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Post by angelina1512 on Jul 31, 2017 20:27:41 GMT -5
Hello everyone,
today being the 1st August its 2 years since I gave up smoking. Today I am also starting a new job in the new area we have been moved too and also we have just been given permission to start my art gallery cafe so I am very excited.
today it's also 3 years since we left Queensland to move to Tassie. So today is a big day all around.
i have arrived early for my job, which I always do so I thought I would send a message just letting you all know I'm doing fine.
we both still love tassie, it's pretty cold here but we also both love it.
we have moved into a small town of 245 people, and straight across the road from a pub so my penguin is as happy as pig in poo, lol.
we have started working on the gallery but had to wait for council to say yes it was ok, which we knew they would but until you have that piece of paper in your hand telling you yes it's ok then anything could happen and change. So we are both excited. I will post a photo when it's done and set up and I'm serving coffee.
i have noticed a few people signing up but not writing anything. Giving up alcohol will seem over whelming at the start but it is doable, as was smoking for me. Absolutely that was over whelming but with friends and a smoking forum I was able to do it. Most of us that gave up in August are still smoke free 2 years later.
my art room was all packed up and waiting for me to find the room to start up again, we moved 3 weeks ago and I'm still unpacking. the house we are in was built in 1905 and no cupboards so trying to put things away is very frustrating, I often take a deep breath and try and go with the flow. No good getting upset, if you don't have a cupboard you can't put Anything in it.
so I'm off to work, new people, new job new area. Wish me luck and I will let you know how I go.
angelina/tutu
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Post by gwampa69 on Aug 1, 2017 20:06:50 GMT -5
Hey Ang So your Tassie adventure continues! Smoke free for two years and and booze free for three! And now a business owner again. You are unstoppable. Such a strong person. I respect you a lot and know this next step will be a success. The hard stuff couldn't stand up to you. Smooth sailing from here out. Love ya Sparrow
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Post by angelina1512 on Sept 4, 2017 18:23:23 GMT -5
Morning everyone,
its a very cool morning here in Tasmania. I have a day off so I thought it was time to give you all an update.
the art gallery cafe is planned to open 1st November. Had council approval and we are set to go. Penguin just has to put it all together then we have the coffee lady coming to set up a Tasmanian coffee,which is absolutely the best coffee I have ever had. I love coffee and once I had tasted this coffee, at the time I didn't know it was a tasmanian company. So how lucky was I to discover it was made here.
I have a make shift art room set up outside in the pergola, I was really missing doing my art so hubby put it all together. I have been working hard at my part time job. I enjoy working with the public. We had a mystery shopper my first week I was there, I served the person, and being a mystery shopper you don't know who it is. I got 100% so my new boss was very happy with that.
penguin is enjoying his new job. It's nice both working and coming home talking about our day. Very important for any marriage to know what the other person is doing and being interested as well.
It was lovely that J made 2 years and posted about it. It's all about knowing that we can never "just have one" it's not in our DNA. So I think knowing that makes the fight less.
we have met a lovely couple, but BIG drinkers. Not that I mind but I hate how the conversations gets "stupid" it's the booze talking type of night. More my problem I suppose.
so that's my news, not much but will give you more as time gets closer to the opening of my art gallery/cafe. Finally somewhere to hang my art work.
hope everyone is doing well. Never too late to try again if drinking is running your life.
ang/tutu
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Post by PJ on Sept 10, 2017 10:59:05 GMT -5
So many congratulations are in order for you, Angelina, it would take a book to hold them all. I'm glad to hear how beautifully you're doing ... you deserve it.
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Post by angelina1512 on Nov 23, 2017 5:37:27 GMT -5
Hello everyone,
i was was so excited to come to the forum and fill you in on what happening only to be disappointed that some idiot is writing crap.
anyway I thought I would still tell you all what is happening.
my art gallery/cafe is now open and operating. It’s all very exciting. Hubby and I have both worked very hard to get it up and running. It has taken up nearly 6 months to remodel a part of our house so we could have a place I could have a nice coffee and cake and try and sell my art work. It’s a small town but it has been welcomed by all of the locals.
I have only been open for a few days but I will come back and fill you in on some more.
i hope everyone is doing ok. March next year will be 4 years since I was a drinker and 2 years 3 months since my last cigarette. So all in all things are ok.
Please feel free to call in and say hello. I often check the forum, not much happening. I get so annoyed when the forum is abused. It has done so much for so many. I’m hoping Buddy T calls in and deletes all the stupid ones.
i know Jeyu and Sparrow are both doing well. These two men will always have a special place in my heart. We stuck together when times got tough giving up drinking but we did it, we are still great mates and I love them both dearly.
love you guys,
angelina/tutu
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Post by jeyu0422 on Nov 23, 2017 11:32:03 GMT -5
Hey TuTu,
My iPad and phone dropped the link so I thought this place had closed its doors for good. Thanks Brett for sending me he link again. TuTu, don't worry about the scammers. There is somebody bigger and badder than PJ and Buddy T., the FBI.
Congratulations on your new venture/adventure. I have absolute confidence that you will be a big hit. You'll probably be franchising a year from now. When you do, be sure to come to Texas!!!
Jeyu/Mark
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Post by Mark_LA on Nov 23, 2017 21:13:22 GMT -5
Hi Tutu,
Happened to check in and was excited to see a new post. Delighted to read about how well things are going for you, and impressed that you were able to realize your idea to start a gallery/cafe. Congrats also on almost 4 years sober. You're amazing!
Don't worry about the spam posts. It's nothing personal. There are computer programs called "spambots" that automatically search out forums like this one and create accounts in order to post spam. The spammers have no idea what sort of forum to which their programs are posting, and wouldn't care if they did. It's just about disseminating content. All forums get them from time to time, but some platforms are more sophisticated than others at weeding out spambot posts. I'm sure if Buddy (or any other administrator, if any) happens to check in, he'll delete those posts.
I'm still bumping along too and will be 5 years sober in March. Nice to know our little core group is still intact!
I'll be sure to drop in for a latte if I'm even down in your beautiful part of the world!
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Post by angelina1512 on Nov 23, 2017 22:57:46 GMT -5
Hey Guys,
how good to see 2 Marks on the site. Yes I do get upset when I see these scammers post stuff on our site. I will always be grateful for the help I got when I was trying to give up alcohol. As we all know it’s a hard thing to do and if not for the love I got from everyone it would have been easy to say” no one will know if I have a drink” but I always knew I couldn’t lie to Mark and Sparrow, we were the 3 musketeers and I would have let them down also. That gave me that accountability I needed to keep strong. Now it’s just I don’t want or need to drink to sort my problems out, or to have a good time.
i found giving up smoking even harder but I never did light one up. Now I don’t need that either to cope or socialize. Most of the time we need to hide behind these screens to make life a little easier. I don’t need that any more. I make my life what I want it to be.
Yes anyone one who knows me is always welcome to come have a latte, how exciting would that be. I’m still hoping one day to hug Mark and Sparrow and give them the biggest sloppiest kiss ever. Lol
if anyone is reading this who is trying to quit drinking, from the bottom of my heart, it is possible. You just have to want to be sober more than drunk.
angelina / tutu.
Maybe be a few more could pop in and say hello.
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Post by angelina1512 on Dec 24, 2017 18:29:57 GMT -5
Hello everyone,
merry christmas to you all. Today is already Christmas Day so hubby and I have are going fishing. As you all know today is always a tough day for me, but I have done my crying so now it’s time to try and enjoy it.
we are going fishing. We have the day off from the cafe today so we are going to try and find a place to just sit and relax and fish. We went exploring a few nights ago, found a dirt road and a nice fishing hole, very secluded so we might end up there but first we will try heading towards the beaches on the top part of tassie.
We are opening the cafe tomorrow so not sure what sort of day it will be but by the sounds of it the locals are coming down for breakfast.
I have sold some art art so I’m happy about that. After having the art around for so long it’s hard to actually let go. So much time and effort goes into them but I’m sure they have gone to happy homes.
i hope that the ones who don’t have family have an ok Christmas and the ones that have families enjoy it.
we had neighbors over last night, they all got so drunk. One has come back today as he has lost his wedding ring. We have looked everywhere, all I can say is WHY do they have to drink so much they forget what they say or do and spoil it for everyone else. i am so glad those days are well behind me.
There is is absolutely nothing I miss about drinking. Nothing.
I hope you all all have a great safe Christmas. New year is just around the corner.
love to all especially my two other musketeers Mark and Sparrow.
love
angelina aka tutu
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Post by jeyu0422 on Dec 24, 2017 18:59:03 GMT -5
TuTu, "There is is absolutely nothing I miss about drinking. Nothing". What an inspirational quote and I completely agree. Merry Christmas! Mark/Jeyu
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Post by angelina1512 on Dec 25, 2017 4:18:44 GMT -5
Thanks Mark I am so much more convinced after calling into a friends house on the way home to say merry Christmas.
i saw a version of me when I was drinking and realized how embarrassing,stupid, pathetic, I looked when I drank. But it wasn’t until today that the penny did drop. Just how people saw me, how ridiculous I would have looked and sounded. I now understand what a great job hubby did standing by me and making me realize I had a drinking problem. Which I knew but didn’t accept.
if only I had realized so much earlier in life I would still have my kids and grand kids. I now understand why they gave up on me. If I looked anything like this lady today I too would have disowned me, I was a good mother, but once that drink took hold of me and controlled my whole life, I became a walking talking monster.
Today I couldn’t wait to leave her house. Her son was there and he was totally embarrassed. It was like me all over again but I just saw it for the first time today. I am so ashamed of what the drink made me become, or what I let the drink make me become. I thanked my hubby today for putting up with it, day in and day out. What a disgrace I was.
So I wanted to write this. If someone out there is reading this and is having a problem PLEASE give it up. Don’t let it ruin your life. Don’t wait until you lose it, before you lose the most important things you will ever have, give it up before that happens.
I now understand what the kids saw. A drunk, a woman that they were ashamed of. For that I am sorry.
it is never to late. One day at a time, that’s all it takes to give up the drinking, one day at a time.
if you are planning your day around your next drink, if you are counting down the hours, minutes etc until the next drink YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. The word alcoholic took me a long time to accept but that’s exactly what I become. An alcoholic that lost her kids and grand kids because of it. Don’t become me.
angelina/tutu
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Post by jeyu0422 on Dec 25, 2017 19:59:17 GMT -5
Ang, I wish I had your kids' emails. I would send this post to them. I continue to think that someday, somehow, they will get to know the wonderful sober person that you have become. Mark/Jeyu
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Post by PJ on Dec 30, 2017 13:09:54 GMT -5
For people who have overcome alcohol abuse, one of the hardest, most excruciating things in the world is learning to live with the memory of who we used to be ... to forgive ourselves, to accept that we're not that person anymore. To go on.
When I read your post, Angie, it broke my heart. You've worked so hard, and have so very much to be proud of, yet your life still feels a bit broken because of your separation from your children and grandchildren. I ache for you. And I'm keeping you in my thoughts, hoping, and praying, that you will once again be together with them.
In the meantime, please don't lose sight of what a fabulous, strong, loving, giving person you are. Hold tight to that, Ang. Wishes do come true.
Love, PJ
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Post by angelina1512 on Dec 31, 2017 0:41:49 GMT -5
Hey Mark and PJ,
thanks for your kind words. The reason I wrote that post was to hopefully help someone out there that is still drinking having problems and hasn’t lost everything YET. If anyone reads it and it opened their eyes, it was worth it.
Yes i I have worked hard to give up drinking and smoking. I will never give up hope that one day I will be re United with my family but until then I can only pray and hope.
i found this site when I had given up drinking in the first few weeks and found it soooo hard. I didn’t think I was an alcoholic, oh no not me, I just liked to drink. Then I met you all, got the most amazing help and now it’s nearly 4 years since I was that person. I am still amused how people can’t get it that I just don’t drink. Just one, they say, no thank you, I say.
being an alcoholic there is no “just one” we all know that who now don’t drink, but others don’t get it. How do you tell someone that if I had one I would need a hundred and it just wouldn’t stop there.
i don’t need to drink. Why can’t people just get it. I don’t need to drink for “Dutch courage” I don’t need it to feel attractive, I don’t need it to be strong, I just don’t need it. I don’t want it. I JUST DONT DRINK.
should I make a sign and wear it around my head, I don’t drink. Thank you for wanting me too, but I don’t need too. i take my cans of coke with me, and they still ask me, oh your not drinking. Yes I am but it’s coke.
I can can see how peer pressure can get to some. I lost everything being a drinker, WHY would I want to take it up again. I watch people slowly get drunk, slur their words, say things that are inappropriate, and all I can think is pity for them. Pity that they need to keep drinking, pity that they too could end up like me.
im hoping 2018 will be a good year. I am proud of who I am now. It was a hard road to walk and I would never have made it without this place, without the friends who helped me along the way. I have made some amazing friends. Pity tassie is so far down under. But one day who knows we can all met.
wishing everyone here who drops in and reads. A very happy new year. May you all be safe, warm, and healthy. Give someone a smile or even better a hug.
love angelina aka tutu
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Post by angelina1512 on Feb 8, 2018 6:07:31 GMT -5
Hello friends,
It’s been a while since I last posted. I check every day to see if someone has been but nothing. Things down in Tassie are going really well. We have had our cafe and Art Gallery open now for 3 months next week. I can tell you it has had its moments, some good some not so good. The weather down here has been warm, lots of tourists coming and going and if I get time to chat I have met some wonderful people from all over the world.
Lots of tourists just love Tasmania and the people as we are a very friendly lot and also very helpful. We have wonderful places to see and it’s just a slower pace then the main land.
I have so,d a few paintings, a few tiles with the alcohol ink on them. I always tell the customers instead of drinking the alcohol I use it for a much better purpose. Now being a recovering alcoholic most of you would get the “tongue in cheek “ joke, but most don’t get it.
Hubby loves to cook, so he experiments every week something different. I on the other hand just like to make the coffees and talk :-) and I must say I am very good at both of them. We have hops growing down the road from us and everyone who is new to the area asks me about it. I have had to learn a lot of local things to see and where and what to do. All customers leave happy and very relaxed.
We have tables inside and outside. The air is so much cleaner down here, I wish I could send some over so you could feel the difference.
We plan on extending the cafe so I can have an adjoining art room and in winter I will get people to come in and paint while having a coffee. Anyone with any ideas I would love to hear about them.
It’s 10 pm here and I’m in bed typing this. An early start tomorrow. Hubby helps me in the morning and then goes off to work himself.
We had a group of bikkies turn up a few sundays ago for coffee and egg and bacon rolls. Hubby was able to get outside and take a photo of all the bikes parked out the front. We posted it on our face book so locals could see it. Locals love face book:-( I don’t like any technology but these days everyone uses it.
I am still not smoking, it’s been 2 years 6 months. I have an app on my phone that tells me how many days and how much I have saved. It’s very interesting. I still visit the smoking cessation site but don’t post anymore. So many try,fail,try again, fail etc. does my head in so I gave it away and just catch up every now and then.
So my life is good, not perfect but I make the most of what I have and try and do the best I can. Glass half full not half empty. And half full with coke and not alcohol.
I must say I don’t miss either drinking or smoking. As hard as the road was, and it is a hard road, it’s so worth it.
I often think of how much money was wasted and how many hours I lost. Drunk stupid and now it seems so senseless. What a waste.
Since moving here we have been out more than we did in all the time in Hobart. It’s nice having hubby home and I like my cafe and art gallery.
So life is good. I hope you all can say that. If it isn’t then take baby steps to change it. Keep moving forward and be happy with what you have.
Big hug and kisses to you all
Tutu
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