!)

I’d like to add some words from a SR member many will know, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Gilmer, our Kathy, as we fondly called her, had integrity, strength and above all humor. ❤️
She had the ability to say the right thing without any flannel.

To quote Gilmer.
“There is a great difference, though, between quitting because you know something's bad for you and quitting because you know that there's something better for you.”

This really resonated with me for a long time, I knew alcohol was bad for me but I really didn’t think there was something better. I quit because it was bad for me. I found out there was a much better life without it. There truly is.

andyh

thanks Mags

Dee74

Thanks Mags

Ravel

I'm in! 109 days of adamantine sobriety, yet the prospect of Christmas makes me feel like a doomed stuntman.

There's no way I'm going to fail, but this will be a challenge. I got a plan and will stick to this forum!

Mags1

Hi Ravel, it’s good to have a plan.

Fusion

Thanks for the great thread opener, Mags!

biminiblue

I'm in for another weekend with no alcohol. Nothing, no one or no situation would be made better by drinking. So many things could and would be made worse.

Ravel I had to Google adamantine. Good word!

Manta sorry about your boiler. I hope you get it fixed quickly.

"Jolly" is definitely pushing it for me this time of year. I'm firmly in the One Day At A Time camp right now.

Mags1

Bim, it does get a bit much. Went to the shops and it was so busy. Glad to get home.

SnoozyQ

Thanks Mags , i always look forward to your weekend posts l9ve xx

We are literally melting here in Australia .
Even hotter than our hottest day yesterday.

Reading of snow and cold, makes me so wish i was there.

This heat is truly unbearable , another sleepless, tossing and turning night coming up....ugh

I just wish all these raging fires would stop, so many hectares burnt, the native animals lost would be in the millions, including skinks and and so much of our tiny wildlife ...and where is our Prime Minister whilst Australia is burning....

Having a good ole holiday.

I dont begrudge him a holiday , but this is a national emergency .

They really just dont care do they.

Our countries are being run by a bunch of psycopaths and narcisists


Sorry for the whinge, im cranky and heat affected

Mags1

Snoozy, I hope you’re having plenty of water. It must be awful. How’s your pets doing. X

MLD51

I'm in!

Sorry about your boiler, Manta, and Australia folks, try to stay cool. It sounds beastly. And dangerous.

Ravel, having a plan is key. And I love "adamantine." I looked it up to be sure I had the definition correct.

I don't hate Christmas, but I don't love it, either. The only thing I'm looking forward to, really, is that the family is coming to my house, so I'll get to show off the new kitchen and other improvements. We don't do a big dinner, just a brunch-type gathering, and my mom and daughter will bring some things, so I won't have that much food prep to do.

And then just a few days later, I'll be in Belize.

Mags1

Marty, it’s MantaLady with the heating probs. Hope she gets them to it soon. Belize looks idyllic.

MLD51

I noticed that and changed, it, Mags.

Belize is quite nice. That's not my picture, but I do have very similar pictures from my last trip there, earlier this year.

Hawkeye13

Hi All and thank you Mags--lovely intro and food for thought as always

I'm in but maybe offline this weekend.
It's been a tough week and I've felt somewhat emotional. I think between PAWS flare and too much coffee I pushed a little too hard of late.

Nonetheless, I have no desire to drink on it--in fact, I feel clearly how much I don't want to drink and how badly it would play out if I did.

Holidays were generally pretty horrible for me as my mother's alcoholism grew. She was a "Jeckyell and Hyde" drinker who was a lovely person sober and mean, toxic, and aggressive drinking. Since she was a teacher and divorced, she drank heavily alone in the home during breaks from school with increasing intensity and frequency as the years passed.

I remember some very happy holidays when I was quite young, but it went downhill after that and for the rest of my life until she died. In the height of my drinking, I made some pretty nasty holiday memories myself with no help from her. I have more empathy for her situation now.

So it has taken hard work to lose my aversion to holidays, and "build" positive associations and memories in the present, but it has been happening. Low key stuff, but peaceful and around my very small family.

I am so grateful for these new memories, and I know part of my emotional stuff welling up is from the past, not the present, and it it will pass like a craving.

MLD51

Beautiful post, Hawkeye. Thank you.

saoutchik

In!

Australia is suffering badly isn't it.

Thanks for the OP Mags! Slightly anxious right now. I am on the wrong side of the Isle of Wight - a smallish island off the south coast of the UK and I am not going to make my 5pm ferry back. I hope there is a later one or I will be marooned for the night.

Mags1

Saou, I hope you get the ferry ok.

Marty, thanks and sorry.

Hawkeye, great post. I understand your Christmas’s, my dad was ‘jeckyl and hyde’ too.

biminiblue

Sao, too cold to sleep in your car like in 1999, then?

A bed and breakfast sounds nice.

Mags1

Ooh there’s a broken egg!

saoutchik

Wow! Much to my surprise I made it at approx 4.59 and 30 seconds. Bit of grumbling from one of the leading crew but who cares. I expected the Captain to be a man with an eye patch and a wooden leg but in fact it's a woman called Vicky. I know because she is already on her fourth tannoy announcement, shut up Vicky! Apart from Vicky there is hardly anyone else on board, it's like the Marie Celeste.