Thanks to you all for your messages of support!
I have to say that waking up day 2 not hungover is just about the very best feeling in the world. I had a nice long walk with my dog after getting my daughters off to school, in the sunshine, and just contemplated my life to this point. It's a lot of soul searching and looking back to all the reasons why drinking has been so important to me. Of course, the real underlying reason is simply that I am an addict and was born with it. But if what I have to do to be sober is focussing on one moment at a time, then that is just a great way of living anyway.
I started tai chi a couple weeks ago in the hopes that it would be a possible way out of drinking, and although I see that only myself can make me stop, the tai chi helps with clearing my mind of the urges so far. But the biggest step for me was to tell my wife all the sad truth of my "secret" drinking I had been keeping up. Of course she suspected, as alcohol has always been a big thing with me, but it felt so good just to lay out all my guilty feelings, and health concerns, etc. to her. She was wonderfully supportive and will help me anyway she can.
Thank you again everyone, this site is truly a gift for all of us I suspect.
All the best
Mark