I visit recovering-alcoholic.com all the time and read through the early days in my recovery. I never would have imagined that I’d last this long, that I’d even be alive today. Imagine that. I just spent the last hour reading every word that I’d previously posted on this site and I’ve got to tell you, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. I’m still a raging alcoholic, of course, I just now have a better understanding of myself and what’s important in my life.
If you’ve ever read through my blog, you might have a sense that I’m a technology geek. To be honest, I’m a huge Excel geek. I got to wondering just how many days I’ve been sober. Today is 11/9/18. Looking back to 3/1/2010, and we’re left with a difference of 3,175 days. Wow. Let’s say that again – three thousand, one hundred and seventy-five days. Said another way, 8 years, 8 months, and 8 days. It just happened to work out that way – I’m not clever enough to have decided to come and post here on the 8/8/8 anniversary. I’m not sure that even means all that much in terms of numerology or anything like that (now, you know I have to go look… Dr. Google, here I come…).
Ha! http://numerologysecrets.net/numerology-888-meaning/. Now, let’s be honest, I’m not really into numerology or anything, but I did have to laugh when I googled 888. Here’s a summary:
888 reveals itself when your thoughts and vision for your life are in alignment. It serves as a reminder that whatever you’re doing is right and that you should keep at it until you get your break. In addition, you might want to consider starting new relationships, signing contracts and agreements once you see this number set since you’re more likely to be successful going forward thanks to the backing that you are about to receive from your angel guides and the universe in general. When 888 appears in places such as your birthdate, endeavor to life your life with a purpose since you’ve already been given a loving push by the universe by default.
Hey, I can use all the positive vibes I can get, right? So, how did I figure out 8 years, 8 months, 8 days? Well, I’m an Excel geek. Enter the starting date in Cell A2 and the Ending Date in Cell B2 and then enter this formula in cell A3:
=DATEDIF(A2,B2,”Y”) & ” Years, ” & DATEDIF(A2,B2,”YM”) & ” Months, ” & DATEDIF(A2,B2,”MD”) & ” Days”
So, what’s happening with Dan? Well, a lot. My daughter in a junior in college now and she’s 21. I couldn’t be more proud of her – a straight A student. I thank the Good Lord above she takes after her mom in terms of smarts. My son is a senior in high school, with a 4.5 GPA and a 31 on his ACT. As a result, he’ll receive a full academic scholarship at a pretty decent University. The Lord does indeed work on mysterious ways. You may recall in an earlier post that I figured out my purpose in life on the road to recovery – it was to be there for my kids. I’m pretty pleased to say that’s working well. The kids will both have a great start in life and I couldn’t be happier for them.
What about my wife? What about our marriage? Still going strong. We celebrated 25 years this year (I didn’t need Excel to figure that out…). I’m shocked she didn’t kick me to the curb along the way. We did buy that house in South Carolina that I talked about last year. When my son graduates from high school and goes off to college, we’re way the hell out of the State of Illinois and moving to SC to enjoy a more relaxed life style. It just worked out that we were able to buy the house before we sold our current home, so we have two houses now. Who would have ever thought a fuckup like me would have two houses? Yeah, I know. But we do, and that second house is awesome. It’s close to the beach and has a pool and we’ve already furnished it. It’s just waiting for the two of us. We didn’t downsize, because we want the kids to come visit and, you know, they’re in college. They still need a home – even if they’re starting their independent lives. I’m now actually thinking through more than day by day and can actually envision that there may be grandkids one day. And I’d sure like them to come visit granddad at the beach instead of Illinois.
Ok, that’s all for tonight. See ‘ya in about a year or so.
dan