Giving Up/Cutting Down Alcohol Thread part 18

sukeyboo

Declaring early for today on 2/10 please cathybird 

happydenial

I’m declaring early too - 3/14 for me today, thanks @cathybird x 

RobM99

Hi all, I'm back! Did you miss me? No, thought not   

       3/30 for today thanks.  Train trip from   sunny Essex to Lewes (Sussex, not quite on the coast) for football.  Ah... train track problems in the Balcombe tunnel resulting in an hour delay.  Haywards Heath station is nothing to look at! Got to the stadium 5 minutes after kick-off just as big shout went up, thought I'd missed a goal! But it was a penalty (scored!) and a very helpful steward noticed my club owners' hat and let me in just to see the penalty - I was happy to pay my ticket at the turnstile immediately after. Had a wander round at half time, the improvements look great (limited as the stadium is surrounded by ancient grass banks topped with flint walls, protected structures! (Had a look at property - a 2-bed terraced cottage £500,000 !).       There's more, because of the train delays I got back to Basildon just after 9pm - just as the last bus was leaving -  don't you just l.u.r.v.e. bank holidays? So - a 4 mile walk home (it was cold!). Home at 22:30 to be greeted by a hungry Dinner The WonderCat. =^..^= Still, won 3-1 so all good.

Happy new year, booze-dodgers!

MissPennySave

Can I please join too, I'll just do monthly for now, so 10 AFDs in January please, I am on day 3 today so 3/10 please.  Thanks MPS.x

Honey_Bear

Happy New Year everyone!

Thank you so much Cathy Bird, Maman, Season and Arkers for your comments.  I've taken a few days to think things through and your comments and that period of reflection has clarified things for me a bit.

I was expecting a phone call from our vet on 20 December about a biopsy result and he unfortunately rang me just as our neighbours were arriving for our annual Residents' Association meeting, at which I had to take the minutes.  He told me that biopsy had revealed our dog had a secondary, so we had some decisions to make and the responsibility for that falls on me completely because I've got a lot more experience of dealing with animals than Belovéd has.  This morning she refused to go outside first thing, and from her breathing I think she's developed or is developing pneumonia, so what I've realised is that until a couple of hours ago I'd intellectually dealt with her circumstances but with all of the run up to Christmas, Christmas, New Year and so on, I hadn't really processed what any of that really meant to me.  She's a rescue, an ex-breeding !!!!!! who had a rotten life for five solid years and she's been an absolute gem of a dog with us for nearly four years and is still, through laboured breathing, happy.   She's not in pain because I've dosed her up with pain relief, and while her spirit is willing, I don't think her body can cope for much longer. 

So, that, I think, explains why I reached for the gluwein on Christmas Eve while she was trotting around the garden with all of our neighbours and a black Labrador, happy as she always is, while I was pretending to myself that while there's life there's hope.  They all knew, and they all absolutely love her so it was hard on all of us.  In the midst of our hearts breaking, very surprisingly, we all still just carry on, don't we, but we pay a price for that.

Because I'd had that gluwein, and not just one mug of it, more like two or three and they didn't go to my head, it seemed rational to me to have a glass of champagne late in the afternoon on Christmas Day and that didn't go to my head either.  I used to really love having wine with my cheese at the end of a lengthy meal, so I did. 

I think at that point I realised I was playing with fire and also realised that as I'm not on any anti-depressants any more, that my physical reaction was probably normal, whereas it was probably abnormal when I was drinking heavily.

So thank you for your comments because they absolutely reflect what my thoughts have been. 

I gave up the booze about eight years and five months ago and the quality of my life has improved incredibly.  I've said over and over again that no-one could pay me enough money to go back to drinking because life is so much better for me without it, and that is absolutely still the case.  I never, ever want to be that person again.

I could probably get away with the odd glass now and then, like maybe a couple of times a year.  It would also be incredibly risky to plan to drink just because I think I might be able to get away with it.  That's risky stuff and I'm not going to say I'll never have a glass of something ever again, but I am going to say I don't have any plans to drink again.

Thank you all so much for engaging with this for me over this.  Season and Arkers, your comments are much appreciated and much as I enjoy everyone's lovely feedback, I can't go back to posting every day because I don't want to think about alcohol every day.  I haven't had to for several years, genuinely forget that people get drunk, don't feel tempted by the smell of it when I hold Belovéd's glass when he divests himself of his jacket when we're in the cinema and enjoy that peace of mind.  It's hard earned and I can't risk it.

CathyBird and Maman - your comments were both right and valid.  I could probably do it, but it wouldn't be a good idea, so I won't.

RobM99

Heard a comment on youtube -  "One drink is too many - six is not enough!". Not had a drink in England since April 6 2021!

maman

2/10 AFDs please @cathybird

lantanna

3/15 please

cathybird

January

7 days =

14 days =

21 days =

28 days =

Target reached =

Target beaten =

Entire month =

January targets

AllNightDiner 11

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alt80 1/TF

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Arkers 2/TF

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cathybird 2/21

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Coveredinbees!!!! 1/18

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CuppaTea 21

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dustydigger 1/26

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happydenial 3/14

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lantanna 3/15

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leftatthetrafficlights 1/30

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maggiem 15

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maman 2/10

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marahouti 2/25

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MissPennySave 3/10

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outoftheviciouscircle 15

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oceandreamer 2/20

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PriceySOS 24

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RobM99 3/30

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satchmo1 2/30

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Season of Mist

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sunshine raincloud 2/30

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sukeyboo 2/10

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TornErse 2/27

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VALM 2/31

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WBF

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Newcomers welcome!

cathybird

hi MissPennySave and welcome I've added you to the list, best of luck with the challenge!