~cattleman cafe~ & another 24...

[abcowboy]

Hope you feel better soon Jude!

Here's some pics Amanda sent...

[Slo]

I got to babysit my grandson last evening, and even sleep overnight and snuggle with him all night! Thankfully Young Daughter came over and helped me with him, as I’m finding everything hard with the neuropathy. And now have been diagnosed with POTs, a related condition (orthostatic hypotension with tachycardia). No wonder I get so tired so easily.

Today I went to a baby shower for oldest daughters’ friend, and thoroughly enjoyed getting to visit with people.

Jude, sorry you fell ill during your travels. It sure can happen.

Ginger, good luck with your packing.

Cowboy, thanks for posting pictures of the two Bruce’s! Is that Bubba with you?

Rava, glad your granddaughter stayed just the right amount of time for a visitor to stay. Was she on Spring Break?

[Mulburry]

I started out the same as you Mul, but it didn't take long before I expanded my "reasons" to drink. The most harmful one was "needing to relax and deal with stress". That's when I started having to have wine in the afternoon to let go of all the day's anxieties. That lead eventually to drinking alone being acceptable and in the end I was, like Cowboy, drinking alone and mostly at home.

Yup, pretty much the exact same with me (funny how similar a lot of our stories are). Come home from a long day of work, of course you deserve a couple beers (or 6), right? It's just a shame I find, at least for myself, that I couldn't keep it contained, and be able to use it where it actually has some use (ie responsibly in social settings).

I am sure you made the right choice to quit while you were ahead of all that!

Well, I certainly didn't quit while I was ahead (though i sure wish I had). i had developed a horrible physical alcohol dependence by the end, where even just changing the amounts I was drinking per day by small amounts would bring on withdrawal symptoms. It really was a true hell, and I never want to back there again, and that's really the main reason I don't drink at all anymore.

[Jude58]

Great pics cowboy, Bruce (the dog) is huge! Glad that you had a nice visit with your daughter.

Still sick and running a fever, but thankfully the covid test that I did yesterday was negative. Don't need that!

24 more for all of us please...

[dill]

Great pics, Cowboy! Bruce is such a handsome dog! I'm glad you enjoyed the visit and I'm sure you will enjoy many more. Thanks for yesterday's breakfast. It was superb.

Jude, sorry you are dealing with a bug. I hope you get well fast. In the meantime, I am sure your sisters are taking good care of you.

Slo, I applaud you getting out and enjoying life as best you can while dealing with your illness.

Waves Ginger, Mul and Rava!

24 more for all of us here, please and thank you.

[Rava]

Good morning Cafe. Jude I am so sorry that you made it all the way to FL to get sick.. Hopefully you can sit outside and let the sun soak up whatever you have. Glad it’s not covid! Slo, glad you got to spend some time with your grandson and go to a baby shower. Ginger, I think you said you were leaving on the 26th? A lot of our Canadian neighbors are packing up to leave. Our community had an end of season party Friday night and it’s hard to believe that the season is over. Granddaughter made it safely home yesterday. We had a wonderful weekend together. I am grateful for the time we had. Granddaughters are so much easier than daughters! Just saying that! Cowboy. Thanks for sharing the pictures of Bruce and Bubba. Gives us a glimpse into your world. Waves to Mul and Dill too! 24 more please and thank you!

[abcowboy]

5:22am in Alberta, another 24 please, and thanks...

In the last 24 hours, these friends have signed in for 24 hours of wellness:
dill Rava Jude58 Ginger999 Slo Mulburry

Today is going to be a darn good day not to drink!

[abcowboy]

Good to hear it's not Covid Jude, but hope you get over it soon so you can enjoy your vacation.

Yes, that's Bubba sitting beside me Slo, she gets along very well with the Bruce's lol. Sounds like you had a very enjoyable time with the family.

You must be mostly packed and ready to hit the road tomorrow Ginger, a couple of days travel I presume?

Glad your visit with your granddaughter went so well Rava, won't be long till you're seeing all the family again.

Is Mr D still pumping water dill, or has he got enough in the pond now?

I'm surprise Mulburry that with the amount of alcohol I was drinking that I didn't have any physical withdrawal symptoms, just lucky I guess.

[Ginger999]

Jude, I'm just reading you're sick. I hope it's a short lived bug! Like Rava said, sit out and let that sun burn it out of you

ABC, Bruce is spectacular and looks like a real sweetie. Did he give you puppy fever? I've found that feeling has passed for hubby and me. Besides, Cyrus is all the "dog" we need. Lol

Rava, it's an exodus around here! Too many of our Canadian friends are talking of not coming back or outright selling their places. Too much uncertainties with the relationship with US and the exchange rate really hurts them. Sad...

Slo, nothing like a good snuggle. Glad you were able to do that.

Hey, Dil and Mul!

We are 90% packed and leaving tomorrow. Can't wait to get home and see my family. I'll take another day

[Slo]

Slo, I applaud you getting out and enjoying life as best you can while dealing with your illness.

Thank you for this, Dill! It is getting hard to live normally and do much.

Cowboy, was that your real breakfast that you posted? I spot pierogies on the plate.

Yes, hopefully some time resting out in the Florida weather can help heal you, Jude.

Ginger, I’m not surprised to hear that your Canadian Winter neighbors may not be returning. I wonder if the same will happen in your condo community next year, Rava.

All we can do now is embrace our freedom from that toxic substance that kept us chained, Mulberry. It is a hard crutch and pleasure to let go of though. Although, the “need” for it made it no longer a pleasure for us. It had turned on us. So now we turn away from it. We have the upper hand now.

Rava, nice that your granddaughter is old enough that you could have time alone with her, with none of your kids around.

I am going to try to swim today.

[Mulburry]

I'm surprise Mulburry that with the amount of alcohol I was drinking that I didn't have any physical withdrawal symptoms, just lucky I guess.

I'm surprised too sometimes when I hear other people say how much they were drinking and didn't seem to develop a physical dependence, I guess a lot of it is genetics and just how our body responds/adapts. I think another part of it is in drinking patterns, and ironically not drinking every day regularly can actually make it worse. If you're sucseptible to it, there's a process called kindling, so that every time you go through some sort of withdrawal (even very minor) it becomes a little bit worse the next time, which eventually makes your brain hyper responsive over time. For the longest time, I delluded myself by thinking that as long as I didn't drink every day, I wasn't an alcoholic, so what started out as just heavy weekend drinking, then a few days during the week etc. And I remember earl on in my drinking career I could still drink every day sometimes for a stretch of a few weeks, and then cut back down pretty easily. But over time, all these swings, added up, and the tiny almost imperceptible withdrawal symptoms gradually got more pronounced over time. At one point, I was drinking every second day (which is fine, cause it's not every day, right? haha), swingiing between mild hangover and mild withdrawal every day. In hindsight, this is clearly the point where I should have quit for good, but instead I took the easy way out and just started drinking every day and then didn't stop for close to 10 years.

[abcowboy]

4:56am in Alberta, 24 more for me please, and thanks...

In the last 24 hours, these friends have joined in for 24 hours of wellness:
Jude58 dill Rava Ginger999 Slo Mulburry

Today is going to be a darn good day not to drink!

[Rava]

Good morning Cafe. Ginger, safe travels tomorrow. Yes our Canadian friends are feeling worried about their places and the new rules coming. Some are already gone. I hope they don't sell. We have a lot of Canadians here and would miss them very much. Jude, I hope you are on the mend now. Slo, hope your swimming helps with your pain. Cowboy, Bruce will be a nice visitor now that Amanda is closeby. He is a brute! Dill, hope all is well with you. Mul, the drinking life is nothing but lying to ourself and others. It’s a tricky and sneaky way to live with devastating health effects. Yet we do it over and over. Breaking free from this is definitely not for the weak. I hope everyone has a great and sober day. Off to my volunteer job today. 24 more please and thank you.

[abcowboy]

No, it was just a breakfast I picked from the internet Slo, we usually don't have perogies for breakfast but do have kubasa with eggs sometimes. We do eat perogies on a weekly basis though lol.

Bruce's visits will satisfy our puppy fever Ginger lol, we'll even get to dogsit him a few times from the sounds of things. Have a safe trip home!

I was drinking everyday from morning till night Mulburry, and not just a lttle. Sure glad those days are behind me.

[dill]

Cowboy, Mr. D had to give up pumping from the creek because the water level went down too low. We need and good, solid rain to get those creeks filled up again. So, we wait. The pond is still down by 2 feet.

Hope you're feeling better, Jude.

Ginger and Rava, I can't believe the season is over either! But it is, and each day brings more light. Yesterday was SO windy though! It made me glad we got that tree down.

Greetings Slo and Mul.

24 more for all of us here, please.