Sundays = Laundry and More

Sundays have become my day for laundry. I am still working with a finite amount of clothes as more of my clothes are buried within several boxes stacked upon one another. Working with a finite amount of clothes is not necessarily a negative as decisions on what to wear are made that much easier. The other side is I have to do laundry weekly because otherwise I will run out of certain items. I am not about to dig out the remainder of my clothes as this will work itself out when my family comes back in July and we are altogether. So for now I will make do with what I have which means doing the laundry each and every Sunday.

My dear friends have been so wonderful over these past two months and they have made me feel at home. However; on laundry days I do feel like I am intruding. This is all on me as my friends are incredible and I am eternally grateful to be living with them on this temporary basis. I did do the laundry yesterday afternoon and then it was time to go to the Sunday evening GA meeting as is the case every Sunday afternoon.

Where I work is the same place that the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday GA meetings are held so I maintain the materials for some of these meetings in my office. The regular Secretary for the Sunday meeting had a personal obligation to attend to so somehow I was left to chair the meeting. I certainly don’t mind chairing the meetings whatsoever and it was my pleasure yesterday evening. The usual “suspects” arrived for the meeting but the attendance was very low. There were only 6 people in attendance which marked the smallest meeting I have attended since my release. The interesting fact about the 6 people at the meeting was each member had at least one year in the program.

The rash of newcomers over the past two weeks didn’t seem to spill over to the meeting last night. This is ashamed but it is not for me to take inventory of others. I know what works for me which is going to meetings, working the program and getting involved. I cannot stress this enough because in over 3 years of being associated with the program I have noticed a remarkable change in my life. The program does provide for miracles and I do believe I am an embodiment of these miracles. I am forever grateful to the GA Program as it continues to save my life everyday.

Once again it may have been a small meeting but the therapy/sharing was very powerful. In the room were six people who truly “get” the program and this is why they were there. I understand people have lives outside of the program and we do stress attend at least one meeting per week but there is something special about this “candlelight” meeting. I do share an affinity for this meeting and I do remember that it was my second GA meeting I have ever attended.

The meeting was over and it was back home where my friends were preparing dinner. There seems to be a change in the eating habits of my friends and they have requested my assistance with this change. In case anyone doesn’t realize I will remind you that I have very strange eating habits. I am a vegetarian but I do eat fish; I have refrained from eating anything that comes from something with legs for quite a long time. Also I do my best to eat healthy staying away from anything fried and fat ladened. I am what anyone would consider a very restrictive eater. Trying to emulate my diet is very difficult for almost anyone but my friends wanted help with their new healthy eating way and I was more then happy to help.

I do fear that they will hate me in a few days with all the “advice” I will be giving them. I don’t like giving advice but when I am asked to do so I do feel an obligation. It is a bit ironic because my wife who neither eats anything like me nor has ever eaten like me has lost a considerable amount of weight in the past two years as we have been a part. It appears it was me that made her gain the weight in the first place!!! Anyhow sorry for the digression my friends made a lovely dinner and I was in charge of portion control. My friend is really taking this healthy eating attitude seriously and has even incorporated an exercise plan. I am happy to help in anyway possible but hopefully I won’t cross any lines because I want to keep them as dear friends.

The rest of the evening I helped my dear friends address envelopes. Once again I was happy to help in anyone I could because it is the least I can do for these very dear friends. The project went very quickly and the evening was coming to a close. I went to sleep and when I got up it was the start of another work week.

Normally I usually take off on Mondays from working out and I was wondering how I would feel after running the 22 miles. Well I felt great with no soreness whatsoever which is a very positive sign. In fact; a few hours after the run I could feel myself getting much stronger and if I had to I could have run another 22 miles. I was feeling very good so I decided to exercise this morning because I have to help a friend tomorrow morning. I am taking this friend to an out-patient surgery center where he will have some minor surgery. Instead of getting up very early tomorrow I decided to break up my workout in two parts; I lifted weights today and I will run tomorrow. Prison has taught me to be flexible and in the past I know I would have never broken up my exercise regimen. This proved to work out very well this morning.

After the workout I was off to the office for another fun-filled day. I had some things to do and was able to get them accomplished. The storm is certainly brewing in the office as the first rumblings came today. I certainly don’t know what the future will bring which is why I concentrate on today and today was very good day. I was able to speak with someone who I haven’t spoken with in a few years but corresponded very consistently with while I was “away”. I was even invited to play golf on Friday which I gladly accepted. It is amazing okay maybe it isn’t so amazing all thanks to recovery that my life continues to work out for the very best.