Taking a breather

Well the weekend went better than expected. I ended up hanging out with The Muffin and his Lovely Wife Sunday night. We cooked dinner ( they ate..I drank) and watched most of the Oscars. My sister was having her annual Oscar Party, which i not only am at every year, but help out by cooking most if not all the food for.
I had already decided not to go this time and asked my sister to just tell everyone I was sick. I couldn't face them. I had no idea what kind of reaction I was going to get because no one had really talked to me about it. Sunday at Muffins was so much fun though, and after a while ( and several cocktails)
I decided to stop by my sisters house. This came after several phone calls from people wondering where I was, so I thought, why not.

As it turned out, they weren't nearly as mad as I had thought ( or been told) and basically it was all agreed that its best to just let this one go. I mean they really couldn't be mad at me for telling the truth.
I have decided, however, that I need to cool it on the drinking for a while.

I was thinking this morning as I was getting ready to come to work how most of the crazy things that have happened in my life have been directly connected to me being drunk.
That may be an exaggeration but it does seem like Ive spent a large part of my 36 years in a fog.


I have been thinking of doing this for a while but it always seemed like there was an event coming up where everyone would be drinking so Id say, OK next month I'll quit for a while. The thing is there's always going to be something.

I really do wonder if my addiction to food is also slightly tied to drinking as well. I mean I go 3 or 4 days without drinking during the week usually but I NEVER EVER go through the weekend without it. Its just what we all do for fun.
I'm ready to make some changes in my life and I think this needs to be one of them.
Oh I'm not saying I'm quitting forever, but honestly not drinking anything for 2 weeks will be a big change in my lifestyle.
For one thing I wont be able to hang out with ANY of my friends because we just don't do weekends without a drink or FIVE!
So Ive decided to give it a go until St Patties Day, which is 18 days away.

18 days should be a walk in the park. They say if you can keep something up for 21 days its officially a habit.
Id like to change this habit I have into having on occasional drink or 3..or 4...or 5 ...but ONLY on the weekends, and not Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday.
I think one night a week should be quite enough.
Also, Id like to think I can have a glass of wine or a drink or 2 and stop with that. i tend to get going and just not know when enough is enough.

Is it possible Ive been trying to treat the wrong habit all these years?
I'm not saying I'm an alcoholic, ( although I'm sure I fit the definition according to AA)
but I definitely know I have issues with it that need to be addressed.


St. Patties day is huge here and we ( the peeps) always go to James Joyce Irish Pub and throw down. If I can hold out for 18 days until then I will be happy and feel OK with having drinks on that day.
If I break my "fast" and go off the wagon, I will know I'm in real trouble and need to get some serious help.
Lets face it folks, if I cant stop myself from having a drink for just over 2 weeks there is a problem!

I am betting I will be fine until Friday, then my routine will want to kick in.
We'll see. I'm a strong person and I KNOW I have the ability to kick this bad habit. I truly believe in my heart that 'a bad habit" is all this is. I feel like if it was a literal physical addiction that when I do go several days without it I would be ill or something, right?
I'm always fine, in fact I'm usually SO fine i feel like a new person!

Just imagine that feeling going on for weeks instead of days. That's what I have to keep in mind.
Also,I just simply get bored. I'm at home by myself on the weekends most of the time and honestly I am entertained by drinking. OK, so I have to find something else to do!
House projects!

I need to stain my deck,
get the yard ready for seed
remove wall paper from second bath and repaint
paint hall way and 1st bathroom
install shelves in office closet
re-caulk bathtub
wash wax and vacuum Scratch ( my truck)
Get negatives together for art show project.

See I have ALOT of things I can be doing.
So for next few weeks I will be checking off my list.
Lets see how far I get!

Id also be willing to bet the added calorie loss from skipping the beers will jump me into a new category of losing weight. Hell that inspiration alone should be enough!!!

Wish me luck!!