I am a retired teacher who quit drinking and found happiness! After going deaf, I now have two cochlear implants!
Dear Readers,My surgery for my second cochlear implant went well. My surgeon said, 99% of her patients are happy they got a second one. I am so grateful for her skillfulness! Today is the 5th day of recovery, and of course I wish I was feeling back to normal, but like anything else, it takes time.Hubs has been taking me out for short drives, … Continue reading Healing
Cold and Wild!Dear Readers,Mr. UT has been retired for a few weeks now, and it seems as he is just on a long vacation. We went up to Northern Minnesota for a few days, and had a wonderful time hiking! Now, though, I am sitting in bed writing, and Mr. UT has brought me another coffee, as he … Continue reading Everyday Life
Dear Readers,Fall is here!Hubs has been retired for three days, and it seems very normal for hm to be here. It's really nice in the morning because he brings me coffee! Yesterday he washed all the windows!(Oh look! I can see the street now! LOL)Recovery meetings can be intense, as people share some hard things in life. I … Continue reading On Shame
On Our WalkDear Readers,Life is hard. There is ugly with the beauty.There is sadness with the happiness.There is pain with the joys.There is poor with the rich.I have been very blessed. I have had health insurance, a home, money, a good husband, a good family, and good schools. I have had a wonderful teaching career.I have had love and friends.I have had all … Continue reading Life Worth Living
Dear Readers, The other day I was helping a friend write down her strengths and gifts. She has been struggling with being lonely, and has been feeling low.Mr. UT encouraged me to do this several years ago!!Too often, we don't see the gifts we have. I know I didn't.I also learned that when my drinking got worse, my self-loathing got worse.Drinking … Continue reading What are Your Gifts?
Dear Readers,I am reposting this post from 10/6/15, when I had been sober for just a little over a year. I am still working on my self-talk, and seeing the world through the lens of all that I have, rather than what I lack.The gift of sobriety has made this possible! If I was still drinking, my life would … Continue reading All That I Have
Dear Readers,It is now dark, cloudy and cold here in Minnesota.And yet, I can see the light.I feel a shift, sense a blessing, know that things will be all right.Drinking made me think and act in dark ways. Uncontrolled crying, depression, resentments, lashing out, running away, trying to commit sucide.Those were dark and scary times.Scary to me … Continue reading From Dark to Light
Dear Readers,"It's not the world that has changed, it's me that has changed." - Heard at a meetingWhen I read all the sober bloggers, and think about my friends, family, and myself, I notice one of our underlying human themes is that we are not enough.We cannot accept who are, always striving for more, wanting more, comparing ourselves, … Continue reading "Jet Er Nok" ; I am Enough
Dear Readers,Addiction is tough. It kept me lost, and in denial for many years.I refused to believe I had a problem. I refused to believe that I couldn't moderate.I refused to believe my husband who told me I had to stop drinking.Even after having to go to the hospital after drinking all day, and passing out, I refused to believe … Continue reading Hope
Dear Readers,When I was in college, I had to do a supervised teaching semester in a kindergarten school. I went to meet the teachers and the school.As soon as I returned home, I was informed by the dean of education, that they didn't want me to teach there.He said It was because of my speech.I was deeply hurt. This … Continue reading Grievance Stories
Untipsyteacher 