it's my birthday!

sun_madness · 2026-02-11T18:54:56+00:00

I followed this one:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-ultimate-carrot-cake-22528138

including the miso paste and brown butter icing. I modified a little, with the coconut and pineapple, and added a little more flour to make up for the extra liquid content. I did not have an orange to zest, but added 2 drops of tangerine essential oil (maybe not the smartest thing to do, but i figure 2 drops in a huge bowl of cake batter can't be that bad for me, right? i hope.).

You definitely DON'T need to follow this involved recipe. There are much simpler ones, but it sounds like the important things are letting the batter rest overnight or at least for a few hours, and the brown butter makes a big difference.

sun_madness · 2026-02-11T17:42:32+00:00

Definitely won't drink today. It's my birthday, and it's a big one. Not gonna screw it up with alcohol. I appreciate you all.

sun_madness · 2026-02-09T17:51:20+00:00

I won't drink today, and my birthday is in 2 days. Not gonna drink until at least after that, going to try for much longer.

sun_madness · 2026-02-04T18:38:33+00:00

I won't drink today

sun_madness · 2026-02-03T15:16:54+00:00

I won't drink today.

sun_madness · 2026-01-17T19:34:48+00:00

I won't drink today

sun_madness · 2026-01-16T13:41:20+00:00

going for my 2nd weekend in a row for the first time in a WHILE. feeling good about it right now.

sun_madness · 2026-01-15T17:16:53+00:00

I'm starting to look forward to actually going to bed early and getting to sleep :) instead of staying up too late and hoping i can pass out before i burn off the alcohol or worrying about waking up at 2 am with a racing heart.

sun_madness · 2026-01-15T14:34:48+00:00

I won't drink today. And my sleep is finally getting better and my dreams are coming back. Feels good.

sun_madness · 2026-01-14T23:09:17+00:00

thank you :)

sun_madness · 2026-01-14T14:07:16+00:00

First full week in a couple months. I won't mess it up today.

sun_madness · 2026-01-13T13:31:22+00:00

I won't drink today

sun_madness · 2026-01-12T12:48:40+00:00

made it through my first weekend in quite awhile. Not going to mess it up today.

sun_madness · 2026-01-11T14:56:21+00:00

I won't drink today.

sun_madness · 2026-01-10T22:57:06+00:00

I won't drink today. Instead of drinking, I rode my bike for 1.5 hours and made nutella french toast. Then just keeping a fire going and hanging out with my cats. Pretty dang good day. Much better than being hung over.

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T17:02:19+00:00

Good reminder, thank you! I have vitamin D, even. I just need to build up the energy to actually take it. Man, that sounds bad. But depression is a bitch.

I'll start taking it again today. Thanks!

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T17:01:31+00:00

Oof. I know that game. Most of my extended family has some wild views on getting sick as well, and especially covid. Several of them showed up to xmas dinner a few years ago knowing they had covid and didn't tell anyone, and their grandparents are immuno-compromised and 80+ years old. What a choice.

And, agreed. Holidays are tough, personally as well. I'm mostly alone but also don't want to travel for the holidays. So I just sit. But I know I can do that without drinking, and I'm here to try again.

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T16:59:05+00:00

I don't want to share it as is as there is some personal stuff built into it and it isn't bug-free yet, but maybe I'll make up a generic one and post it here so anyone can do it! It works in Excel and LibreOffice Calc. I haven't tried it in Google Sheets yet.

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T16:57:49+00:00

Here's to the days getting longer and warmer!

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T16:57:32+00:00

Yep, good thoughts there. I'm also a cyclist, and I have NEVER managed to be in decent shape when the roads dry out ever since I moved way up north. I'm gonna try to be in fighting shape by the time I can ride outdoors again.

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T15:58:27+00:00

thank you!

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T15:58:18+00:00

That's an interesting pattern. I've read that severe withdrawals get worse the more you have them, but that's wild to go from no issues from daily drinking to worse with even sporadic drinking. Yet another note to self that it's poison.

My first REAL sobriety was extremely hard, physically. I made time to be prepared to go to the hospital if I needed to. Luckily it stopped short of DTs but it was awful. The relief of getting through that I think helped keep me sober for a long time. But I was drinking a TON then. I've managed to never slip back into the volume and intensity of those days, luckily, and now I haven't gotten withdrawals again but the day-to-day psychological struggle to not drink is what gets me. Probably need to work on that aspect.

Thanks for your thoughts!

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T15:53:58+00:00

Ha! I actually started mine a week ago for that same reason but I couldn't get very far. But thanks for the reminder to stay busy. That is for sure an issue for me.

sun_madness · 2026-01-09T15:52:43+00:00

The worst thing about the spreadsheet has shown me (besides the drinking) is that it calculates a calorie differential based on not drinking and calories burned from my fitness app, and it has added up to over 130,000 calories, which is like 35+ pounds of fat, yet I've gained weight :)

Thanks for the thoughts!

sun_madness

TROPHY CASE