Thanks you guys, I needed that. And thank you for the affirmation, I actually always feel a bit like an outsider regardless of where I am or what I am doing. I also really appreciated the opinion that if you think its a problem, its a problem. Booze that is.
I agree that there are grades of AL related problems, and Lav, your words make a lot of sense to me. And M3 I do expect tough love. For example if I were to seriously fall of the wagon and start binge drinking again, I would simply feel I have to leave here. Or expect to get my arse kicked. But on the other hand I also feel that I have not had to struggle with quitting as much as others, or struggle with addiction as much as others. Alcohol was making me feel sick for years, and yet I kept drinking it even though it was making me sick. Is that some form of addiction? Probably, yes. I never got drunk in public, or had blackouts or drank during the day, and I could go for weeks without it, but when I did drink, it did make me ill. I understand now that there were times when it affected my performance at work, and times when I was not a fully engaged parent, and times when I used AL to dull the pain of being part of a dysfunctional family. Or because I was lonely and bored.
I actually would like to see others quit drinking just to see if they feel better, which is what I did, and I discovered it influenced my arthritis and general health. I wonder how many medical problems there are out there that would be improved substantially by simply knocking off the sauce?
I guess what I love about this place is the committment to waking up with no aftereffects of AL. When all it takes is two glasses of red wine to make you feel sick and or sore the next day, having a daily celebration of being free of that is so wonderful, and lets face it, this is the only place I know of where it is recognized on a daily basis.
Anyway, I am back from the maiden voyage of my new kayak. Very pleasant, I saw some loons, and water lilies and it was very peaceful. Nancy Green Lake is named for a Rossland skier, she was a great athlete. I can get out without soaking myself by reaching behind me, and hauling my legs out over the side and getting one foot down in the shallow water. Then pushing up with my arms. So i didnt have to just toss myself out in the water like yesterday, lol! Sat in the restaurant eating lunch with a soaked pair of pants on.... ha ha, thats the Kootenays for you. And I can carry the whole thing myself back to the truck, camera and paddles etc with no help.
I was curious to see if I still liked the flavor of champagne. I found out that no, I dont. I felt as though I had to find that out, because a part of me was still wondering if I was missing anything. I found that I was not missing a darn thing, really. I can safely say it tastes bad. Sour, musty, claustrophobic sort of, hard to explain. No great addition to a lovely meal, regardless of what my sommellier husband says. Give me a raspberry spritzer any time, instead. And you know what, he is starting to drink the AF drinks I buy too. And I notice he does not drink any where near as much as he used to. I seriously believe that our society has gotten hoodwinked by the booze industry, governments, antiprohibition, etc into thinking booze is good for us in moderation, when if fact, very few of us really moderates all that well...
![](http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p161/kennstamarack/kayak_MG_0002.jpg)
Comment