Howling Dog Saloon, Luverne, MN

Have you ever walked into a place a felt that you were meant to be there? Like, the moment you walked in, you were being called to a certain spot to sit down and that the people there were smiling and nodding at you as if you were “home”? Well, my husband and I had the pleasure of walking into a place just like that a few days ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

The Howling Dog Saloon in Luverne, MN is OFF THE CHARTS, my friends! From the word go, I knew this place was gonna’ be good. Sam and I have been wanting to try them out for quite some time and got the opportunity on Tuesday, May 23rd. We had some pretty important errands to tend to in Luverne and got them all taken care of. Some were fruitful and some were frustrating. By the end of running errands, Sam and I had built up and all-star appetite! Due to financial constraints, even though we were VERY hungry, we planned on going home and fixing ourselves something to eat there. That’s when I saw “IT”. The HOWLING DOG SALOON! Just sitting innocently at 909 S Kniss Ave. I made a split decision and we pulled in. We were tired… worn out, actually, and it was a 20 minute drive home. We were HUNGRY! By the time we drove home and put the effort into fixing something to eat, I would have been to tired to eat it! So I felt it would be well worth the money to pay to have food perpared and served to us. I had no idea what we were in for! From the moment we walked in, our experience was AMAZEBALLS!

Howling Dog Saloon is a classic bar and grill restaurant. It has a wrap around bar with high and low tables for seating. Then there is a drop down seating area that has 3 or 4 pool tables for patrons to enjoy. I believe I saw a few dart boards as well but I could be wrong. I hesitate to label the women who were working there as servers because they were more like trusted friends One of them smiled and came to take our drink order but it was so much more than that and more than I can describe in words here. Sam ordered a Pepsi and I a Sprite and water. When it came time to order Sam had the deluxe burger and I asked for the pork tenderloin sandwich. I forgot to ask for the combo basket as an appetizer so I ran up to our server “friend” and asked her to type that in as she was ringing in our meals. She even guided me on what was best for our four choices on the combo basket… tater tots, cheese curds, corn balls and brocolli cheese bites! Choices fit for royalty, AND ANGIOPLASTY! But Boy, Howdy, was it ever tasty! And dipped heavily in ranch dressing, my taste buds were in heaven. I couldn’t sit still. I was doing the happy dance right there in my high seated bar stool!! And then our meals came… I was already satisfied after the appetizer and still had to eat my pork tenderloin sandwich. Needless to say, I didn’t finish the sandwich, but it was definitely delicious! Sam’s burger was super fantastic as well.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the jukebox. It was a TouchTunes jukebox. It’s interactive with an app on your phone and you can play a “butt load” (that’s a technical term, by the way) of music and never leave the comfort of your seat. Can you tell I LOVED IT! I played Jimmy Buffet, Queen, The Beatles and our song (Journey “Faithfully”) Hey, what can I say, we are 80’s kids (well, I’m an 80’s kid. Sam is more of a 70’s kid and an 80’s kid/adult, but I digress) Playing the music on the jukebox made the place magical for us. The atmosphere, the staff, the food, it was the TRIFECTA! Sam and I had no idea that when we hastily pulled in an hour earlier this place would have such a profound impact on us.

What does this have to do with alcoholism or mental heath, you may be asking? A LOT, actually. In AA, we have a BIG warning acronym to look out for. It is H.A.L.T. It means Hungy Angry Lonely Tired. Both Sam and I had three of the four of those going on BIG TIME when we pulled in to the Howling Dog Saloon parking lot. We were both Hungry, Angry and very Tired. As I had mentioned, some of our errands had ended with frustration and we had been running around literally all day long. An argument can be made for me being lonely as well. Even though I was with the “love monkey of my soul”, I was lonely for my Higher Power. I was not feeling very close to God at the moment was pulled into the parking lot. I was so overwhelmed with all of the information I had received from the places we had been, I was processing a “butt ton” (another technical term, and yes, butt ton is MORE than butt load!) of information. Some was good, some was not so good. For some odd reason, I did not feel like I was processing the information with God at the center of everything. So for me, anyway, I had the entire H.A.L.T. thing going on. This acronym can be used in the mental health realm as well. When these four things are present at the same time, you MUST take action to satisfy them or you are heading for a mighty crash! But after walking into the Howling Dog Saloon, H.A.L.T. was washed away pretty quickly. Hungry was taken care of with the yummy food. Angry was taken care of by the amazing staff, friendly patrons, fun jukebox and overall atmosphere (Sam promised me a round of pool next time; he didn’t wanna get beat this time and we were both just too tired anyway) Lonely was taken down because once my mind cleared, my heart opened back up and of course God was right there where I had left Him! Tired was taken care of (briefly) with the burst of energy and excitement Sam and I both felt and discovering such and diamond in the rough. Of course as soon as we got home we both laid down and took a quick nap. What could have been a disastrous event if we would have driven home and tried to handle things on our own, turned into a wonderful experience and allowed us to find a new “favorite spot”.

So, there you have it, my dear friends. I used to say, “My dogs are howlin’!” when I was a server at TGI Fridays and I worked a double shift. Now I get to look foward to going back to my new “favorite spot”, the Howling Dog Saloon at 909 S Kniss Ave in Luverne, MN. Stop by and see them. I bet the magic happens for you as well! Be sure to play the jukebox! It ROCKS! Here is their Facebook page link: https://www.facebook.com/people/Howling-Dog-Saloon/100057365652796/

WHAT A LIFE!

~me

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The H.O.W. and The W.H.O. of Recovery

Okay, so I was chairing a Zoom AA meeting just a little bit ago and the topic was May 19th’s Daily Reflection:

Giving Without Strings… Basically, being of service without expectations of being served.

Hmmmm…. I have a MONSTEROUS ego! Just how in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks am I supposed to be of service without wanting to be noticed? That’s a pretty tall order! At least, it used to be. This time around in my recovery, I am able to do things for others without thinking about what they can do for me, with the help of God. (God is WITHIN me now, not just AROUND me. That’s the difference this go around in recovery for me, I think.) It’s a VERY foreign concept to me, but I seem to be doing it A LOT and not even thinking about it! It’s almost like booze to me….as if I get DRUNK off of doing good deeds these days! I’m not even kidding. It’s quite addicting. Sometimes, when I’m doing my morning routine I find myself plotting little things I can do, anonymously, throughout the day, for other people. (again, I do these things because God is WITHIN me, NOT just AROUND me!) But that’s not the topic of today’s post….

The H.O.W. of Recovery is: Honesty, Open-Mindedness and Willingness. Without these three things, we can NOT maintain sobriety. I know this because I have tried with vast amounts of self-will and without ALL three simultaneously, I WILL GET DRUNK. I have proven that fact to myself countless times. I MUST have all three H.O.W.’s of the AA program every day or consuming alcohol is a guarantee for this “closeted southern bell”! But, once again, something new happened to me this go around in recovery. I discovered yet ANOTHER acronym! There is more than just the H.O.W. of Recovery. The H.O.W. tells us how to stay sober. But we really need to grasp that spirituality. Without a firm foundation in spirituality, we flop like fish out of water. I learned this….

The word SPIRITUAL contains the word “ritual” within it. When I Google’d the definition of RITUAL, I found the following: “An act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner.” Hmmmm…. Okay, I reread that a few times and realized that it resembled the definition of STRUCTURE. That being said, if STRUCTURE is the same as RITUAL, then having STRUCTURE in my Recovery program helps my spirituality stay in fit condition. All of this came about with the faith of a mustard seed! Color me “Mind Blown”.

If I take it a step further, on page 55 of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, in the chapter We Agnostics it says, “Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, in the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there.” Then, if we jump WAAYYYY to the back of the 4th Edition of the Big Book to page 568, Appendix II, Spiritual Experience, last paragraph, it reads, “We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, Honesty and Open-mindedness are the essentials of Recovery. But these are indispensable.” Why would I pick out these two quotes? They are so far apart in the book and one talks directly about GOD, the other talks directly about SPIRITUALITY?!?!

Well, since the first time I darkened the doors of Keystone Treatment Center in Canton, South Dakota, in June, 1996, I’ve heard about the H.O.W. of the AA Recovery program. But just a little bit ago during my go around this time in Recovery, God saw fit to reveal Himself to me as the W.H.O. of the AA Recovery program. “Willingness, Honesty and Open-mindedness”… Bill was telling us in Appendix II, Spiritual Experience, that the W.H.O. of Recovery is GOD! And just as I stated at the beginning about the H.O.W. of Recovery, unless I have ALL three, I WILL NOT STAY SOBER!

So, there you have it, folks. For this little girl (at least right now, in my tired brain, I am a little girl!), I know that I MUST follow the H.O.W. of my Recovery program to stay sober today and I MUST have the W.H.O. of my Recovery program in my heart and do His will today, not my own and rely on Him, not myself, to battle my disease of alcoholism. If I can stay in the frame of mine today and wake up tomorrow and rinse and repeat, then I might just have a sneaky chance at long term, happy, joyous and free sobriety. I hope to see you as we ALL trudge the road OF happy destiny!

WHAT A LIFE!

Much love to All!

~me

Is It ODD, Or Is It GOD?!?

Today I had to have a minimally invasive medical procedure, called an Angiogram, performed on my heart. To say that I was a bit nervous was the understatement of the year! I was in FULL BLOWN PANIC ATTACK MODE! My cariologist, Dr. Stys, had prepared me to expect a probable Angioplasty (where they deploy a balloon during the procedure to “push” the plaque from the center of the arteries back toward the walls of the arteries) or even a couple of stents that may have needed to be put in place. Given the symptoms I was having; shortness of breath, lightheadedness and dizziness when I would stand up fast or just when doing light work or exercising, we expected at least a few stents…BUT THAT DID NOT HAPPEN!

I have been in a near constant state of severe anxiety ever since last Tuesday when my doctor told me about this procedure in the first place. I have TRIED to give it to my Higher Power! I have tried praying the 3rd step prayer. I DID ask many people, many groups of people to pray for me, and that was certainly not typical of me. I usually stuff my own issues down deep inside and pretend I’m doing FINE! (F’d up, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional) I didn’t do that this time. I humbled myself and asked for help. AND BOY HOWDY, IT WORKED! There is NO OTHER EXPLAINATION for why no balloon or stents had to be used this morning. The plaque screening I had done in January showed that I was in the 94th percentile for my age group for plaque build up in the arteries of my heart…the 94th percentile, folks!!! Not to mention, I have lived in this body. I am FULLY aware of what I have put into it in the past 52 years. Okay, maybe not the entire 52 years. My Mom and Dad were responsible for chooisg the food I ate for 1st 15 years or so. Anyway, between the poor food choices I have made and the VERY POOR choices I made dumping all the booze and pills down my throat for the past 30-some-odd years, there is NO WAY medical intervention would not have been needed, other than with DIVINE INTERVENTION. Of this, I am certain.

And so, I ask you…. IS IT ODD OR IS IT GOD? I submit to you that through the power of prayer, God saw fit to heal my heart and ensure that no medical intervention was needed this morning. I asked others to pray for me. Others DID pray for me. Now I am at home and feel wonderful. Is it just a coincidence that I had the procedure this morning, where essentially NOTHING was done except for a camera being snaked into my heart to look around and that a bunch of people prayed for me and now I feel great? Well, I suppose that’s possible. But, I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe that a coincidence is just A MIRACLE in which GOD chooses to remain ANNONYMOUS!

So, there you have it, folks. I survived an Angiogram. And my anxiety has been quelled to a low roar…it’s never gone, it’s always a monkey on my back, but I will adapt, improvise and overcome like always. If you have this procedure coming up, don’t fret. It’s a cake walk. (I can say that now that I’ve been through it. The past week was a living hell!!!) As for me, I think I’m going to take a nap…for a week, seeing as how I didn’t really sleep for a week!!

Talk about everything, drink about NOTHING!!

WHAT A LIFE!

~ME

Weak then Strong?

I most definitely needed to reblog this old post! I am FEELING this again SO MUCH!! Second verse, same as the first!!….

Ex Booze Hound

So, let me get this straight…when I am weak then I am strong?! Say WHAT?

There is this really cool author named Paul who lived about 2000 years ago that wrote about this. I am paraphrasing here, but the gist of it was that Paul got boastful and basically egotistical about some stuff then got a thorn in his side. This thorn hurt like H-E-double hockey sticks. He pleaded with God to remove the thorn but God ignored him. Finally, God answered Paul with, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul later says that he will go on boasting about God’s grace because when he is weak he is strong. Hmmmmm….

Today I had the proverbial thorn in my side. I am still fighting physical pain and a pretty deep depression after having a total hysterectomy two months ago. Hubby was still on the…

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Oh, the Places You’ll Go…

(This is a repost. I have been speaking at the treatment center I went to and I end by reading this book. The folks seem to really appreciate it. I almost have it memorized at this point! I have read it MANY times in the past 8 months!! I pray that it helps you as much as it helps me!)

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This Dr. Seuss book is one of my favorite books of all time. I have given it as a graduation gift to kindergarten, 8th grade, high school, college and even law school. But none have been as profound as when I have given this book to someone who is starting their journey in recovery.

“You’ll look up and down streets. Look ’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” Change your playground. How many times do we hear that?

“And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.” One day at a time. That’s all we can handle.

“I’m afraid that sometimes you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ’cause you’ll play against YOU.” When we allow ourselves to spend time in our own head, the disease of addiction WILL play horrible, scary games with us.

“On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far, and face up to your problems, whatever they are.” No matter how far we need to go to get our butt in a chair at a meeting, we do it. Meeting makers make it! That’s a fact.

“And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 3/4 percent guaranteed.)” By doing “the next right thing” on a “one day at a time” basis, you WILL succeed.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go. Mental Illness, addiction, whatever ailment it may be. This book is so simple, truthful and uplifting. I read it often. It helps keep me grounded. Try it, you might like it.

WHAT A LIFE.

~Me

Coming Out of the Dark….Again!

And, the journey begins AGAIN! I took quite a hiatus from posting an entry here. And as you can probably tell from the title, it hasn’t been a great time.

While I DID NOT go back to chugging vodka straight from the bottle, I DID decide to drink “just beer”. When I started drinking “just beer”, of course I chose the cheapest and highest alcohol content beer I could find. Natural Ice was fully leaded, as I like to call it. At first, three beers would give me a decent buzzed feeling. Five beers would have me very buzzed. But, of course, within a few weeks my tolerance built up and I had to drink “MORE”.

I relapsed before the pandemic hit, however, when the pandemic hit, my drinking became MUCH worse. My hubby was an over-the-road trucker, so I was home alone…well, I did have my two dogs to keep me company, and we live in a country town of 686 people. So, you can imagine how isolated I was! I drank my beer from the time I woke up until I fell asleep at night.

Of course, I stopped taking ALL of my psych meds while drinking, so I was a hot mess times infinity. Both of my demons, mental and alcoholic, were working overtime! I was in such a tailspin, not even the most gifted of pilots could have recovered and straightened out my plane!

I will go into more detail in future posts. For now, I just want to say….. I MADE IT BACK!

By the grace of God and the amazing support and encouragement of my hubby and his family (my family didn’t know I was drinking again) I made it back! It was a long, treacherous, scary road, but God saw me through it, even if I didn’t really ask Him to!

For now, I choose to simply do the next right thing!!

What a life!

See ya’ soon,

ME

6 Months Sober and “the thing”…

WHAAAAT? Today actually snuck up on me. I happened to look at the date and then counted backwards to November and realized I am 6 months sober today.

As a “chronic relapser” (I despise that term, by the way, but the truth hurts sometimes and acceptance is the answer!), I tend to let milestones go by the wayside. Not sure why….yes I am…guilt, shame, embarrassment, just to name a few. I catch myself buying into negative self-talk, such as:

• It SHOULD be 4 ½ years sober, if you wouldn’t have screwed up.
• For that matter, you would have almost 6 years sober if you hadn’t been stupid in January of 2011.
• Look at all the devastation and destruction you caused by not staying sober after going to treatment in 1996.

But NOT TODAY! Today, I am simply grateful. My old sponsor often said, “I’ve never known anyone to go back out when they had an attitude of gratitude.”

I am grateful that I am God’s perfectly IMPERFECT child. He made me exactly the way He wanted me, blemishes and all. I know this to be true because “Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake.” Man, oh, man, do I have to chew on that statement lots of times to get it down without choking!

I am grateful for simply being alive. That last relapse really did a tap dance (more of an Irish Jig) on me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I hope to NEVER forget the first days and weeks after putting the plug in the jug. It reminds me of what a blessing life is and how quickly I can screw it up if I unplug the jug again.

Before I woke hubby up this morning, I took Joe outside. It was 4 a.m., but the birds were chirping softly and I could hear the baby leaves on trees rustling in a light, chilly Minnesota morning breeze. I said my prayers as Joe was doing his “business”. I suck at meditation. It’s this rambling mind of mine….but this morning I felt a sense of calm. The chirping birdies and rustling leaves seemed to be playing a peaceful song to me. What a gift for the brain that is usually so jumbled with shooting thoughts it struggles to get through a silent prayer! I was able to pray, meditate and just BE. It was amazing! I didn’t want to come back inside, but alas…I had to say good-bye to whatever this new found state of being is and resume life.

After getting hubby on the road, I was going to go back to sleep. “Hmmm…maybe I should take Joe back outside and see if that thing happens again.” Thinking it was probably just a fluke and certainly wouldn’t happen again, especially not with 2 cups of coffee in my system, I summoned the big, black “Fuzzy Butt” and we went out the back door. The THING happened again! Calm, peaceful, able to focus on thoughts…”Whoa! This is awesome!”, I thought. I vaguely remember feeling the thing in the past. It’s been so long since I felt it that this morning it felt brand new again. Joe even came over to me and gave me a “something is different” look. Now, if “Fuzzy Butt” notices and approves, it’s gotta’ be special.

Gratitude…I found the thing again. Dare I call it by name? Shhhh…..I will whisper it so as to not chase it away…serenity. It’s here…it’s in me…it’s awesome. Welcome back.

WHAT A LIFE!

~Me

The Dark Side, Part 2

Okay, so my last post was about my relapse and the “cookies” over on the Dark Side. I got pretty emotional while trying to explain what happened when I put the plug in the jug AGAIN.

What happened was….TERROR. Paralyzing fear. A relentless feeling of hopelessness. In all of my years of drinking and swearing off drinking, binging and quitting, I have never experienced such a deep sense of absolute DOOM. I laid on my couch for 3 straight days, unable to form complete sentences, unable to think rational thoughts. I couldn’t even say the Serenity prayer. I honestly believe I was on the verge of having a wet brain. Physically I was so weak that my husband had to help me stand so I could use the bathroom. On the 4th day, I was able to eat 3 or 4 bites of toast with a bit of butter soaked in milk. That 4th day is when the reality of my situation started to hit me.

Could I recover from this? Was I going to die? If I didn’t die, did I do irreversible brain damage? Did I want to live? Did I want to recover? Incomplete thoughts would shoot through me at the speed of light. I couldn’t slow them down. I couldn’t rest. Sleep was impossible. I remember saying “God, please help me. Thanks. Amen.” That was the longest string of words I could manage.

Then the mental illness demons decided to tap dance on my already mushy mind. Anxiety sucker punched me. PTSD gifted me with flashbacks from numerous past events, so real even the smell and taste senses were present. Bipolar must have thought it was time to play King of the Mountain, because it came in and knocked everyone else down the hill. I was Sybil in rare form!

I am so thankful that I had a strong support system in AA that helped me find my way back. I had to have my butt in a chair daily for quite some time. Even 6 months later I am battling the mental health demons, though not nearly as bad as in November. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve learned or needed a refresher course on:

• The Dark Side sucks ass!
• They LIED about the cookies!
•  An ex-booze hound should NOT drink booze.
• Booze and psych meds DO NOT MIX!!
• Mental illness and addiction is a wicked combination.WHAT A LIFE!
• ~Me
• And finally…Staying sober is WAY, WAY easier than GETTING sober!!! I am so blessed to have been given the opportunity to get and stay sober AGAIN.

The Dark Side, Part I

So, here I sit, back in the “sunlight of the Spirit”…sort of. Let’s just say I am “cautiously optimistic”. This last visit to the Dark Side still has me scarred, scared, befuddled, baffled and then some.

And for those of you in recovery that might be in a bad spot and be tempted to the Dark Side….take it from me…THE COOKIES SUCK ASS!!! Oh, sure at first they will serve them up nice and fresh, warm from the oven with a tall, ice cold glass of milk. MMMmmmm. Then, they downgrade just a little. Cookies not as fresh and milk not as cold. Then the cookies aren’t even homemade and they skimp on the milk. Before I knew it, I was getting sugar-free STALE cookies that left an after taste and NO milk. Sound familiar? The point is, the Dark Side lies. My addiction LIES. I turned back to the booze because my disease told me nothing else would make me feel better. I gave up. Used the booze to self-medicate. Instant gratification. Did it work? You bet your sweet ass it worked. A couple of times. But then, it didn’t. Just like the cookies. And what I was left with was 100 times worse than where I started…

• 3 ½ years of sobriety gone
• Loss of loved ones trust
• Bipolar in full swing
• Despair
• Doubt
• Fear
• Anxiety x 100
• Compromised physical health

Just to name a few. I went to the Dark Side alright. And it damn near killed me. I went to treatment from the end of September to the end of October. Still had a few drinks in me though. Finally got my act together on November 20^th. I pray that I never forget the first two weeks without booze. No drama here…I was near death. Could hardly stand, barely swallow to sip water or eat “milk toast”. And my brain….putty. For 3 days I just layed on the couch and “existed”. It was a literal hell. I was stuck in my own skin, my mind would race through a million thoughts but I couldn’t catch one. I’m getting anxious just writing about it.

Glad to be back. More later.

WHAT A LIFE.

~ME

Back in the Saddle…

Just call me Rip Van winkle, I guess. My last post was on September 9, 2014. Let’s just say I went over to the “dark side” for a while. It wasn’t fun and I am very BLESSED to be back…and ALIVE.

Not much to share about the “Dark Side”. Let’s just say it was immensely, terrifyingly, desolately, painfully DARK. The addict in me wanted to stay there and wallow, self-medicating with booze. The mental illness demons fed off the relapse and helped keep me there. What a tail spin! It is truly by the grace of God that I sitting here typing today. I’ll share more on this later.

To bring everyone up to speed:

My awesome hubby is doing great. He’s still a “Steel Cowboy” (Semi truck driver) and works for a kick-ass company that takes real good care of the drivers. I miss him something fierce when he is on the road during the week but we are grateful he has a dedicated route so we know where he’s going most of the time and that he is home every week end.

The grub snatchers are doing well. Four girls…yes, that’s right…four girls. Three from me, one from hubby. So, we have a 20, 17, 11 and 8 year old. Hope to be getting an updated family picture while we are all together this summer. The last one I have is from Christmas, 2013.

I am missing my family in North Carolina A LOT! Found out that my Mom has lung cancer. She is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation now and I would really like to be there. I hope to make it home for a short visit near the end of summer. Hubby and I can hit his family in Detroit and the coast of NC for a few days and then head back to Minnesota. I gotta get these toes in the ocean soon!

If I don’t publish this now I’ll chicken out, like I have countless times in the past few months. Not sure why….just lost my MOJO. Small steps are still walking, and I’ve gotta’ take that first baby step to get going again, so this is it.

WHAT A LIFE!

~ME