What a day!

Hey Irene,

knew you were a little confused the other night and see that you are still struggling emotions. The one emotion that must focus on is the happiness and pride that you can say is there as a result of your hard work for well over 200 days. Keep it up and be proud.

Phil

oops. nuf said

Irene

great to see your enjoying the benefits of your sustained abstinence.

for it well done.

hope your head hurt this morning lol.

Duncs stepping forward never back.

Hey Irene,

Hope you ok and enjoyed last night:-) as i see from your last post you had brilliant night!

Hope you had relaxing day today and wish you to keep going and staying strong.

Take care

Sandra

Hey Irene

sounds like you are having a bit of a roller coaster time with your emotions, but glad to see that you are managing to deal with them. Hope you are enjoying your w/end- am trying to guess what cocktail you went for in the end???

keep strong

Stuxx

thanks guys x

Day 231=33 weeks

Didn't post yesterday.......the planned hangover day went to plan!!! Friday evening was brill- maybe what I needed to blow away the cobwebs. Stu, we worked our way through the cocktail menu!!!!!! (indeed, through most of the bar!)

I was a wee bit panicky when one of the girls suggested a pub/club place with in- house casino. Luckily this was early in the evening and I was easily able to divert to a closer place.

Anyhow, a great evening (which I'm much to old to repeat anytime soon!) and looking forward to today.

Hi Irene and glad you had a good night out. Am over due for a night out.

As for the whole feelings thing. I seldom understand mine. I can fluctuate wildly between melancholy and cheerfulness within the space of a few hours. What I am learning is that when I feel like s**t it doesn't last, positive feelings will soon return, hence I don't have to go into self-destruct mode just because am having a bad day or a bad half-day.

Great stuff on the gambling free time. I am one week behind you as always... onwards... S.A 🙂

Hi Irene,

saw the "oops, nuff said" post and for one minute thought the worst, so glad it was just the result of what sounds like a fantastic night. Well done you deserved it, have a great week.

Phil

Hey Irene,

Thanx for the post and very pleased for you having a great night out.

Hope you having a good day and well done on continuous abstinence.

Take care and keep going, don't forget we all behind you:)

Sandra

thanks for the continued support x

Day 232

Another busy day- been up since 4am (airport run- again!) Workman appeared at 8.15 to fix the hole left by the boxing day "water feature" in my living room- another reinforcement that patience is rewarding.

Work was the usual Monday whirlwind.....feel like my feet haven't touched the ground.

Anyhow, me n Paddy's off to bed early (no long walks for us tonight!)

Happy to report that I'm plodding along- trying to accept life instead of striving to change everything.

Searching through the diaries to find you to thank you for your ongoing support and then up you popped as must have been writing on here while I was looking.

Sounds like you def have things sussed at the moment, plenty of good stuff and balance in your life and you so deserve it after all the hard work. Realised that I won't ever get there unless I make changes so here goes me.

Enjoy early night and plenty of zzzz's lovely lady.

xxx

thanks re x

Day 233

Just home after a long but rewarding day at work. Planning an event in Sept and its taking shape at last! Its a bit beyond my "normal" duties but I can loosely justify it as part of my role (and I love it, so I'm happy to be doing it outwith working hours!)

Not much else to report. Driving past a bookies today, I saw a poster ad for a slot I played online-the memories of the jingle and characters sprang to life in my brain. Happily, I can honestly say I had no urge to play, yet a bit perplexed at the vivid reminders.

Oh! Rant time- getting fed up seeing the happy faces advertising online bingo sites. I wish they'd show the pale and pasty faces of too many hours in front of a screen, or the despair of "almost" winning. They're allowed to advertise it as a sociable past-time when, for many of us it was one of the worst times.......rant over!

Hi Irene. There is so many bingo/betting/casino adverts on the box. Every ad break you see one. I think it will become like smoking soon tho and not be allowed to advertise - let's hope so anyway.

Thanks for signing up. I hope that it can keep you focused and come the end of the challenge you won't be far off a year gamble free, that really is a great achievement. Congrats on the 233 days and looking forward to sharing the next 90 odd with you.

Thanks Dave

Day 234

Strange.....the only time I think about that number is when I post here.

Still doing OK.

Hey Irene

You are so right there...and as a non gambler I have been staggered by the amount of advertising of it everywhere now I'm aware and can see it....its unbelievable !

I had my own beef about a certain bingo company sponsoring a certain chat show host who had a gambling history ...things like that you notice whereas other folks would not even see it...consciously anyway

Always reading

R and D xxx