Newbies Nest

[Lavande]

Good evening Nesters,

Great to see everyone checking in during this busy holiday season. Stick close to the nest for your safety & you'll do just fine
I've been busy since sunrise & just getting to sit down after 10 pm. My granddaughter is here overnight so the house feels extra special. She's so excited for Christmas

Steady, good to see you & glad you are doing well.

Roobs, so sorry about your Dad. I hope you & your family can have a memorial & be comforted in that way. This is such a hard time to lose a loved one, complicated or not.

Wishing everyone a safe & cozy night in the nest!

Lav

[Nursie]

Just popping in to say goodnight from my neck of the woods.
Had a long day of prep and then went out to dinner with hubby and our little guy. I was thinking, man the beer looks good, cocktails look good. O ordered iced tea and had a pity party for about 5 seconds. I played it out in my head as I siooed my tea.
I watched others drinking and not drinking.
Our dinner bills have been so much cheaper since I quit! 5-6 glasses of wine really does blow up the bill! And then I'm useless for the rest of the night, can't drive home, don't take care of my responsibilities at home, stop for more wine on the way home, drink the wine, eat like a pig because I'm drunk, and pass out. Then be useless tomorrow.

But again, see I ordered the iced tea. So we had a great dinner. Got some shopping done, I drove us home and then cleaned up, took care of my son, did some laundry and watched a show. And now I'm here! I did not ruin anything. I am sober.
See you all tomorrow!

[STEADFAST]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to hear that some folk are doing it particularly tough right now. The good thing is that everyone is affirming their quit and what their plans are to get through.

Pavati: No, I've not had any contact with Little Beagle. Up until yesterday I hadn't been on MWO for some time. I do hope L.B is doing well. I remember last time I checked in she had some romance going on, so I'm hoping she's happily pre-occupied!

As Available has said, it's very hot in Melbourne at the moment. Am staying indoors until the sun's down, then will go for a walk and stock up on some soft drinks for tomorrow. Soon be over, phew!

Hang tight everyone,
love,
Steady

[mario]

Sorry about your father Roobs, its not easy to loose someone so close to you anytime, hope your doing ok.

Hello to everyone else :-) I am just very busy at home, seeing all my family grandkids etc etc, Everyone here seems happy enough, Actually they seem well able to cope with the added pressure & huge commercialism of the festive season. so its ho ho ho from here and see you all in the morning, have a good day .

[NoSugar]

Happy Holidays, Nesters! I came across a story by a woman in her 20s who is so grateful for her sobriety:
What the holidays are like for a recovering alcoholic like me - Vox

Isn't she fortunate to have figured this out at such a young age?

What a gift we've all given ourselves and one another! Thank you. Peace and love to you, NS

[paulywogg]

Happy Christmas eve nesters, I love this day more than actual Christmas hope everyone has a wonderful AF day

[j-vo]

Great article, NS. Thank you.

Sis and her family will be here in an hour. So the festivities will begin shortly. I'm not sure what I'm feeling. Not excited, that's for sure. We go to DH's side tonight, then we'll have my family here tomorrow. Other sis will have the others today. All I know is that this is going to be a sad xmas without Mom. The feelings will be felt, because I will not drink. I will not break this sobriety train because I want the freedom that comes with long-term sobriety. I will try to check in later tonight, but if I don't, have a very Merry Xmas Eve. Love to you all.

[Pavati]

Hi, All:

I wrote this on Mario's Pity Party Thread:

I just read from someone that instead of saying sorry she was going to say thank you. Instead of saying "sorry I'm late," she's going to say, "thanks for waiting for me." I thought that was a good perspective akin to what you posted. So much in life is the perspective we take on it. It is easy for me to get down in the dumps this season, but if I can take on the perspective of my kids who LOVE it, I can enjoy it a lot more.

So... I am taking a new perspective today. I am going to enjoy and have fun, forgive my family for their human-ness that gets annoying; and when I need to, take a long break in the other room! Also, I spent too much money on my favorite non alcoholic drink to treat myself.

I hope to get a nice walk in, some cooking, and then a lot of eating and a movie.

Nursie - the dinner bills are SO cheap now. Even three years in, I marvel at it.

Hope you all have lovely days, even those of you who don't celebrate Christmas. It is Saturday night, no ticket to boozeville!

Pav

[Byrdlady]

Happy Christmas Eve!
Pauly, I got a Christmas photo card from Lil Beagle, her 4 doggies look as if they are thriving!
Jvo, had to laugh at your 80's tweased eyebrows, I have 80's Brooke Shield eyebrows! Bahahaha! I hope you have good visits today.
Tomorrow, we are going next door for brunch. She said, 'Get here by 10, thats when the Mimosa's start'. Aye, aye, aye. Before my quit, I would already be loaded when I got there, then drink 3 or 4 while there, sneak home under the guise of checking on my turkey, take a few gulps and pray I could hold it together all day. Then we go to another neighbor's at 5 for dinner. It was at this same neighbor's house that I fell down the stairs and broke my tailbone in 2 places and cracked 3 ribs (2005). Loaded, of course.
I cant tell you how glad that Im not dealing with all that this year.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve! Give yourself the best gift of all! No chimney required! Byrdie

[paulywogg]

Byrdie, glad to hear LB is doing good speaking of mimosas,they were getting ready to make those at work when I left,I'm glad I didn't have to make any excuses for not having any,shoot,what good is a little champagne in orange juice gonna do for me except wake up a sleeping beast! Hopefully this will post,my other one ended up in lost post heaven haha

[Byrdlady]

Pauly, aint it the truth, watered down champaigne, what's the use!? Believe it or not, orange juice gives me the hiccups! Bahahaha!
Here's what I made this morning!IMG_2640.jpg

[available]

Morning nesters

Merry Christmas to you all. It is going to be 38 here today which is 100 to you on the other side of the world. blah to that but the prawns are ready, the ham is bought and my daughter is making the salads. I am going to pack the two kids and two dogs and go to her place to sit in the spa and air con. I am glad the hype is all over and now i can spend time with the children. I do miss it now they are not little and those 5am wake ups to say santa has been. There is nothing like littlies to make christmas what it is.

My two were drinking yesterday in the heat and i thought to myself i am so glad i wont wake up like them. those dehydrated heat hangovers were the worst. I did take the kids to the bottleshop also and it was packed to the rafters. They did get what they wanted for today but i had a little wish i could have that just one. We talked about it and i did tell them that this time of year is hard for us alkies but thats life. Drink and die or dont drink and live. I choose to live. They said they didnt think of it like that and why would they. I have my coke zero so i am happy and water. There are many more positives to life than al.

I just had my daughter call, she is hungover too. What is it with Christmas! I just laughed at her.

Well i had best go and get ready.

Take care x

[Guitarista]

Thanks for waiting for me everyone!

Byrdy, those cookies look good enough to eat! :congratulatory:

Christmas day here. Merry christmas everybody!

Lunch with family today. Should be pretty cruisey, but a couple of emotional landmines which i'm aware of and ready for. I'll just take myself outside for a few minutes if i'm anxious, but i reckon i'll be fine sitting through, and just being with everyone and everything. Bottom line is.....i'm gonna have a good day.

Take care of yourselves y'all, and don't skimp on the self care! X

xpost Ava. Merry xmas! Have a bonza day.

[available]

Merry Christmas G and i hope you have a good one without too many hassles. removing oneself from fam issues is well worth it.

Steady i hope you have a lovely christmas also.

Stay safe guys. xx

[scottish lass]

Ava - isn't that the truth - I had a hankering too, not a real desire, just wanted to have one too - but really happy that I am not.
Pauly - I love the day after Christmas - Boxing day! It is too late to do anything else apart from relax.

Had a good evening yesterday, slept really well - so well that it took me a while to work out that the alarm on my phone was going off! That never happens. Got up and had a lovely walk - it is a glorious day here.

Plans for my week off almost done - will get a couple of my wishes in, girls have time with their friends and all in all it will be just grand. Pav - think we will have good weeks!

I feel settled today - at ease....could this really be starting to settle? Damn well think it could after 6 years, but really to think that maybe it has - wouldn't that be the most brilliant Christmas gift ever?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, celebrate or not as works for you - but stay strong and lets really enjoy making this work - we will all be so proud when we come out on the otherside upright!