A New Challenge

Last night was just a "wisp" of a challenge. We decided to go to a new restaurant for a light dinner. It is close by so that I could walk and the hubs met me there and then drove me home after we ate. It was around happy hour and they have a quaint little bar, just as you enter the restaurant, and I got there before he arrived. Typically, I would have enjoyed a glass of wine, while waiting for him, and then he would have joined me for a drink before dinner. Those are the moments that I am going to miss this year. I love talking to him and it seems to me that when we get away from the house/office it feels more like a date. Our home is beautiful but our office does tend to trickle into our living area and so a little escape from that can be refreshing.

Another discovery I have made from this non-drinking deal is that I am much more aware of my finances. Go figure? Maybe that would have happened anyway but when we went out to dinner last night, I was painfully aware of how much the grouper dinner cost as opposed to the ahi tuna appetizer. So, I opted for tuna instead of grouper. What's that all about? Before, after having a glass of wine, which would have cost me as much as a whole bottle from the grocery store, I would have ordered the grouper and not thought a thing about it. Now, I understand why they take your drink order first. It's a conspiracy to get us to spend more money. MAN, maybe I am having withdrawal symptoms....I'm getting paranoid and losing my mind!!! Just kidding.

I told another person about my little experiment and my blog. It seems like I am not the only one with the same feeling that a break from daily drinking would be a good idea. It is amazing how so many of us "social drinkers" share the same reasons for drinking. I'm thinking it is not so much the liquor but the activity at the end of our day. The glass with the nice drink, while cooking dinner. For most of my friends, we are self employed and have no one to blow the whistle, or punch the clock or tell us that it is time to stop working. This is our way of telling ourselves that it's okay to relax and not be the boss, or the general, or whatever it is that keeps us crazy busy all day long.

Good luck to my friend who said she'd like to join me in this effort. I hope it works out just like it is working for me and my beautiful man.

Cheers!!!!