Less Alcohol - OCTOBER 2020 - One Day at a Time (Try a Sober October)
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Another AF night.
Even with my refrigerator stocked like a nuclear bomb was about to explode and we have to have a fall out shelter.
Everytime I open the frig I hear " You have hard cider in there" or "those mini bottles of prosseco are still in there" or "want me to make you a drink?"
I learned early in life as a child at 12 years old that food is not love. That was how I became severely over weight with my Mother feeding me like a chirping baby bird until I was (true story) wearing maternity tops to hide my big body.
The same with alcohol, it is not love.......although my husband pushes it on me daily, I would rather he take a 30 minute walk with me outside to show me affection.
Keep fighting for what you believe in.7 -
Looking forward to today
For those that love gardening ... a friend & I are going through Home Gardening Certificate 10 week course material that Louisiana State University posted (FREE). It is so interesting! Tons of videos, powerpoint presentations and pdf documents. Today we are meeting for coffee to talk about what we learned in the plant propagation lessons (seed collection & storage, cuttings, divisions, layering, grafting, etc).
https://lsuagcenter.com/topics/lawn_garden/master%20gardener/home-gardening-certificate-course
Oh when Beverly and I talked about doing the course together ... she suggested meeting in the evenings over wine (we were wine buddies) ... but I had reinitiated my weight loss and determination so we moved our bi-weekly meetings to mornings without alcohol. She was very supportive ... though she still would like me to again join her for wine evenings. We've not had one of those in a very long time now.
@dawnbgethealthy - As your winter sets in ...you might enjoy this material.6 -
5 days AF/2 A.....I booked myself a "self care" day today. Time to obsess about something fun.
Hitting the mall soon as it opens while our local Covid cases are low and before our real Fall hits and all our midwestern snowbirds show up en masse. Mama needs a new pair of shoes and a nice blazer for interviews. I'm coloring and highlighting my own hair (balayage and touch up is $240 plus tip, not in my unemployment budget!).
Did my old skin beauty routine yesterday - light fruit acid peel during day, wash off then repeat, then my favorite vit C skin serum at night. Restarted applying peptide lash growth on the upper lashes.
Got my beauty sleep, now it's time to go out and run before the UV rays get too strong.
Expect Success and Nothing Less9 -
Good morning, another AF day for me here. I had a very restful night of sleep, an owl was hooting outside my window as I drifted off and I loved listening.
Things have been going good, my husband has been home a lot more as his busy season is winding down. So I've got help with the farm and the kids again. He's been taking on homeschool responsibilities. With a partner helping me, it does feel like things are clicking into place. I'm so glad to be free of the school district right now. I never thought I would homeschool, until now in this age of learning on the computer.
Oct 1: 2 drinks
Oct 2: 6 drinks
Oct 3: 4 drinks
Oct 4: AF
Oct 5: AF
Oct 6: AF
Oct 7: AF
Oct 8: 3 drinks
Oct 9: AF
Oct 10: 4 drinks
Oct 11: AF
Oct 12: AF
Oct 13: AF
So far in Oct: 8/13 days AF9 -
Oct 1-7: 12ish drinks, 4 AF days
Oct 8: AF
Oct 9: 1 beer
Oct 10: 2 wine
Oct 11: 1 wine
Oct 12: AF
Oct 13: AF
Thank you for the hugs everyone
As much as I have *feelings* about my body and my husband's habits and work and Covid and US politics, I've logged a couple of easy AF days.
@forestdweller1 There *may* have been a few Dutch lessons I had to repeat
but as far as languages go, Dutch is pretty easy! If I ever get to transfer to Amsterdam, I think I'll be competent pretty quickly. (I work for a Dutch-owned company and the way the US is going I'm starting to look for escape routes. Amsterdam seems very pleasant, but at this point my base requirement is "not a dumpster fire.") Also if you make some of that head cheese sometime send it my way.
@globalhiker Anything you can do to keep that degeneration from getting worse is a thing worth doing! Weight loss for sure, but also core strength and moving properly (squat down instead of bend over to pick up that thing you dropped, don't twist too much, etc.). That's awesome that your husband dodged surgery with weight loss. I'm trying to nudge mine in that direction - he also has a bad back, and our doctor says he'll have to have a fusion if he loses any more strength in his leg. Alas, surgery is the only way out for me at this point - I've got an appointment to discuss "next steps" in a week. Maybe this time next year I'll be running again! Also glad you had a self-care day - amazing how much those can perk us up!
@shorepine @MissMay @Samand303 Sorry that you all have struggles with your husbands, but selfishly I'm glad to be here with people who understand. All we can do is take care of ourselves and hope some of that rubs off a bit. Congrats on the scale moving in the right direction, shorepine!
@Lilylady3k thanks for posting the gardening class! I only have a balcony, but I'd like to know how to keep my zinnias alive through a summer. That sounds like a fun activity to do with your friend and a good way to dodge alcohol you don't have room for.6 -
AF second night this week ... even though we had company! Everyone drank water or diet coke. Seems others are watching their weekday indulgence!
Oct accountability: 6/14 days AF6 -
Just a weird and random thought about friends and alcohol: I only have a few friends that I speak to regularly, one of which I have not seen in several months (the other two, it's been over a year). Anyway I told this friend we could have coffee together, six feet apart, on her front porch and I'd bring whatever coffee she wants from Starbuck's. Never really thought about it before but now thinking about how grateful I am that I have three friends and alcohol has never ever not once been a part of our relationship in the 10 -15 years we've been friends.10
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Thanks for the link @Lilylady3k
Yes, having to harvest my peppers and onions and tomatoes a month early was a bit of a shock. Climate change messes with everything.
I love winter once it is into the thick of it - like when the lakes freeze over for skating : - )
I love to shovel snow, x-country ski, build stuff on my lawn out of snow decorated with snowballs and solar lights.
We are probably 2 or 3 months away from all of that still here. This cold snap is unseasonal, so I had to rush to save things.
I will have lots of work to do still to get all of the garden "to bed", and then I won't think about it at all again until Springtime. I have already collected my jars of seeds for next year, because I am a nerd.
Winter really is my favourite. I do enjoy my garden and the lakes in the summer, but winter excites me. And no bugs : - )
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I am Dawn and live in South East British Columbia. I am 60.
My goal remains the same as it has been for quite some time, 16-20 AF days per month.
Wednesday October 14 - AF. I worked out of town for my favourite company today (Foster Grant) and stopped on the way home for a wee trail walk. it was gorgeous with blue skies all day.
Rolling total: 10 AF days out of 14 days so far.6 -
@LoveyChar
That is great that you have friends like that!4 -
I had all of the onions layed (laid?) out on newspaper to dry, and then it rained! Drying them on my porch now.
I put them into upside down tables so that I could move them around and shake them or whatever.
And here are my bounty of peppers, they are really big:
One little cuke, it is covered now, not sure if it will survive, but it is soooo cute!
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I had to add one more pic of the peppers to show my Maple Tree in colours.
I have been eating peppers, onions and tomatoes for months out of the garden, and don't normally have to harvest more than one at a time until November. I will do something with them over the weekend some I will just core and freeze as they are. I have been working on a giant one with hummus, but that could take me 5 days to consume like that.
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Doxmum update: She is slowly, but surely, resurfacing to once again become a "Clear & Present Snark-Danger" on the thread. Been a rough 2-3 weeks. I coped - oh so functionally - by drinking my way through it. Like I think people who smoke pot or use edibles daily. They are just barely high all day but never drunk. In the end, though, this translates to an embarrassing amount of Proseco (even at 10%), Chardonnay on the worst days and the occasional beer when "thirsty." Sheesh.
I want to thank each and every one of you for inquiring after my whereabouts! I was reading & liking/hugging but too exhausted (Ok, maybe I was little drunk on a few nights) to put fingers to keyboard.
DH does not drink. I do not know how some of you are reducing your drinking under those circumstances. You are better women than I am. I don't think I could do it. DH does, however, have some memory "issues." As in he doesn't - remember. Today he couldn't find his keys. This is very common. The keys were not in any of the dozen or so places he is known to drop them. As a last resort he checks his vehicle only to find he had left them in the ignition, overnight, in an unlocked car. Fortunately, we live in a small town where cruising neighborhoods looking for unlocked cars is not a pass time. When he returns from Costco (no calls yet from him being lost while driving) he trips and falls in the garage because his hands are full, he doesn't remember to use his cane, and he also doesn't remember he is no longer 40. Or 50. Or even 60. No trips to the ED this time - whew!
Anyway, we have TERMINATION DUST (Alaskan term for snow on the mountain tops). Frost is on the pumpkin. And fall is def in the air (I fall & winter). Covid is raging now in my corner of NW Montana. But what's a pandemic among friends and people who don't believe in it? "I jihad your face mask!"
Doxmum is baaaaccckkk
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Hi @doxmum! I'm glad you're back! We all missed you... and can certainly relate to having a rough few weeks and maybe drinking more than we'd like. It also takes an embarrassing amount of prosecco for me, too. I get it.
Sorry about your husband's memory issues, I'm glad no one stole the car and that his fall did not seriously injure him.
I look forward to the reemergence of your clear and present Snark Danger!
@dawnbgethealthy your harvest is lovely. I am jealous of your peppers! It's tough where I live to grow good peppers, we have a cool maritime climate. Thanks for sharing all the lovely photos.
@globalhiker I hope you had a nice self care day. That sounds like such a wonderful thing, I really need to do that! I desperately need a haircut, it's been months. Well, 9 months to be exact. My hair is starting to feel like a blanket.
@MissMay I am sorry to hear your husband is kind of like mine with regards to alcohol. I think I have mine trained a little bit that I am trying to cut back now. I don't think mine is trying to be malicious, I just truly think he believes alcohol is the answer to every situation. He did take a month off back in January and I was so proud of him. I wish he'd do it more often.
Another AF night for me here. The days are starting to reach on in October in my little calendar. I'm determined to meet my goal of 20 AF days this month and so I'm really trying to rack up 10 before the month is half over. Otherwise, I'll be playing catchup the last half of the month and once that happens, I am usually destined to miss my goal. Although, not a lot of drinking opportunities in my meager little social calendar. We have a "maybe" camping trip next weekend, depends on the weather. Then there is the stress of working, homeschooling, etc, plus the election anxiety. Those end up presenting quite a few drinking opportunities without really trying!
Oct 1: 2 drinks
Oct 2: 6 drinks
Oct 3: 4 drinks
Oct 4: AF
Oct 5: AF
Oct 6: AF
Oct 7: AF
Oct 8: 3 drinks
Oct 9: AF
Oct 10: 4 drinks
Oct 11: AF
Oct 12: AF
Oct 13: AF
Oct 14: AF
So far in Oct: 9/14 days AF6 -
6 days AF/2 days A. I mailed in my vote yesterday. Voted for the team that has the better global diplomacy skills, smarts, communication skills, management skills, decency, and common sense. The minimum criteria for basic leadership. Will leave it at that.
The townhalls tonight at 5am in my time zone will be my entertainment. Both candidates are on at the very same time, different stations. How goofy. Most of us will be watching our big screen and have our laptops in hand streaming the other candidate live and just watch both.
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@dawnbgethealthy your veggies look like they'd be a great base for salsa! If I had room to grow those, I'd be prepping jars of salsa and giving them as holiday gifts to friends. I'll have to put this on my retirement to-do list.
@Doxmum glad you are back! We were all starting to miss you.....6 -
sorry typo - 5pm AZ time/8pm EST townhall start1
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@dawnbgethealthy I love your peppers and mint plus onions. I planted jalapeno peppers, Bell Peppers, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes on the vine, rosemary, lavender, and basil in May. All I have are peppers and possibly sweet potatoes. I made one million gardening mistakes and mice eating my tomatoes destroyed them and wreaked havoc on my tomato vines. Why they eat a bite of each one is annoying. I would have been glad to share one or two with them. Anyway, I think I got the situation under control now..I hope so, anyway.
I would just sautee up a bunch of those veggies and dump them over some rice, chicken or tuna. You have quite the green thumb. Also, you have such a cute house in such a cute neighhood, or so it appears to be in your pictures. I love the little front porch.7 -
@globalhiker don't watch one! Let's have one candidate in particular win the "ratings" battle. Just get the highlights from the other one later. It will be terribly painful anyway. And yeah, I'll be watching the one that you mention that has the basic leadership qualities. 7
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Voted today. In person. Social distancing and short line so no problem. It was much better organized than the past in my county. And for the first time our ballot was printed and scanned after entering it electronically and left in the collection box. Very cool. In the past it was electronic only with no back up copy. Think they were thinking ahead!
Vote like your life depends on it ... cause it does.
Oct accountability: 6/15 days AF
This week: 2 AF days
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I am Dawn and live in South East British Columbia. I am 60.
My goal remains the same as it has been for quite some time, 16-20 AF days per month.
Wednesday October 14 - AF. I worked out of town for my favourite company today (Foster Grant) and stopped on the way home for a wee trail walk. it was gorgeous with blue skies all day.
Thursday October 15 - AF. I had to do the 6 minute wait 3 times, but it worked. I had to get those 2AF in a row.
Rolling total: 11 AF days out of 15 days so far.4 -
Ever since my birthday trip I realized that I have to get into the forest every day, even if only for 10 minutes. The exception is driving rain with muddy trails.
We have hundreds of trails where I live, and it is easy to pick a trail where I won't often see another person, or maybe just one or two.
I went for about 45 minutes after work today.
Anyway, since the pandemic, we have been encouraged by our health officials to spend more time outside, and more money has been put in the coffers for parks.
I am still giggling at this very Canadian thing that I ran across today at a trail head that I have been to many times over the years. More money meant new signs.
Yes, we Canucks can now clean our shoes before and after going on a trail so as not to spread any "bad" weeds.
Haha, yes, I cleaned my shoes : - )8 -
Yes @Lilylady3k! I'm glad voting was easy. I got my ballot in the mail today and I have never been so excited. We are a vote by mail state and always have been. I love it. I dont have to leave my house to vote and can relax and vote whenever I want with my voters pamphlet in hand to read all of the ballot measures in detail. I am not going to waste any time though. I am voting tomorrow!
@dawnbgethealthy we have those kind of signs here too! I actually used to work for our park system. One thing that always struck me is that people come along and brush their boots off before hiking, and then the little seeds will get caught in the boot brush. Then the next person comes along and uses the brush, picking up the seeds. I wonder a bit how well they work. Im jealous of how many trails you have though! And a government that invests in them.
I am AF again tonight, feeling good about that. On a serious roll over here. I may have some drinks tomorrow night, we will see.
Oct 1: 2 drinks
Oct 2: 6 drinks
Oct 3: 4 drinks
Oct 4: AF
Oct 5: AF
Oct 6: AF
Oct 7: AF
Oct 8: 3 drinks
Oct 9: AF
Oct 10: 4 drinks
Oct 11: AF
Oct 12: AF
Oct 13: AF
Oct 14: AF
Oct 15: AF
So far in Oct: 10/15 days AF6 -
Oct 1-7: 12ish drinks, 4 AF days
Oct 8-14: 4 drinks, 4 AF days
Oct 15: 1 beer
Had a beer while watching this Astros live to fight another day. Skipped the town halls because there's no way I would have stuck to one drink watching them, but kinda bummed I missed Savannah Guthrie being awesome/the kind of journalist we've need for four years. Our standards have slipped in many, many ways. Husband and I have plans to vote next week when there's not likely to be lines, and it will feel good to do so.
I feel like I'm starting to get into a groove about my drinking choices. It's easier to decide that today is not a drinking day and stick to it. It's also easier to go "I want a beer" and have one without guilt or wanting a second one.
@dawnbgethealthy I have such envy of your garden harvest. Good onions are one of my favorite things. Also extremely jealous of your proximity to trails. Living in the city is normally wonderful, but having limited outdoorsy options (in Texas heat!) with Covid has kinda been a bummer. Glad your government sees the value in nature!6 -
6 days AF/3 days A. Impressive to read how many of you are on a "roll". No planned drinks or events for me this weekend.
Busy looking for work and when attention span wanes, I am trip planning for a year away. Bavaria region in Germany and Salzkammergut area of Austria are calling me. I've started some basic German courses online in preparation.
My first learned phrase:
Roséwein bitte: rose wine please5 -
Shrimp Chowder with a couple of glasses of white wine this evening.
Oct accountability: 6/16 days AF5 -
I am Dawn and live in South East British Columbia. I am 60.
My goal remains the same as it has been for quite some time, 16-20 AF days per month.
Wednesday October 14 - AF. I worked out of town for my favourite company today (Foster Grant) and stopped on the way home for a wee trail walk. it was gorgeous with blue skies all day.
Thursday October 15 - AF. I had to do the 6 minute wait 3 times, but it worked. I had to get those 2AF in a row.
Friday October 16 - Drinks. Both of my tenants left to go home for the weekend. Yay. They are awesome guys, but I love having the house to myself. Rainy day, no opportunity to hit the trails, but all good.
Rolling total: 11 AF days out of 16 days so far.5 -
chocolate_owl wrote: »
@dawnbgethealthy I have such envy of your garden harvest. Good onions are one of my favorite things. Also extremely jealous of your proximity to trails. Living in the city is normally wonderful, but having limited outdoorsy options (in Texas heat!) with Covid has kinda been a bummer. Glad your government sees the value in nature!
Yes, I get it. I am a city girl born and raised in Toronto, my family from Montreal. I really do love cities, but made the choice to move somewhere that I could afford, and to the one that is the sunniest place in Canada so that I could grow my own food.
I spent 2 weeks in Texas last year just before this time and absolutely loved it!
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@shorepine
Well, I never thought of how the seeds could come off of shoes and be airborne or stuck to the next person's shoes! : - )
I think that awareness was the message, but you make so much sense about its possible futility.
Nevertheless, I will do my duty and clean off my shoes before entering the trails : - )
Kind of fun that someone somewhere is trying to halt the spread of noxious weeds.
So very cool that you used to work for the parks department!8
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