Wine Mummy No More

When I started this AF journey, I will be honest I didn't think I would get to this point. Today I am 32 days sober (started on Hogmanay), that is the longest I have went without a tipple since I was pregnant. So I am taking this as a huge achievement :-) This had led me to consider how I am feeling right now about my sobriety and what I want to happen moving forward. I can honestly say the best things about being sober this January are: 1) No Memory Gaps - I remember everything. Ok, maybe not everything but everything that matters. Nothing has been tarnished by alcohol this January. Nothing is fuzzy. Every key memory is cemented in my brain in HD. And I bloody love it! 2) Driving - No trains, no taxis and no morning after worries. I have been able to jump in my car and drive. And save money - bonus! 3) Drunken conversations - none! Completely in control of my actions and gob at all times. No worrying about have I have said, not said or done. Serenity! 4) New tastes - Fin...

Happy Sunday Morning! No hangover, no drama and a nice long lie complete. Well as long a lie in, I'm going to get with a 2.5 year old in the house. But I am up, awake and feeling pretty good. We are a VERY busy family. The kind of family that has activities & trips planned months in advance. So this weekend has been a bit of anomaly, we really have had nothing planned. Normally that would mean a takeaway and a couple of bottles of wine on a Saturday night. Perhaps cracking it open about 5-6pm, sometimes during the afternoon depending on how I felt. Currently there are four bottles of white wine in our wine fridge, this is a revelation. Bottles of wine never hang around in our house, these have been in place since Hogmanay. Our wine fridge is a full height under counter one. It used to be filled top to bottom with bottles, or the remaining bottles were stored on the top shelf. Most were drunk within a day of being bought. If I'm honest the only time it was really full ...

According to my "I am sober" app, today is officially day 23 of my sobriety. The next milestone is 25 days "a quarter", so in 2 days I will be 25% of the way to completing my goal of one hundred AF days. That time has passed relatively quickly and I have navigated a family holiday, New Years Eve and various birthday parties on the way. Time passes so rapidly one minute its NYE, the next we're more than half way through January wondering how the happened. The beauty of January 2019 is I will remember every single moment and wont have any drunken incidents to worry about. This makes me think of all the times I have missing memories of night outs or special events. Memories that start vivid but after that 2nd or 3rd glass of wine start the fade. Conversations half remembered....in some occasions that's a good thing. Fuzzy memories of slurred words, trips and stumbles. Now having socialised sober these past 23 days, when I would normally of drank heavily, ma...

Over a week since my last post and this will just be a quick one. Checking in on...…. Day 19 of my AF journey today, which means I bloody did it! 7 days in the sun, completely alcohol free. No wine, No prosecco....only AF cocktails and I had a FANATSTIC time! Positives: 1) I remember every damn detail - no missing memories - I didn't miss a thing! 2) No hangovers! Enough said. 3) Early (ish) bedtimes and good nights sleep. Up bright and early to enjoy the day. 4) Feeling 100% in control at all times. No embarrassing situations or conversations. 5) I ate less - hopefully this will pay off at fat club. 6) My daughters safety was my number 1 concern - at all times. No guilt! 7) I have returned feeling completely rested. Bingo! That's what a holiday is for? 8) My husband drank less too. He normally matches me glass for glass. 9) We spent so much less. And are back debt free. Savings covered the whole trip :-) Bank manager is happy! Negatives: 1) Sunshine is my t...

So I am currently on day 9 of this AF journey and so far it has been surprisingly straight forward. No cravings as such for my pal Vino. I am downing a bottle of shloer every night, that's got to be better than a bottle of its alcoholic cousin, so I'm not questioning myself yet. Perhaps when my largest size of jeans struggle to close I will need to revisit the situation. Tonight when I logged onto my blog, the statistics page was different....my blog had views? Omg I had not expected anyone to come across this. How do you even find a blog? Anyway whoever you are, thank you for taking the time to have a nosy. I may not be Wordsworth but I do try! It is nice to think that I am not just talking to myself....but if it keeps me on the straight and narrow so be it. I see this blog as a diary, my "check in" on myself that I am still AF. In 2 days, we are jetting off to sunny Lanzarote and I cannot wait! The thought of having warm sunshine on my skin and not having to wea...

So at this point in time I am exactly 6 days, 14 hours , 56 minutes and 57 seconds sober. According to my I am Sober app. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7 7 (nearly) whole days of no hangovers and no anxiety about what I did whilst socialising with my old friend Vino. The week has gone past in a flash and I remember every single second, which is amazing. Shloer has become my new best friend, serve chilled in a wine glass and I could almost kid myself that it's wine. And for those watching their waistline, lets face it the majority of us vino lovers do - its normally extending, the light version is only 19 calories per 100ml! Win Win. I have to admit when I decided to download "I am sober" onto my phone, it was terrifying. By downloading an app designed to help addicts; is that me admitting I am actually an alcoholic? I suppose it is. But rather than alcoholic, I think alcohol dependant is probably a better description. Either way if someone sees it on my phone, some people...

Why do people choose to write a blog? I'm guessing 99% of bloggers do for the same reason I am, to be accountable and keep myself on track. For the past decade I feel as though every January I take part in the "New Year, New Me" craze. The results of which tend to be the same. I go hell for leather for two weeks, only to jack it in on week 3 and revert to my old ways. "Insanity is doing the same thing over & over again & expecting different results" Albert Einstein There is so much truth in this. We can't be different without making a change and old habits die hard. More often than not we try to change too much, trip ourselves up before we have even begun. So this year I am pledging to make a few smaller changes, which will (hopefully) build into something bigger: 1) From 31st Dec 2018 - 100 Alcohol Free Days in a row (Currently on day 5) 2) Lose 1 stone in weight 3) Learn a new creative skill Pledge 1 Wine has been my tipple of choice f...