Calm and Serene

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I woke up sober this morning, drank some coffee, and am continuing to get through the morning without having a beer or a rum/coke

for a very good meeting yesterday with my Mom's nursing home administrator's

that short-term experiences can make for long-term wisdom

that I know that my wrong behaviour can affect another human enormously

that when I put any of my character defects into practice I greatly decrease my chances of serenity

that I've never been to St. Olaf North Korea

that I spoke to Hayden (my ex) last night about nothing in particular as he enjoys a couple of days in Tobago

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.
-Elizabeth Foley

on retirement ...

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting.

Well for example, the other day I went into town and went to a small shop on High street. I was only in there for about 5 minutes. When I came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. I went up to him and said, "Come on buddy, how about giving a senior citizen a break?" He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi Bastard. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So I called him a piece of stinking dog shit. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote. Personally, I didn't give a shit. I came downtown by bus.

I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired.
It's important at my age.

this is NOT a true story

Strength

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that my sister and I are joining up together today to visit with our Mom

for my weekly breakfast with my sponsor this morning

that the 2 nearby Starbuck's are frequented by so many humans in recovery

that Mike celebrates his one-year birthday today!!!!!

that Scott dropped by on a moment's notice to hang some new shelves for me

that my friend Joey is trying to get his blog going again with more regularity; drop by and say hello if you can

for all of my fellow blogger friends, near and far, who stay so close because of the internet

that I usually have the strength to turn down sweets, but not always the desire

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands--and then just eat one of the pieces.
-Judith Viorst

hAAlf nAAked thursdAAy

Scott wouldn't let me post a picture of my surgery without the bandage.

He won't clean and dress the wound either, so my cat does it for me.

go visit the other HNT injury-riddled nuts by clicking here

Blooming naturally

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for everything that I have and everything I don't have

that yesterday is finished and today I don't have to be perfect - WHEW!

that the consequences of being sober are preferable to the alternative

for an impromptu meeting with a couple of fellow recoverer's last night

for all the craziness creativity of gay alcoholics who are in recovery

for some wonderful and much needed water from the sky

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
-Anais Nin

And he was already an alcoholic

I dug these pictures out of a shoebox while clearing out my Mom's home the other day. I had not seen them since the mid-70's. My prom and graduation were in 1972.
My parents refused to spend the money to rent a tux and accessories, so Mom handmade the entire outfit, including tie. I can remember, at the time, being so embarrassed that I couldn't get a rental tux and had to "bum it" wearing a homemade suit. Wish I still had the tie. LOL

Trying to do the Right Things

Prayer and meditation are our principal means of conscious contact with God.

As we have seen, self-searching is the means by which we bring new vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative side of our natures. It is a step in the development of that kind of humility that makes it possible for us to receive God's help. Yet it is only a step. We will want to go further.

TWELVE STEPS and TWELVE TRADITIONS, pages 96, 98

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the progress I am making with Mom's house insofar as getting it cleaned out

the 20 yard (20' X 8' X 4') dumpster is now half full, certainly not half empty LOL

thta I am finding items I have not seen in 40 years (ie: children's books and some teenage pictures)

that today I am terminating my Mom's home phone; it's been in continuous service for over 43 years

for those times during each day that I take a moment and speak to my HP

for the different hats I wear as secretary of Lambda Center

for a surprise visit last night from my 27 yr-old nephew

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.
-Kahlil Gibran

Great advice!

this is some really great advice!

Anonymous Biker

If you have the time, please drop by and welcome Mike, Anonymous Biker, to the fold of recovery bloggers.

Beginning a new week ...

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I had to find Mom on Saturday when I went to visit her -- she was roaming around her nursing home with her walker -- that meant she wasn't just laying in bed watching TV

that Wade (sponsee) got moved into his new apartment over the weekend

for the overflow crowd of about 150 humans at the Lambda Birthday Night on Saturday -- 29 celebrants with 301 combined years of sobriety

that Troy will be writing and directing the Roundup play this year

for a very successful Lambda Board meeting Saturday in which CMA was officially welcomed into the fold of meetings allowed at the center

for Scott's support of the Board at Lambda

for the Eyes Wide Shut A.A. meeting every weekday morning; it has been suggested that we rename it "Blood and Guts" LOL

that I will try to not play the martyr now that I am more aware of that character defect

that I am a non-drinker

Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time.
-Lou Brock

bodyart

A Daily Reflection

I had a fulfilling day yesterday. After posting on this blog and reading some of your posts, I went to the 8:30am Saturday A.A. meeting which I always attend. From there, I was off to spend some time with my Mom, a 40-minute drive north of Houston. Spent 2 hours with her, then headed home, stopping to pick up some fast food lunch first.

I had the luxury of about 2 hours at home before "the rest of the day."

As secretary of Lambda Center, I have a lot of shit to do some responsibilities. We were having a 4pm Board election for 2 open positions. I had previously made the special ballots and went off to copy those. While making copies, I also printed off 15 copies of the official minutes from the last Board meeting. Then I went to the Bakery to pick up the special cake for Lambda's Birthday Night. I special-ordered that cake on Friday. It is large enough to feed about 75 hungry people. Plenty of sugar.

I got over to Lambda at 3pm. Get the Board room ready for the 4pm election after which we had a 4:30pm monthly Board meeting. Since that meeting would run until 6pm or longer, I had to have the Big Meeting Room prepared for Birthday Night, which begins at 7pm. Typically, that meeting draws 100-125 attendees, including some family members. We had 29 drunks humans celebrating A.A. birthdays so I had their certificates all printed out along with their relevant medallions. I laid these out on a table behind the speaker podium for easy retrieval.

All those meetings went off without a hitch. I got home at 9:30pm. Went to bed an hour later, tired but fulfilled. When I prayed before nodding off to sleep, I jokingly told God that I had not had time to drink today. Then I laughed. In my drinking days, I would have found the time to get drunk. There was always time to get drunk. There just wasn't always time to get the important things done.

I slept well, thank you.

Karaoke for the Deaf

So that's how they do it!

FEAR

The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear -- primarily fear that we would lose something we already possessed or would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a means of reducing these demands.

TWELVE STEPS and TWELVE TRADITIONS, page 76

Needs Head

Laughter

(LOL) todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

thta Wade (sponsee) celebrates 60 days of sobriety tomorrow!

for the overflow crowd of humans wanting recovery at the noon meeting yesterday

that I actually went to a doctor and took care of my ingrown toenail (my life history does not reflect taking this action)

for 2 new faces at the 6:30am meeting today

that I have the time to attend the Group Of Drunks A.A. meeting on Friday mornings once again

for reminders of this, that, and the other

for the extra space in my head to put new ideas

The human race has one effective weapon--and that is laughter.
-Mark Twain

An Oaf or an Oath?

This one has been making the email rounds. I don't know if it really happened, but I like it anyway.

On Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, in Annapolis, Maryland, at a hearing on the proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, professor of law at AU, was requested to testify.

At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"

Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

Early to bed ...

All my life, I have habitually awoken about 5am-ish. Even during my drinking days. Sometimes earlier, but rarely much later than that. For some reason, I didn't get up until 5:45am this morning. It tends to really throw my "rountine" off, even those few minutes.

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that by 6:40am today, I had been to Lambda twice! (my AA recovery center), asked to do service work by 2 other people and still retained a little bit of sanity

that my Mom is still alive and kicking although the downside is that she is becoming more miserable with her illness

that I have some integrity in my life

for Tradition 10 of Alcoholics Anonymous which pretty much keeps outside issues from the rooms of AA

for some tolerance of those who either are not aware of Tradition 10 or choose not to obey it

that my ingrown toenail should be repaired later this morning by a real Podiatrist

"The best things in life aren't things."
-Art Buchwald

hAAlf nAAked thursdAAy

visit today's other HNT posters

Words and more words

Because I am soooooo unique, none of you guys will agree with me on this one.

In the English language, there are some words and phrases that I hate have never liked. Just don't like 'em. No good reason. Just don't like 'em.

A couple of examples are things I hear in the rooms of AA, but it could be anywhere else for that matter. If you use these words/phrases, please go to hell don't be offended. It's nothing personal (unless you're near me).

"serendipity" ... I just hate the way that word sounds
"left to my own devices" ... that phrase rubs me the wrong way every time I hear it

How 'bout you? Got an example?

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I got a lot done at Mom's house yesterday -- in other words, I threw away a whole bunch of stuff

that I finally got in touch with one of my nephews to tell him about moving his stuff

for the story in The Big Book (4th edition) called "Acceptance is the Answer"

for the passion I see in people who really believe in the things they are doing

for the weekly wisdom of June and Ward Cleaver

to JJ for showing me how to do this

You have two hands. One to help yourself, the second to help others.
-Unknown