A Changed World-Day 733

Well, it’s certainly been awhile. Sitting here on April 19th my world has changed in so very many ways. I am now 9 months pregnant. My little baby bump has taken over and I’m in a full swing waddle. I really can’t complain though as I’m still getting along very well and still able to work. We still don’t know the gender, go team green! I am really curious but it won’t be long now. So many people have said to me that they instinctively knew the baby’s gender when they were pregnant, or had dreams. I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea. You could tell me either way and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. I’ve been very fortunate (knock, knock, knock on wood) that I haven’t had any trouble or complications. Especially now.

It’s hard to believe that a few short weeks ago, back in February, my husband and I traveled a few hours to see friends for a much needed weekend away. We met with three different groups of friends, hit up ALL the restaurants and stayed in a small but very reasonably priced hotel. I am so grateful that we took that trip.

As my belly has grown so have my fears. I’m less than a month away from my due date and I am so excited to meet little one. I just wish it didn’t have to be in the middle of a pandemic. But we don’t choose these things and I am still so grateful to be getting good care and that I am feeling well. It certainly is a changed world. It hurts to think of what kind of world I am bringing a child into.

I don’t know many things but I do know that I am not drinking and that I am present. Yes, now I am pregnant but soon I won’t be and I’m strengthening my resolve to remain sober and present. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about going through the pandemic while drinking. I can see it sometimes and how it would go so clearly. The beginning would be ok. I’d secretly be super excited to be spending more time at home so that I could drink more. With all the stress of the pandemic I’d need to drink for sure. But it wouldn’t be a glass of wine or two at night before bed. It would begin earlier and earlier and I would feel more and more awful. I know that I would have put myself at a higher risk because I would be going to the stores more often. A lot more often.  I feel that making clear decisions about my business would be much more difficult and pivoting to online sales and deliveries would’ve been just that much more challenging with terrible hangovers.

Things are far from perfect but I still truly feel that I made the right decision for me by letting go of drinking. With all the craziness in the world I’ve had a few fleeting thoughts about drinking after the baby is born. I’m not going to let it bother me too much. The thoughts can creep in but that’s all they are. Here’s to the future and hoping things sort themselves out sooner rather than later.

 

Day 617 – New Year, New You….

JanuaryCalendar

It’s a week from the new year, 2020. This week always tends to bring reflection for me because it is the week where I tended to struggle the most with alcohol. It’s hard to believe that was only 2 years ago. It feels like a lifetime ago and in many ways, it is. Looking back on that week and in particular, New Year’s Eve, is still painful but I am so thankful that it led to better things and a different ending to 2018. (You can read more about that here, On New Year’s Day)

For most others, it’s an alcohol soaked season filled with wine, memes, and more wine, at least according to Facebook. I try to use this season as a reminder that not only do I not need to rely on alcohol but I am far better off without it. Sure, there are FOMO pangs but that’s all they are and I am confident at this point that I am most definitely not missing out. Especially the hangovers, which are always missing from the memes.

At the end of this year, I am thinking about so many different things. I have the usual “New Year, New You” thoughts. Eat healthier, write more, work on the business more, work on the house more, fill up my fancy new calendar, read more books and stick with my exercise routine but I know that next year will be different from the others. Next year will be, “New Year, New You and Baby too…” That’s right! My husband and I are expecting. A baby. I am due right in the middle of May, just in time for Spring and the warmer weather. So right now I am right at the halfway mark. One week until I am 20 weeks. I am so excited but I wouldn’t be being honest if I didn’t say that I am also anxious, scared and completely unsure of how I’m going to pull everything on my to-do list off in a mere 20 weeks. I’m trying to tell myself that I’ve done more with less time but I’m not really so sure that I have…

I can tell you though that this will not become a parenting blog. There are so very many already and I am sure that I will be leaning on more than a few in this new journey as a first time parent. Please feel free to send any suggestions. Send help. Humor is always appreciated. TIA!

I also know that at this moment I feel very grateful that I began this AF (alcohol free) journey almost 2 years ago. I would not be typing any of these words, which still seem so unreal, if I had not stopped drinking. So there’s that. I’m also pretty sure that I’ve written this before but there are so many sentences that start with, “Because I did not drink today _________________”.  And the good news is that is never gets old to fill-in-the-blank.

I know that next year will bring so many changes and I don’t know how it will all work out or what the year will look like when all is said and done. I don’t know if my little over 2 year business will be able to withstand the demands it will be facing or what my future as a Mom looks like. So for right now I am going to enjoy Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the week leading up to 2020. I am going to enjoy 2 whole days off with my husband, knowing that next year at this time our little family will be 3.

 

Day 159 – Change, Barbara Streisand and anxiety

September 22nd, 2018

This week I purchased a mini course through Udemy to quit smoking. It was very inexpensive and I figured a course helped me to stop drinking so why not. I’m VERY nervous about this. Truth be told, and I HATE to admit this, I don’t really want to quit. I also don’t want to die an early death or cause harm to my loved ones but I really don’t want to quit. I’m trying to shift my thinking though. Changing habits is so difficult but I’m finding that the anticipation of changing is actually worse than the change itself. Every time I would even think about quitting drinking or just taking a break from alcohol, I would sit there and think of every possible instance where I would feel horrible or be missing out. I  convinced myself that if I stopped drinking I would experience the worst panic attack of my life and not have a crutch for it. Long story short, every time I even contemplated the change I would be panic stricken. Fast forward, and none, read that again, NONE, of my fears have come true. If anything, since I have stopped drinking my anxiety is way more controlled than it has been for years and completely naturally. I am now doing the exact same thing about the cigarettes. Imagining how horrible car rides will be, how much weight I’ll gain back (the fear is strong on that one), how I’ll never get a break because that’s literally the only thing I take time for in the day, which is true, and also very unhealthy, the list goes on and on. I’m picturing myself staring out the window, wistfully, dramatically, with The Way We Were playing in the background… Yes, it’s quite ridiculous. (And if you’ve never heard The Way We Were by Barbara Streisand you are now required to look it up for the full benefit of this imagery. You’re welcome.) Equally ridiculous is running a 5K, making my personal best time and seriously craving a cigarette. And of course, the more I think about quitting, the more anxious I get and the more cigarettes I smoke. Sigh. I was really hoping to make it to my goal weight before I quit smoking cigarettes but I’m looking at about another 20lbs still and I would like to quit before December. I’m just giving myself serious anxiety now. I’m going to check out the course and stop this nonsense. And go smoke a cigarette.

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