1/8/12
Writer’s Block
So I’m really glad I started this writing project, because I had a ton of ideas for stories. Unfortunately, when I actually started thinking them through for this project, I realized they all had the same theme: Girl finds herself forlorn, looking for love and hoping to find herself at the same time, runs far away for what could be the love of her life, finds that person didn’t really love her anyhow. I don’t know if that’s a subconscious pattern. Is this what I really think my life is meant to be like? In the meantime, I’m going to keep writing my 1,000 words a day about anything until some other kind of story strikes me.
So what can I say about today? Well a funny story for today. I decided to give up alcohol for all of January. It all started New Year’s Eve, when I was in the mountains with my family. We brought lots of champagne, because, it is New Year’s Eve after all. Well, I indulged quite a bit, honestly. I didn’t really keep track, but from 6:00 pm to midnight, I had 5 glasses of champagne, 1 glass of wine 2 beers, oh and sips of rum and coke from my Australian buddy. I suppose at least I paced myself, but 5 glasses of champagne? Having experienced a champagne hangover, I’m not quite sure what I was thinking. Now this spread of cocktails might make anyone a little sick. But it certainly should have gotten to me at 9,000 feet elevation. But surprisingly, not only was I fine, but I got up at 7:30 am the next day after sleeping on a horribly uncomfortable fold out sofa, and drove home. This is when I realized my body was definitely too accepting of the alcohol (or I’ve just been abusing my good health and taking it for granted), and that I should also potentially pledge to a CU Fraternity soon.
So I made a decision to reset my alcohol tolerance by not drinking for the month of January. It was a good decision on many fronts. It allowed me to be more productive when I come home from work, forcing me to work on the many projects that there are to do around the house. It helped me sleep a lot better. I used to wake up at 2 am, unable to sleep, watching Roseanne reruns until 4 am. Now I can blissfully snooze through the night. I’m losing weight, not only because I’m not drinking alcoholic sugar water, but wine used to really wake up my appetite for other foods. It is also saving me a lot of money. I used to spend about $25 per week on beer and wine. Now, I have money for clothes and haircuts. So we agree, all good things right? Now here are the bad things about this decision.
I have associated so much in my life with drinking. When it gets snowy out, all I think about is how great it would be to get a bottle of New Belgium Snow Day, make some hearty chili and watch a few movies. I have a ton of firewood for the firepit (thanks neighbors with your stupid Elm trees blowing limbs into my yard), but I can’t just sit by the fire without a drink. When my friends want to go out to happy hour and get a margarita, I can’t help but feel like I might be missing out on something with my iced tea. The same goes for any other parties I planned for January. Hey, at least I can be your designated driver. But lastly, I had no idea how quickly my tolerance would reset.
You see, I’ve been pretty faithful to the no alcohol rule. But there was one thing I didn’t really think about: communion wine. And I go to a Lutheran church every Sunday. You see, at the Lutheran church, everyone is invited, nay, expected to take communion. So I made this no alcohol promise to myself, not even thinking about the following Sunday. Well I get to church, go through the hymns, offer peace to my neighbors, and finally, it’s communion time. Well what’s the big deal? You might ask. It’s just a thimble of Carlos Rossi (at least that’s what it tastes like to me). So I figure, I’ll drink it, it won’t even make an impact. Well I don’t know if it was the spirit of the Lord, or Carlos Rossi’s 14% ABV, but if I didn’t sing the hymns better after communion, I sure thought I did. I was also just a little tiny bit light headed. It all wore off by the time I got home, but I guess the good news is that my liver resets itself fairly quickly.
So I have already delivered myself a spoiler alert for February 1st. If I drink anything that day, I am in trouble. I haven’t made any plans yet. But I think whatever I do, a taxi should for sure be involved, and whatever I do, it should preferably be at a lower altitude than 9000 feet.
P.S. February 1st is a Wednesday, so I probably won’t get too crazy then. But February 4th and 5th, watch out.
A lackluster 888 words for 1/8/12
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