Newbies Nest

[Petrelhead]

Newbies Nest

Hi all. Friday afternoon here. Typically I visit my dad on Friday afternoons and have a couple of beers with him. He's been away a few weeks, so today was the first Friday since I started AF.

I haven't told anyone yet, so my dad was the first to find out. He says that shows a lot of discipline. I bought some alcohol FREE beers a few weeks back when I first started. I don't like them, but took 2 along to "have a beer with my old dad". It was nice, filled all criteria and still AF.

[Sarah42]

Newbies Nest

Sorry for the double post...again site was slow as Christmas coming and I hit submit twice. Sorry

[Sarah42]

Newbies Nest

Petrelhead;1637705 wrote: Hi all. Friday afternoon here. Typically I visit my dad on Friday afternoons and have a couple of beers with him. He's been away a few weeks, so today was the first Friday since I started AF.

I haven't told anyone yet, so my dad was the first to find out. He says that shows a lot of discipline. I bought some alcohol FREE beers a few weeks back when I first started. I don't like them, but took 2 along to "have a beer with my old dad". It was nice, filled all criteria and still AF.

I used AF beer when I was preggers. Does it help you now or have u crave the 'real' thing? I thought about getting some but then thought it might be temptation for the real stuff. TIA

[DreamThinkDo]

Newbies Nest

MAE Nesters!

We're celebrating - I'm 5 months AF today! (Hope you'll join us, NoS :l)

And Byrdie, I desperately need some underpants, hopefully of the flying variety - do you have anything in the prize cupboard?



Have a good AF Friday, everybody - I feel like playing hooky from school to enjoy the lovely autumn day.

[Sarah42]

Newbies Nest

DTD- I'm not Byrdie, but CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Much respect.

[Petrelhead]

Newbies Nest

Dream, congrats on the 5 months. I think there's about enough fuel in that photo for a 20 mile run:H

Sarah, I tried alcohol free beer out of boredom in the first week AF. They're okay, but not great. I find I mentally don't need anything like that now. I just snack and drink diet soft drink. Does the trick for me.

[available]

Newbies Nest

Oh Dream 5 months, so proud of you lady and you are a total treasure to have on MWO, big hugs and kisses from me to you and not drinking makes it easier with you around as i am way too busy drinking coffee. xxxx

Petrel, i thought of af wine but i dont like bubbles and i just figure not drinking anything looking like al is better for me. Im going to crank up the juicer this weekend and use all the fruit and veges i bought last week that sit in the fridge looking at me.

I had to go and buy a new power lead for my laptop this afternoon, not that the computer is going any better but at least it starts. anyways i bought it home and went to plug it in and they did not put in the plug for the powerpoint so off i went again and on the way home i thought to myself that back in the drinking days there is no way i would have gone out again as i would be itching for my first of many wines, actually may not even have made it to the store the first time. Funny how life changes not drinking and focusing on drinking. Thank god it is Friday is all i can say.

Now to go back and read a bit, did i mention its great that its friday.

[Petrelhead]

Newbies Nest

Hey Ava. I think those pseudo non al drinks may have a place in the early days, but I couldn't care less now. No great desire to drink al. Yes loving juicer and blender.

Good luck to your bunnies tonight! I truly dislike Manly. Home derby broncos/cowboys up here.

[DreamThinkDo]

Newbies Nest

I couldn't decide if I should open a new thread for this or not, but since my very first post was in the Nest, I think this one belongs here too.

Yesterday, five months ago I would have been, if not drunk, then certainly on my way there. (And I started this at 11 am :blush:.)

My dad quit when I was in primary school, and my mum is a very light drinker, so there never was alcohol at home, unless there were guests who brought their own. So those first ?stolen drinks? as a dare/pushing the boundaries/exploring never happened for me. Although I had the odd drink too many at university, overdid things on weekends in my twenties and thirties drinking became a problem only relatively late in life. I really can?t remember when it became a problem ? because I never saw my drinking as a problem. I should have seen red warning lights and heard alarm bells when I started opening a bottle of wine earlier and earlier each day ? in those last black months any time from eight in the morning onwards. Somehow I still managed to stick to deadlines ? very often by getting up and working when the dreaded three o?clock in the morning wake-up call from the Brothers GSR came.

I discovered MWO when somebody on a news site mentioned it ? and I owe that person a huge debt of gratitude. I registered here, and started reading, reading, reading ? all the time with a glass in hand, of course. Except that it wasn?t a glass ? it was an enamel espresso cup, so that anybody seeing me drink would think that I was drinking coffee. Not sure who I was fooling, because I was the wine shop?s best and most regular customer. The well-behaved town drunk.

So, there I was, constantly filling my cup with nectar from the Cape?s vineyards, reading, planning how I would mod, with Byrdie and the other Nest Mothers insisting that moderating was impossible. Byrdie, Lav, all of you ? my apologies ? I thought that you were sour spoil sports ? telling others that modding was impossible because you were not capable of modding. I, however, I thought, would be the poster child for modding. (And modding in my book then meant having nothing during the week, a bottle on Friday evenings and my usual two bottles a day on Saturday and Sunday. That way, I reasoned, I would cut my consumption by more than half ? so what was there to worry about? Writing this, I don?t know whether to laugh or to cry.) Somehow, it got through my thick skull and the fog of alcohol that I had a completely skewed idea of modding. And then the small issue of the 30 day challenge came up in the Nest. That seemed like an absolute impossibility. I thought that I might make 7 days, but not more than that. Stubborn Dreamy decided to accept the challenge ? and to reward herself with a huge bottle of champagne after 30 days. The thirty days was long enough for me to know that I did not want to drink at the end of it ? but, for a while, I kept that option open ? and then discarded it altogether. And, obviously, the temptation of modding has been flung out the window. I'm a drunk, plain and simple, not a moderate drinker who sometimes have one too many.

The first few days AF were the usual hell, although I didn?t have any withdrawal symptoms, and the cravings were bearable. In fact, I?ve been incredibly lucky in that department ? I?ve had one or two cases of cravings that were so bad that I was paralysed, but on the whole, I sailed through things, compared to what other people here experienced. (And I'm neither complaining nor bragging!)

And here I am, five months later. I couldn?t be happier. I was scared that I would turn into a miserable person, incapable of having fun without booze to kickstart things. The people posting here, and especially the Army, have shown me that we can still have fun ? more fun ? while sober.

Yes, life still has it ups and downs, frustrations, boredom, happiness, sadness ? life still is life, but I deal with things in a completely new and different way. I still, from time to time, think about how nice it would be to sit outside and have a glass of wine ? but it?s nostalgia for what was. And let?s be honest ? wine played the starring role in my life. I?m happy with the fact that I miss it ? but it?s in the past, and that?s where it will stay.

So, I?m sober. And I?m happy. I?m happy that I?m sober.

And to each and everybody on this site: thank you. Your stories and experiences ? good and bad ? keep reinforcing the fact that I won?t ever drink again. I would not have been able to do this without you - and can't tell you how much I appreciate you.

And to the Newbies: it's incredibly scary to think of never-ever drinking again. It's a lot easier to just not drink today, and to then do the same thing again the next day, and the next and the day after that too. That is how I reached today - ODAT.

[Petrelhead]

Newbies Nest

Dream, beautifully said. There's a lot of feeling, pain and eventual joy in that post.

It's these brave posts that are the foundation of this forum. I know for a fact there are plenty who post here, and many more who don't, but all will read and take something away to help them to try and achieve what you have achieved.

Thanks for sharing

[available]

Newbies Nest

Dream i feel as if i had written what you wrote but i think i drank at an earlier age than you and drank at a later time in the day also haha. I too thought Byrd and Lav talked crap but slowly realised they were totally correct and moderating is not an option for an alcoholic but i dont miss drinking either at the end of the day. Life is so much better, a whole lot better, bloody wonderful sober. Just one thing, has that bottleshop closed down now? I am really proud of you Dream and following quite happily along behind you to the finish line that is not there!

You make me very proud of you girl! xx

[DreamThinkDo]

Newbies Nest

Thanks Sarah, Petrel and Ava.

The wine shop still open, Ava, but I guess their turnover is down to pre-Dreamy days. The one pub I used to go to quite often closed its doors about two weeks or so after I quit :H:H:H. I insist that the two events are purely random and not connected at all. My story, which I'll stick to. And you'd better stay 50-odd days behind me, or we'll have to have a serious talk.:l:l

[NoSugar]

Newbies Nest

Dreamy, I enjoy coffee with you each and every morning . Congratulations on achieving this special day! Your post so clearly and honestly tells how scary this can be, how we can convince ourselves we are different from others, and how wonderful it can be to accept a change that doesn't turn out to be nearly as bad as we expected - with so many benefits that whatever we still might view nostalgically can be left behind without regrets. Thanks for all you give all over MWO. :h NS

[bran new day]

Newbies Nest

Love your post Dreamy ,

[Lavande]

Newbies Nest

Good morning Nesters,

CONGRATS to DTD on 5 AF months :wd:
We are all very happy for you today & appreciate the awesome coffee you bring to us every day
Life is much better without AL. Life will never be perfect but everything is much more manageable with a clear head

Greetings to everyone & wishes for a great AF Friday for all!

Lav