Sober for two months, that pesky extra leap year day included and all. We still haven't started the sweep, so for those who didn't think I'd make it this far they've saved themselves some cash. What have I noticed at the 1/6th mark?
1. Alcohol-less dreams are worse than cheese dreams, and cheese dreams a vivid, icky messes. I am on beta blockers for a migraine condition, and these can cause nightmares. Interspersed with the usual nightmares are a new kind of dream, the 'I caved' dream. These are dreams where I forget/don't care/ignore the fact I'm not drinking and in one swoop I ruin it all with a never-tasty-enough-to-be-worth-it bevvy. First comes shock, then guilt and a bit of anguish, then the stress that I've let myself down. Suffice to say I never wake up refreshed from these dreams. Body and mind trying to undermine me? Let's hope not!
2. Bars don't like sober people too much. I live near some great bars, they have kept me in booze and food in the past. But now, with the first part excluded, I am finding the service less rosy at places. They look at me bewildered when I ask if they have anything non-alcoholic in a bottle (I hate, hate, hate tap soft drink) or if they stock an interesting juice, or heaven forbid they have mocktails. These places make great cocktails, but don't seem at all interested in making mocktails. I know they need to make money, and that's generally on the booze but I'd happily pay a fair sum for a good, interesting mocktail. One lovely place (The Crimean) made me a few different lemon lime and bitters which were fantastic, and I'm sure had they been less busy (I doubt there ever is a time they are less busy as this is one great bar) they may have branched out into a more creative area. Overall, though, as a teetotal you often get looked at as the cheap one. And when you switch to water after one too many sweet drinks, then that's game over.
3. Tiramisu doesn't necessarily need alcohol - my lovely friend Ms A makes a mean tiramisu, and at a dinner at her place the other night, she made a special non-alcohol version for me. It was magnificent.
4. Dinner parties are just as fun sober, and you have less chance of mucking up in the kitchen
5. I need to find a stress-coping mechanism that isn't alcohol - now that semester has started again, and the work has piled on, I'm bereft without my usual wind-down drink. Suggestions?
There are plenty of other observations I can make, but I'll leave them for another post.
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