It's Been Awhile....

It's been a really long time since I have blogged.  I seem to go in spurts like that with everything that I do.  I'll blog a lot....then I won't blog at all.  I'll sew a lot....then I won't sew at all.  I'll do a ton of puzzles...then none for a year.  I was talking to my sponsor about this and she just kind of laughed.  We alcoholics tend to have this "all or nothing" mentality and I think that I must carry that over into all parts of my life including hobbies.  I definitely keep busy with hobbies but it's like I have hobby ADD or something.  HA 

For a quick catch up, life is good here.  Today I celebrate 19 months of sobriety and for that I am truly grateful.  Sheridan is busy with cheerleading, Will is busy just being Will, and Tabi is about to finish her first semester of college and is doing really well.  I couldn't be more proud of them all!  Rocko is enjoying laying around being Rocko.  I think he makes the Christmas tree look even better don't you? 

My recovery journey continues day by day and I have to admit, it's not always super easy.  If it was easy, everyone would do it right?  I don't want to drink.  But the emotional sobriety isn't always the easiest thing in the world to keep on track. It isn't always easy to not get involved in other people's problems, especially if it's family you are dealing with.  Even while working what I consider to be a pretty good program I still have days where I just want to crawl in bed and pull the covers over my head and not talk to anyone at all.  I have days where everything around me is frustrating and makes me irritible.  These days are very few and far between thank goodness.  I'm having one of those days today and it's for no reason at all.  Maybe it's the gray and gloomy wet weather?  I'm not sure.  I'm thankful today though that I don't have to drink over a bad day and that I have tools to use to not kill anyone around me.  :) 

In my last post I talked about going off of my Lexapro.  That didn't last very long.  I wanted to try to go off of it but it just didn't work for me and that's okay.  When I was off of it I was turning into a person that I didn't like.  I got to the point where I felt like I was crawling out of my own skin and was irritated by everything around me.  I was turning back into the "old April" very slowly but I could feel it creeping in.  I was just not being a nice person and that isn't me anymore.  I decided to talk to my psychiatrist about going back on the Lexapro and when I told her how I was feeling she was like, "Why would you NOT go back on it???"  Good point.  So I went back on it and was fine again within a week or two.  Some people think it's not a good thing to take those kinds of meds, but if you need them, you need them.  Some people even in recovery still need extra help and I'm okay with that. 

We are gearing up for the holidays around here.  The kids and I decorated our trees last weekend and as always it was a great time.  We put up our big family tree and it is filled with ornaments that all have meaning to me.  Each year everyone gets a new ornament to hang on the tree and that is a great tradition that the kids look forward to.  In the dining room Sheridan and I put up our candy theme tree.  I always wanted one of those and now I have one.  It's beautiful!  In the breakfast room we have our University of Kentucky blue and white tree with UK ornaments on it.  Go Cats!  The kids all have small trees in their bedrooms and we have another one in the basement.  To say I go a little crazy at Christmas is possibly an understatement.  :)  Next week I will start my Christmas baking and I enjoy that SO much.  I give so many baked goods as gifts at this time of the year and I truly love doing that. 

I hope everyone has a great holiday season!  Now it's time for me to go catch up on all of the blogs that I used to read!  :)

A Recipe and a Read

It's been awhile since I posted and I am not really sure why. Probably because things have been pretty status quo around here.

My precious little Rocko had surgery yesterday morning and had to stay overnight at the vet. I was traumatized by this. I'm sure HE was fine, but me? Not so much. HA He is now home recovering with the cone of shame and some baby socks to cover his wounds. Doesn't he look embarrassed? He probably wouldn't be if I wouldn't take pictures of him like this to show the world.
I have been reading a lot of books lately. This is one that I asked to receive for Christmas and it did NOT disappoint. My husband and I are St. Louis Cardinals baseball fans but awhile ago when I heard a little bit of Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton's story, I quickly became a fan of his. This book is a firsthand account of his life from childhood. Though obviously there is a lot of baseball talk in here, the meat of the story is a very honest account of where his addiction demons took him and how he overcame them. He goes into detail about how he lived his life then and how he lives his life now. The excerpt that I read awhile back making me want to read this book can be found by clicking this link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2926447. This is just an excerpt of his story. And if that doesn't make you want to get this book then I don't know what will. I read it in two nights. It's a very easy read and it left me wanting more. This just emphasizes the fact that addiction is a powerful disease and does not discriminate. It can completely take over your life no matter how talented you are, no matter how much money you have, and no matter how much support you have at home. I kind of want to read this book again just talking about it. HA

And finally for a recipe. We are trying to eat healthier with the new year. And my husband has entered into a "biggest loser" type contest at his work, so it's ON. HA A lady that he works with has an amazing recipe for Red Beans & Rice which we love so I made that tonight. It makes a lot so it's great for leftovers and it's pretty easy to make. I made it a little healthier by using brown rice, turkey sausage and reduced sodium beans. I omit the green peppers but you can definitely add to and omit to this basic recipe as you please. So here you go:

Red Beans & Rice:

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked rice
1 (16 ounce) package turkey kielbasa, cut diagonally into 1/4 inch slices (I use 2 packages...just our preference)
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
2 (15 ounce) cans canned kidney beans, drained
1 (16 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Cajun Seasoning (to taste)

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In a large skillet over low heat, cook sausage for 5 minutes. Stir in onion, green pepper and garlic; saute until tender. Pour in beans and tomatoes with juice. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Add Cajun Seasoning according to taste. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Serve over rice.