mfree and mirage - totally with you on that one, any excuse. We got heavy snow last month and got 'snowed in', so I managed to trawl through the snow to get alcohol 'somehow', and had a drink, because it was snowing, lol.
I have just got back from my first meeting with the community drags and alcohol advisory service. They deal with the medical side of things, and because my withdrawals have been so mild they can't help really - I was disappointed, as I thought they would give me a 'magic' tablet to ease the cravings
What they did do however, was refer me to an organisation that are expert in life AFTER drinking, and they specialise in teaching methods to deal with everyday stuff - be it celebrations or disasters - without hitting the bottle.
I am now calling myself an alcoholic in my head, and it still makes me wince, but it's actually easier, it seems to take OFF pressure for some reason. She did say that on her care pathway thingy, I follow the flow chart that recommends lifelong abstinence
oh well, I knew that deep down
Hope you are all okay xxx