The Sober Squad- Alcohol Free Living

whitpauly

lorrainequiche59 wrote: »

Can't believe I was the last to comment yesterday and the FIRST today...how is everyone?? I caught up on my reading and am so thankful to be among such a great group of people as all of you

I read an interesting article in our local free community paper. I won't share it all but it's entitled, "Alcohol Availability the Bigger Issue" and it goes on to detail the announcement that our provincial gov't is soon going to allow alcohol to be sold in corner stores...THEN it goes onto list the changes that have already been implemented.

Bars/restaurants may now begin to serve alcohol starting at 9 a.m.
Municipalities can designate parks where alcohol may be consumed publicly.
There will be no more prescribed serving sizes at wineries & breweries or tasting events.
Casinos can "promote" happy hours & advertise free booze.
Tailgate parties at events where you can bring your own booze will be legalized.

And THIS is the best part...The logic behind these changes quotes one gov't official as saying, "The cornerstone of putting people "first" is consumer choice & convenience. That is why our gov't is taking steps to modernize the way we sell, distribute & consume alcohol in Ontario." AND THIS is the better part...When asked about risk, he said, "We trust people to make the right decisions." END of quote

Then another stated, "I feel we're just catching up in Ontario. We are evolving away from the nanny state that was thrust upon us over the last 15 years. And we're actually catching up with other provinces in modernizing gaming & alcohol." END of another quote.

Then the author of this article reminded us that there is a SERIOUS drinking problem in Ontario, which has cost a lot of money and under the current laws people behaving like adults have shown they are not always responsible...according to a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) rep it has been conclusively proven that greater availability of alcohol leads directly to greater consequences with bad outcomes. Then the article goes onto relate some of the cuts to vital gov't services and the ones who will be affected are those who are already struggling to survive and that perhaps the motive of more liberal drinking laws is to keep the masses subdued so no one raises a stink (those are my words btw but the meaning is retained). Craig Beck has a blurb where he talks about why there isn't more government intervention in alcohol regulation and makes that exact point...it is to numb people out so they don't rebel. Not that rebelling is the way to go...but my point is made.

My motive for sharing this is NOT to bash any particular government agency, I am neutral when it comes to politics, but I thought that the mindset behind some of this is.....naive and very sad actually. How this will end remains to be seen, but the writing is on the wall and it ain't good from my vantage point.

Lost a long post! Just wanted to say that this article makes me sad,I live in Vegas where alcohol is everywhere 24/7 it annoys me,we have an opiod crises in the US and everyone is up in arms,now how is an opioid addiction any worse than an alcohol addiction? They both kill,they both are desperately in need if it's bad enough,ugh,could go on but I've got to rush out for work,back later have a great AF day All!!

SallyLuvsFitness

I went to my yearly physical yesterday! This was very motivating! Before I stopped drinking daily my liver enzymes were high. Well! They are really low! So happy!

Yellowstone1983

@Fitness327wk that's awesome! Congratulations!

salleewins

Yep, the alcohol is always crouching at the door. Like a lion or cat stalking its prey. It wants to ruin your life and make you a slave to it. It will be a slave to us!!

RubyRed427

Hi Friends, I had to catch up with 23 posts. I have been a busy bee packing and de-cluttering ( Lorraine you can relate). All is well here. Despite yesterday I felt anxious for no reason ( took my emergency anti-anxiety pill that I have for rare occasions), I didn’t drink. My husband and I went out to dinner (funny thing is we are getting along better now that we’re divorcing) and he had water while I had delicious coconut sparkling water. He did eye the wine list a few times. The bill for a delicious dinner was only $38 and if we had both had some wine for example, it would have been 30 bucks more. Big savings.

Congrats to those who are doing so well. And if anyone isn’t and worried to share that, don’t be. We are all in this together- win or fail on occasion. At the ITalian restaurant we were at yesterday they had several sparkling water flavors (coconut, mango, berry and one other). I thought that was nice variety on the menu.

Back to packing.... sending all peaceful wishes for a lovely day!

Ed_Zilla

I am smoking two 9-lbs bone-in Boston butts (for pulled pork) for a church get-together at our house later today. I started the butts at 7:40 PM yesterday evening. They are almost done. They look and smell amazing! 24 people are coming. This will be the single biggest non, or minimal, alcohol get together we have ever had.

Gallons of iced tea, Arnold Palmer's, and Fresca with Crystal Light Lemonade are ready to go...

AND - being the sober dude that I am, I still got up at 4:40 AM - with no hangover - to go turkey hunting this morning until I got rained out at 7 AM. 2 gobblers were close, but they never came in range.

Morel mushrooms are up big time - hunting for them after church tomorrow! My oldest son found about 5 pounds of them yesterday.

kelagurl

shiandy8406 wrote: »

Great to find this group! Alcohol has always went hand in hand with my weight problem and is a problem in and of itself, I am sober now with the help of Smart Recovery a secular organization for sobriety. Losing weight is much simpler without alcohol, living life is much simpler without alcohol too!

Welcome @shiandy8406 !! I come to this board often for inspiration and support. Glad I found it too. I’m going to check out Smart Recovery... sounds interesting!

SallyLuvsFitness

RubyRed427 wrote: »

Hi Friends, I had to catch up with 23 posts. I have been a busy bee packing and de-cluttering ( Lorraine you can relate). All is well here. Despite yesterday I felt anxious for no reason ( took my emergency anti-anxiety pill that I have for rare occasions), I didn’t drink. My husband and I went out to dinner (funny thing is we are getting along better now that we’re divorcing) and he had water while I had delicious coconut sparkling water. He did eye the wine list a few times. The bill for a delicious dinner was only $38 and if we had both had some wine for example, it would have been 30 bucks more. Big savings.

Congrats to those who are doing so well. And if anyone isn’t and worried to share that, don’t be. We are all in this together- win or fail on occasion. At the ITalian restaurant we were at yesterday they had several sparkling water flavors (coconut, mango, berry and one other). I thought that was nice variety on the menu.

Back to packing.... sending all peaceful wishes for a lovely day!

Best wishes! ❤️❤️❤️

donimfp

My students in juvie have a saying I’d never heard. Maybe it’s typical teen lingo these days. I don’t know. Anyway, they’ll say “I’m in my feelings” or “Don’t get in your feelings.” This refers to being overwhelmed by their feelings, which is a common occurrence for them given the horrendous family situations most of them come from and the way their intense counseling sessions tend to stir things up.

That phrase came to mind today after a wonderful but exhausting day with my precious granddaughter and reminders of some really rough and sad dynamics within my own family. I was quite tempted to buzz by a liquor store en route to my hotel room this evening. I’m in my feelings. Like @Yellowstone1983 says, being overwhelmed can be a real trigger. I’m realizing how much I’ve relied on alcohol to deaden uncomfortable feelings—especially sadness.

I’m sitting on my bed drinking San Pellegrino and reading posts. I’m not caving. Tomorrow is Day 30, which I used to believe was a magic number but now recognize as barely a start. But damn this is hard.

lorrainequiche59

@donimfp It is HARD when you are used to burying your feelings and now they begin to surface. I had a really difficult winter "in my feelings" (I love that phrase) and it seemed like there was no end in sight. Once you begin to process all those difficult emotions, things may seem to get harder for a bit, BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel. What I would repeat to myself, even when I wasn't terribly convinced it was true, was, "This too shall pass!!" and it does....drinking only postpones it and keeps us in a vicious cycle as we all well know. My heart goes out to you though cause this is a difficult phase.

lorrainequiche59

@RubyRed427 I'm at the exciting end of moving where I get to arrange my stuff, hang pics and find a place for all my "treasures". Moving SUCKS!! I was so glad I had a month to slowly move in, but it was a little on the gruelling side when I look back. Almost every day I was carting carloads of my precious belongings and it is interesting what we can do when we put our mind to it. My body is now feeling the effects of all the lifting and bending and walking, walking, walking to & from. BUT on the bright side I lost at least 5 lbs just from the extra activity so 10 more moves and I should hit my goal weight!! LOL.

Anyway, I'm thinking about you & hope that you have lots of help...I could have asked friends to do the carting with me, but I really wanted to do this move solo other than needing help for the furniture. 3 moves in 2 years is enough. I'm staying put. In these 3 moves I've truly found my "nest of rest". And I wish the same for you

lorrainequiche59

I'm having my first official guests for dinner this eve and when one asked if they could bring anything, I said "No" at first then asked if they could bring non-alcoholic drinks, keeping in line with RubyRed's resolve to not serve alcohol in her new pad. This is my resolve also...I had told the other couple if they wanted alcohol they'd need to bring it and take the rest home, but they opted out of bringing it. SO, it will be a sober evening for all. Not that either couple would overdo it anyway.

Quiet weekend on here....EXCEPT for Moi LOL

RubyRed427

I realized @lorrainequiche59 that not everyone is like us. What I mean is that if I went to a house for dinner or once went to a dry wedding, I was shocked and in horror that there was not going to be ALCOHOL. How could they ? LOL but now I realize some people dont care either way. It’s the truly addicted who cant believe people could have a party or wedding with drinking. So, I am proud of you and those couples. They supported your “house rules” and you all had fun anyway, I’m sure. Bravo!

I am excited for my move. I pared down a lot of my stuff in my loft (it’s like an art room for me). I packed two big boxes of scrapbook stuff for my students. Next week I may teach them about scrapbooking. And then let them have at it and take all the paper and stickers they want. IT could be a summer activity for them. It is very cleansing to move to a smaller space. You have to donate or dispose of half of the things you’ve hung on to for years... 24 years for me.

One last comment, last night I went to Panera’s (sandwiches and salad place). They have an array of cold teas.... I brought home a delicious hibiscus tea and at home i mixed half of it with a pear sparkling water. Voila! A delicious mocktail! P.s. Of course, It did cross my mind that vodka would taste good in this mocktail. But I didn’t pour any in!

RubyRed427

@donimfp I’m happy you overcame your urges even though you were stressed. I think that is such a key, it’s identifying our triggers but not acting on them blindly. “This too shall pass” is one of the best sayings. And as for your students wise saying about emotions, I am so happy they have you and the support of therapists to teach them this at such a young age. I wish I knew not to be in my feelings at that age. It has taken me decades to know that. *I do recognize these young people have had horrific lives. That is such a tragedy. But some will rise above with your help and other wise support staff.

donimfp

Thanks for the kind words, @lorrainequiche59. I’m determined to weather this phase, but as we all know, it’s so easy to grab temporary relief in alcohol. Like I said, I wasn’t sure if “I’m in my feelings “ was typical teen lingo, but it’s poignant when these “tough” gang-bangers say it. Statistically the outlook for them is pretty bleak, but it’s a hopeful sign that they’re able to recognize that “in our feelings “ is a state and doesn’t necessarily reflect how things are forever.

RubyRed427

kelagurl wrote: »

shiandy8406 wrote: »

Great to find this group! Alcohol has always went hand in hand with my weight problem and is a problem in and of itself, I am sober now with the help of Smart Recovery a secular organization for sobriety. Losing weight is much simpler without alcohol, living life is much simpler without alcohol too!

Welcome @shiandy8406 !! I come to this board often for inspiration and support. Glad I found it too. I’m going to check out Smart Recovery... sounds interesting!

I keep hearing about Smart Recovery. Thanks for bringing it up. I’ll check it out too. Welcome to our thread! Xo

whitpauly

I like that saying" in my feelings" too it's so hard sometimes to get trapped in my own head, yesterday I felt bluesy outta the blue and that's a tough hurdle when it comes to not drinking,one of my favorite things to do was drink,put my earbuds in and listen to music and cry,seems it can't cry it out when I'm sober,well I can just not as easy,my brother was a rapper (a good one) and I always would go to his reverberation page and listen to his voice flow,I do admit I miss that but I like not drinking more! Lorraine,you cracked me up on losing the 5 pounds and only needing 10 more moves to hit your goal I've been a sugar fiend lately! So my progress has stalled but at least I'm maintaining.Donimfp,great job on 30 days! That went fast!(at least to me it did) just keep building on it, RubyRed,great job on resisting pouring vodka into the mocktail haha,big waves to all and I hope some peeps check in today,have a super,sober Sunday all!

MaxInChicago

@RubyRed427 Just a quick note to say it's inspiring and a wonderful sign that you're taking pleasure in non-alcoholic drinks like sparling water and tea! There are so many options out there!

donimfp

Hey @FeelinFooFoo! I and at least several others here did the Alcohol Experiment. I think you will find it worthwhile. It’s taken me a long time to admit that moderation just isn’t going to happen for me. It’s actually a relief after a lot of frustration. Whatever you ultimately decide to do, I don’t think you’ll regret the 30-day break. Best wishes. We’re here for you!

whitpauly

Welcome @FeelingFooFoo