Made it through a social thanksgiving gathering with friends...drank 4 diet cokes instead of 4 beers and 4 glasses of wine. I feel a bit obsessive about staying sober this time, very early days though and I know from past stints of sobriety it will get easier and less consuming. At the gathering it became clear why I like drinking socially: to make people more interesting, social lubricant effect. Although it was probably just the company, I felt soberly bored but at least I didn't cave in. The main reason I didn't drink was because I played the tape through in my head: start drinking at noon, drink at the social, keep drinking through the evening at home, wake up hungover, get a drink by noon, press repeat button...this strategy was an effective deterrent which I would recommend to anyone going through the same.