Less Alcohol ~ JUNE 2021 ~ One Day At A Time

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  • AR10at50
    AR10at50 Posts: 1,650 Member
    @chocolate_owl You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. It is wonderful that you support your husband during a difficult time. Karen
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    @chocolate_owl
    So sorry to hear about your MIL.
    I imagine that you stayed home, it would be too much for your DH for the rest of his life to have left her at this point.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    @lmlmrn

    Oh my gosh!! Really bad that your health issues are not yet over. This has been going on for months!
    Prolonged antibiotics only present new issues.
    I hope that you can get to the bottom of this.
    Have you had allergy testing btw? You sure have been working in the yard a great deal.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    Hi : - )

    My goal is 16-20 AF days per month.
    Diary Style.

    Tuesday June 01 - AF
    Wednesday June 02 - AF - I might have drinks tomorrow eve.
    Thursday June 03 - 2 drinks. Quite enjoyed them.
    Friday June 04 - AF - It has been very hot here all week, by mid-afternoon I had to stop walking around doing Census. I will get at it again early in the morning tomorrow before it heats up. I got some garden stuff planted this morning before going out to work for StatsCan (can't knock on people's doors earlier than 9am, that would just be rude). Garden pics to come
    Saturday June 05 - 3 drinks. Census only for Sunday, no restaurant or merch jobs.
    Sunday June 06 - AF - 3 went from a record breaking heat wave to really chilly. I had to have a hot bath this evening after being out knocking on doors all day. A brandy would have been nice, but I resisted.
    Monday June 07 - AF - Planned drinks for Friday
    Tuesday June 08 - Drinks. Didn't last until Friday. Worked from 7am until midnight. No lunch, no dinner, cherries and coffee for breakfast. I know that I have to keep going. I also know that drinks are not the answer, but two sips in (so far) and I am feeling relaxed after an extremely long day. All that keeps me from drinking daily is willpower. No willpower left today. I am not drinking for either stress or celebration, seems to be a physical release. I feel good now and the long day is put away. No regrets on cocktails. Crap, just realized that I have paperwork to submit yet if I mean to get paid!! Off to do that.
    Wednesday June 09 - AF - I had planned to bang on some doors for Census today after the restaurant since tomorrow is choc-o-bloc and I won't have time. Got my gear and list together, then it started raining again. So, an early dinner and now a nice hot bath and early to bed for me.
    Thursday June 10 - 2 drinks. I am going to call them celebratory. I finally pulled the pin on a 6 year job that was sapping me of my time, money, and spirit. The same said job that included me working from 7am until midnight. Those that have known me for awhile know that I have been wanting to quit this job for years, a marketing company that I merchandised in several stores for. No 2 weeks notice, just done...enough. Huge weight lifted off of me. Instead of running to do jobs for them between my split shift at the restaurant I went and banged on doors for StatsCan, the Census (which pays a great deal more and I wasn't finding time for because of this job that hadn't given me a raise in 6 years) *kitten* them. I did it by emails back and forth and texts. I have never met these people, but they were ultra demanding and I got paid about 1/4 of what I worked, and *kitten* pay at that. Tomorrow morning I may wake up stressed about my long day ahead...and then realize that I have only the restaurant, Foster Grant, and the Census : - ) It hasn't completely sunken in, but it will over the next week as I begin to have a life and spend my working hours making actual money. They are hounding me about 2 weeks notice, but I told them to put it in as my vacation time. There will be a bit of backlash for a few days, but I will be so glad to have them out of my life. Time and life are too precious.

    Rolling Total - 6AF days out of 10 days.
  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    edited June 2021
    @dawnbgethealthy - Congrats on making the choice to walk away from a job that was demanding more of you than you were willing to give ... especially if they did not reward you for your time & effort! Now you can look forward to less stress and more happiness in your life!

    Curious if this opens up more time in the future for you after the StatsCan wraps up to work that nursery/plant job that you wanted to take but had to pass on earlier?

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  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    As I mentioned I skipped the Torchy's Tini last night ... but oh the temptations! My son & his wife arrived from Austin last night for the celebrations this weekend. On the way they stopped at Torchy's Tacos for dinner near my home. They had a few drinks and tacos ... then brought a "to go" Torchy’s Tini back to my house (for them not me). But it was like a double whammy of desire for that darn drink. LOL. I promised myself I'll have one ... one day this summer but no rush.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    Hi : - )

    My goal is 16-20 AF days per month.
    Diary Style.


    Friday June 11 - AF - I have been experiencing legs cramps in the night for 3+months and Thursday night it kept waking me up. Friday was a very tired day operating on fumes. A drink might have been nice, but I resisted.

    Rolling Total - 7AF days out of 11 days.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    Thank you all for the props on quitting that job that was giving me fits : - )
    I look forward to sending back all of their equipment and electronics and close that 6 year chapter.

    @Lilylady3k
    What a memory that you have! No, the garden centre merch job will be mostly wound down after StatsCan is wrapped up, but it is my restaurant job hours that would have prevented me from that one. I truly love working in the restaurant, and now that it is again open for dining it is even more fun to see people other than them just coming in for takeout.
    I hadn't enough time that I wanted for Census, but now I will. They also pay a great deal more than the job that I quit, so I will be ahead of the game in so many ways.
    I love your "taking hold of our choices" poster : - )

    @globalhiker
    There are many remote jobs available to me also, but most of them are not paying well enough so I haven't gone that route (minimum wage, $15.25 per hour).

    I haven't had any time at all for my Amazon business, so I am hoping to be able to give some time to that now that I have freed up some of my time.
    Not to mention my poor garden!!! Yikes, I haven't even gotten my carrot seeds into the ground!
    I will take breaks from Census today and at least get my grass cut.
  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    @dawnbgethealthy - Oh man leg cramps! Make sure during all these busy times you are getting enough water. I can't tell you to stay off your feet so much because you seem to always be on the move!
  • globalhiker
    globalhiker Posts: 1,679 Member
    AF 10/11 days for June and I this month I mentally (not physically) want to drink. This didn't happen past few months. I suppose it's the heat, seeing that the next nice day for us will begin in late October, so from now till then, trapped at home in the A/C. I think I have the reverse of the winter blues people get. It's just general lack of being able to enjoy good air and outdoor movement in decent weather.

    117 degree temps beginning already here. This here is what makes me want to drink. Yes I do need to work out a moving solution, especially to a place with lots of space for gardening...inspired by you all, I would love an organic garden right now :)!!

    @lmlmrn here valley fever is a fungal infection. Coccidioiodomycosis. I picked mine up in California a few years back. It was a couple of days of coughing, it went away, but then it set up shop somewhere in me and decides to re-emerge every now and then. It comes from the soil and air-borne blowing dust. Washington has it but mostly in the Eastern areas. They gave me fluconazole which is a horrible medicine but in a day or two, my head congestion disappeared like magic.

  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    edited June 2021
    SPECS on Smith St downtown Houston.

    @MissMay deleted my other pic off my phone that you were looking for, but here is today’s selection of bitters. mktvket2gt1i.jpeg


  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    Hi : - )

    My goal is 16-20 AF days per month.
    Diary Style.


    Friday June 11 - AF - I have been experiencing legs cramps in the night for 3+months and Thursday night it kept waking me up. Friday was a very tired day operating on fumes. A drink might have been nice, but I resisted.
    Saturday June 12 - 2 1/4 drinks. Census plus my yard/garden, I put in a good day. Sunday will be the same script.

    Rolling Total - 7AF days out of 12 days.
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,888 Member
    @Lilylady3k

    Wow, I am soooo impressed with your garden!! My tomato plants and peppers are about 2 inches high at this point. It got cold and rainy here, so nothing grew much except for the weeds.

    You had asked what I drink when I drink alcohol. Black Russians are kind of my go to, but I also do love to make cocktails on occasion. Mojitos once my mint is flourishing for sure. I make so many coffee/hot chocolate specialty drinks in the winter, using all sorts of things - one of my favourite specialty coffees is Dark Rum, Grand Marnier and Bailey's. Cocoa with Peppermint Schnapps or Apricot Brandy is lovely after a day of playing in the snow.
    I don't drink very often any more, and because my tolerance is low I will often just have a couple of Black Russians on my designated drinks day. Unfortunately I can no longer drink wine, but I used to enjoy an Oregon Pinot Noir (Amity) amongst other varietals.

    I had a few varieties of cans in the pantry that I put in the fridge several weeks ago. I opened one of them after digging in the garden at the end of the day yesterday. I had 1/4 of it in a very fancy chilled glass, and then put saran over it. It was yummy and refreshing. I have never tried these before

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  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 4,004 Member
    edited June 2021
    @MissMay - I get the downsizing of your garden! I use to have 4- 4x4 raised veggie beds and I removed 2 and now just focus on herbs and things I can put in salsa or pasta sauces. I've also let some of the flower beds that use to wrap the outline of my garden ... go back to grass to the house or fence to reduce my time weeding. Now I focus on what I see through the windows of the rooms I live in as well as the front & back door! Picking my battles ... especially since I have another yard at the camp. That one I selected just a couple of pots and then 2 flower beds which all don't need me to continually water or weed. They take little effort because when I'm down there I just don't want to have to "work" ... it is already more than enough to clean the inside each month!

    @lmlmrn - Hoping that you can shake the ailments away but sounds like you might need more diagnosis and assistance from more drugs to get over this sinus issue.

    @dawnbgethealthy - REMEMBER I'm in Texas ... we've had hot weather for the tomatoes for a while now. They will likely burn up by the time your tomatoes start producing. I use to have 5 types of mints ... I need to pick a couple and plant them in the empty pots I have ... would love to have it around for cocktails, mocktails, water and tea. Thanks for the reminder. Thanks for the other drink info ... the coffee liqueurs sound lovely on a cold day! I'm going to look for your gin smash ... that too looks interesting. I've had a Black Russian but I seem to lean more toward either wine or citrus drinks like margaritas and gin & tonics. Though the "Morejito" from Be More Pacific ... their take on Mojito was yummy! It had RumHaven coconut rum, pineapple juice, mint, & lime juice. Which now that I think about it I could replace the rum with coconut water and try making a mocktail!



  • lmlmrn
    lmlmrn Posts: 788 Member
    Womona wrote: »
    @lmlmrn sorry to hear your sinus issues are still dogging you. I hope you feel better soon!

    Only one drink yesterday and two with a long dinner on Friday night. So I’m happy with that.

    Absolutely no cravings for alcohol, ice cream, food, chocolate, etc. today. Why, you ask? Well, this peri menopause roller coaster ride stopped today with a visit from my Aunt Flo. (Sorry gents!). I’ve been super bloated, and a food and alcohol vacuum for the last two and a half weeks. Now I know why!

    The funny thing is I never had bad PMS symptoms back when I was normal. Now with my cycle hopping around , PMS cravings are lasting weeks instead of for a day or two. It’s all over the place and I never know what the hell my body is up to. It is the weirdest thing to experience this. If my period is going to skip around, it would be really nice if at least PMS would only show up a day or two before hand like it used to. But Nooooooo. I’m in a near- constant state of PMS these last 4 months or so, with very little break before the PMS puffiness and cravings start up again. This is true whether my cycle is 3 weeks or 3 months apart.

    I know this is all totally normal, but it’s still a real pain. I hate the constant food and drink urges. Menopause makes trying to maintain my weight very difficult, especially since my body is craving sugar like nobody’s business, whether it’s in the form of ice cream or , more likely, alcohol!!!!!! Ugh!

    Any words of wisdom for those who have or are going through the change of life? It’s not for the faint of heart!

    Oh and I’m going to cry like a baby when it’s all over because I won’t be able to have kids anymore! Haha!


    I have been through it all and I agree that skipping around stuff is a real inconvenient part of the process. I hate to tell you this but after that you body becomes like a furnace with a thermostat that will come on and off with no warning! This will last, oh I don't know, until we are dead. Not as frequent as at first but still all of a sudden....poof armpits are wet, sweat dripping down the nap of your neck and hairline all this to soak your shirt. Then at night, well lets say there were times I had to sleep with a bath towel under me because I soaked the bed in my sleep and was too tired to change everything.
  • lmlmrn
    lmlmrn Posts: 788 Member
    AF tonight, I really could have used a bit of the whiskey but I am settling for diet tonic water and bitters.

    Took some time this evening to do some painting, it can be quite funny at times to watch when I start working. Or so I am told.

    @Lilylady3k I have a TX question for you. Are there any parts of Texas that are mostly full of green plant life and hills? I have only been in the pan handle and Dallas/Fort Worth area. I have a nephew in Houston right now and a few people in San Antonio

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