Good Morning Dear Ones,

This holiday was so non-stressful because i was not shopping. I still grocery shop, but now all other trips to the store are with somebody (usually G) with a list in my hand. Since he hates to shop and i get the heeby geeby's when I walk into a store now, its in and out and we are done. So this holiday I focused on decorating and cooking.

Katie works on Friday nights, so we are having  my son in law, Brad and grand kidos over for dinner.

Dawn, I am so proud of you. Recovery is the best gift we can give ourselves.

I started swimming because of chronic pain. I hurt rolling over in bed and my hands were so stiff, I could hardly move them. I decided to try the water. I had been out of the water for 13 months and decided to take a class in the water. I immediately felt better. Since the class was once a week, I decided to try swimming laps in between the class. It took about week, but the pain started to subside. I also started taking the arthritis class at the pool. By week 2 I was pain free. If I work out regularly I stay free of pain. This week has been difficult because of the holiday and I can start to feel the stiffness slowly coming back. I will be at the pool later.

Carla, feel better. The holiday, the travel, the sick baby......all wear and tear on our bodies. Try to rest.

Nancy, since my dog,  Suki,died last month, my youngest cat just follows me everywhere caterwalling. He lost his best friend and now has adopted me as his best friend. The other two, who just tolerated my dog, are hap, hap, happy. All 3 are big males and manage to hog my side of the bed every night. At about 3am, every night, they all want to play.

Connie, thanks for the kind words of encouragement. We have never met, but I feel like I know you and I hope we get to meet in 2015. We should have our next meet up in Rockford!

Lisa, I too have been into trying to simplify things. What has helped me immeasurably is a website called 40 bags in 40 days. They also have a FB page that is awesome. I am amazed at how many folks are pack rats, hoarders, shop-aholics, etc. I know you arent, but there are people on the page who just need advice on how to clean an oven. I have learned so many ways to organize, clean and tidy that are awesome.

I have seen on FB how happy Crystal is.........so happy for her.

I have also seen how busy Christine is........I got a new fitbit for Christmas and when i opened it, I thought of Christine.

Well, I am off clean the church. It is my Friday gig. i just love being there in the sanctuary, with the stained glass windows, listening to Chrismas music on my I-phone as I dust and clean Gods house.

Hugs,

Sharon

Merry Christmas My Dear Friends!

IT is so wonderful to see Sharon back today!  That is a wonderful blessing.  I too have been hit and miss.  I promise to try to get on here more often.  I do read every day.  Just do not post.  I Feel like I am in a boring routine, work and home with nothing new.  

Rick made a wonderful Christmas dinner.  We had Turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing  IT was good!  

IT was a quiet Christmas for Rick and I.  We slept in.  The cats started their celebration in the middle of the night.  I was up until 2 am watching a movie on TV  and all was ok when I went to bed.  Anyway, they took one of their stockings down from the entertainment center, opened it, found a sample bag of food and opened that and started eating that and playing with some of the toys. 

I flunked present distribution this year.  I sent my sister PAtti's family's gifts to Florida as they always celebrate at my niece's house in Florida.  Well PAtti called Saturday and they all were coming to Indiana.  So all the presents are in Florida and the people are in Indiana    Kathy's I had shipped to her and they arrived early and she opened them   and Barb's family are still sitting in my living room waiting to find out when her family will be together only to find out she went to NEW Jersey to her daughters at the last minute.   So  no one got their presents on Christmas.    But I tried.  

The good news is I am off wor****il Friday JAn 2 so I have time to relax and catch my breath and not feel like I Am spinning my wheels. 

I hope that each of you had a very Merry Christmas.  Enjoy time with your loved ones.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS, or HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! Which ever may be your choice!

Karen 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sharon, you and Dawn have had a similar journey with all the gifts that recovery brings--so happy for both of you. Doing the fourth step was amazingly freeing for me! 

I hope this season and the New Year brings many of our lurkers out on the board so we can support you. This group has been a great gift to me. I thank everyone for all the support!

Merry Christmas and May your dreams come true!

Connie

Merry Christmas Dear Ones.

Its been awhile since I've posted, but I think about u all and love seeing your lives unfold on FB.

I have spent the past 6 months working hard on my recovery from a shopping addiction. My life became quite unmanageable and I finally was faced with dealing with the repercussions of my addiction. I have been in a 12 step program thru Celebrate Recovery and just started my 5th step. Step 4 was a moral inventory and took 2 months to complete. It was difficult but with it came much healing.

i have also been working on getting my house under control. With shopping extremes came lots of stuff. I was on the verge of becoming a full fledged hoarder. Thankfully, God showed me this and I have been purging faithfully for about 8 months. My house is not controlled chaos, but roomy and quite lovely. I am about 75% there. 

I am working part time at the Auto Auction and LOVE it. I would like to get another part time job and started interviewing last week.

I am also working hard on staying married. In the past, I shopped  to escape some hard realities, and now I am faced with dealing with those issues. I love my husband very much. I am committed to walking it out and praying he too wants to finally deal with some things he has previously ignored.

i am back to being physically fit. I swim and am up to 50 lengths. My goal is to hit 75 by my birthday. I think I can. It is so fulfilling to have goals and dreams again. 

2014 was a hard year, but it was an awesome year. I got kicked in the proverbial behind, but I am growing in a positive way that I would not have, had that not happened.

Today, I am going to see my brother who has been ill. G is going to his parents'. 

We got to have the grand babies and our closest friends over yesterday. We had fun into the wee hours. 

I am blessed!

Merry Christmas........enjoy.

Hugs, 

Sharon