Not Drinking during the Holidays
 

Oh man! The time has come... Thanksgiving. Because my car is still in the shop, I had to catch a ride with my best friend. I hate being without a car. The entire ride down here, I thought, what am I going to tell my family? I'm without a car and the stress I'm holding is enough to crush an elephant. I contemplated stopping by the liquor store. It just seemed like the easier thing to do. I didn't. I hope I don't regret being stuck here without "a little help". Ugh! I'll be here 4 days. I hope that I can stick it out. Happy Holidays everyone. Wish me luck!

Hang in there! Go for walks, get fresh air, minimize the drama. Peace.

Good luck.

Better still . . .

better than "a little help.":

keep posting and reading for a lot of help, when you can.

Take care.

A plan in place to escape quickly instead
of drinking, being put to the test, temptations
to drink, is where doing the footwork in
recovery pays off and allows us another
day, week, month, yr, or a whole bunch
of 1 days sober added together to get
you down the road.

You have your phone. Check. Do you
have a friend in recovery, someone who
understands addiction and recovery,
someone whom you could trust in helping
you remain sober thru the holidays, take
you under their wing, drive you to an
AA meeting, support group?

Doing the research in your area to
find the closest meeting and having
someone come pick you up would
help you remain sober. Someone
in the fellowship that would have
your back.

Holidays can be stressful and having
that outlet, plan of escape would help
you protect your own recovery/sobriety
and doing whatever is needed to not
succumb to numbing the holiday stress.

Continue to come here to SR and share
and ask for further suggestions and support
while being separated from your car and
ways to remain sober no matter what. :)

My wife went grocery shopping today. She also bought beer, 2 bottles of Baileys, a bottle of wine, vodka and bloody mary mix. She is all set for the 4 day holiday weekend.

Today I am 30 days sober and it may get a little tough dealing with her once she gets loaded; but I can't stop her from drinking and enjoying her holiday.

When I quit drinking for 4 months back in 2013 I constantly bitched when she drank; and it nearly ended our marriage. She was going to do what she wanted and felt I had no right to tell her not to drink just because I quit.

Part of the reason my sobriety ended in 2013 was because I wanted to save my marriage - as sick as that sounds.

I do not know how things will play out this time - I do not want to fall back into the life of alcoholism and I am not going to say a word about her drinking.

Tell them that your car is in the shop ;-) It's not a lie and you really don't need to tell them anyting more than that. SR is here 24/7 365 days a year so if you have a smartphone we're right in your pocket the whole time. Don't "hope" you can stick it out or rely on luck to help you through the weekend - enjoy your family and all the food and other good things that come along with the holiday. And check in here whenever you need to.

Consider that had you injured someone else, or even injured just yourself, in your DUI accident, you could be spending your Thanksgiving holiday under very different, and far more stressful circumstances. Forget about the car. It can be replaced with relatively little collateral damage to your life.

It doesn't sound like you've internalized the reality that the state is probably going to force you to abstain as a consequence of your DUI charges. The charges could get dismissed, but given the high BAC result, and the accident, that is not likely. If you are under 21, that could place you in the "zero tolerance" category.

They will probably give you probation if you have a clean record and this is your first offense, but probation comes with conditions, such as not drinking or using drugs. Those conditions are a contractual obligation with the court, and if you violate that contract, you face the full brunt of the charges, in addition to a violation of parole charge.

You simply cannot afford to merely "hope" to abstain from alcohol. You must get that one, single idiocy out of your life, not only so that you can demonstrate to the court that you understand the situation you now find yourself in, and that you will not re-offend, but also so that you might salvage your life and your future.

Do yourself and your family a favor, and get a grip on this now, while you are young, and the price is relatively low. If you do not, that price will probably go up as years go by. You were not born to drink, nor were you born to lose by wasting your potential on alcohol.