Friday Feels Fine

Oh my....what a day!! I am, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world tonight.

I went to a meeting that I was asked to be the speaker at tonight and spoke in front of about 60 people. That's more than 3x the normal size of it. We had 2 birthdays, one 24 and one 39 years. I felt so honored to be part of it and to have been asked to speak. It was wonderful, and I am hoarse. lol I said "You keep offering me a podium that you know I can't possibly see over the top of...yet not once have you offered me a MICROPHONE!!!" Everyone laughed. I had a good time and I think everyone else did too. Afterwards, when people were coming up and thanking me, a drunken woman made her way up to me and threw her arms around me. She was crying and said she couldn't keep living like this and that I knew exactly how she felt...I gavce her my phone number...we'll see if she remembers and calls me. Sobriety is awesome...and I am especially blessed.

I don't know if anyone else is having the problems I've just had, but my blogroll on Wordpress went away. Poof! I logged in and it was gone....I finally contacted tech support and they said something about replacing my widget or something. lol Anyway, it's all back now, but it was weird.

My 2 sponsees came out today and brought their daughters with them, one 7 and one 3. IOt was a great day, we got the studio cleaned out, the shed cleaned out so we could store some of the studio crap in there.. It went really well and quick and then we took a trip up town and had burgers outside at the Village Drive-In. I'm so grateful--I could never have done this by myself.

Really beat tonight and have been up since 4:45 AM.

I'm heading off to the sandman....

Thanks for helping me stay sober...

Namaste.

Thursday Rocks!!

Just home from a womens meeting. A little late because I stopped to talk awhile...

It's been a good day, with me being lazy and a tiny bit productive and mostly just looking at the possibility of a nap. lol I slept later than usual, and it was overcast and cool all day today. I wore sweat pants and schlepped around all day with big socks on and a long sleeved shirt. Odd day, altogether...

Tired and have to be up early to take himself to work. I have the girls coming over at 10:30 tomorrow morning., and I have to drop by the DMV and get the tags renewed for my car. Also need to get more groceries...and the store I love to shop for all my produce doesn't open til 9. Sigh....so much to do, so little time.

One of my sponslings is cooking up a secret family recipe mostaccioli for a potluck tomorrow night, so I won't have to cook dinner at least. Then I'm speaking at my pal's birthday meeting at 8. It'll be a full day. And weekend. Another friend is speaking Saturday night, and we've been invited for an early supper Sunday up to another sponslings home. Life is good and full in this fellowship...

All the goggies are home and ready for bed, so I'm thinking I should follow suit. I came home, fed the baby kittens, made husbands lunch and scooped the litter boxes. All I need now is some sleep. *grin

Blessings abound. A short list would include:

*Being a useful member of society
*NOT being bitten by that snake (thanks PG!)
*Healthy wonderful pets
*Being able to ask for help today (Wasn't always so)
*Losing 15 pounds so far!!!!
*Having satellite access tonight
*The storms are finally over
*Hearing my dear (((Gabi)))'s beautiful voice on my voice mail
*A loving husband who will celebrate 17 years with me on the same day that I celebrate 19 years of being with Alcoholics Anonymous
*Getting to share that day with other people I love,too
*ALMOST sharing that date with another favorite blogger, the chicken joke lady
*Knowing, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that God has a plan for my life today, and that I don't HAVE to know what that plan is


Feeling especially blessed to have 12 Steps in my life.


Namaste.

Tuesday near the end of May...

I've been hard at work in my gardens and on my yard. Everything is looking really grand and I couldn't be happier. The weather has been atrocious the past few days...tornado warnings and horrific thunderstorms that dumped over 5 inches of rain on us in a few hours. The creeks are flooding and the whole 3 county area is under flash flood watch. We took a walk down the road after supper tonight to see how things were looking. Water, water everywhere...none of too close to us, thankfully, though there is standing water in the yard and driveway. Checked to make sure none of the last of the seeds we planted had washed out. Thank God for raised beds. Today it was alternately muggy and hot or raining furiously. Have had the computer unplugged about 3/4 of the day....

2 days ago I was cleaning the chicken coop and putting fresh straw in when something caught my eye, and I jumped back instinctively. Patrick walked over and said, what? I pointed to the floor of the coop at a baby snake wriggling around. He whistled and said--watch it, it's a copperhead. It was apparently in the chunk of straw I grabbed [with my bare hands] from under the coop where we always keep 3-4 bales. And if there is one, there are probably many more and an adult or two. So I guess I'm back to wearing my leather gloves when I clean that coop and keeping my eyes peeled for company! Yikes!!

Today I planted my Egyptian onions. I googled them, and they're also known as winter onions or walking onions. I like the sound of Egyptian onions. lol I took some pictures of them today and will download and post them tomorrow. They are absolutely the coolest looking things I've ever seen.


It's been a long day, and I'm getting ready to lay my head down for a good sleep. My blessings list for today goes something like this:

*Another day sober
*The place and ability to plant a garden and grow my own food
*Good friends and neighbors
*Egyptian Onions *grin
*Sponsees who are coming to help me spring clean my house and touch up paint
*12 Steps that help me live in an imperfect world
*A relationship with a Power Greater Than Myself
*A rock solid, happy marriage
*Good AA meetings within half an hour of my house
* Love, Patience and Tolerance
*Being asked to speak at the birthday meeting of a good friend of mine
*Enough. Enough food, enough money, enough love
*An end to the torrential rains


Namaste.

Blessed Tuesday...

A view of the front yard from behind the rock wall....

It has been a good day today, all around.

I got a lot of housekeeping chores done today, had a sponsling come over for some intensive 4th step work (her words*grin*) and got a massage, and got some killer deals on ribs, pork steaks, chicken breasts and ground chuck. Doesn't get much better than this...

My gardens are looking good, my yard is looking great, and I am feeling especially blessed to be where I am and who I am and everything that goes with it.

One of the things I love about talking with new people is revisiting all the things I know about living sober. Things I take for granted all the time. It's such a rush to be able to once again see that stuff in my life, through a new pair of eyes. It's awesome.

Things like, no matter what, having this feeling that everything is going to be okay.
~Like, feeling pretty sure I don't have to ever get drunk again, if I don't want to.
~Like, knowing that I have tools and people to help me make it through any kind of bad times that may come along.
~Like, trusting people and not being afraid all the time.


I'm blessed to be full of gratitude for everything that has happened to me, drunk AND sober.
To be able to see the beauty in the world today, and the beauty in all my experiences. To be able to see things in someone else that they cannot see themselves, and be able to tell them about it. To be able to honestly say that I do not regret the past, nor wish to shut the door on it. On ANY of it. To be able to see how my experiences can help others. To feel useful and needed and loved today.

It's just been that kind of day, today.

Here's wishing all of you good things. Love, life and laughter. The stuff real lives are made of....


Namaste.

Sunday... Sunday

Wow. What a Sunday it has been. Hit the 10 AM meeting and then had lunch at our favorite Mexican joint, Los Tres Amigos. Then we stopped by the park to take a little walk and kill an hour or so. Actually, hubby walked and I spent most of that time returning phone calls that came in while I was in the meeting. My knee has been killing me and it's pretty inflamed and viciously sore. I'm sure it's the meniscus again...they said it would probably be good for about 10 years last time they did the arthroscopic surgery on it, and it's about 10 years exactly. sigh...Of course, all this garden and yard work isn't helping it a bit.

We got home around 4PM and then spent the next 4 hours working outside. Well, let me rephrase tht: I spent the next 4 hours doing that, while he took another walk. He did at least get the 4- 7 foot posts in the ground, that we are going to jury rig the green bean trellis with. I need to get those beans in the ground.

This afternoon I planted nasturtiums, parsley, rosemary, sage, lemon balm, basil, and a pot with 2 spider plants in it. I put the rosemary in a pot on a stand that I can easily take in when the weather turns cold again. Rosemary does not over winter here. I love having fresh rosemary to cook with...

Today we let the kittens outside for the first time. You should have seen them...they were in absolute awe over the big world! They are over 10 weeks old now and too adorable for words.

I am especially tired tonight and will sign off for now. Tomorrow I will post new pictures....well, wait. Maybe not. I forgot I have a very tight schedule tomorrow... I am meeting a new sponsee for lunch and then after I pick himself up from work, we are going to a potluck for the last class. That means I have to whip up something wonderful to take...sheesh...not sure where I'll fit THAT in. lol It also needs to be vegetarian. Guess I'd better get looking at some recipes....


Namaste.

Saturday in the winds...

It was a long and productive day today. Peppered with light winds and sunshiney brilliance and cool temperatures. A good day to accomplish lots of manual labour.

We headed off to Carlinville, which is the county seat 'round these parts. It's a lovely town, actually, with a historic courthouse and central square. We headed for a nursery called Kahl's that also does a lot of landscaping and other stuff. As we took the drive in through the backroads, we saw a fox trotting along the edge of the woods, as well as several wild turkeys and a small herd of deer. It was delightful...the road we take there is called the Shipman Cutoff, and actually takes us less time than the other routes. By the time we left Kahl's, we were 60 dollars poorer and ready for some lunch. The good news is that I got a lot of stuff, including a 20 dollar gallon jug of fish emulsion fertilizer. It's my favorite fertilizer to use, but you can't hardly find it anymore. Well-now I know where I can get it!! WooHoo !! I also got marigolds, zinnias, sweet potatoes, rosemary, oregano, and a couple of other herbs. I bought marigolds in 3 colors: bright yellow, a beautiful orange, and a mix of dark orange and yellow. I use these to border my garden beds and interplant among some other plants, as they are a good deterrant to bugs. I still have nasturtium seeds to plant for the same reason. I got them all in the ground this afternoon. We planted corn and more beets, trellised the peas, planted okra and icicle radishes. Hubby and the neighbor hauled in 3 or 4 tractor scoops of leaf compost --really beautiful stuff!-- and we have to figure out where to plant the popcorn now. The gardens are looking really good. I'll try to get out there sometime tomorrow and get some new pictures.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. We have the usual Sunday morning meeting we go to and then a district meeting at 2 pm. I will be filling in for the secretary , so I hope I can keep up. Oh well--I'll do my best, and that'll have to be good enough, won't it?


I'm sure blessed by the simple life we live. The dogs were playing and swimming and running today, making me realize how much we could all learn from our pets about living in the moment. And don't get me started on the unconditional love!! lol

Being part of the cycle of life by gardening and feeding us with the products of our labour is a thing that has to be experienced to be understood. The connection I have with the earth and with my Creator on these days is beyond description. I have little moments of clarity, realizing that I am part of a great something, and I am blessed by it.

Mndfullness is a part of my existence today. I never want to return to those days of letting life slip through my fingers. never knowing what's happening or where I am. Missing all the magical moments that never come again. I am in love. In love with life, in love with myself, in love with the world and it's Creator.

Happy, Joyous and Free...what a way to be!

Namaste.

Fridays are for lovers....

I love this picture. One of the first times I went out with my dearest husband, we saw a double rainbow over the ocean. I thought then that it was a sign....lol

We had a very old married people kind of a day today. The kind where we worked in the yards and gardens side by side, talking and making some decisions about some things, thinking about the future... looking around at our little piece of heaven and being really grateful that the tornadoes yesterday passed us by. I love my life. I love my dinky little home with the beautiful trees and flowers that I have planted. I love watching my dogs escape the heat and humidity by splashing around in the pond. I love seeing the beautiful tiny eastern bluebirds that are here now, and trying to distinguish them from the indigo buntings, which are an even more brilliant shade of blue.

I am blessed by sitting on the porch of my house and reaching over on the table there for the Big Book that is always there. I am blessed by phone calls from women who trust me enough to tell me their problems and let me help them explore solutions. I am blessed by their very presence in my life.

I am grateful that my husband is long time sober and loves me and isn't afraid to show it or say it. I am grateful to be able to share this great life with him. I am grateful that we have the kind of marriage where we don't say ugly things to each other or hurt each other...that we have one rule in our house. That is: To Be Kind. In 17 years together (next month, on my AA anniversary) I can count on one hand the number of arguments and disagreements we have had.

I am grateful for our wonderful neighbors, and that we have had wonderful neighbors everywhere we have lived. I hope they know how much I love them...

I'm feeling a little sappy tonight. lol I'm afraid I am going to have to have surgery on my knee...it's hurting real bad lately. Tonight hubby was massaging my feet and legs (I did way too much mowing today...sigh) and when he touched my knee I cried out. He said -Hey, your knee feels really hot...it's inflamed. I had arthroscopic surgery on it about 10 years ago, and they said it would be good for about 10 years. argghhhhh....

On a brighter note, I have now lost 12 pounds. Thanks simply to juicing and eating more vegetables. Steveoroni...does that medifast really work? Do you buy the whole meals or just the shakes? I know that all this extra weight I'm packing around is not helping my joints one iota.

I'm grateful to be blogging and grateful to be sober and just darn grateful to be grateful.


Well, all my doggies and kitties are in, so I guess I can go to bed now. Hope everyone has a great weekend....


Namaste.