it's another Wednesday

too funny ...




todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that things are going so smoothly in my life right now, there's not much to spur my gratitude over an individual event or situation. I'm just working on some of my less damaging character defects, trying not to practice them over and over and over. Mixed results.

I continue to work my program as I've done the past few years. Why change it if it's working?

However, I know the importance of improving my conscious contact with my HP, so that never stops or remains dormant.

On another note ... I want to offer my gratitude to all veterans of the U.S. military forces. Without them, we would not be free to do the things we do.

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.
- Ann Landers

hot idea

A friend sent me some pictures of old, used bumper cars that have been restored as street-legal vehicles;

I'll share a few photos this week.



todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I'm nothing special in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, neither superior nor inferior. Just another sober drunk.

for another Step 11 meeting -- I guess during November, we'll see a lot of them and I like that

for Gratitude meetings as well

to see Pam writing to us again and sounding purty darn normal (for Pam) LOL

I bought my 2009 Murano one year ago today and it had about 15 miles on it -- it now has 7650 miles on the odometer


We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.
- Charles C. West

not feeling crabby today

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I got to listen to the AA story of someone who has been around AA for 39 years

for all the "We of the program" meetings lately

that I have all these reminders about how I could not get sober or (most likely) stay sober by myself

that we've had our last 2009 Houston Roundup Committee meeting -- I was secretary again this year and won't miss doing all the minutes and reports

that I'm still alive after all the damn cookies I ate this weekend


All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others.
- Michael Carr

before it's too late

fun

knowing the difference

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I'm not what I was, but I can be better than I am now

that I have no power over the way my HP makes things happen but I do have control over how I react to those things

that I chose to react differently yesterday to a situation that once would have caused me to explode in a public tantrum; yesterday, I just walked away from a volatile situation

for my sponsees; they keep me grounded when I feel like flying


To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
- Bertrand Russell

onward

one of the winners in a sand castle competition




todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for Step 11 improvement -- when I look at where I was 6 years ago when I stopped drinking, I am amazed at the evolution of my own spirituality. I also know that this must continue, and it will as long as I keep doing what I'm doing.

for Fi. She's a most lovely woman from Dublin who occasionally visits Houston and comes to AA meetings at Lambda while here. She shared her experience yesterday with us before headin gfo rthe airport and then back home to Ireland. I hope that she and my significant other can connect later this month while he is in Dublin.

that I saw a PBS salute to Bill Cosby, winner of the Mark Twain Prize. It included performances by well-known comics and musicians. Great stuff! I first knew of Bill cosby back in 1966 when he was just getting started. I think I had his first album. I would have been about 12 years old.

that I know from my own recent experience that Pam will come through her current situation just fine; it just takes time

that another baseball season is done; I'm not a Yankees fan

Great Spirit, help me never to judge another until I have walked in his moccasins.
- Sioux Indian prayer

Gifts

I snapped this photo across the street from my house.



todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the rewards of being the best I can be

that I voted in another election, thus exercising a privilege that some don't have

that I got a new mobile phone, had trouble getting the settings right, didn't blow a gasket (my normal, old behavior)

Good and evil do not befall men without reason. Heaven sends them happiness or misery according to their conduct.
- Confucius

TUES

The Texas way to hunt




todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the multitude of ways that being accountable keeps my behavior in check, the least of which is Step 10

for some clarity of thought on a number of very minor issues

that my November calendar is filling up with busy stuff to do -- that's kinda new for me

that time changes have never had any effect on me; I don't even notice it, whether it's 1 hour or 10 hours (flying)


When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.
- Ernest Hemingway

I smile at such a sally

This may be the best costume I've seen.




todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

to see people recovering from active alcoholism

that yesterday we had a meeting about some of the paradoxes we hear in AA meetings; ie: you have to give it away to keep it. Do you have one? Let me know in the comment section.

for Rule 62 (if you dont' know what that is, look it up or ask your sponsor; if your sponsor doesn't know what it is, get a new sponsor)

to see all the great costumes at Lambda Center on Halloween

for perfect weather during the weekend


We cannot hold a torch to light another person’s path without brightening our own.
- Ben Sweetland