Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Larry! I’m sitting in my office at home eating the candy we got at the conference. I’m so happy that you decided to come meet with us at the conference. The four of us can now put faces to the people we’ve come to know on GT. I had a wonderful time in Chicago. You and I should have had a few more margaritas together. lol! My handouts from the convention didn’t arrive home with me, which is disappointing. I am wondering if Bettie accidentally put them in her green folder. It’s nice to get away but nice to get home. My dogs and cat made out fine but are very happy to be home also. This is the first trip I have not worried about them, or missed them that much. Again, I am so glad to have meet you face to face, and gotten to know you a little better. Carole
Dear Bettie! The cat story made me laugh out loud. Dogs and cats are characters alright. Hope you feel better soon. Carole
Dear Bettie! I’m can’t count down the hours as that would stress me out. Just have to plan each day till I drive to the city the night before Reds and I fly out. I hope Reds is recovering, and will be healthy for the trip. My dogs will be taken care of when I’m away so I will not have to worry about that. Mic is going to the kennels, Ruffuss is going to my daughter’s, and Nikita is staying home as she is 12 years old and has never spent a day away from home in the 10 years I have had her. My renter is going to look after her and he’s an animal lover so no worry there. The cat will have the run of the house. I will phone you this week and let you know the details of our flight, etc. Hope you’re not stressing too much about us getting together. I hope that you’re starting to feel better also. Carole
Hi SBT! I was just catching up on your thread and I have to say that you have done an amazing job of racking up those gamble free days. You inspire me and give me hope that we can all arrest this nasty gambling addiction. Your Dad must be so proud of you, as you should be. Happy Recovery Day! Carole
Hi Nelly! I’m so proud of you for your gamble free days and that you are in recovery. Early recovery can be challenging as we choose to no longer have the gambling in our life as the anesthetic to our emotional pain. Raw feelings start to come back and at first we don’t always have the coping skills to deal with these feelings, but the coping skills come back, and we learn new ones. I’m cheering for you Nelly and for your daughters, who get their Mom back. I can certainly understand why you would need a complete break from any teenager, having raised a few myself. Your girls have special challenges as well, which makes a break for you even more needed. A suggestion may be to brainstorm, and write it down, what else you could do to get a break that would be healthy and recharge your batteries. You my dear deserve recovery, as we all do. Happy Recovery Day! Carole
Hey Amy! Really enjoyed the chat with you on SH. Read your thread and love your writing style. I have also gotten rid of people in my life that aren’t healthy for me. I’m keeping my husband though, even though he’s not as supportive as your guy seems. Realized it’s not my responsibility to help and fix everyone that crosses my path. I like your attitude towards recovery and life. Hope we can chat again. Carole
Hi Levi! I’m happy to see that you’ve moved on from your last "blowout." Incredible the financial damage we can do in a short period of time.Two months wages in one sitting must feel really demoralizing. What were you thinking and feeling before you made the decision to gamble? The most recent realization I had was that every single reason I could come up with to gamble was an excuse. This has helped me tremendously in my recovery. Also that it does take some self-discipline on my part. I have to tell myself no when those thoughts and urges come. I never learned delayed gratification so now I’m having to learn this life lesson. Happy Recovery Day! Carole
Welcome to the GT community. Here you will find the support you need to arrest your awful addiction. In the beginning of recovery, most of us have had to put in barriers so that we cannot access money to gamble with. That has proved incredibly helpful to me. Good for you for blocking your online gambling sites. How easy would it be for you to unblock these sites in a moment of stress, weakness, etc? It isn’t easy to have two teenagers, let alone two that have special *****. I have two friends that have older teens with Asperger’s, so I am aware of some of the challenges they and you face. Kudos to you for getting out of that abusive relationship. You deserve recovery. It isn’t going to be easy, especially in the early days, but I can tell you that recovery will be worth it. Carole
Dear Reds! What about going to the U of A Hospital or the Royal Alex to Emerg and see somebody there. Then you can get whatever they deem necessary such as chest xrays, throat swabs, etc. I’ll even meet you there if you tell me when and we’ll sit in Emerg together because it usually takes hours to be seen. Carole
Dear Lorraine! When I wasn’t a compulsive gambler, I had a set of books that balanced to the penny, including service fees, etc. I’d go through the bank statement item by item, and check it off my records and reconcile every month. I had forgotten about that till I read your post. When I started compulsively gambling, I would shred the bank statement just as quickly as I could, not wanting to even know how much I had gambled that month plus all the service fees, from using ATMs. It was always way more than I thought I had gambled. It seems that this addiction has put you between a rock and a hard place, which is never fun. You’re being forced to budget by someone else, and it makes it tougher when it’s being forced and you’re being made to be accountable for every quarter. But you did say that you used to be a good budgeter, so that’s half the battle because you know how to do it. It isn’t going to be forever that you have to do this extra work. I wonder if that’s a cg trait, not liking other people to tell us what we need to. I know I don’t like it; never have. Keep making the next right decision for you! You can do this Lorraine! Carole
Dear Reds! Sorry to hear that you’re so sick with that cold. Hope you feel better soon! Lots of rest and fluids and some "I feel so sick," comments to hubby, so that you get a little sympathy from him, should do the trick to get you on the road to recovery. Carole
Hi Mark! Congratulations on every second of your gamble free journey! It’s good to read of your success because it then gives others, including myself, hope that it really can be done. Happy Recovery Day! Carole
Dear Pumkin! I’ve very surprised that your husband would want you to live closer to your family. It doesn’t fit with what you have told me about him. He doesn’t seem to want you to have family support. He has complained many ***** about your cattery, so it does sound like he is manipulating you. In the new house, he’s going to all of a sudden be supportive of the kitties?? A two hour commute will become burdensome from day one. That would be like adding two hours to every work day, without being paid for it. And like Vera mentioned, there are other things to consider like the additional fuel, the wear and tear on your vehicle, and especially the fatigue. Make the right decision for you P. Carole
Hi Franco! Many of us have days where all we can think about is gambling. You have had some very caring people suggest ways to create barriers so that you don’t have access to money to gamble. Your addicted brain will tell you that you should go have a bet, and then when it remembers you have no accessible money to gamble with, the thought will vanish. Just know that you can get through those days moment by monent, and that you are going to have a whole heck of a lot more good days than bad. Recovery isn’t easy but it sure is worth it. Carole
Dear Cat! You should be so proud of yourself that you have all green Xs for the month of March. You need a copy of the month with green Xs on your bathroom mirror, on your fridge, and in your car, to remind you how great it feels to be able to do that. It’s a huge accomplishment! It’s crazy how we can be going along so good in recovery, and then forget how gambling affects us in every area of our life, and decide to go for a little gamble, which inevitably for me ends up with losing a pot of money and many wasted hours feeling stressed out, during and after gambling. Gambling is as much of a friend to us, as having an anaconda ******* around our neck. They both choke the life out of us. Carole