Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

My day was just fine Papmom ~ peaceful, quiet, nice. Too bad it's so friggin cold outside.

Rusty, I'm not much into Catholic thinking anymore but I do very much believe in guardian angels. I know for sure I had one or two hauling me back to life after my pretty serious head injury 12 years ago Are you familiar with Doreen Virtue? You can listen to her shows on Hayhouse Radio. Here's her website: Doreen Virtue | official Angel Therapy Web site
Stay warm in Canada!

My daughter & grandaughter may be coming tomorrow, depending on the weather. I always love a little girl time

Have a nice night everyone!
Hope you get your mousie Papmom!

Lav

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good Tuesday Morning Fabulous Friends of February,

Persephone....GREAT job on fighting off the urge to drink when you had a major person-related trigger! Wow, that is quite an achievement. Pap is so right with her advice and encouragement to you. You are doing so well and thank you for telling your story to us.

Pap-I know you will be a great "boss." It will be much easier using a contractor as you said. Outside of using those blue pellets underneath your sink, (which is what I did), I have no idea how to get rid of mice except to put peanut butter on the traps...works like a charm. I hate rodents....I'd be having a fit right now. Glad you're brave. Also, I am in Stratford, Ontario, which is an hour north of London, and about 2 hours from Toronto.

Lav-no, I have not listened to Doreen's program. I hope to you and Star that I didn't sound like I was pushing the Catholic faith at all....it was just my experience, sharing.

My best childhood friend whom I wanted to reconnect with emailed me right away and said I shouldn't feel badly about anything....she has nothing but good memories of our friendship and would love to reconnect! I am so excited.

Off to start the day.....a cheery hello to TDN, Rustop, LBH, Star, Dill, Chill, Cyn, Sooty, and anyone I may have missed....have a fabulous February Tuesday.

[Chillgirl]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good Morning guys

A chilly but sunny 37o here today. I will be so happy when spring gets here!

Rusty - How is Canada? Cold? Its wonderful you have reconnected with your friend, as I have said before you are really attracted good people into your life and must be giving out wonderful loving vibes :l

Lav - Enjoy the girl time urgirl:

Persephone - congrats on day 10 and for keeping your cool. Do you have to have contact with this person right now? Its so important to protect yourself from upset in the early days and anyone who drags you down should be avoided as much as possible.

Papmom - I hope the kittys finally get off their butts and catch these damn mice! I checked out your friends yoga website, vinyasa has always been my favorite yoga and the heated class was just awesome for me who likes a good workout. Unfortunately it is a bit pricey and im not sure I can afford to go every week but even once a month will be great.

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

[Stargazerlily]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good morning to all...

Persephone, giving up alcohol can also mean giving up toxic relationships...you may not want to spend the time and effort on someone who upsets you, life is too short. Good job on getting through the emotions, AF.

Pap, how exciting for you...supervising and a whole new experience. The mouse thing, yuck. I have had plenty of them in the past. Not so much now with cats. Traps usually worked in the old days, but it is icky.

Lav, hope your girls are able to visit, what a treat. I too believe in guardian angels.

Rusty, the beliefs and rituals of the Catholic Church are part of me, just not the anti-woman, anti-gay, pro-pedifle bishops and hierarchy. I hope that I have not offended you with my stance. I honor catholic education, nuns, social justice efforts. Hope your Canadian trip goes well.

Chill, I would love to try hot yoga!

Hello to all, have a great day.

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.

Dill-I forgot to mention that I really love this quote. This is so pertinent with regard to drinking. We can always find an excuse to drink....and if our sobriety is that important to us that day (thinking ODAAT), we will find a way to stay AF.

Chill-thank you always for your kind words.:h I make friends very easily, but I find that I don't always want to maintain that friendship/relationship because it is not healthy for me. In the last two years, I have severed ties with people I thought were my dear friends and they really weren't. These two people fueled my addiction years ago but once I was AF and was not as needy, saying goodbye to them was an easy thing to do. I do not miss their "friendship" or even the time they took up in my life. You were right...I have replaced these people with true friendship, and the company of people with whom I will become wiser and better if I spend my time with them.

I am thinking of Persephone's recent situation with a person who is a trigger. P1, I hope you can sever ties with this person (if it's your ex, that might be very hard, I know). The two people I mentioned above were huge triggers to my drinking, and I did not NEED to be around them (such as in a boss/co-worker situation), and I can tell you I've never felt more peaceful in my life.

Back to doing some work before the actual work today begins.

TDN-are you ok?:l

Oops....to answer your question...the weather here is just like at home, about 20F. This is a beautiful town, and my hotel is called The Parlour...my room is lovely and my bathroom has a jacuzzi tub.

I'll be back later!

[Rusty]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Star-x-post. You have NOT offended me at all....and I hope people here don't think I was trying to push the Catholic faith. Forgive me if I sounded like that.

Lav-have fun with your daughter and granddaughter. I know you can never spend enough time with them. Good for you...nice change from little boys, huh?

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good morning kids!

Not a damn drop of sunshine here today :H
That's OK, February will go fast
Looking forward to a girlie day today. The boys, especially grumpy sick boys are a bit tiresome, I won't lie.

Greetings to Rusty, Star, Chill & everyone dropping by today & wishes for a terrific AF Tuesday for all
Lav

[ThreeDogNight]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good morning, February Friends

Rusty, I am fine, just busy trying to get some contacts for the new job, and hoping I'll be able to get more from the sales force app they use. And today I need to go to the flower shop, as the first delivery of flowers for Valentine's Day is arriving and I will have to unpack them and fill big buckets of water to put them in. May mean working in the basement--only used this one time of year, and it is freezing down there!

Rusty, love the name of the hotel!! And a jacuzzi in the bathroom??? Love it. I am always too cold to run the jacuzzi in the winter. The house is heated, of course, but getting out of that hot tub makes me cold. I do need to try tonight, thouh, as I need a soalk in Epsom salts. I oke yesterday a.m. and today ith bags under my eyes, and hadn't had those for awhile. Could it be because Old Dog (4 legged one, not Mr TDN:H) wakes me at 5:15 or so? And he is restless during the night. If I had it to do over, I would not have let the dogs sleep with us. Too late now!

It's dang cold here, too--7F. But bare ground. May see a dusting later, and maybe more substantial snow on Friday.

I as brought up Catholic, but stopped going to church when I was in my late teens. But I think faith of any kind is good. We no go to a Christian church, although we are not "official" members. That means making a pledge to "spread the ord," and I am just not like that. I do know that a very kind nun whom a friend emailed last year, prayed for me when I was in rehab, and also prayed for the dog we lost in November. I still have her notes, and that touched me so much. And I know there are angels Rusty, I have to go back and refresh my memory on the head injury. My brain sometimes doesn't work so well where memory is concerned!

Yesterday while I as working at home, I watched The Days of Wine and Roses on TCM channel. I guess I'd never seen it before, and it was really powerful. Paints a very realistic picture of alcoholism.

Cyn, didn't know you wrote a pet column or blog. Pap and I could give you lots of ideas!:H Here is one. Last Friday afternoon, I had to be on a conference call for the new job. Mr TDN wasn't home. I muted the phone and also computer olume, but the Devil Dog was restless, so I shut myself in the bedroom. I heard loud barking at one point, and saw a neighbor walking her dog off lead. More horrendous barking, so I came out to let him out, and saw that he had been trying to eat a candle-yes, a candle-and had knocked it over and there was glass everywhere!! And the old guy was standing in it and could have cut his feet. The week before, he got into a box of cider donuts I'd brought home and grabbed two while I was taking off my coat. This a.m. he got into my cosmetic bag and dragged things out here for me to see!! I have plenty of stories for you!!

Pap, I may be starting a small rep thing for a food that I see is sold at some of your demo shops. I'll send you a PM, but got the info through a guy on one of my LinkedIn pet groups.

Star, LBH, Dill, Chill, Lav, Sooty, Rustop--read all of your posts every day, and am inspired by everyone.

Have a great AF day, all!!

[dill]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Whether you've seen angels floating around your bedroom or just found a ray of hope at a lonely moment, choosing to believe that something unseen is caring for you can be a life-shifting exercise.
Martha Beck

Yes, I suppose I do believe in angels. Rusty, I didn't sense that you were pushing your faith on anyone. I found it refreshing that you were so open about how much it means to you. I am a Catholic that "came home" around the time I started on MWO. I understand having problems with some of the structure and man-made rules as you do, Star, but no organized religion is perfect. I'm comfortable with the rituals and routines. So much about the Christian faith is helpful in trying to defeat the demons of addiction. Embracing suffering as a foundation to growth, resisting temptations no matter how difficult. Surrender. I find inspiration in those narratives.

Lav, thanks for the link to the Angel Therapy site!

Cyn, LBH, Star, Rustop, Kas, Chill, TDN, Pmom, P1, anyone I may be missing, Let's keep moving away from alcohol (LBH) and "to the light"!

[papmom3]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Ooh tdn-do tell!

[Lavande]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Bedtime but just wanted to pop in for a minute.
Had a very nice day with my girls & boy did I ever need that :H

I have some work coming in too which is nice, this time of year can be pathetic for my business.

Is everyone getting tons of seed catalogs in the mail like I am? I love thinking about a veggie garden this time of year but hate sweating to death in it when it's 90 something & humid :H
I did pick up a package of vintage Swiss Chard seeds when I was at Longwood Gardens last week, yum

Had another dusting of snow today, yay (not).

[Persephone1]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Day 12+

Hello FFF's,

Tess, what a BEAUTIFUL post. I too was an end-of-life caregiver and it's a humbling experience to say the least. What an honor it was to be a part of such a meaningful time at the end of 'this' life...does make you appreciate the gift we have, now. :h

:welcome: Jimmy and Mimi. Hope that you find inspiration, encouragement and comfort here...The people here are quite wonderful. The Newbies Nest and the Toolbox are good places to visit and get acquainted with also.

AlmostFree, I concur re: AA, I could not hang for various reasons. I consider myself spiritual, but IMO, god has nothing to do with this mess I put myself in and it didn't seem right to place any/all the responsibility on him/her to save me from it/myself. And that was all I heard when I attended. This forum is empowering. It gives us a place to unite, be accountable, and find and use the tools that work for us individually. And that is invaluable. I believe AA does work for some, but recovery, like god/religion is very personal and we each have to find our own way...My Way Out!

Lav - your attitude is stellar. You take full responsibility for your sobriety and that is so freakin' powerful! Nothing and no person stands in your way. Thank you for your example.

PapM, You are so right about being more rational while poison free. It's helped immensely in my current 'situation.' Congrats on the work front, hope that turns out splendid for you! I have a sugg re: the mouse…we would get a bucket, put a long wooden spoon over the top and glob of peanut butter on the handle in the middle. The mouse goes to fetch the peanut butter and falls in. Mind you, it's a catch-n-release technique, but it never failed. I can't kill the cute little things.

Thank you Rusty for the kind words of encouragement, it has been much needed and appreciated.

Chill, I agree that the contact needs to be limited with my ex, the 'trigger.' It's actually proven to be kind of a fruitful challenge as he is a few states away and I do not have to talk to him. I will avoid him if he starts to push me too far. Thanks for your input.

Star, yep toxic for sure. We shared a home, critters and a life for some time. I'm safely navigating for now. Thanks for the insight.

To all of you lovelies that I missed, I wish you all the best...:l

I very much appreciate the support from everyone over the past couple of days, they've been rough for me. I finally read and posted some tonight, as I was isolating most of the day. I made an accountability commitment to write everyday, whether I felt like it or not. I wasn't remotely tempted to poison myself.:h
The ex, the big trigger yesterday is def a challenge. Often in the midst of the relationship he was my biggest excuse to drink. I HAD TO so that I could deal, right? WRONG. One of the more poignant things I've realized over the past couple of days is that I cannot 'play' with this poison. My next 'binge' could be my last. This has become life or death serious. I am one drink away from destroying myself (1 drink leads to ? for me and for ? days.) I can't afford to risk it, none of us can. There is TOO MUCH TO LIVE FOR. I've already allowed it to rob me of precious time that I can never get back. But there is today and tomorrows to be fully lived! I am so grateful I am still able to make this choice about my life. It could have been made for me, many times over.
I am so grateful to have a place to 'meet' with you all. I add to my 'toolbox/emergency kit' daily with many of the wise things that you share. Much love, xoxo.
:rockon:

[Persephone1]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Day 12+

Hello my FFFs,

Tess, what a BEAUTIFUL post. I too was an end-of-life caregiver and it's a humbling experience to say the least. What an honor it was to be a part of such a meaningful time at the end of 'this' life...does make you appreciate the gift we have, Now. :h

PapM, You are so right about being more rational while poison free. It's helped immensely in my current 'situation.' Congrats on the work front, hope that turns out splendid for you! I have a sugg re: the mouse?we would get a bucket, put a long wooden spoon over the top and glob of peanut butter on the handle in the middle. The mouse goes to fetch the peanut butter and falls in. Mind you, it's a catch-n-release technique, but it never failed. I can't kill the cute little things.

Rusty - the ties are in process of being severed with my ex. I am glad you were able to get the people out of your life that weren't healthy. It's good for me to stand up to him, sober and clear minded. Helps with my resolve. I will be careful though.

Chill, I agree that the contact needs to be limited with my ex, the 'trigger.' It's actually proven to be kind of a fruitful challenge as he is a few states away and I do not have to talk to him. I will avoid him if he starts to push me too far. Thanks for your input.

Star, yep toxic for sure. We shared a home, critters and a life for some time. I'm safely navigating for now. Thanks for the insight.

Lav - Hope your girlie time was fabulous!

To all of you lovelies that I missed, I wish you all the best...:l

I very much appreciate the support from everyone over the past couple of days, they've been rough for me. I finally read and posted some tonight, as I was isolating most of the day. I made an accountability commitment to write everyday, whether I felt like it or not. I wasn't remotely tempted to poison myself.:h

The ex, the big trigger yesterday is def a challenge. Often in the midst of the relationship he was my biggest excuse to drink. I HAD TO so that I could deal, right? WRONG. One of the more poignant things I've realized over the past couple of days is that I cannot 'play' with this poison. My next 'binge' could be my last. This has become life or death serious. I am one drink away from destroying myself (1 drink leads to ? for me and for ? days.) I can't afford to risk it, none of us can. There is TOO MUCH TO LIVE FOR. I've already allowed it to rob me of precious time that I can never get back. But there is today and tomorrows to be fully lived! I am so grateful I am still able to make this choice about my life. It could have been made for me, many times over.
It is really great to have a place to 'meet' with you all. I add to my 'toolbox/emergency kit' daily with many of the wise things that you share. Wishing you all a fantastic day! Much love, xoxo.
:rockon:

[Stargazerlily]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good morning to all...

Really struggling with this month, the cold,snow, and feeling like curling up in a ball and sleeping. But I can't, so I will go to work and make it through another day. Sorry to be a bummer but that is how I am feeling. It is great to visit this thread and read all the posts...

Rusty, you were not pushing anything, you are great. I guess I pushed toxic people away when I changed jobs...that was where they were located. It is a great relief to not have that constant negative feedback. Whew.

Chill, I am definitely going to look up yoga classes this morning...something to get me through the winter till I can walk outside. Hey, do you consume caffeine or is that something you gave up?

Persephone, like the committment to post daily...I have been doing it for some time and find it really helpful to my journey. Also, I care about the people on this thread, and can give feedback and suggestions, so it is a two way street. Clarity, health and good sleep help you to make decisions that promote a more peaceful life. The more time under your belt, the more you will benefit. Proud of you for pushing through.

TDN, focusing on your job and being successful sounds like your next goal. Love the smell of flowers, I know it is alot of work! Lots of people will be happy with the sight and scent of the roses, lilies, carnations, etc.

Dill, you sound so much more at peace as time goes on...thanks for the continuation of the lovely meaningful quotes. How is your son doing? Mine is up and down, but working and going to school.

Lav, happy girl day!!!! Hope your day goes well.

To all, have a happy hump day!!!

[ThreeDogNight]

Fabulous February Friendships - week 1

Good morning, FFFs!

Persephone, so happy that you are doing well and reading/posting every day. It really has been a huge help to me. And this little group is very supportive, as you've seen. I hope the ex backs off.

Star, this is a very hard time of year, with lots of gray skies and cold. It was cold here yesterday, but the sun was out, and that makes a difference. And yes, the smell and sight of lots of beautiful flowers is uplifting. We also have a unit which has four or so shelves and grow lights, and this year there are herbs sprouting up, and some newly arrived orchids are also on it and it looks like spring! And I like having that light glowing. We got TONS of lillies and carnations yesterday, along with some other flowers, but next Monday we will be overwhelmed with the rest--lots of roses, for sure. But it is good exercise, having to fill and lug big buckets of water.

I went to the Zumba class last night, and again amazed myself that I remembered many of the steps, petterns, and kept up with all the women who've been going for at least a few months. Teacher is dynamic, and never stopped smiling, which was great. This as in the gym of a local school, and there were women there I hadn't seen in a long time, and tried not to focus on the fact that they all read about my arrest last year. That is still hard for me, but I need to work on it. I also flew out the door as soon as the class was over to start the Intoxalock. There were a lot of dads and boys coming in for basketball, but I managed to get out in time Today I will be working from home, but will hopefully pick up a friend to go to the line dancing class where I know I won't break a sweat, but will have fun.

We got a little dusting of snow overnight, but it looks like we may get a big storm on Friday. Meteoroligist says it could be the most significant storm in to years:upset: Hoping that he is wrong!

Rusty, Lav, Dill, Chill, Sooty, Cyn. Rustop, LBH, Pap and everyone else--have a great AF day!