Newbies Nest

[paulywogg]

Re: Newbies Nest

Congratulations on 5 years Matt!!!

[wagmor]

Re: Newbies Nest

Matt - Huge CONGRATS on 5 Freakin' Years!!!!! That's awesome - really happy for you. :heartbeat:

Byrdie - what a wonderful chance encounter you had with the woman on the plane. Sorry to hear the heart-heavy stuff she's been through and is going through, but glad your paths crossed. Who knows - sharing your story might have been just what she needed to stay sober through what will almost certainly be difficult days ahead.

Pav - sounds like a wonderful weekend in the mountains

Nar - ooohh.... e-bike! What kind? How did you decide? We've done test rides on a few and figure they are in our future but maybe a few years down the line. I can still remember the odd feeling of being able to accelerate as I pedaled up a pretty challenging hill. Hope you enjoy the heck out of it!


Busy day of teaching here but sober and grateful for the work. Hope everyone is having good AF weeks so far!

[jvo]

Re: Newbies Nest

Morning,

Matt, congratulations on five years. How amazing you are! I hope to follow in your footsteps and make it.

Byrdie, I love that story. Thanks for sharing. God works in mysterious ways, and that was meant to happen. :love:

I’ve been keeping myself busy around here. Lots of little things that never mattered actually really matter! Funny that...I wrote on my “good stuff” list today...coffee tastes so amazing. Coffee on hungover days (majority of my days) tasted just ok. But wow. I should only indulge in one but allowing myself two. It’s the little things...

Going to see about getting the million books I’ve read on addictions out of the attic, mostly memoirs, and begin to reread. I’m glad I saved them.

Have a good day.

[Lavande]

Re: Newbies Nest

Good Tuesday evening Nesters,

Matt, a BIG CONGRATS to you on your 5 years AF :welldone:
I know you are grateful & living the good life!!

Byrdie, very interesting about meeting that woman on your flight. I have a feeling the universe just may have put you two together for a very good reason. Hope you are doing well.

Jvo, I’m really loving my coffee too even if it is decaf at this point, lol
I buy good brands so I’m happy.

Wags, I’m suddenly busy too but that’s OK. My work keeps me inside in the AC

Hi there Pauly, LC & everyone else checking in.

We’re supposed to have powerful storms tomorrow afternoon that will be followed by cooler air. I really hope so!
Wishing everyone a safe night in the nest!

Lav

[jvo]

Re: Newbies Nest

Evening,

So another thing that is pretty awesome. My mornings are sweet. Evenings are tougher, obviously. I won’t be saying this about the mornings in a few weeks once back to work, but I can enjoy them now while I can.

I’m thinking of going off of Facebook. A friend told me it’s a wasteland where you can form resentments, and I have to agree. So many times I find myself getting annoyed or irritated while on there. I don’t need that in my life. Well, it’s not going to solve all problems and nothing will, but these small changes make a difference.

Getting a new roof in a few weeks. Just met with a contractor. Our roof is old, but we had a nasty storm that damaged a lot of it and luckily insurance is paying most of it.

Have a good night.

[jvo]

Re: Newbies Nest

Hi Lav,
I should not have any caffeine because of anxiety but one thing at a time. I was on my second cup this morning and realized I didn’t want to finish it. That’s how normies are with alcohol, but not me.

[paulywogg]

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Morning nesters,J-vo funny you said that about FB cuz I just went through and snoozed alot of stuff that was pissing me off! Alot of my family are very vocal about politics and I only like hearing the stuff I agree with haha yes it can be draining,I only like the funny stuff, Byrdie,that's awesome you met that lady at the airport! I agree with Lav that fate brought you two together I was doing a customer yesterday and he was talking about how great drinking is and I told him not for me and he said"so you've never been drunk?" Idiot yes I've been drink a million times! I told him I get too drunk and I can't control the drinking,he said he gets drunk off 4 beers and I don't think he understood when I told him it takes a hell of a lot more than that to get me drunk,it's impossible to explain to people who just can't get it and I was annoyed with the conversation,my friend who I work with used to be my drinkin buddy was exactly the same as me and she just looked over and said"nobody will ever get it" so I started talking about something else, waves to all and wishes for a fabulous AF day!

[Pavati]

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Hi, Nest!

CONGRATULATIONS on five years, Matt!! Thanks for staying here and staying hard. I hope you get to celebrate with your family and friends.

Pauly - funny how we have to convince people who don't understand.

Love that story, Byrdie. If you are open, it is amazing how you meet the right people who need you. I hope your conversation with stick with that woman and you will continue to serve as a support to her.

Nar - I'm intrigued. Does it drive in the snow?

I don't have a lot of time this morning. I wanted to check in and say hi.

Pav

[KENSHO]

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Happy 5 Matt! What an important milestone! Big hugs to you Fire Dude!

I'm in the midst of craziness with work. Yesterday, six separate things went wrong - installations flawed, cornices made too long, drawings reverting to earlier dates... I was a mess and wanted to escape for sure! Alcohol definitely crossed my mind more than usual. But today is a new day, and I get the house to myself for an entire 6 hours!

The kids had a end of season party and I spent some time talking with another father. I had mentioned a previous day that I don't drink, and he brought it up again, "So you really don't drink?" I said, "Nope... best decision I've ever made!" He said, "I really should quit. It's definitely a crutch for me." I think there is a whole group out there who function but dislike what alcohol is doing to their lives. Yet they don't feel "bad enough" to quit. I couldn't tell if he was looking at me with fright or awe. But I think that the more people that kick it to the curb, the more others feel it's ok. The stigma is huge.

I looked up how much alcohol is too much, and by the most conservative standards for a woman, no more than 7 drinks in a week. I would have a really hard time doing that. In fact, I chased that standard for a long time and couldn't do it.

JVO, you're sounding good! I can't handle too much coffee either. I do love me some cashew milk chocolate decadence ice cream though!!!

Happy hump day Nest!

[jvo]

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[MENTION=17650]paulywogg[/MENTION], I know what you mean. So annoying the politics! But I also find the perfect families annoying, the vacations, the stupid rants about nothing that matters. Well, not to me. You know what I like? The dogs and babies videos. I can laugh and smile at those. But I don’t need Facebook for that. I can find those on my own. No, normies just don’t get it, but then, how could they. It’s not a problem they’ve dealt with, kinda like if we’ve never dealt with diabetes or something like that.

It’s a much cooler morning. A nice relief. I went into my 200 degree attic last night, went thru so many boxes to locate my addiction books, was completely drenched in sweat, and never found them. So I decide to look in one more place...my bedroom closet. Hmmm. There they were! As to why I didn’t think to look there first is beyond me. I am going to start with Mary Car’s “Lit.”

Have a good day.

[jane27]

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Congratulations to you, Matt for 5 years sober. :welldone: Great post Brydie...I’m sure you were an inspiration to her. I remember when I was at my lowest how hard it was to imagine sober folks at their worst...I don’t ever want to forget what my lowest point looked like because it keeps me strong. One sip would be my undoing. Frightening that a good and stable life could be upended in less than a minute. Wishing everyone strength in resolve and a nice day. :heartbeat:

[NoSugar]

Re: Newbies Nest

Congratulations, Matt! If statistics are true, your liklihood of relapse are pretty low now. I sort of understand that because after 5 years (and with an attitude of gratitude like yours!), it would feel really weird and bad to drink again. Sober is the new normal, isn't it :smile:?

I haven't read Lit, J-Vo. Please let us know your recommendation after you finish it.
I'm so happy for you that you are DOING THIS :hug:. and I must say, you have one of the best support teams I've ever seen. There have been some really compelling posts on this thread lately.

I like the Messenger part of FB but that group's complicity in manipulating public opinion (for monetary and political gain) is terrible. As for how the FB site makes us feel jealous or 'less than', imagine if people posted the photos of their actual instead of idealized lives! We'd all be deactivating our pages in boredom or horror!!

[Guitarista]

Re: Newbies Nest

Top of the day to evabody.

So good to see you drop in Jane! One sip and a whole life can be upset and upturned in a minute! Or most likely in days, weeks, months to come. The good news is we don't have to drink or get numb. There are heaps of healthier ways to escape.

Great to hear from you friend Kensho. More of life's foibles handled AF like the pro that u r. Bravo! Diggin' the ice cream vibe.

Yo Pauly! You must get a daily snapshot of where humanity is at! Interesting job.

Jvo, great work on gittin those books out. I have a few here too that i've bought over the years. I can't recall specific content as haven't read em for awhile - Mindful recovery by Thomas and Beverly Bien. The Tao of sobriety, by David Gregson and Jay s. efran. Learning to live again, by Merlene miller, Terence Gorski, David miller. Recovery, by Russel brand. Russells book is a no frills style look at our thinking and drug use with reference to the 12 step program. He takes u through the steps in simple language cutting to the chase. e.g. 'Are you fkd?' 'How do i get unfkd?' etc. But overall, the content is useful and relevant no matter what u might think of the 12 step philosophy. They're all worth a look. Take what u need, leave the rest as they say.

FB is def dangerous if we find we're comparing ourselves to others. It's an uber fast superhighway of fast food style info and dodgy self care/improvement sales people ain't it? Better to look from a non attached perspective, have a laugh, shake the head and move on to LIVING. lol.

Speaking of perspective.....what's mine today? An attitude of gratitude for one.

Big waves to y'all. Take it easy.

[available]

Re: Newbies Nest

Morning nesters

One more sleep till i go on holidays for 2 weeks, i am tired of work, tired of having to think and tired of being nice lol. Some people are so draining and i just think, man there are so many more people in the world with worse problems than yours! Menopause intolerance i call it or just being 55! I am going to spring clean my house in winter, sleep in later than 4.15am and just spend time with Carl.

Congrats Matt on 5 years, a wonderful achievement. No turning back now.

Nice to see you Jane, i totally agree that one drink will turn our lives upside down so why bother.

Pauly, i just feel like shaking people sometimes but i suppose they are normal drinkers. we used to be one of them until we crossed that line, i still try and think when i did that but for the life of me there is no answer. i suppose i was always walking towards that line when i started binge drinking. Now that line is not there to cross and never will be.

sounding good J, keep up your accountability and drowning yourself in al stories. I hope the witching hour (or 5) gets better for you. I remember one day coming home from work and just made a cup of tea, none of the madness of pining for a wine. it was a wonderful feeling.

The weather reports are telling us we are in for arctic conditions, i like to call it winter!

G, we have to set a date for our date with STeady. Let us know. I'm anxious letting a man organise anything ha ha.

well best get back to work, pretty quiet with all the drs on ward rounds.

take care xx

[Byrdlady]

Re: Newbies Nest

Finally back home. Had the job interview and I must say, it was very tempting, but the downside is starting over and much more travel. I saw the guy this morning and told him that I appreciated his considering me but that I would persevere here. I can’t believe I did that after how much I hate this job. I am going to try and hold out to the end of the year.
J vo, mindfulness was a very helpful tool for me early on. Enjoying the taste of a chocolate chip cookie, savoring and anticipating the creamy goodness and simplicity of ice cream, all helpful in making me live in the present and be grateful for it. On the plane today, there was this guy in the row across and in front of me. He unwrapped a brownie type bar. I noticed it was taking him a long time to eat it! (Why do I notice these things?). He chewed each bite about 46 times! He took a sip of water during the chews and continued chewing. A BROWNIE!? How do you chew a brownie that much? Even if it had nuts, which I don’t think it di, I don’t get it. I noticed the man was thin and fit for an older gentleman. It set me to thinking that I drank so hard and so fast, it wasn’t about the taste at all (in spite of my protests to the contrary). All I cared about was the buzz I watched several of my coworkers throw them back at our team dinner last night. I’m so grateful not to be one of them.
Jane, so good to see you!!!!
Kensho, sorry that you had a shit-storm of a day. Ugg, I hope tomorrow, all of your cornices will be perfect and there will be no surprises.
Pauly, how do you stand on your feet all day, mine are filing for divorce!
Hugs to all, Byrdie