I agree 100% with Taz. I know one of the problems I had with alcohol was lying about it. Lying about the amount I was drinking, about not going to drink anything while I was driving, about going to the fire station when I was really going to the store to buy more booze. And the hiding bottles and stashing beer caches where no one else would find them. This all points to being dishonest...with everyone around you and most of all to yourself. When alcohol makes you perform this way, then I feel honesty must replace the latter. I do understand the plight of going to a party and wanting to keep sober, but thinking it would be easier to drink "just tonight" and hop back on the wagon the next day, my dear friends, is another dishonest move, for we all know what a dangerous thing that is. To pick the bottle back up is leaving yourself W I D E open for a serious relapse. And sometimes those relapses are not so easy to shake the next time around. I personally had a hell of a time returning to sobriety after the seven-month hiatus I took from it. And I am still, after writing all these words and sharing thoughts, a mere five minutes away from throwing it away and drinking what I know destroys me. My only salvation is the voice of reason inside me that has that five minutes to convince the chronically sick, addicted Padraic not to do it. Just as that voice cries out within me for a drink, the other must cry louder the reasons not to do so. That is the battle to which I so often refer. And I see no end to that fight. I believe it will get easier to ignore the urge and to set it mentally aside much quicker. But the Siren will always be there—waiting for the moment when weakness erodes our resolve and leaves us vulnerable to her song—and to whom we must keep constant vigilance. To remain honest to ourselves and others gives us strength to maintain our decision to escape our addictions. Don't lose it. A white lie or a black lie, it is still untruth. And to not embrace truth can allow us to lose a little faith in ourselves.
As I have rambled again, IMHO don't give the phony medication scenario, remember when your parents told you if you tell one lie, you end up telling a hundred by the time its over? True? I am not saying you need to walk in the party and blurt, "Hi, I'm Carrie and I am a raving alcoholic!!!!!" Use Taz's excuses, or be creative on your own, only use truth in your reasons. That way your in the clear, no deceptions, no cover-ups, and best of all, it's easier to remember what you said when it is the truth.
Blessings to you and be proud of what you are doing.
PS. Wish me luck, as I am going to a party this weekend and will be subjected to similar obstacles as you. Let's share notes next week to see how it fared for both of us. OK?
Until later...
Peace—
Padraic