Good evening ladies, I'm back and feeling sheepish as I've had a week of struggling a lot with everything and dropping the ball on most things. I had a bad cold and was trying to carry on working nonetheless, plus carry on sorting out family stuff in the US. I just felt mentally and physically awful all week. I'm now back on day 2 again and feel more human after having slept for about 12 hours straight last night.
Honestly though my complaints pale in comparison to what some of you brave women are going through. @Onewildandpreciouslife I'm so sorry to hear your medical news. You are a star for staying sober. And @WendyWagon I'm so sorry about the postponed op. I'm also thinking of you @REP22 with your stubborn infection, and you @taylorean feeling that something's not quite right on the mental well-being front.💐💐💐to all of you.
About sobriety medallions, there's an American academic I follow on X/Bluesky who is very open about posting about being an alcoholic in recovery, and although she doesn't go to AA meetings any longer, she buys herself sobriety medallions from the internet and even has a special display case for them! Some of them are really gorgeous. If you go to Amazon and search for 'sobriety coin' you can see a wide selection. In fact I'm half tempted to buy myself one if I manage to hit 30 days!
@Becky3825 congrats on making it to bed sober tonight! And best of luck with your interview next week; that's exciting.
@FaithHopeCarnage your Iceland story is frankly amazing 😂
Many thanks to you @Lavrander for keeping the ship sailing so smoothly.
Despite feeling better tonight I don't know how I'm going to get through next week. I have approx 20 hours of teaching, because I was poorly this week and postponed some hours (and also because some students were poorly as well, and they postponed some hours). A full-time stint is meant to be 12 hours a week, which doesn't sound like much compared to what secondary school teachers do, but with prep and marking, it does take more time than one might imagine.
A lot of it is one-on-one and small group teaching, which is why it's possible to reschedule, but once I'm behind I find it really hard to catch up. Never mind, I'm just going to do what I can do. I am resolved not to drink, even if it means postponing more teaching yet again. I'll catch up eventually.
Incidentally, the saga with the student I was so worried about, who was supposedly holed up alone in her room for weeks, has moved on. It turns out she was lying about being in residence and has actually been home with her family in a distant city the whole time!!! I'm partly relieved and partly miffed, ha. Obviously she still needs support... My colleagues are so lovely and gentle, they were super kind to her. No blame, just conversation about how to move things forward from here. It was kind of a lesson for me in compassion. I was upset that this person had repeatedly lied to me, but how many times have I been dishonest about my drinking...
Off to bed now, because apparently my capacity to sleep remains boundless.