Friday September 29th

[Mackeral]

Good Morning Absville,
I'm sneaking back into the Mansion this morning as Gabby is obviously popping the zzzzz's...I dont blame her, she has done an excellent job all week...She must be cream crackered.
What a brilliant day in Absville yesterday...All week actually..Some great topics...I love reading what everyone has to say...The longer people stay here and the more topics they answer, the more you get to know them.

Ok...Friday...Start of the weekend...Dun duh dahhhh. ( that was scary music btw ) So whats the plan?...How are YOU gonna get through this weekend without slipping?...How have you managed this previous weekends?...We all know what our triggers are....How are we going to avoid them before its too late?
Before i go i just want to say to Nancy good luck for tomorrow...I bet the stress levels are hitting the roof at the moment.....The day will go well Nancy...Try not to worry too much...All the preperation has been done..Try and relax and enjoy the day....Has Belle got a wedding outfit?

Have a good day all....Love Macks:l

[gabby]

Friday September 29th

Ah Macks that was so nice. Thank you very much. And you dont have to sneak into the Mayors Mansion when its your turn. You didnt know that? laughing...
I did accidentally fall asleep last night. So thanks for jumpin in and startin things up for me today. Actually I was gonna ask you if you wanted to do the weekend. I forgot to set it up. Oops. My work week starts this am and I expect to be busy. (I hope)
Good Morning everyone....I hope everyone feels good. Thinking of each of you. Right now my laundry buzzer is goin nuts tho so I will be back. gabby
ps: thanks again mack

[nomorewine]

Friday September 29th

Good morning everyone -

My second day (of many stays) in Absville and I am glad to be here. Still getting my house in order and Macks question was a good one. I have to get a plan together for the weekend. So its good for me to get an early start to the day and have some time to plan it through.

It was a refreshing and different start to the day. Today is trash day and when I go to get the paper at the foot of the driveway on Friday am, I am usually carrying the remnents of Thursday nights wine consumption. And sometimes, it ain't pretty. How nice to walk down the drive empty handed!

Good luck with the wedding Nancy - they are always stressful but fun events. You'll do great. And to everyone else, thanks for the warm welcome back and have a great day!

[Newyear]

Friday September 29th

Hi
Macks- Gabby-nomore---everyone sleeping in a little---- Good Morning!!

After slipping on Bourbon St. Wed I am ready to live in Abbsville. My only challenge day will be Sun. I have a friend...actually the one who thinks she met 'the one' , and I have volunteered my house for a dinner for them. I believe it is Yom Kippur? She and her new man will come over for dinner before going to Temple - I told them I'd be the honorary gentile for the evening. Anyway, I imagine there will be wine involved.Normally my friend would come over early and I would be happy to drink while we cook. So, that is my trigger and I plan to just be aware of it and have my resolve set ahead of time. She is not a big drinker and neither is he, but it will still be there. The other part of the plan is that I come here after they are gone and tell you guys all about it!

Gotta get going- checking out and leaving for home this afternoon.
And Nancy - I second Macks sentiments - enjoy this time, I know it is stressful but it will go by quickly and you'll wonder what happened! Take lots of pictures and have fun.

Barb, and Phil and Neil, and Mike and Kathy and Lush and Bridgid and yikes I'm stuck and I've forgotten a few - sorry--and need to get going... Have a great day today!
Lisa

[gabby]

Friday September 29th

Nomore, sounds like a good plan to me. I know what cha mean about the trash. I would be embarrassed in front of my own self when I would get the trash and I would hear the beer bottles go clankkty clank. Oh my gosh. I just didnt prefer cans but would sometimes buy them instead to spare myself the noise of the trash. lol
Nancy...I am thinking of you too. At least your a mother of the groom....right? heee hee
sophiah, i know easy to say....try not to worry. ha....what a joke....I cannot lie....I'm worring with you, how can I even say that?
Lisa, you have been doin so good. Dont worry (there I said it again--oh brother) bout the other night. I agree tho....this is all just a process. Just take it in and learn.
iia67...I've seen ya around. Join in our sessions more often. We love the guys in our group! And we have great talks over here.
Neil and Mike.....dont get to busy to post. Gotta have you guys input. Love hearing what you have to say!

Barb, Lush, Janet and Mojo, hope you have a great weekend.


Susan and Brigid, Hugs to you both and Happy Birthday Brigid.
Hi Mack, Bye Mack.
Lou, Lou....hope your doin ok.
Bambs....if you can read....Hi sweets.
probably forgettin a bunch, but the kids are screamin.....ahhhhhh
talk later. bye gabby

[mikeupnorth]

Friday September 29th

Hi Abbers,

TGIF! I used to say that with a sense of ("and you know I'm gonna get drunk tonight!") So of course you've chosen a great topic, Macks. I know weekends are triggers for most of us -- Neil has said that Fridays are still tough after so much time. Oh, and Nancy -- good luck this weekend. Hope you can relax and enjoy yourself, and not worry. I'll look forward to hearing how it all went.

Well my plan for the weekend is this. Tonight I am going to an AA meeting. I've gone to several this week because I have a friend staying with me who is an AA member -- he would be going whether I go or not, but it's been good for me to get out of the house and do something different. I've heard at least one good thing at each meeting, and although I'm not doing the AA program, I share their goal of staying sober. And as Fridays are traditionally a big drinking night for me, I'm just planning ahead of time to go tonight.

Tomorrow I'm going to work. Yeah, it just sounds WRONG to work on one's day off, but my office is a wreck and I can't stand it any more. That leads to stress and you know all about that. So I'm going in to get rid of all the piles of paper that are getting on my nerves (maybe I'll just burn them?) and maybe I'll feel more "in control" of my life next week. Then tomorrow night I'll have dinner & a movie with a friend.

Sunday will be church, which I find makes me feel very centered and recharged for the rest of the week. Sunday afternoons I LOVE to come home and nap! Hmmm.... Sunday evening. Not usually a drinking time, but I should think about that. Maybe that's when I'll do my laundry for next week. (Last minute, huh.)

Update on hypnotherapy: I saw the hypnotherapist yesterday. This was the first, getting-to-know-each-other session. He asked lots of questions about my drinking history. He asked how I felt when I wanted to drink. He asked very detailed questions about how I felt when I took my first drink, my second drink. he asked how it felt when the "click" happened, and the cares & worries went away.... He asked how it would be if that could happen several times throughout the day, without the aid of alcohol. (See where he's headed with this?) I said that would be fabulous. Then he did a short hypno session with me, just to see how I would react. It was very relaxing, just like the CD's, except I felt more alert I guess. Still kind of a "trance" state. Anyway I am going to meet him again next week. Cool, I'm very much looking forward to it.

OK that's about it from Up North. Hope you're all having a Fabulous Friday. (Now that I'm out of the closet, don't you know I have to use the word "fabulous" a lot. :H )

Love to all,

Mike

[gabby]

Friday September 29th

funny mike....actually I share that with you. If ya cant laugh at yourself....then nothin is ever funny. laugh laugh laugh...ok back to what i was doin

[xtexan]

Friday September 29th

Howdy folks! (my Texas birthright showing through)

As promised, it's Friday. I'm still off work today. Spent many hours last night flying my Flight Simulator. Went from Seattle to Portland in a 747. Then flew along the Florida panhandle coast in a Cessna 172.

I've always wanted to get my pilots license, but because of my drinking in the past....well, you know. The two just don't mix. My head was never clear and sharp enough to pursue this little dream.

Anyway, I've been addicted to the MS Flight Simlulator here the last couple of days, and am learning so many new things. Being crystal clear sober is an amazing feeling. I am able to learn and pick up things that used to be just too difficult. Anyway, I am going to learn the flight simulator backwards and forwards.

I also have the real world pilots preparation kit. I got it about 10 years ago on a previous stab at being sober, but I fell down hard after a couple of months, and never picked it back up. So I think I will get back into that stuff as well. I have a bachelors in Aerospace Engineering, so the ground schooling study should be a bit easier with that background.

So today is exercise day! Who is with me? I think I will lift weights later today.

I want at least one forum member here to do something, so I don't feel alone! Walk, pilates, yoga, stretching, aerobics, run, skip rope, marital arts......SOMETHING!!

Come on....somebody out there wants to exercise a bit today don't you? Just one soul. Who's up for it?

Back on later.

Neil

EDIT: Dr. Sigmund Freud got me again. I meant to say, "martial arts" rather than "marital arts". GOOD GRIEF!!

[gabby]

Friday September 29th

Neil, I am loading boxes....does that count? On Monday thru Thrusday, I'll go on a run with ya.

[sujul]

Friday September 29th

Morning, Absville!

Will be thinking of you, Nancy! The wedding will be lovely!

Gabby, great job this week! And, me too with the laundry this morning...unfortunately, I live in an apt building and have to fight for space....I USED to dash upstairs and take a few swigs of wine in between loads...today, I'm here with y'all......

NoMore--so good to see you here again--yeah, the trash thing was embarrassing....I have to put the recyclables in a little room on our floor and someone comes by and collects it...it's really obvious who's had what...I used to carry my bottles downstairs a lot just so that I could hide them in the larger trash containers in the basement....pathetic!

Lisa--good for you for moving forward...

Mike--yep, we're totally fabulous here!

Macks, great topic...
My abs plan for the weekend:

We're finally getting a chance to get back up to our cabin in Vermont....leaves should be starting to turn and it'll be, well, fabulous! We'll visit with friends, one of whom celebrated 18 YEARS abs on Wednesday...we have a whole other social network up there, which truthfully is a mixed blessing since it means everyone expects to see us when we're up there and then we have no chance to actually relax! There's a certain amount of drinking (mostly wine or beer), but since DRINKING IS NOT AN OPTION FOR ME, this isn't a problem at all....I have no decision to make--the way I look at it: I drink, I die! End of story.

Neil, you asked about long-term success...after 5 1/2 months, I can say that my strategy for long-term success consists of stringing a lot of short-term successes together!


Okay, folks--I'll try to check in later--hello to all those posting right now and those coming on later...and, again, Nancy, have a lovely day tomorrow!
:h
susan

[sujul]

Friday September 29th

Hey Neil!
I was (laboriously) inputting my "deep thoughts" when you posted...I'll definitely come up with some sort of exercise piece today...it's the biggest thing missing from my overall plan at this point...and even without exercise I've lost over 20lbs since I became abs! Thanks for the encouragement...my small beginning is taking the stairs instead of the elevator whenever I can.....I know, I know...it's a very feeble start...

susan

[spacie]

Friday September 29th

Hi all,
Whenever I sneak into Absville I'm always impressed how you all keep up with each other and how you make everyone feel so important- it's awesome! I have been AF for 22 days and still feel very strong (knock on wood.) Macks the weekends are always tougher... I try to banish the thought of drinking the second it enters my mind. I try very hard not to entertain the thought for even 5 seconds because it doesn't take long for it to plant a seed and once it's planted it grows fast!
Neil, I'm with ya I'm going to do 30 minutes on the treadmill and some crunches. I'm trying to take some of your advice by telling myself exercise is a treat not torture!

Have fun,
spacie

[lushy]

Friday September 29th

Hi all!!! As usual I hear things on here that make me want to change my lifestyle even more. Buying beer cans instead of bottles made me cringe because I used to do that. Also I could squash the cans so they took up even less space. But now I do not drink beer anymore and sadly they do not make wine in cans (and even if they did I do not think I would drink it). The issue of weekends is one I am still grappling with. Weekends are my time to indulge. I can go all week if need be without anything but the weekends are still "it" for me. But after reading your posts I am realizing that the reason I drink all weekend is because I stay home all weekend. I am too lazy and that needs to stop. I need to get out with my family and start doing things. When I am out and about I do not think about drinking as much but when I am home it is a given. So, you have all inspired me to make plans to get out and about this weekend. Susan, your cabin sounds just beautiful. I bet it will be amazing with the changing of the leaves. I am envious. Nancy, hope the wedding goes well for you. Mike, I am very intrigued by your hypnosis and look forward to you keeping us updated. I tried to get hypnotized one time at the state fair and the guy made me go back to my seat because I was not a good candidate, so I do not know if I could be hypnotized. If it works for you I will consider trying it. Macks, Lisa, Gabby, you are all doing so great. You are making your irregular regular proud!!!! Anyone I forgot I apologize. Happy weekend!!!

[Newyear]

Friday September 29th

Hey again-
I'm headed to the airport soon but thought I'd check in again before packing up. So glad to be going home.

I too know about the trash thing - I decided the smart idea would be to get the big box of wine. I told myself it was more economical and that there were some 'good' wines in boxes now... the real reason.....doesn't make noise when you take out the trash!!!

Neil...I will be there with you soon I promise. I'm meeting up with a trainer at my gym tomorrow and I will get back on a program. I kinda got suckered into the trainer thing, but I think I will like it and it will hopefully keep me motivated. I'm also hoping to not travel much anymore ...may have one more week here though.
Getting into a routine at home sounds good. That will help with the work outs.
Spacie...Congrats on 22 days. You should be proud of yourself! Good job. I bet you feel great too.
Mike, I love to read your posts - and I want to know more about the hypno stuff. You make me laugh- and I can also tell that you are trying so hard and I wanted you to know I'm pulling for you. I think you are doing so great - making good choices and getting help where you can. Hope you too have a fabulous day!

Thanks for all the support - I like being sober with you guys
Oh, btw... there is a website for new orleans support it is Welcome to my Website! in case anyone is interested.

[Mackeral]

Friday September 29th

Hiya Abbers,
Woke up this morning with a free day...Nothing to do apart from chill out and read here....Pah....I havnt stopped...Just settling down now....The socks are off...The feet are up....The headphones are on ( Queen ) & the tea is poured ( Am i a party animal or what?)

Brigid, i forgot to say Happy Birthday this morning...I feel like such a prat..I hope you had a good day.

Neil, as temporary Mayor i hereby declare you town trainer and general motivator...The job comes with a fully equipped gym....And a landing strip in your back garden ( big garden )....I got MS combat flight simulator...but i'm not to good yet.

Mike, tidy house( office)...tidy mind.....That hyonotherapist sounds cool....I would love to feel as relaxed as i do when i'm legless throughout the day....I'm dying to know how it works for you.

Lisa, good luck for Sunday, and i hope you have a safe trip home...We love being sober with you too

Lush, your plan is exactly the same as mine...If you sit and dwell too much your gonna talk yourself into having a drink...Like you if i'm busy and outdoors i can avoid it.

Spacie, you dont have to sneak into Absville...there are lots of empty houses ready to be lived in...If you ever fancy moving in your always welcome...22days says you'll fit in quite well.

Susan, so glad your posting more often again...I missed ya....I just went to have a quick look if you still got the pic of your cabin....I think it was autum on the pic?

Gabby, Yep dont mind being Mayor for the weekend...That is unless somebody else would like a go?....I dont want to be Absvilles first dictator....Or do i?...hmmm....Mwahaha.........Sorry....Oh and thanks for the heads up this morning.....Your gonna have to exsplain the green burgers to Mojo.....cause i'm in the dark too......No food is allowed near my new carpet...In fact you cant walk on it either....You have to hover around our living room.

NMW, i had a simalar thing going on with my empties....We have big blue re-cycling boxes...And all the tins go into one of them....could imagine the re-cycling wagon getting to my house and emptying the cans and thinking jesus....They must have a lot of parties at this house.

To anybody i missed, or they havnt posted yet i hope you are well......Going to spend some time with Mrs Macks....I feel like i'm neglecting her....I'm always on this bloody computer....Speak soon love Macks:l