Alcohol has become integrated with my life in a pretty significant way. It's in my family time with my sister. It's at my apartment with my boyfriend when I get home. It's on the bar and in the tanks at work. I think yoga is the only place that it is not at least present. So when an opportunity came up to get it out of my life for 21 days, I jumped at the chance.
I love bets. Especially when the stakes are high and the odds are against me.
Last Wednesday was no tv day so Jason and I were sitting on the couch splitting a 6 pack of good beer after he finished off the 12 pack of shitty beers and my friend sent me an update- "21 days sober!"
Jason proclaimed that was easy. But seeing as how he drinks more days than he does not, I said not so easy that he could do it. The slightly intoxicated retort I got back was that I couldn't do it between whiskey video game night, beer drinking music making, football, and my wine tasting job.
I love a challenge and seeing as how that same night he bet that I couldn't make hummus with an immersion blender, a bet I indeed won handily but might have just got tricked into making hummus, I delighted in the challenge
21 days no alcohol? Done.
I bet I would last longer than he would, a bet that I didn't want to wager our normal 6 pack of good beer or even a case. Seeing as how he was pretty mad for my accepting a free trip to Florida with a friend when we never take vacations, I set my sights on a plane ticket to see my best friend in Oregon. Seeing as how his best friend is in Oregon as well and we have never carved out the time or money to visit them, seemed like a wager that everyone would win. Well, everyone except the person paying for two plane tickets.
So day 7 is upon me without a drop of alcohol. My kitchen floor is scrubbed and my tiny apt seems much bigger without the army of dead soldiers on every surface. I took the recycling out and haven't filled up that corner of kitchen yet with the usual bottles and cans. Just one Gatorade bottle and some cardboard from pizza boxes.
The first few days were easy. I started waking up without a weird taste in my mouth. I drank tons of water and only had a twinge of regret when the filter was finished and I didn't get to taste our field blend red from 2013. I tried it last week. It is very good. My boss bottled it up and looked at me shocked when I turned down the sample and then immediately stared at my stomach looking for a baby bump. I told him about the bet and he still looked puzzled.
The hardest day was day 5. I would consider myself a moderate drinker, about 3 drinks in a day. I guess they call anything over one for a woman binge drinking. So I'm not sure exactly what I was going through on day 5 when I had the most splitting headache and slept for 14 hours. Felt like a gas leak or seasonal allergies. My head was pressurized and moving my eyes hurt.
I'm just going to say it was that brutal -15 degree cold that hit me. The dogs would pee really fast and we would both run back inside before they got frostbite on their paws. The wind whipped straight through the building and even with the baseboard heaters on high, I was still in a hat and coat with 4 blankets and quilts. The pipes froze for the drain and the hot water. I cooked a ham in my gas oven all day just to stave off the cold.
So I have two more weeks left. Lets see if I maintain this amount of elation for this exercise in self study. I like things that push me to think about different aspect of my life or to question why I do things. And right now I feel good. I do miss the calming effect of beer, but I have beefed up my arsenal of herbal teas and am trying new blends everyday. And this shows me that I could go nine months without neeeeding to drink when that time comes. I just won't hang out with my sister except for yoga.
I have a pit bull in my lap that's needy as a dog can be. I am recording every dollar I spend to really get serious about saving and tracking my spending patterns. And I'm still house shopping, checking out what neighborhoods look the best and trying to find where I belong. With no beer but some damn good tea so far 2014 is cold, but off to an exciting start
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
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