Welcome Fakey!
TB, sounds like you're doing the right things to get back on track. Good for you!
Very good discussion on relapse. Thanks, Stealthealer, for bringing up the question.
The first time I stopped drinking, I abstained for over a year. Then, while on vacation, sitting at a restaurant with people that I didn't know that well, I allowed myself 1/2 a beer. 2 years later I was back to drinking daily. It happened slowly so I was able to convince myself that I could control it. Last year, I tried to give it up at the beginning of each month but would start again after a week or so.
If I didn't experience this personally, I wouldn't have believed that a person could relapse after a year without some major trauma in their lives. I had developed patterns of thinking for how to abstain in specific environments like home, at friends' homes or local restaurants. When I was on vacation, I declared myself exempt. You know, that "just this one time and I'll jump right back on" thinking. After that, it was a constant struggle even in environments that I had conquered already.
This time around I'm becoming more aware how subtle the triggers can be. It's very hard to control your environment especially if you don't know how your subconscious has linked alcohol to the pleasure centers in your brain. It's much easier to just check into SR (or AA) at least once a day to wipe the slate clean or load up on ammunition, however you want to approach it. So far, it's working for me.