LESS Alcohol ~ APRIL 2025 ~ One Day at A Time

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  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member

    @NonnieDoiron Glad your daughter is home. And, obviously, your son is happy you're home. I couldn't help but giggle about the leftovers 🙂

  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,937 Member

    @SurferGirl1982 it’s a vicious cycle when you nap all day and stay up all night. I hope the baby steps you take to mitigate drinking help you get back to a normal pattern. Meanwhile, I feel your pain about certain foods not being good compared to where you’ve had the real thing. When I lived near Seattle, we couldn’t get a decent bagel, and the pizza was terrible. Forget trying to get a good Pork Roll, egg and chewy on a Kaiser roll!

    @NonnieDoiron so glad to hear that your daughter got sprung from the hospital! Wow, that infusion worked fast. Also glad you got to sleep in your own comfy bed. Makes a huge difference!

    Only one glass of wine last night. Goal achieved! I did seriously consider pouring another glass but it was easier to resist than I thought it would be.

    We are going out to dinner this weekend. Most restaurants don’t do a 5 oz standard pour of wine, it’s usually at least six. Which I have to count as more than one drink even if I don’t get another one! 😠. Of course, I could always not finish it, but I’m too cheap to do that! Haha! Another favorite restaurant gives a double pour of a mixed drink such as an old fashioned or a martini. Just a general rant, this is up there with so many more calories in a restaurant meal than cooking the same thing at home. But I do, going out to eat is one of my very favorite things to do!

    Anyway, bless us all as we head into the weekend, may we all stay on our courses. Have a great day, all!

  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member

    Thanks @Womona I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Yes, I need to get out of this. Anyways, I appreciate your concern. I'll check back in tomorrow. Take care!

  • mfowler883
    mfowler883 Posts: 257 Member

    Ugh the numbers don't work anymore….not sure where I'm at now. I haven't been drinking MUCH, but I've been drinking I think something every night, lost track.

    I THINK I'm at:
    10 LA
    4 AF
    3 A

    I'm so brain fried right now, crunching numbers, revising plans, going over formulae, researching hardware, talking to property management, trying to figure out how to make this all happen and it's terrifying and I know I have to move on it because it's the first clean exit strategy I've been able to come up with in four and a half years and now all I do is sit at my desk and pound keys, going over every detail of every aspect of how to get this thing up and running without losing it all in the process, scrambling for any way to make the money end work and beating my head on the desk because it all seems so mind numbingly futile sometimes but I KNOW it has to work.

    (deep breath…..)

    Son passed his finals, I am so glad to be done driving him to and from class. It was nuts, I was burning a quarter tank of gas a day doing it, it was taking me off the phones which inevitably means lost business. I have a 99% conversion rate if not better, AS LONG AS I CAN ANSWER THE PHONE. If I miss a call, it's a crap shoot as to whether I'll get another chance to talk to that potential client again. It also made a train wreck of meal planning, so we've been dining out way more than we should, bad for personal goals and bad for saving money to…yeah, back to ramping up the new phase. Anyway, all that is over now, we're super proud of him. I had to stay up all night Tuesday helping him with a resume - I told him months ago to start working on it and spelled out exactly how to do it; never happened. I managed to get him situated with a pretty decent resume that touched on several key positions he's held and the relevant skills he's acquired in those roles. He had a preliminary interview that went well, and he has a follow up interview scheduled.

    That means I have two weeks to phase him out of the family business and figure out how to cover all the things he was helping us with.

    (gonna lose my mind at this rate…)

    @SurferGirl1982, I didn't know Mexican food had heat….I'm used to Thai, Indian, Jamaican, etc. 🔥🔥🔥

    -m

  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member

    Speaking of cooking. I really don't enjoy it much. I know that some people love cooking. And I know that @NonnieDoiron loves to bake. But I get flustered when there are too many irons in the fire. If it's something I can prepare in advance (like a casserole), I'm fine. I think the main thing that I don't care for is chopping everything and timing when to put things on.

    Quite a few years ago, my husband and I would watch the Food Network. That was when the programming was mostly chefs with half-hour shows basically showing you how to cook a dish or two. We actually learned a lot. Now it's more challenge shows (unless you get up real early in the morning 🙂)

    But that being said, we don't go out for meals much. Possibly because we don't have all the options here that most of you do. Unfortunately, we do get all the commercials on TV. I've been wanting to try Panera Bread, Olive Garden, and a few others.

    And, I do prefer to eat home cooked as much as possible. We do grill a lot and I mainly just roast or steam some veggies. One thing that is super easy…is we buy this extra jumbo shrimp that is frozen and peeled, deveined with tails on (Waterfront Bistro). I used to put them on skewers. But we bought a nice Weber flat grill pan. So I just defrost, rinse, toss with some oil, Kosher salt and red pepper flakes. Actually, that's what's for dinner tonight. I just wished that I enjoyed cooking more. My husband used to be pretty good. But he recently has really destroyed a couple of dishes. He probably did it on purpose, so I won't let him cook anymore 🤔

    BTW @chicbuc I'm still working on Keep on Keeping On! I'll get there sometime!

  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member

    @mfowler883 and @NonnieDoiron I just got home. It's close to 11 pm here. So I'm sure you're both sound asleep. I went gambling for a while. I actually won tonight. I read your posts and I intended to reply to both of you.

    But something happened that scared me. I'm still scared. My husband is asleep. But, I don't want to wake him because of a bloody nose.

    What I haven't mentioned to any of you, is that I do have some liver disease. I haven't been checked out for a while (I had a falling out with my gastroenterologist office). And, I would have to travel 60 miles each way to see another. Our livers produce blood clotting proteins. And, if your liver isn't functioning properly, your blood won't clot. So after I got home, I felt like I had a runny nose. But, I knew what it was. My nose was bleeding. I happens quite a bit. And that's why I've been so afraid of my drinking. The bleeding usually stops. But, if not, I may have to go to the hospital.

    -m If I'm still alive tomorrow I have a recipe for a tomatillo sauce that is pretty good. It's not real hot. But, you can always fix that.

    Obviously, moderating my alcohol intake really isn't an option for me.

    I'll try to catch up with everyone tomorrow!

  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member

    I imagine some of you that read my post from last night are thinking that I over-reacted (panicked) about a bloody nose. But I was never one to have bloody noses. It really did scare me. My husband was asleep. The hospital is 13 miles away. I do have medical insurance and extra insurance that covers ground and air ambulance service costs that my insurance doesn't pay. But, everything is OK today.

    I still plan on becoming AF for an extended period. It's not really an option. I want to protect my health and I want to start feeling good again. And I have so many projects planned. Summer is right around the corner.

    Earlier, I was thinking that tomorrow is Sunday, so I should buy something for tomorrow since the liquor store doesn't open until 11 am. Then I remembered that tomorrow is Easter and the store will be closed. So I'll have to go down there later. I don't want to regret being without. These holidays really mess me up (and I imagine others also). But after that is gone, I will get serious. It's early enough that I could still get some AF days in before the end of the month.

    Take care all!

  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member
    edited April 20

    @RubyRed427 Thank you so much! I haven't seen you post in quite some time.

    You are correct that it is extremely hard to stay sober. Although, when I do have a good streak going on, I must admit…I do feel much better. I wish that I could be like many others and just drink from time to time. But, it doesn't seem to work for me that way.

    Happy Easter to you also! We don't have any family in the area, so we won't be exactly celebrating. And, I just realized that we have nothing planned for a meal tomorrow. I'll see what I can figure out. We do have a grocery store right across the street. It makes it hard when there's just two of you.

    Thanks again…it really means a lot! And, have a wonderful rest of your holiday weekend!

  • NonnieDoiron
    NonnieDoiron Posts: 438 Member

    AF - 16
    A - 4

    If I had wine in the house tonight, it would be gone. Went to my parents’ for Easter dinner and both my brothers were there and my sister-in-law. But, that wasn’t what made me want a drink. It was my mother-in-law.

    1. We have to take 2 vehicles whenever she wants to go somewhere with us because we can’t all fit in one vehicle and take her walker. I have to lay the seat down in my car so it will fit. So, it’s usually me, her, and my daughter traveling together. I’d much rather be able to be the passenger princess.
    2. She tries so hard to be funny, and she just isn’t. It’s really irritating most of the time. She can’t hear, so often her jokes fall flat because they just don’t make sense based on the conversation. I think she just interjects, so she can have some attention.
    3. Her loud eating and breathing are getting worse. My brother kept looking at her, and without anyone seeing me except him I mouthed from across the table, “I’m sorry.” He laughed because he didn’t realize I saw him, but he has the same issue I do with people making noises when they eat. He handled it well though. But her little portable oxygen machine is crazy loud too! You can’t have a conversation when it’s going. In the car, I had the radio volume twice the level I normally do to hear the music, and I still couldn’t hear some of the songs when they came on.

    I know it’s mean, but I just want her to stay home. I need a break from her, and she just ruined one of my chances.

    Anyway, @SurferGirl1982 I’m sorry your bloody nose scared you. I’m very glad you are still with us. @RubyRed427 is absolutely right. Keep trying, you’ll get there.

  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member
    edited April 21

    @NonnieDoiron Thanks! Yes, I'm still here — LOL! You're doing really well with your AF days this month.

    I'm sorry your day wasn't that great. I honestly try to avoid all the holidays. But, they're hard to avoid. Since my Mom passed away nearly 15 years ago, things haven't been the same. It seems that our family fell apart. I knew that would happen though. She was what held us together. I had cousins that lived nearby and we were always really close. But, we eventually stopped calling, etc. There weren't any problems or anything. We just stopped keeping in touch. And, my brother, for some reason, keeps moving all over the country? I'm not sure what he's looking for? We're still close. But, I don't see him much.

    My day was pretty uneventful. Last night, when I realized that we hadn't planned anything for Easter, I got out a corned beef we had in the freezer (I know…not a traditional Easter meal). My husband had actually prepped it today. We have a recipe for a baked glazed corned beef. And, I have some fresh Brussels sprouts in the fridge.

    But, I woke up a 5 am, mixed a drink, and of course, I eventually had to take a nap. I woke up at 3 pm. So, for me, I have had nothing. The good news is that before I took my nap, I cooked my cat a Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon fillet (cooked to perfection 🙂). Something seems wrong with that picture. But, she's 17 and she's worth it. We will be having corned beef tomorrow 🙃

  • tmbg1
    tmbg1 Posts: 1,551 Member

    12 AF

    5 LA

    4 A

  • chicbuc
    chicbuc Posts: 737 Member

    @RubyRed427 and @SurferGirl1982 it IS hard to be sober, but we still try every day because that's all we can do! Hugs to both of you and keep on keeping to try form new habits and do what you can do!

    @NonnieDoiron I'm sorry your holiday was not as pleasant as you deserve. I hope you get a peaceful day to yourself to make up for it!

    We didn't do much yesterday. The kids and grands came over Saturday for tacos. I had a tongue in the freezer from the last time we got 1/2 a cow and wanted to make some Lengua tacos, so we had a taco night. Yesterday, I rode with SO to drop off some equipment that he needed on site to start a job today. Then we had lunch and rode up and looked at a piece of property he just had surveyed. Then we rode the casino for a bit, so I did drink yesterday. We also went to the casino on Friday, so I drank then, too. AF on Saturday with the kids and grands, though, so there's that. I also have not had any more episodes. So there's that, too.

    Have a good week, everyone!

    A=5/AF=15

  • SparkSpringtime69
    SparkSpringtime69 Posts: 1,265 Member

    April:

    AF=7
    A=13

  • globalhiker
    globalhiker Posts: 1,868 Member

    For me, transitioning to sobriety required daily work and commitment for the first couple of months and then it was effortless. You have to put in the work, plan well, and accept discomfort at times. It's work since it feels like 100 cravings hit out of the blue during those first few months and each one is a battle that needs to be fought, its annoying and tiring but for each one not fed alcohol, the more improved my thinking became and the stronger I got. This is healing. At some point I needed to starve the wine devil of his juice and weaken him to the point he can no longer be a pest in my head.

    Drumming up the confidence and strength to push through took 7 years and many attempts to do a short term break. I could have done it sooner but didn't believe I could therefore never made it a goal.

    It was all thanks to a saint on MFP who challenged my false belief and said I was capable. That and I got sick and tired of failing.

    I had a lovely Easter holiday with great food and company and I felt happier than when I used to have my bubbly rose buzz on.

  • SurferGirl1982
    SurferGirl1982 Posts: 821 Member

    @globalhiker You have no idea how time appropriate your post was…although, I think you do. You may be my saint!

    I had stocked up on the whiskey due to the liquor store being closed on Easter. It will be gone today. I hope I can also drum up the confidence and strength to push through. I do know that there will be some discomfort. Fortunately, for me, that part only lasts for a few days.

    Thank you for the inspiration! I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I really admire how well you've done.

    Keep it up and take care!

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