Monday, January 21, at the Inn

[Hannah]

Hello Abbers!

Wishing you all a good Monday, the start of another week....

Well, our party went well, lots of food and good fellowship....hubby and I behaved ourselves, drank a little wine, but not too much....but were somewhat mind boggled when clearing up the mess, at the vast amount of empty beer bottles, wine bottles, bottles in general.....guess we have really turned a corner here, and seems pretty excessive to us how much people drank....and I don't think any of these people are "problem drinkers" - but then again, how do we know?

Don't you wonder how many of your friends, acquaintances, coworkers, fight the battle w the bottle, and you don't know? So many of us are so good at hiding it, I know I was. I honestly don't think many of my friends or coworkers twigged on....I did my drinking at home, not in public, and was pretty crafty at hiding it.....

Don't know what the statistics are, but I am sure there is a large percentage of the general population who are problem drinkers, and could use some help. If any of you newbies out there are reading, and not posting, please log in and join the crowd. Consider this your formal invitation. Don't be shy. We all know what you are dealing with, been there, done that, got the teeshirt!!!! Lean on us, and we will be there for you!

And - please, everybody, cross your fingers, toes, and anything else you can cross - we did have a "conditional" offer on our condo this weekend - subject to the sale of the buyers own house - and we are hoping this satisfies the requirements of the relocation company we are dealing with, and our condo would be bought by them. And no more viewings, etc., for us to put up with, no more $ worries, etc. One week, today, from the day the movers come to pack us up....time is going so fast.....

Well, hope you all have a good Monday, had a good weekend, and will have a good week.....take care, my friends!

[rob]

Monday, January 21, at the Inn

Good Morning INNates!! Sorry to have been AWOL lately. Have been working 12 hour shifts at work 7 am to 7pm. Not enough time to post in the am and too exhausted to post in the evening.

Thanks MM for picking up the slack yesterday.

Hannah- YIPEEEE!! Good news on the condo sale front. It must be a relief to have some action finally. I hope things go smoothly from here on out.

I'm glad to hear that your fondu dinner went well. It is surprising to see how much others drink when you're abstaining. After our family Christmas party my husband and I were surprised at the number of bottles and cans in the trash, and there were not even that many that many people drinking.

I think the national stats say that about 10% of the population have a drinking problem. I suspect that its higher than that. First of all like you and me Hannah, many of us hide our drinking with varing levels of success. Also, drinking is legal and socially accetible and in some situations expected and encouraged that it can be really difficult to figure out who the problem drinkers are.

In the last several months, I've heard two of my co workers comment that they need to change their drinking patterns. Both said that they had gotten into the habit of going home after work and drinking several beers after work. One said that her husband would go and buy her beer for her because she would become so cranky if she didn't have it. I haven't figured out how to discretely follow up with them to see if they've resolved their issues.

Well enough rambling for now.
Everyone have a great day.
Love and Peace
Rob

[july232007]

Monday, January 21, at the Inn

Hello Hannah and Rob,

Great to see the two of you start off the week's posts. My experience has been much the same. I think many of us can well hide our problem for a long period. And, if ours is the type of problem that only comes to the surface through self discovery it does silently simmer unseen for years. That self discovery to do something about it is at the root of our dealing w/ this issue and for that matter MWO.

Keep walking your own path to this personal growth.

July,

Day 180 AF

[Finding My Self]

Monday, January 21, at the Inn

Hello all!

Hannah - go girl, go!! Oh I so hope to hear good news soon....eeek! A week!!!

Rob - glad you're ok....12 hour shifts...heck.

And July - wise words as ever...thank you. Certainly the booze was just the final, obvious 'symptom' of much more underlying stuff in me. Sometimes I am strangely grateful for the booze-hassle; I might never have really, really got to the 'stuff' without it. Am I alone in this thought? (Or just masochistic?!) So now another layer is getting worked off!! Hopefully more successfully than all the other times as there are no crutches now....(unless you count chocolate!....heck!)

And, I too.....the amount of bottles with a party! And what folk think of as an ok amount to drink....'like-wot-I-used-to' even before it was clearly too much....well, no, actually. I remember worrying when I went past a half bottle of wine a night....I made a measure-thingy to tape on each bottle to know where half was.....as I often went past it...to try again tomorrow! But I know people who have a 'relaxed attitude towards drink' who think 2-3 bottles every night is quite fine....normal and ok and safe....I can't say about the health issues - they are actually different in us all - but I have seen the psychological results....weird/paranoid thinking, crazy ideas, ungroundedness and wild eyes....um, from the outside now (eeek!) and it's not good. Not good at all.

I found this today in one of my books....from Stuart Wilde's The Secrets of Life...

"The reason why society doesn't like drugs is partly because the dopers remind us of all our dysfunctions and the stuff we're hooked on. It's a shadow thing. Middle class people who are stoned out of their heads on legal drugs (inc alcohol I guess!) point the finger at working class drug users. People in the US consume 70 million Valium tablets every day. Add to that all the other tranquilizers, uppers, downers and booze, and what we have is a society that is slightly stoned all of the time....."

Open to discussion but it sure made me think! We have had a news story here in the UK recently about the difference between 'acceptable' middle class excesses and 'alcoholism'.....and as it's mostly the middle class 'ok-people' who drink 'with this 'relaxed attitude' to booze that run the country and make major decisions!....hmmm!

And yet, I am still aware that in myself, one small glass of wine seems a very little amount for anyone to have and I would 'expect' a 'normal', guy-without-a-problem' (?!) drinker to be able to put away 2-3 glasses of wine a night without any concerns....hmmm again! The mind....the b***** mind!! The way we're brought up? Although my parents rarely had wine.... Wow, got me thinking this has!

I hope all have a good Monday and that Earth's energies are not wobbling people too much today...it seesms to have been a tricky weekend all round.....

Catch up later....thanks for letting me ramble!

Love FMS xx

[hadenuf]

Monday, January 21, at the Inn

Hi everyone at the Inn,

Not been around for a while... I hit a bit of a bumpy bit of the road but now back on track at Day 8.

Went to a hynotherapist today - one who specialises with alcohol. I'm going to have three sessions and not drink ever again! Wouldn't that be great...! ) Anyhow, it's nice to be back....

[maxman]

Monday, January 21, at the Inn

gday, Max is back! missed you guys, day 1 af today! feeling good now after a little slip and am back on the horse. Will make it past the 30 days this time, whos coming in for a swim in the outdoor pool, the water is fine, once youre in!