RISING CONTENTMENT

I had a wee epiphany in the night. But I can’t quite grasp any more what it was, but it felt really good and was along the lines of how flipping fabulous it is to have kicked the shit to the curb, and how cool my life is now. It was like I suddenly realised fully how far I have come this past year, and how much I have changed and how good and solid and stable my life is, and I myself am. I am taking on new enterprises (like the two Irish AirBandB guests I’ve got tucked away in the top bedroom, still sleeping) and the other hot young 25 year old girl I’ve got booked up who’s coming out from the UK to spend 6 whole months living with me here at $300 per week. And like getting it together over the last few weeks to address the issue of my business being suddenly very quiet after several years of absolutely booming. I So enjoyed the quiet time, and I am so focused and “straight” that instead of panicking about not making much money for a while, I just honestly didn’t care at all, I loved it, having time for a change, and I looked at the situation with curiosity until I realised that life is sorting out my direction for me. Slow time suits me beautifully I’ve decided, so I have sold 9 of my caravans on Trademe, got rid of all the older and rougher ones (the shitters as I call them) and have now got a tidy wee sum to put towards whatever I decide to do with it. In the meantime things are starting to pick up as the weather warms up, and I know all will be well.  I’ve also bought another wee property “as is where is, uninsured” a tiny house on quite a big section with heaps of huge San Pedro cacti growing in the garden which look really cool (it’s main redeeming feature actually)!

I’ve had my friends Brenda and Iain staying for a couple of weeks, they’ve now gone to Nelson for a bit, and I’ve so loved having their company, it made my house more of a home again after a pretty much long cold and lonely winter. They lit me fires every night and we had lots of yummy dinners, lots of laughter, great conversations about all sorts of interesting stuff, and they are very easy and comfortable to have around. Pretty easy on the eye too, what a gorgeous looking couple they are, we even discussed them becoming “old people models” haha!

So this sobriety stint is going pretty well.  Forever still seems like a long time and I know I’m only one decision, one glass away from losing all I have gained, but for now I am loving it. Still a bit socially awkward but that’s mainly because I don’t often do anything social any more. I might give that a bit of a nudge today and go down to see my friend Carmel play at Freemans, haven’t done that since last summer.  And next weekend it’s my nephews 21^st so that’ll be something very cool to look forward to as well.

The Irish are still in bed at 9.45am, I was going to offer to cook them bacon and eggs but I might nick off out to a movie at Alices or Academy and leave them a note to help themselves (might as well start off how I mean to carry on and all I’m supposed to do is provide cereal and fruit and toast and coffee). They might like getting up and having the house to themselves.  It does feel a wee bit weird but this is my first booking as a host, I thought I might as well give it a shot and I was rather shocked to get these 2 bookings in my first week of listing.  I bought another queen bed at the auctions on Friday so I can set up another guest bedroom and double my options. Better than flatmates as they pay way more money and they don’t stay long.

Seem to be having trouble getting my feelings out, so suffice to say that all is well in my heart. I am happy and confident and quietly proud of myself and excited to see what comes next. I will have an insurance decision on my Diamond Harbour house in the next week or two and the outcome of that will determine my next mission.

Being sober rocks and is so much smarter than the way I used to roll.

And all the cool people are getting sober these days!

 

 

BAY OF PLENTY

I'm up in the sky flying to Rotorua this morning. My great little online buddy Charlie Gilbert (who gave up the booze on the same day I did in July last year) has very gorgeously invited me for a holiday on their cool new farm in the Bay of Plenty. We feel like old friends as we've been reading and commenting on each other's blogs for over a year, emailing, a few phone calls, and we're both members of the brilliant Living Sober website. So this is the next step in our friendship.....we actually get to meet each other and spend time together. Not the ususal way friendships evolve, but I don't think either of us were ever particularly ordinary!  She's picking me up in Rotorua and in the morning we are having a brunch with her local group of LS members who have a meet up every couple of months. We've both had to keep our traps shut for a whole month as she is bringing me along as a wee surprise for this gathering. I feel very priviledged to be invited into her home, and to spend time with her family and I'm very excited to meet her. I already adore her. She's a bit of a fitness guru and I'm terrified of all the exercise she'll probably make me do......nah not really, I'm looking forward to it, got my trackies and runners, we are going to walk around Mount Maunganui if the weather report is wrong and it doesn't hose down the whole time I'm there. And if it does, who cares! we've got a huge lovely home, big spa bath undercover, and four whole days and nights to get to know each other for real and face to face. Feeling very lucky. And as if that isn't enough, this week we've all managed to put together a pretty damn fine plan for the first weekend in October where about 30 LS members from all over NZ are congregating in Wellington, staying mostly in the same accommodation, just about booked the place right out, in Lyall Bay, and will spend the weekend putting faces and real names to each other after many moons of giving and recieving amazing support, knowledge and humour on the website. All these people feel like real friends, we all really care about each other, so it's going to be a beautiful thing to take it that next step and make it all in the flesh real. We're planning a shared lunch with Mrs D for the Saturday, and my other blogging mate Colourful1 has offered up her home as a venue for this, which will be so cool and make it so much more casual and relaxed than the formaility of a restaurant, which just doesn't work with 30 odd people! Pun intended.  She's even lending us a car!  What a woman!  So.....after a fairly boring long cold lonely winter things are revving up, and I am finding my community expanding in this life changing sober gig I'm on. Bring it on I say......"getting better all the time".......rock n roll .........

Ooops I actually wrote this on the plane a couple of days ago and been having such a good time I forgot to post it......