July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

[sdlovespackers]

Happy Week 3 Jolly July Peeps!!

I think this has to be a first...me starting a thread...I just read Lav's post saying we needed to be on week 3 so I thought what the heck, I'd give it a try!! Lav--I don't blame you for not wanting to fill that pool and sit outside....my son had a baseball game today--OMG!!! We got in the car and it said it was 105 degrees!!! UGH--little toasty!! But on the upside--they won!

Dill--retiring?!?! WOW!! Good for you--that's awesome!!! Now this school year as you are doing those dreaded IEPs..you can happily say..."doing this child/one.....FOR THE LAST TIME"...hahaha!!!! WIll make this year SO much more enjoyable I'm guessing!!

I got a call today and I looked and the called ID and saw it was from the school and immediately my heart started racing and was like...oh no....this isn't going to be good...what does she want to tell me....almost like mad--like you can't start making miserable again for another month!!!:H Wasn't that bad....just asked if I would move down a room...no biggie!

Pap3-Glad to hear your dad is doing well...and like everyone else has said...hoping your spirits are lifted soon!:l

Rusty-Sounds like you had a super fun weekend on the water...with some man candy?? Sweet was he? LOL!

Star--looking forward to hearing about your retreat!! Sounds VERY, VERY interesting!!

Rustop--Congrats to your daughter!!

Chill--how are you doin? I sure appreciate your openness and honesty that you bring to this group..always willing to share your thoughts and feeling...even perhaps when difficult. Often times it triggers such self reflection on my part and I thank you...I wish I could be of more help or support, I often lack knowing the right thing to say....if you were 8 years old and had little kid problems...hey, I'd be all over that!!

Couple things have happened the past week that really have me thinking...more and more about how important choosing this type of lifestyle is for me. My best friend called me (from New York) and told me the 'real reason' she wont be coming to the class reunion...she is a single mom right now as her husband has just been admitted into a treatment center for alcohol (I'm guessing drugs too, once they get him there). He should have gone a long time ago, but whatever...I was just so glad I could be there to listen to her..although she said...."they keep calling his problem a disease...I call it an excuse!!" We talked for quite awhile...couple times she said to me...you sound just like his counselor!! LOL!! She said she is going to talk to me way more often---I hope so!!

Second--my sister's husband pulled his same 'ol bullshit and got rip roaring drunk...blah, blah, blah....this is such a long story....anyway....last I heard he had to have his parents drive him back to where he lives (my sister and him don't live in the same town right now until she's done with school in January)....and he's now in some outpatient treatment program because an in-treatment center wouldn't take him??? I don't know....this is one of the reasons why I wanted this life style...so when she dumped his dumb-a$$ I would be the one that could be there for her!! Now--she just needs to dump him!!

I can honestly say that alcohol will never ever control me ever again. It just won't, i KNOW with every fiber of my heart and soul it will never control me again.

HUGS TO YOU ALL!!
SD

[Lavande]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Good morning SD & everyone

Thanks for getting us into week 3 SD - I was just feeling too lazy :H
Sounds like you are commited to a sober life & that's just great! I value my health, my sanity & my ability to be 100% present for my family

Must run, on babysitting duty at 8 am.
Wishing everyone a terrific AF Tuesday!

Lav

[dill]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Hello All and a special hello and thank you to SD for starting week 3! Well done, Grasshopper!:H I also want to thank you for your honest and real post regarding the people in your life who are being hurt by the destructive force of alcohol. Keeping it real, we need that here. I wonder if you might not have a second career in the making? Could you see yourself as a rehab counsellor? I bet you'd be AWESOME!:h

:welcomeaya and ThisWayOut!

Rusty, I've been listening to the Imus show this morning and he talked about his bottom and how he ended up at Hazeldon. Today is his 25 year anni! He asked one of the reporters on his show how old she is and she replied, "Twenty-five". He said, 'I've been sober for you whole life!', something like that. It was amazing to think about.

Lav, you have the right idea with your appreciation of being able to be 100% present for your family, but you got the math wrong.....you're more like 200%.

I will be going to Cleveland to visit with family this coming weekend. My family incorporates alcohol as a staple at gatherings and celebrations but I don't foresee any problem for myself. I am now pretty firm in the habit of simply not drinking at social functions of any kind. I used to be uncomfortable with this and was always hyper-aware of the drinks all around me and who was drinking what. Although I am still hyper-aware, or at least more so than a "normal" person, I don't feel deprived or miserable or anxious, or whatever that bad feeling was that I used to feel. I just drink something I enjoy (non-alcoholic) and enjoy being present and knowing that I won't say or do anything I'll regret.

[rustop59]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Hi everyone

Thanks for getting us started on week 3 SD, you would make a very good counsellor, is it something you ever considered?

Lav - you certainly are kept busy but as you say, it keeps you from dwelling on things and that is a good thing.

Dill you have the right mind set and the longer you are AF and deal with social occasions sober the easier it gets.

I am busy as usual but like Lav I am glad to be, just wish this weather would improve. Big hello to all.

Rustop

[ladybirdheart]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Good going on the start of Week 3, SD, and especially on putting alcohol in a perspective that is helpful not only for your own recovery but for others as well. It is sad to imagine an addicted person might not recover, particularly after the collective successful experience of so many shows what is possible under the most daunting circumstances. So many bad things in life aren?t fixable and we are fortunate to share one that is. I understand, Dill, about being fine AF in social circumstances where drinking is a central factor, although I am also aware that I would like the event to be over sooner than it is, or wish that I could be elsewhere. I have the interesting fortune to have been invited to a Friday evening wedding by a young man whose religion and customs exclude alcohol; I don?t think I have ever been to a sober wedding or a sober social anything, in my culture even the baby girls have cocktail dresses. Enjoy your busy days, Lav and Rustop, I have been flying around since five AM and am now just going to happily coast along through the hot afternoon. Rusty, I?ll bet you can be a world class flirt, capable of charming attractive strangers on yacht, horseback, or foot (takes one to know one). Welcome all to come. Love, Ladybird.

[Lavande]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Grandson #2 napping so I get a chance to look for mind mind........
I know I had it this morning :H

Dill, enjoy your family time sans AL
You can silently & even smugly observe the others making fools of themselves!

Hi Rustop - busy is a good thing, keeps me out of trouble

LBH, my husband's sister had a dry wedding - she married a Mennonite. Funny thing is I have seen the guy put away a beer or two over the years. It was an unusual experience but not a bad one! Hope you have a nice time.

Well, the plan is - YB will be here after work to take me car shopping! Can you believe this?
This is all because he decided he just has to have my car......so I get a new one
I'll let you know how this plays out. Maybe I should insist on a Lexus instead of a Chevy :H

[Lavande]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

I will be picking up the new Chevy tomorrow ~ not the Lexus :H :H
I wouldn't know what to do with a Lexus if one fell in my yard!!!

I had an opportunity to talk about this car business with my son this afternoon too. He doesn't know why YB is doing this either so we are all equally confused

Had a neighbor stop by to inquire about getting some embroidery done for his heating/cooling company
Today turned out pretty well. I never had a day like this when I was sloshing around in a wine haze. Things keep changing & even getting better ~ go figure,
OK, time to tune in to Chopra's Day 2 meditation.

[sdlovespackers]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Hi ALL!

Lav--I'd just go with it and ENJOY!!! You deserve it...and he knows it!!

Well today was kinda interesting for me too....went to the furniture to pick up the dresser and night stand I bought for my son and left with not only that but a whole new living room!!!:H Can we say IMPULSE SHOPPER!!!! I'm not sure what came over me??? It took me over a year just to get up the nerve to buy my car!! LOL!!!

I'll catch up with everyone else tomorrow...it's a busy day tomorrow....meet with a hotel (reunion stuff) getting hair and pedi done (for the reunion, of course), meeting with the florist, son has dr. appt and it's parent's night at baseball so the ex will be in town...fun, fun!!
BIG HUGS!!
SD

[Chillgirl]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Hi Guys

Dont know where I have been but only more rain and studying to report :yawn: I could do with something happening to break the monotony. (I know - be careful what you wish for )

Lav - I would love to get inside YB's mind, who knows what we may find in there? The lost city of Atlantis? :H

[Lavande]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

I don't know about the lost city of Atlantis chill - maybe a rerun of the Exorcist :H :H
Maybe we could squeeze an extra car out of him for you as well :H

Congrats on the new furniture SD! Maybe the extreme heat is driving us all to spend, spend, spend this summer

Already 83 degrees before 7 am. I'm sure will will hit 100 degrees or more today - yuck!
Wishing everyone AF extreme coolness today

Lav

[Rusty]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Good Morning AF Friends,

Just a quick check-in for me.....I'm rushing around as I leave for Maine tomorrow and will be gone until Sunday. I will miss all of you.

LBH-yes, I plead guilty to thousands of counts of flirtatious behaviour...:H:H and I am so glad we share that characteristic. But, uhhhhhmmmmm.....he certainly did not swim over because he was attacted to my physique. What was the ladylike term for a women who was overweight? Rubenesque. I hope you have at your wedding this Friday. I was at a dry wedding 20 years ago and the reception was in the church basement. It was boring because of the couple getting married and their family and friends. My date and I cut out early and went out for Chinese.

Lav-a new car! Cool! I agree with everyone here....if he's buying, go for it. I see he did not forget his wallet this time. Good boy. Good boy. Congrats on the new customer, too. :goodjob:

SD-you make me laugh. I bought my first NEW set of furniture on an impulse, too....it was Memorial Day weekend, 1990. I was so happy. I had been sitting on naugahyde (plastic) furniture for years. Is this your class reunion or your family reunion? Sorry about all the family and friend AL drama you're dealing with. I hope your BIL gets help.

Big hello to everyone else and I probably won't be checking in until Sunday evening.
Have a fantastic AF rest of the week.

[cyntree]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Good morning July-ers -

Rustop, I truly hope you get a break from rain - enough is enough! So glad your daughter placed.

Chill - I have been meaning to mention how amazing I found your perspective on the car breakdown -- good for you, what an outlook of gratitude. I learned a lot from thinking about it.

SD - wow, what ground you've covered in this year --- glad you are reaping the benefits --

RE: sober parties, as you know I'm solo here with the dogs right now, and I sometimes finally find my energy later in the evening rather than earlier... I happened to turn on a public radio program from musicaltheaterproject.org which was highlighting "Oklahoma" (including rare audio clips from Richard Rogers and Celeste Holm, etc). Anyway, I happen to know all of the songs from that show (well, ok, except for Judd's pieces), so the dogs and I had a little Oklahoma party - they get very waggy about music. I was singing at the top of my voice, and literally belting out 'I'm just a girl who can't say no', when I realized that every single window in my house is open, and while the neighbors are not too close they are also not too far...yikes! The police did not make an appearance, so maybe my neighbors all have air conditioning and had their windows closed...

Wishing all a good day today -

[dill]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Hello Rustop, Lav, LBH, Chlll, SD and all to come!

LBH, I'm sure you will enjoy the wedding on Friday since you have had so much practice being af socially and no al will be around to taint the event. I still find that circumstance strange, I must admit. It's a mystery to me how people conduct there lives without alcohol. Of course I think it is wise and a good choice and one I am working on achieving, yet at the same time I marvel at it. Of course, in my youth I used to think these people were boring dweebs. I now realize I was really wrong in that thinking and it must have come from my cultural exposure to alcohol consumption as being "cool" and "sophisticated". It's hard to break down these old thought patterns. I shall keep on working at solving the mystery for myself!

Lav, so glad your day turned out nicely yesterday. YB is such a puzzle. But you know the old saying: "Never look a gift horse in the mouth!" If you were still sloshing around in an al haze you wouldn't have had the appreciation for yesterdays blessings. But, it's been so long now that you've been af! Do you still remember how it was before or has the memory faded?

Chill, enjoy the monotony!!! It won't last long. What's the status on your car?

SD, New furniture?!!! Wow! That's exciting!:happy:
Parent's Night, Huh? Will that be hard or just OK for you? I can't remember, did your ex drink or have a problem along those lines?

Another unbearably hot day here so I'll be indoors reading and puttering around. Happy AF Humpday!

[dill]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Cyn, X-post!!

:H:H:H:H:H:H

I love it!!! I'd have been belting it out along with you if I were there. I loved that musical! "My Boy Bill" being one of my favorites. I do have to wonder what the neighbors thought!

[Lavande]

July's Jolly Journey--Week 3

Have a nice trip to Maine Rusty
Yes, YB did remember his checkbook yesterday. He knew he had to make the down payment since he's taking my car & there's no trade-in. The rest is going on the HELOC......I'll pay it back at my leisure.

Hi cyn!
I actually was a dancer in our church production of Oklahoma back in high school. That was absolutely hysterical, I am no dancer :H :H
Sing your heart out & enjoy yourself!

Dill, it was 86 degrees by 9 am here - gross out there
You know, the memory of my alcoholic haze days is fading BUT it's something we shouldn't completely forget, right? I fear it would be too easy for complacency to slip in & take over & that would be dangerous. I have no need to beat myself up over the past because I really do love the path I am on now
btw - 'My Boy Bill' = YB :H