Gratitude List

• Sam's fever seems to have broken. He came off the bus with a fever of 101 yesterday
• Chinesse food
• Another day sober
• Purple Hostess Snowballs
• A good sponsor
• The Recovery Club
• A opportunity to serve

  ¶ 3/31/2006 04:32:00 AM 5 comments

  Prayers for Sam If you pray, Sam could really use your prayers right now. Sam is being picked on by a 5th grade girl on his bus. Last night he was afaird to play in our yard because the girl had threatened him that afternoon.    ¶ 3/30/2006 03:17:00 AM 15 comments

  HAAlf nAAked ThursdAAy Naked, nAAked or nekid! No mater how you say it, it must be spring and time for purple snowballs.

Yes folks, I really did think yesterday was Thursday when I orginally posted this. As my mother always said, "bring on the men in the white coats.   ¶ 3/30/2006 03:07:00 AM

  Gratitude List

• All the past date Red Bull I can drink
• Another day sober and without the desire to drink
• No work today again Yipee, Yipee
• Time spent together as a family
• Law and Order reruns with Jerry Orbach
• Job applications
• The local American Red Cross did not hire me or even return my calls (after two interviews). Click here and here to find out why I am grateful

  ¶ 3/28/2006 07:09:00 AM 9 comments

  Power Puff Girls     ¶ 3/27/2006 07:50:00 PM 5 comments

  Gratitude List

• Being able to sincerely do a gratitude list after several months of being in a funk
• A real dress up date(Sam was at a sleepover) with Chuck Saturday night
• Last week's work
• The Easter play at church
• New jeans
• One of us always being able to meet Sam's bus in the afternoon
• New friendships
• New opportunities to serve
• Sam playing with Sean and Oliver(kids in the neighborhood you want your kid to play with) on Saturday afternoon
• Watching the Karate Kid with Sam. The last time I saw that movie I had pimples
• No work today, yipee!!
• People I love in my life
• People who love me

  ¶ 3/27/2006 06:42:00 AM 7 comments

  Needing God When I first sobered up, I believed that one day I would “get it together” and no longer need to surrender to God's will. I was sure that one day graduate and need God less. I felt that the whole dependence on God thing was just a temporary crutch until I could get back on my self reliant feet.

I was wrong and I am so glad that I was wrong. I am coming up on 16 years sober and I can honestly say I depend on God more today than I ever have before.  ¶ 3/26/2006 07:07:00 AM 5 comments

  Be Yourself "No matter what happens, always be yourself." Dale Carnegie  ¶ 3/24/2006 03:20:00 PM 7 comments

  Gratitude List

• Sam's report card (o.k. I am bragging)
• A mild day
• Hearing my college fight song on the web just now
• Chuck enjoying his job
• Several good nights of sleep in a row
• Hope
• A purpose
• An awesome kick-ass God

  ¶ 3/23/2006 07:32:00 PM 4 comments

  Smoking and Recovery A new study shows that continuing to smoke after getting sober can severely slow the brains recovery from alcoholism. To read more click here.  ¶ 3/22/2006 03:24:00 PM 6 comments

  Love One Another

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:12

  ¶ 3/22/2006 05:29:00 AM 3 comments

  Gratitude List

• A good night's sleep
• Hope
• A good sponsor
• New service opportunities
• Some additional paid work recently
• Cathy
• Sam's participation(and therefore my participation) in the Easter play at church
• Except for a few colds, my family and I have not been physically sick this winter
• Cathy
• The Sunday Night Step meeting
• Creditors holding off for right now
• Mary Jo
• Ann giving us play tickets
• Sam's sleep over with his friend Alex so we can go to the play
• The Flash Light Easter Egg Hunt on April 7 and all the other family centric events our town sponsors

  ¶ 3/21/2006 06:27:00 AM 4 comments

  hAAlf nAAked ThursdAAY While I was looking around for our HNT photos I ran across this HNT picture. It is definitely a little over the top by my standards.

P.S. Don't look if you are at work.  ¶ 3/16/2006 01:39:00 PM 7 comments

  Learning

"If you teach a man anything, he will never learn."

George Benard Shaw

  ¶ 3/16/2006 01:22:00 PM 2 comments

  Gratitude List

• Becoming friends with Mary Jo
• Winning tickets to the hockey game
• Surviving Sam's field trip
• Feeling better physically and mentally
• Learning that my past does not have to define me today
• An awesome Higher Power in my life
• Our new backyard fire pit (not a heliport but, cool just the same)
• Health insurance

  ¶ 3/13/2006 09:23:00 AM 9 comments

  Loneliness

Alcoholism was a lonely business even though we were surrounded by people who loved us. Twelve and Twelve p. 116

.

This was my first post on March 11, 2005 and I have been violating copyright law ever since.  ¶ 3/11/2006 07:30:00 AM 4 comments

  Happy BirthdAAy Rusty Rusty is celebrating one year sober.  ¶ 3/10/2006 02:51:00 PM 1 comments

  Happy Birthday Outright Mental Defective Tomorrow March 11, 2006, Outright Mental Defective will be one year old. This is amazing to me; I have never been able to sustain anything connected with writing. Writing scares me too much. I am one of those people who is always going to write a book. Occasionally I get a partial outline before I abandon the idea. Blogging however, has opened up a whole new world to me. For that I am grateful.

On another note, pray for me. I am going with Sam, and three classes of first graders on a field trip to their sister school. Saying yes seemed like such a good idea at the time.  ¶ 3/10/2006 05:29:00 AM 13 comments

  Curse, Swear and Use Profanity I did not mean to be gone so long. I had the flu or something like it the last few days and was just too gosh darn crabby to post. My sleep was all screwed up and when my sleep is all screwed up, I am all screwed up.

Speaking of gosh darn. I don't know how you experience your Higher Power but, mine is really into nudging. First there is the gentle nudge, then there is the slightly more powerfully nudge. If I ignore the nudging long enough eventually, I get a brick up side my head. For most of my life it has taken the brick upside my head to before I took action. I am trying to change that. After all what is the good of conscious contact when you ignore all the nudging.

Now once again, I don't know about you but, I curse, swear and use profanity a fair amount. I thought that when I became a mother that the desire to swear would magically leave me. It did not. If anything I wanted to use profanity even more. Lately my Higher Power has been doing some gentle nudging around my cursing.

So before the gentle nudging turns into a brick I am trying to clean up my language. It is hard! When you have done something since you are about ten years old it is a gosh darn hard thing to change darn it. I am reminded however, that it is progress not perfection.  ¶ 3/08/2006 02:24:00 AM 84 comments

  24 Hours

I am going to have an entire 24 hours to myself. That is right my boys are going on a Cub Scout Campout and I have an entire 24 hours all to myself to fritter away.

• 24 hours of the channel selector all to myself.
• 24 hours of not having people ask me where they put their stuff.
• 24 hours of no one needing anything from me.

And before you ask, yes the campout is in a cabin because it is way too freakin cold to be in a tent unless you are Ann Bancroft.

  ¶ 3/03/2006 01:03:00 PM 10 comments

  Mental illness and ranting, raving It was only a matter of time but, someone actually found me on Yahoo with "Mental illness and ranting, raving."  ¶ 3/02/2006 12:51:00 PM 7 comments

  Happy 5 Months Boston! It is time to wish Boston a happy five months.  ¶ 3/02/2006 09:05:00 AM 1 comments