I'm a week sober now too. I didn't want to think of myself an alcoholic but I was. It took my wife telling me to move out, then apologizing to the kids (teenagers) after being such and ass. Daughter (a tough 16) asked "are you an alcoholic?" and I had to admit to it. I feel like I've lost alot of respect from my kids that I have to earn back. Not going to happen overnight.
With respect to appeasing the crowd....I thought that too at one point. 5 years ago i stopped drinking, cold turkey. Lasted 3 years. It was right before the holidays. Thought i'd need some cute excuse to say why I wasn't drinking. I'd say "I love my brown liquor, but it stopped lovin me back". But it felt awkward. After a while it just didn't come up. I walked around with my Tonic and lime and nobody the wiser. Bottle of water instead of a beer.
These first 7 days been a bee-ach. I'm struggling in my business and finances tight so it's easy to go for my 99c Schnapps. But I can't.