Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

[Sunbeam]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Hi all,
Happy Sunday! Sunday p.m. used to be my binge time, so I haven't had anything to drink on a Sunday in ages.

J-vo, it is important not to get discouraged, that will only lead to back-sliding. On the other hand, if you keep doing the same thing, and get the same results, that shouldn't surprise anyone. Alcohol habits are just so complex, therefore hard to break. You need to find something to change.

Eve, you are the queen of awareness regarding alcohol intake. That is a great skill to enable moderation. Cutting back even a little is also a good strategy to increase your will power. The less alcohol you have in your body, the less you will want.

I decided to tackle a holiday seasonal task this afternoon. I printed out lots of copies of a recipe to give to everyone I know. A sort of homemade card. It is fun to pick out a recipe from my file or memory. This year I am giving out the chocolate PB granola recipe I have posted on this site. It definitely has colories, but at least the ingredients are pretty healthy. The sweet, salty, tart combo is wonderful. Anyway, this year I finally figured out how to print the recipes directly only Avery file cards. In past years I have printed them out on paper, then cut them out and glued them onto cards. Can you tell I'm not a real techie?

Almost forgot to mention my gratitude for today: my husband. I don't mention him much here. He keeps his distance from this drinking problem of mine. We tend to do our own things a lot, and often don't even eat dinner together. But our marriage is as strong as our love, and we will soon celebrate 28 years in that marriage. I am SO grateful that I now have a rosy future to share with him. That would not have been the case had I not gained control over alcohol.

Take care, all.

[j-vo]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Sunbeam, I will take your advice. I sat here and thought after I read your post what could I change since the odds are high that I'll be in the same situation sooner or later. If I was at a bar having wine like I did last night, instead of ordering another wine, I think I'd tell the bartender to fill my same glass with a club soda (something with carbonation) or some flavored seltzer water. Then I'll have my second glass after that! I've never done that before, and that'll be in my plan. Thanks for making me strategize!

[Eve11]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Hey J-Vo twin,
Started a response earlier but had to leave with hubby for an urgent chore. My heart is with you. Remember what your hubby said. You used to have 4 before you even left...so you're making progress.

From what I could hear you were saying...it was easy for you to get thrown by the unexpected situation
(waiting for the table leads to another glass of wine). I have this post of mine saved in word so I'm cutting and pasting it for you so you can see how we're twins in certain situations...you may have read this before - it may hit home for you as it's similar to your circumstance... here goes:

"Noticed when I really thought about how much I drink and why it was really easy to say no to some of the situations I would have said yes to in the past. Went on a water cruise and many people were drinking the cocktail beforehand so I had to think "Do I really want to have that drink now or save my 2 drinks today for a glass of wine with dinner and a nightcap at the jazz bar. REAL easy to then say no to the daytime drink.
But then didn't have the strength to say no to a third drink when we were out at a comedy club and someone bought rounds not realizing I was trying to do a 2 drink day limit. So, wouldn't have ordered it on my own but wasn't able to say no when it was there staring me in the face."

So, J-Vo you're doing what I did. Had a plan but life throws a curve ball (like the person buying the 3rd for me) and I couldn't say no either. But you're paying attention and remember, being aware of it is 50% of the battle!

Hang in there. We're all fighting this together.
Big hugs,
Eve11

[periwinkle]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Hi everyone, I made my amethyst necklace and earrings today. I used to make beaded jewelry a lot as a teen. I thought it would be a snap. Oh no, my eyes do not see as well these days. I kept dropping things. My necklace turned out beautifully, but I do not think that this will become my new hobby. Just as well, I have plenty of handcrafts I still love to do.

Hubby and I talked yesterday about my MWO program so far. Tomorrow will be day 30 AF for me so I will soon enter my second phase of the MWO program... AL moderation. I don't intend to necessarily have a drink on day 31. It just means that my goals will be toward moderation rather than abstinence. I asked hubby what it had meant to him that I have been AF for 28 days. He said that it meant that he was very happy to know that it was not as physical an addiction as he had feared it might have been. He now believes that I have a very good chance of success at moderation. I told him that I will fine tune my moderation "rules" and we will look at it together so that he can be aware of it too.

DeeBee, sounds like you had a relaxing day! I actually looked at the AF beer at the grocery store a few days ago. I saw that it has a trace amount of AL in it, so decided to hold off until after my 30 day AF time. I thought that would be cheating a little bit. So maybe I'll get some later.

Eve, I've never had cucumber slices in water, sounds interesting. I'll have to try it. And lime and sweetener? I have had cranberry juice and club soda. I like it.

All the childhood talk lately, zed I think of my Grandmother's and climbing the pear and apple trees with my cousins. Playing games, running around. The simple memories in life really are the best aren't they?

j-vo, Lila, Sun, and Eve: I hope and pray that the mod plans I have put in place work out for me. I am sure that I have gained strength from all of you and that I will also have to learn from my own blunders and my own mistakes. I am so glad that we can support each other the way we do. We all learn as we go don't we?

I forget who asked about the AllOne. I got mine at a local vitamin shop. I've also read on other threads that people have gotten it at Walgreens and Target. I think it's pretty common. Although it is in powder form though, the store where I bought it had it with the multi-vitamins, not with the protein powders, tricky, huh?

Take care all you mod squad friends.

periwinkle

[j-vo]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Peri,
Amethyst is my birthstone. It's a pretty color and I'm sure your new jewelry is pretty. I love costume jewelry. My girlfriend's mother does it as a hobby and I have lots of it.

Congrats on your 29 almost 30 days!!!!! That's so wonderful. I'm glad you've got a plan in place. It's so important to write it down. I know my first week of my mod plan, I studied my plan everyday. I didn't have a drink as soon as I decided to mod either, because my mod plan was to have a few on special occasions. Yes, you'll fine tune as you go, just as I am now. It was easy being AF, but tricky working on moderation. I'm not comfortable with myself yet, or maybe I should say trust myself yet. I believe we all need to be conscious of everytime we're in a situation with alcohol. Good luck to you and let us know your progress.

[vera-b]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Happy Sunday Squadron!!!

Was so busy all weekend having fun and doing chores that I just didn't have a moment to come on line. When I did, I spent awhile searching for an anthem I just love, but of course had to listen to many to find just the right one! So, now I am with you my dear MWO friends, and just wanting to reconnect with you. Deebers, thanks for the update. My oldest daughter just had the Gardisil shot which is supposed to fight the virus you speak of. Must get other daughter on it as well. She's a nursing student and is very up to date on all the women's reaseach and medication studies, though I don't think she's started the Gardisil regimen.

Welcome back Vlad!! I know that a set back is a set back. But you are not defined by booze, so you are welcome to share your hilarious doings with we humble souls leaving the vodka (pronounced vodker here in New England) off by the wayside.

Spent the day yesterday at a fine arts show. My, some of the stuff was so expensive. So, obviously we purchased nothing, but had a blast just looking over the beautiful works. There were some dealers from the UK, and I was so tempted to go up to them and say I have a few UK friends. Of course, I'd have to say we share a common problem with the drink, and that would not be the best introduction, so I just kept my big mouth shut. A first, I might add. Had a lovely dinner with daughter #1 after the art show, so am feeling a bit of the warm, fuzzy stuff this evening.

Have a wonderful week, all. Will sign off for this Sunday.

Vera-b

[zed]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Haven't finished reading all posts, but I thought 2 things and wanted to write them down before I forgot.

One - Moderation Patterns - was reading Lila and Jvo about the weekend and hitting a spot of trouble (not really but in any case feeling bad about themselves for the 4 beers and wine glasses respectively). And Jvo said something very interesting that I have been thinking about myself since I've been updating my Drink Tracker - which is that she sees a pattern in her moderation program. I do too. I think it'd be interesting if we all shared our thoughts on the 'patterns' we each see with ourselves. This could tell us a lot about why we drink, our motives today for drinking during moderation, which could in turn help us get beyond any 'troubles' we're facing, by understanding & confronting the nature of the Beast.

Two - Deebs you haven't been updating your tracker, girl. Be good if we were all on there to track each other's progress also, and help each other out if we see things going hay-wire and can share insights?

Monday morning folks. Sleep well all. New week coming at the Squad!

[zed]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Gambie! To Periwinkle!!

Dear folks,

Today we celebrate with Peri her 30 days of AF time, completing what is arguably the toughest month in her program towards a life of moderation & full-blown health?

Peri rocks!

So, everybody, please raise your spritzers, your lemonades, your glasses of cold water with cucumbers, your apple, cranberry with soda water and orange juices, your AF beers, your fake wines, vodker and whiskeys, your tonics and your teas - for Peri! We salute you Peri and we sing in unison like any good Squadron would: "Cheers to you!!" Or as they say it here in China, "Gaam-bei!!" (Loosely translated as Drink Up!)

Btw - I've been drinking a lot of coffee and water today, so much so, that I am pretty sick of coffee and water. Got to look for a new drink to quench my thirst. Time to switch to teas.

I used to grow tea in the remote rain-forested mountains of India. But that's another story and I'll might get to it some time.

Deebs, you need to update ur drink tracker, and are you, as de-facto Squadron Leader, going to be kind and start a fresh thread for us? Please do.

Perhaps you could call it "Something to talk about"... I'm listening to the song by the same name by Badly Drawn Boy, the English singer, which happens to be the theme song from the movie "About A Boy." It's a great song. Loads of fun.

"Ooooo ooooooo something to talk about....."

Another week! Jeeeeeeeeeez.

Ciao kids. z

[startingover]

Mod Squad Weekly Thread 10th Nov

Love that film...About a boy and the music too!
Peri, congrats my girl! You are a star!!!

Have a super dooper day all you modders xxx