Newbies Nest

[All done drinking]

I love those little catchy AA Nuggets. I may have to steal that one for my signature.

Matt,

Definitely steal it...always helps to read those helpful sayings in signature lines. I like mine by Jack Walsh, because if we don't control our own destiny...al will! I also like the saying:

There is Significance in every moment, and the beauty of life is that you can create your own DESTINY.



~Addy

[Starfish1]

Pinecone :hug: You have been on my mind! Huge congrats for your sobriety and for your mentorship! You are awesome!

[Pinecone]

Hi Friends,

Cowboy, thank you for the mention!

Addy, I would want people who are struggling or just starting out to know just how absolutely RIGHT AF life feels. It feels as right as drinking felt wrong. I didn't say easy, ha ha! I don't think life is easy at all sober, drunk or otherwise. But I think we have to try to find the harmony. If we are here, we came here out of a sense of needing to get away from drinking. For me it was like acid inside me, eating my life away from the inside. I know it sounds stupid but if the problem is alcohol, then not drinking is the solution. Not getting wrapped up in theories about how we could moderate or cut back, or whatever. I know I played that game for years and it was just my drinking playing with my intellect so I could keep drinking. I'm sure we've all done that to some extent. Putting time between us and our last drink is the solution. If we know that our reasoning is compromised, then we need to trust and latch on to the TOOLS and SUPPORT that are offered here. They were the game changers for me. TOOLS are techniques designed to work (i.e. keep one from drinking). They are designed to work by people who have successfully quit. They are not the half assed things we do when we are "pretending" to quit. Support is the other element that becomes crucial. The Toolbox and the Nest have these things free for the taking! Give it time and hang in there because it does get much better with time. There are some really, really heavy hitters here who have a solid quit and are saintly generous with their wisdom.

Starfish, thanks for the hug and kind words!

[NoSugar]

Great to see you, Pinecone - congratulations. You were one of the people I latched on to when I joined, so thanks for helping me along. Keep appreciating your AF life!! :hug: NS

[KENSHO]

Yea Pinecone! You were one of the first friendly faces I encountered when I logged in here. Congratulations!

Having a good day here. Feeling like I should probably stay up late tonight to catch up with some billing. The first thing that comes to mind is yuck. The next thing is my old habit of just drinking it away. People used to ask me "how I did it", referring to my crazy schedule. The answer is that I just didn't feel it much because I numbed the hours away. I won't drink, or course, but the habit dies hard for all the things my brain seems to think AL can fix. Not sure why all of a sudden my cravings have become stronger. They seem to have a life of their own!

[See the Light]

Thanks for the welcome backs everyone..

Congrats Pinecone..that is an epic achievement.

Just reading through the some of the recent posts in the Toobox and congrats also to Matt and Elvis for the 1 years..it is posts like that that keep people motivated to try again.

I am glad there is a Toolbox and a number of other great threads here to "refresh" one's memory.

Hope everyone else is doing well....

[Byrdlady]

Holy Toledo, Nesters....what a day!
Work is NUTS!
Pinecone, you cannot tell me the size of your avatar is not different!! It WAS getting bigger, now the pinecone is small! What the what? It's not nice to play tricks on Senior Citizens!!! Congrats on your 4 big years, that is amazing!!!!!! That is a huge accomplishment around here!! You now have Platinum Status!!! Don't be a stranger! :horse:

Stay strong, everyone! Addy and Matt, one of my favorite sayings is 'you can always make things worse by trying' in this case, by DRINKING! I like it!!!
Hugs to all, Busy Byrd

[Lavande]

Good evening Nesters,

I'm back on my home turf after a fun day with a 4 1/2 year old. I am also very tired, haha!!!

Glad you dropped by Pinecone. I hope you are having a marvelous day!

I think I'll just wish everyone a safe night in the nest now - while I'm still awake.
Peace to all!

Lav

[Turnagain]

Hi all...

It's always great to pop back into the nest and see progress and hope and, of course, success!

Congratulations to you dear Pinecone! While your avatar may or may not be growing (LOL Byrdie) your life on this side of the freedom-way is sure blazing a great trail for others to follow. You're an inspiration - thanks so much for sharing!!!!

Laura

[kherriot]

Hmm having a bad day. I am getting too old to look after 2 kids and 2 dogs. They will be home on Sat. so not long now.

[abcowboy]

Karen, hang in there! Everyone has bad days, even me! :hug:

[Quit wining]

Hey Karen!
I know what you mean about looking after little ones. And how tired you can get. We just had our grandson for a weekend visit.
As tired as I was, being free of alcohol made the weekend a lot better.
Glad you don't have long until their parents get home.
And if you need to lean on your buddies here, don't hesitate.

[Pavati]

Alcohol could Fuck Up a rock fight...

And I love those catchy Matt nuggets...

A GIANT congratulations, Pine Cone. Thanks for checking in on us from time to time. You, too, Turn. Good to see you both.

Not much to add tonight, nest. On my way to bed.

Pav

[Lavande]

Good morning Nesters, happy Friday too

Sunny & cool outside - nice!!

Karen, I often watch my grandsons ages 4 & 6 & their two golden retrievers. I call it an exercise in insanity! It is lovely when they go home, I will not lie. Hang in there, it's almost over.

Wishing everyone a great AF day!
What's everyone doing this weekend to stay out of trouble & keep those AF days going?

Lav

[Byrdlady]

I will be in Powerpoint Presentation Purgatory today....Only I am the one creating it. I don't have much experience with it, but here I go anyway....Someone with vast experience could knock it out it a few minutes, I expect it will take me all day.

PowerPoint is a skill that is learned. So is getting and staying sober. It is not that thing out there that no one can learn, it is do-able. It takes a desire to do it, however. You've got to want to be sober more than you want to drink. I want my presentation to go well and sell something more than I want to embarrass myself so I am motivated to learn PP today!!
If you are saying to yourself that you just can't do this....think of a 56 year old lady struggling in front of her computer with 54 pages of crap to consolidate into about 15 meaningful slides....but that lady has been sober for 1759 days. Old dogs CAN learn new tricks. If I can do this, I know you can!
it's only Friday, just another day of the week! It's not a ticket to BoozeVille! Hugs to all! Byrdie