Allison's Ankles

     Sorry for being distant. I've had too much going on with my legal situation and its left me feeling exhausted. If it makes you feel better, I wrote a post and then internet explorer closed on me. Ugh, I just cannot get used to Google Chrome. So, let me entertain all of you with my date night last week......      Before house arrest, I was NEVER home. I hope the capitalization can emphasis how much I was not home. I would spend majority of my time at one of my two jobs or at the university I was attending. If I was not working or studying, I would be shopping, dining, or partying. I would go out to lunch with friends or by myself. Yes, I was that girl that said "Party on one!".      These days I cannot wine and dine like I used to. Actually, I can no longer do either. What I can do is order take out or delivery and kick back with some Netflix. Who wants to get dressed up and go out to eat anyways? Yeah.....

So, I shared my house arrest/ankle bracelet secret with someone from AA today and it went better than I had planned. I've chosen to keep that secret to avoid the prejudgment and aggravation all together. They say in AA we're supposed to leave our judgment at the door, but I don't think everyone follows that rule. Truth is, I sometimes don't. I'm human, it happens! Everyone I've met in AA has been so kind and supportive, and I'd like to keep it that way!     Lately I've been socializing with two of the younger men after meetings. Usually we talk about random things like the weather and so forth, but today I found myself talking to them about everything. Finally one of them said "So, uh, what's your story? Did you drink every day? You just don't really seem...... like an alcoholic".  I considered saying I was an alcoholic and left it at that, but without realizing it, I was already sharing my story.       the two boys...

       I have yet to determine whether the sunsets have become more beautiful or if I never took the time to acknowledge them. Either way, they are absolutely breathtaking. I try my best to watch the sun disappear into the city each night. Its something about the energy in the sky and those fascinating colors swirling into one another, that grabs my attention. The sunsets are dreamy.      Every now and again, I get myself caught up in my own dreams. I used to get caught up in dreams about my future career, husband, car, home, family, and even my own business. Now, I find myself wondering if all of this is a dream? Maybe I am going to wake up and my life is going to be just the way it was a year ago. I would be traveling down the right path and achieving great things. My relationship would still be healthy, my focus in school would be where it needed to be, I would have a job that supported me comfortably, I c...

      I've been in hiding lately, but not to worry I'm still here. My family has come to spend some of their summer vacation with me. They've taken up a majority of my time, but I'm not complaining. Some company is nice for a change. It makes house arrest a lot more interesting with a little bit of company. I need to write more frequently, daily is too much, but I think weekly is too little. What do you guys think?      Anyways, I have yet to inform you the most exciting part of house arrest. I like to call it "plugging in". For two hours everyday you must plug your ankle monitor into the wall to charge. A long cord is hooked to my ankle, and it makes me feel like I'm some kind of robot. It is very important to keep a full battery at all times, they ask you to charge every day, at the same time. If your battery dies, they cannot find you, and you're in trouble. By they, I mean the house arrest people. They do...

                 I have been court mandated to wear a SCRAM bracelet. A SCRAM bracelet is an alcohol monitoring device that is strapped around your ankle and records your consumption. Before my "incident" I had never heard of something like that, sounded a little hi-tech to me. It's an interesting device if you think about it, unless you're the one wearing it. The monitor takes its readings from your sweat. No, I am not sweating like a pig, but the anklet is pressed up against your skin at all times, and that allows the monitor to take an effective reading. Here is the best part of the whole gig, it vibrates. The vibration occurs every thirty minutes, you can feel it, and other people can hear it, quite embarrassing. If I'm in a quiet room, like class or AA meetings, I'll grab my phone as if that's where the noise is coming from.          ...

I apologize for missing two posts. I am still here. My family has come to visit and has sucked up all of my free time. I'm not complaining! I was always "too busy" to visit with my family. Now, there is nothing I would enjoy more. They have even brought my childhood dog. It's a little family reunion.  I will post an update tomorrow about the SCRAM bracelet. Some vital information on how to survive with a vibrating, alcohol monitoring, ankle bracelet. Sincerely, Allison Allisonsankles@gmail.com

      Having not one, but two ankle bracelets is a little much. I have one on each leg, I guess if they wanted to be real jerks they could have stuck two on one leg. Thank the lord all of my officers like me and are extremely pleasant! They've realized I'm not their average "criminal". During all of this, everyone has been really friendly. When I go to the House Arrest office all the officers socialize and make little jokes with me. Then another person walks in and their whole demeanor changes. Kind of funny. Hint Hint: Be as nice as you can to these people. It is truly amazing how nice they can be in return. These are the people that report to your judge too. So, it's in your best interest to be kind to them. Anyways, back to the ankle accessories. I'd much rather call them "accessories". I thought those were just used in movies, I did not think people really have monitoring devices strapped to their ankles like a science experiment. That just go...

         Today I received a lot of positive news. I had prepared myself to "hope for the best, expect for the worst". Lately things have been going pretty smoothly and I'm pretty sure I know why. The truth is I cannot control everything going on in my life and I need to learn to accept that. Alcoholics Anonymous has touched on acceptance multiple time this week. "Let go and let god". That is what I've been practicing these days. I try my best to focus my energy on the things I can control like eating healthy, exercising, reading, socializing, building positive friendships, cleaning, crafting, and just being the best I can be. I've had some friendships that just are not working. I've had to accept that people change and grow. Sometimes they grow in different directions, but you know what? That is okay. I've come to accept that. Believe it or not, losing those "friends" was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. You have two op...

           I would absolutely LOVE to spend my summer vacation on the beach, like most Floridians do. Unfortunately, I'm on house arrest. So, that isn't even an option for me. Want to know the worst part? I live on the beach, it is literally my backyard. I am allowed to walk my dog, so I tend to sneak up onto the beach for a few minutes each day. I have not had any alerts, but like I said I only go for a few minutes. When I first started house arrest, I was told I could go anywhere I wanted as long as it was in the county and as long as I recorded it. My officer was on vacation my first week, so I received rules/regulations from her colleagues. FYI: Do not listen to what any other house arrest officer says. It doesn't matter. I was told I could go to the movies, out to eat, shopping, etc. When my officer finally came back to town, I asked if I could participate in those activities. She looked at me as if I had tw...

    Today I was lucky enough to visit another doctor, a dermatologist. I haven't seen one of those in years. For the most part, house arrest SUCKS, but I must say it has given me the opportunity to take better care of myself. I visited a new doctor for the first time and was very impressed with the office and staff. Everyone was extremely helpful and very friendly. These days I'm wearing a lot of boots...Thank god its Florida and I can get away with them! Anyways, I went through all of the "New Patient" procedures and for once I was able to honestly say I do not consume alcohol. The main reason I was there was because I've been breaking out. My SCRAM guy warned me not to get any prescriptions or creams that contained alcohol, because it could send off a possible alert and back to jail I go! Instead of sharing information of my court mandated alcohol monitoring device, I decided to say "I react poorly to anything containing alcohol, I cannot even drink...

Well, it has been an eventful day! Being on house arrest, I try to get out as much as possible. This week I have a schedule full of doctor's appointments. Today I took a trip to one of my favorite doctors, the dentist! Everything went well, no cavities :) I did make a huge mistake... I rinsed with the mouth wash, which is a huge "NO NO!" for those of you wearing a SCRAM bracelet. Apparently the ankle monitoring bracelet can detect any trace of alcohol. I grabbed the mouth wash without even thinking. The second it hit my tongue I realized this could interfere with my readings. I got extremely nervous and instantaneously spit out the liquid. As soon as I left, I called my SCRAM guy (the one I report to) and explained to him what happened. He told me to calm down and that I shouldn't worry. Maybe something would come up, but he highly doubts it. I would have had to of chugged a whole bottle of mouth wash! YUCK! So we're not supposed to use the stuff, but we can get a...

My name is Allison and I am creating a blog to hopefully be of service to others. I have never had a blog prior to this, so bare with me as I learn how to maneuver the thing. I am writing this blog for all the people like me, who ended up in a place they never thought was possible. I was always a "good" kid. I'm not saint, but for the most part I usually did what I was supposed to do. I was a good student, graduated with honors and moved away to go to college. I had a great relationship with my family. I had tons of friends. I was a hard worker and have worked since I was sixteen. I payed my own bills and took care of myself the way a young adult should. Everything in my life was coming together and I couldn't of been happier. It's always when things are going good, that something bad has to come and screw it all up. Well, that is exactly what happened. The next thing I knew, I was in handcuffs and crying my pretty little eyes out. It's still too early to get ...