Introduction...Who Am I?
OK, let me start by telling you a little bit about me. I am a regular 46 year old married working mum with 3 children, a dog, a cat and a rabbit. I love drinking wine. I love drinking beer. I love drinking spirits. Don't get me wrong, I don't drink every day, nor do I drink to excess every time I do drink. I DO however, since turning 40, suffer from monstrous hangovers; they start about 3am with blood curdling anxiety, an inability to get back to sleep (until it's time to get up) and they last all day. I never, ever vomit - sometimes I think it would be better if I did. I rarely get any physical symptoms apart from tiredness and aching muscles. Yet sometimes I yearn for physical symptoms in the hope that the mental symptoms will disappear. I suffer from blackouts, memory loss, anxiety and that constant feeling of dread.
People who know me will probably find it absurd to think that I feel the need to quit alcohol. My husband tells me I'm a 'lovely drunk'. I'm not aggressive, I'm a fun drunk (well I think so..) and I can dance when I drink! Yet, when I calculate the amount of time that alcohol has stolen from me I can't help but think that I won't ever get that time back. Yes some of that time I've had great fun but the price paid for that fun is high.
In between my management job in publishing, looking after the kids, tending to our home and walking the dog I always manage to find the time to drink alcohol but can never seem to find the time to do anything else. Once that glass of wine is poured I know that whatever time of day it is I won't do much else before bedtime.
I have only very recently had my eyes opened to the alcohol culture that we have been raised in - the one where we are encouraged to drink by parents (indirectly), family, friends, advertising, TV and films etc. Think back (if you are old enough) to when everyone on TV smoked cigarettes and they were advertised EVERYWHERE. Hell it was even 'cool' to smoke, especially in the 50s/60s. Smoke filled trains, planes and automobiles were common place and you were guaranteed to smell of tobacco smoke if you went to a pub. Nowadays, these images are unthinkable and I think in fifty years time alcohol will become something similar.
This blog will follow my days (and nights) as I learn to cope to live in a world of alcohol from the other side....aaargh!
People who know me will probably find it absurd to think that I feel the need to quit alcohol. My husband tells me I'm a 'lovely drunk'. I'm not aggressive, I'm a fun drunk (well I think so..) and I can dance when I drink! Yet, when I calculate the amount of time that alcohol has stolen from me I can't help but think that I won't ever get that time back. Yes some of that time I've had great fun but the price paid for that fun is high.
In between my management job in publishing, looking after the kids, tending to our home and walking the dog I always manage to find the time to drink alcohol but can never seem to find the time to do anything else. Once that glass of wine is poured I know that whatever time of day it is I won't do much else before bedtime.
So, apart from being bad for our health and an expensive hobby to maintain, coupled with the hangover, wine (alcohol) is a grand thief of time...and who doesn't want more time, right?
I have only very recently had my eyes opened to the alcohol culture that we have been raised in - the one where we are encouraged to drink by parents (indirectly), family, friends, advertising, TV and films etc. Think back (if you are old enough) to when everyone on TV smoked cigarettes and they were advertised EVERYWHERE. Hell it was even 'cool' to smoke, especially in the 50s/60s. Smoke filled trains, planes and automobiles were common place and you were guaranteed to smell of tobacco smoke if you went to a pub. Nowadays, these images are unthinkable and I think in fifty years time alcohol will become something similar.
This blog will follow my days (and nights) as I learn to cope to live in a world of alcohol from the other side....aaargh!
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