T.A.R.D.I.S....

I missed posting yesterday – not because I gave in to my Friday night regular cravings but because I was busy!  A friend, who has been teetotal for over 6 months called by and we enjoyed, and not loosely enjoyed, we really enjoyed a tonic with gin flavouring.  If you are from the UK you can buy Gin & Tonic flavouring and also a Prosecco flavouring from Sainsburys.  Added to tonic they really do taste like the real thing (you only need a couple of drops per glass) and they are really great for times when you feel stressed and need a drink.  The placebo affect seems to hit my brain and tell my shoulders (and everything else) to relax!  The great thing is, after one you do not feel the urge to go and have another, and another…..

After all, this is the kind of effect we're looking for when we drink alcohol, right?  Anything that relaxes us without the dreadful after effects.  

Sleep isn't coming to me very well at the moment and I don't know if alcohol is still leaving my system or not.  Bit tossy, turny and getting up to go to the bathroom during the night which I hardly ever did whilst drinking alcohol - I guess that's the dehydration effect it has.  I will come back to sleep another day after giving it more time.

Time....!  Yes, the one thing I want to gain from this more than anything else.  What my Saturdays used to look like....lie in bed til late morning, let daughter watch TV most of the day, struggle through the day until it was an appropriate time to have more wine to 'feel better', then go to bed early, watching more TV.What I have achieved in the last two days is amazing.  I no longer work Fridays and managed to clean the entire ground floor of the house, do all the laundry, most of the ironing and cook a meal.  Today, I got up early, took the puppy to a puppy party, took my daughter to a museum (!), visited an ice cream parlour and came home and made our evening meal from scratch an bathed the dog.  It's only Saturday and I honestly feel like I've had more than a weekend away from work.  That. Feels. Amazing.  

Up to now my desire to have any alcohol has been kept away by my fake gin and tonics (twice) but apart from that I've been so happy with my newfound life, which seems to have stretched out much further than it used to be.  I am sure it won't always feel this easy though, so I will prepare for the darker days!  All in all, pretty good at the moment.