I am not sure what I am going to be doing this Thanksgiving. I usually get a ham or turkey and bake it. I am too late to get a turkey because it needs some "thaw time". Just fixed a ham stew yesterday with the rest of the ham I had leftover and frozen since last Easter. (Had a slight tinge of freezer burn, but not too bad). I am not really looking forward to more ham as there is still stew left. I think I may get a whole chicken and bake it and pretend it's a turkey. About a month ago, I contacted my mom to see if she wanted me to come visit her. She is staying with a relative until she moves to her new apartment in Dec. She told me around Christmas would be a better time to come see her. I felt sad at first, but with the drinking heavily in the past, I haven't been good about going to see her for several years so certainly cannot expect her to adjust her plans to see me. My sister and brother both live in another town, too, and I haven't kept up with my brother over the years, and very little with my sister. I am the "bad alcoholic sheep" in the family. I took over that role after alcohol killed my dad. So I won't be spending Thanksgiving with any of them. And I have posted about my daughter and my relationship, so won't repeat that. I could feel really sorry for myself, but....I will be attending an AA meeting tomorrow and spending time on this board. I am not sure how many people will be at the meeting and on this board with the holidays. I will be overjoyed for whoever is and I look forward to spending some of the Thanksgiving day with some of my "family".
I think I will spend some time sitting in our meeting room here on MIP all day, and talking to people that venture into the room with me. As for food, I am not a cook, so I have a few peeps that will provide me with some great dishes to pick from through out the day. Like yourself, I don't have any deep family relationships that would warrant a day with them, but I am not going to be alone. I have a awesome Higher Power that will spend the day with me, and to whom I will express my gratitude (Thanksgiving) to by enjoying this simple life I have been blessed with. Tomorrow I look forward to eating some turkey, not being the turkey. :)
LOL....I have been a "turkey" too many years myself.
Oh yes...I must never forget that I am never alone as I have my HP to be with me all the time and not just on the holidays. Great post, John!
This is my first Thanksgiving as a widow and as a vegetarian. Should be interesting, eh? I am blessed to be sharing the day with friends and have so much to be grateful for, including my friends here at MIP. :)
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I think there's an invisible principle of living...if we believe we're guided through every step of our lives, we are. Its a lovely sight, watching it work.
Thanksgiving plans, huh ??? ... ... ... I'm caught between a rock and a hard place this year ... seeing as how we're in the process of moving from the Atlanta area to the Nashville Tenn. area, I'm caught with the movers coming tomorrow at 7:30a.m. to finish and load up the Semi trailer with all our stuff ... yep, the driver had nothing to do either since he's away from home, so he's bringing his men with him to get most of it over with ... he'll leave me the bed and an easy chair and pick that up Monday when we close on the sale ... ... ...
I was sitting here last night and thought, you know, I didn't want this old computer desk so I called our new owners and asked if they wanted it, they do ... SO, I'm keeping my computer up and running through the whole thing and will move it myself when we're done here ... problem solved ... I'll be busy tomorrow, but not enough to keep me from checking here occasionally ... then I've got a meeting at 5:30p.m. I want to go to, and then again on Friday ... The little woman won't be in town til Sunday, the day before we 'close' ... so I'm bach'n it for the holidays ... I just got to make sure I've got a few TV dinners to get me by ... well, ... ... that and some dog biscuits ... ... ... (hopefully the movers won't be here all day ... ... ...)
At least being sober and grateful for AA and it's principles, I can now enjoy who I'm with this holiday ... ... ... me ... LOL ... ... ... there was a time I couldn't stand myself, nor could anyone else, LOL ... thank the Lord and AA and you guys, that's all different now ...
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
This will be my first Thanksgiving in years that I do not have a house full of people. My husband, children and I are going to eat a ton of appetizers all day, then have dinner (stuffing for hubs, my grandmama's dressing for me) and apple, pecan and pumpkin pies for dessert. Normally, I would put up my tree, but since I threw my artificial one out in a rage after it fell over, I am without a tree for now. LOL
I have to say that I love it when my little family of 4 can celebrate alone. Nobody to worry about impressing, no Brother-in-law pissing my son's bed because he was drunk (last 2 years), no sister-in-law drama. I'm going to cook, watch football, and stuff my fat face.
I am going to my sisters today, both my children and my grandchildren will be there, I'm really looking forward to a nice sober family day. Last year I spent it alone and depressed with Dr Dewars. I'm feeling a lot of gratitude this morning for many things, but mostly to God for giving me another chance at sobriety and life and for guiding me back into the fellowship (which is where I'm supposed to be I believe). I hope you all have a great day,,,,, God Bless,,,,,
Happy Thanksgiving to all those..south of the border!!!...from snowy Canuck country
It would be a lot more pleasant down here Phil if you'd come and take your freezing temps back, LOL ... ... ... Dag gummit, it 'snowed' here (south of Atlanta, Ga) yesterday ... froze my 'u-know what' off packing up stuff from our 'off-site' storage unit ... the movers and packers are from Michigan, one was wearing shorts ????? ... what's up with that ??? ... Are you guys up North really that nuts ???
HAPPY Thanksgiving everyone !!! (Big gathering for me today, yep, the movers are coming over for 'party packing', and will be here momentarily...LOL)
Love you guys ... ... ... Pappy
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Well, you guys cuddle with your sweeties and/or dogs to stay warm. If you have neither of those, pull out a warm blanket. Actually, I have had a blanket covering my feet for awhile while being on my computer and my feet are still freezing. :)
I'll be checking in BTY....This will be my third Thanksgiving sober...God knows I screwed up enough of them in my past. I'm cooking today...For some of my family....People that wanted nothing to do with me. Time takes time BTY...We do what is suggested and things change. My home group runs an alcothon today...24 hour meeting from midnight last night to midnight tonight...With a huge spread of food throughout the day. A lot of people that come through our meeting are from a homeless shelter nearby...People just like you and I that lost it all due to alcoholism and drugs. I'll be dropping by there later. We're not drinking today BTY....That's the most important thing for us right now...The thing I'm most grateful for. We have a roof over our heads and the option to cook what we want....Pretty amazing. We don't have to rely on someone in a shelter handing us a plate...The pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization...Of having been beaten by alcohol...The total lack of self esteem...The spiritual tank empty. No.....We're doing OK BTY....We just have to keep moving forward....One step at a time. Have a great Thanksgiving...Thank your HP for all you have....And say a prayer for the still sick and suffering. I'll talk to you later BTY.
I loved reading all of your plans for today. What great posts! Stepchild, you are right...we have so much to be grateful for as there are so many sick and suffering people out there who don't have sobriety and some who don't have shelter. I live in an area where there are homeless people everywhere. Many of them hold signs up begging for money. Sometimes I have seen signs asking for work. When I would walk to get booze, if I had money to spare which didn't cut into my alcohol purchase, I would give one of them a dollar or two. If I didn't have the money and got asked for a cigarette, I usually had those, and gave them a couple. If I could afford it at the time, I would ask some of these people if they were hungry and buy them a Subway sandwich, a slice of pizza from 7-11, etc. I would stand and talk to them out on the street, not caring who saw me, (it is a very busy main street in this city) and sometimes they would share their stories. I felt like I connected to them and I would sometimes tell them I was an alcoholic, too, as the majority of the ones I talked to were as well. There were several times I thought I was going to be homeless. I even went out one night to look and see if there was a stairwell on one of the apartment buildings nearby that I could safely sleep in without getting "caught" and in trouble. And I was one of those that dug through others' trash to find things because I didn't have much money...it all went to alcohol.
One woman I met, who appeared to be going through withdrawals of some kind, was sitting outside on the step of the gas station where I used to buy a lot of beer. I sat down beside her before I went into the place. She could barely talk and I asked her if I could do anything for her. As I was sitting with her, people passed by us going in to pay for their gas, buy beer, etc., looked at the both of us strangely. The woman asked me if I would call someone she knew to pick her up and said she was hungry. I realized I didn't have my cell phone with me. I asked her the number and went into the store and asked the customers if I could borrow a phone to make a call for the woman outside. There was a pretty long line of people that night waiting to pay for their purchases. They all looked at me blankly and no one responded. I had had a few drinks myself at that time so I wasn't looking too great myself, so maybe they were scared of me and didn't trust me. Anyway, I got frustrated, as I really wanted to help this poor woman and said "I can't believe there are so many people in here and no one has a phone on them to help this woman." Still no one in line responded and that's when a cashier told me I could use their phone. I called the number the woman gave me and the man on the other end told me he would pick her up. I got the woman a soda and a package of Ho Ho's. (Slim pickings as far as nutrition in that place, but I thought it may help her as she told me she was hungry). I sat with her until her ride showed up. When I helped her in the car, I just hoped this wasn't someone who was going to supply her with more drugs and/or alcohol, but I didn't know what else to do. Of course, I managed to get me more beer at the time I paid for her things.
Yes, I am definitely grateful this Thanksgiving to be sober and I hope that woman is still alive and sober and off of the alcohol and/or drugs and I also hope that the homeless do find a place to stay warm and have food, as it is very cold here, too.
-- Edited by betterthanyesterday52 on Thursday 28th of November 2013 10:12:29 AM
That is right....I did forget and thank you, stepchild, for reminding me of that. I think once my sponsor says I am on Step 4, I won't feel like it is impossible...at least not on some of my wrongdoings. My Dad is gone now, so I can't make amends to him.
The third step is a decision you have to make....Your sponsor can't do that for you. I think you should be moving on.....I've seen too many people just stop at step 3....And they aren't around anymore. The decision I had to make at step 3 was a simple one....Am I going to work steps 4 through 9?....Or not? I chose to do it.....What they promised?.....Came true.
By the way...My dad had passed on too....I wrote him an honest letter...And I tore it up. Then I prayed for him....And me. I think he'd be happy to see me now.
Nuts Pappy?? Yooor darn tootin!! I think they call us Northern Rednecks...ehhhhh
Puttin on my running shoes and tshirt ...and a leash on my polar bear..and heading out for morning stroll
LOL ... that's a good one, 'Northern Rednecks' ... I used to work for a guy that was from Quebec somewhere ... played semi pro hockey ... great guy, a little nuts but we got along great together ... he was always saying 'eh?' after almost every sentence .... I loved it ... too bad I let alcohol mess that relationship up ... eh? ... or is it ah? ... oh well, you get the picture!!! ...
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
