Originally Posted by
Santideva 
My plan is to attempt to quit drinking completely starting on Monday, February 20th...
Please let me know if this plan seems reasonable or if I am missing something glaring.
Get rid of the alcohol supply, and consider quitting today, especially if you are not at work and can sleep sober, and start the work week sober. You may be irritable for a while, which you will probably notice at work, but this is normal.
Originally Posted by
Santideva I'm an atheist and I understand that part of the process is handing your self over to a higher power. Can the higher power be my addiction or the universe?
I can guarantee you that your addiction will be the very first applicant for the job of "Higher Power", because it has been your higher power for a long time, and you have already turned your self over to it. It won't like being de-throned, but it's not wise to let it remain your higher power.
You'll get a variety of opinions on how to "do" AA, even within AA, which appears to have split into two main camps:
"Don't drink and go to meetings."
vs.
"It's not the meetings we make, but the steps we take."
Personally, I would simply read
the AA doctrinal literature to decide, but there are other options as well, and if you are atheist, and have trouble with the HP idea, you may also want to look into the
secular connections forum.