What to do with myself?
 

I realized last night I’ve come accustomed to doing everything around the house with a drink in my hand. I almost feel weird having two hands to do things.

Reminds me of the time I quit smoking. The hardest thing was getting used to driving without lighting up. Driving and smoking go together like Gin and tonic. I was going bonkers until I discovered a nose hair trimmer which made its way into my glove compartment. Needless to say I went through a lot of AA batteries and the interior of my nasal cavity resembled a Brazilian wax job. True story!

Back to last night. The idea struck me to maintain a constant glass of ice water, which worked well because I didn’t succumb to the urge for alcohol. Problem was I spent the night peeing like a race horse.

Hey peeing like a racehorse in the pot beats lying in it! Welcome to SR! I drank lots of Crystal Light, still do. Good job so far!

Lance,
I'll try to get that image of the nose hair trimmer out of my head!

It takes doing things sober for them to feel normal sober. I had many firsts to get through before I didn't feel like something was awkward - first wedding sober, first football game, baseball game, watching TV, listening to music, dancing, etc. But little by little, I didn't notice the glass of alcohol was missing anymore.

Perhaps you should only carry 1/2 glass of water around next time!

Hey Lance, Welcome to the club. I found too that drinking became a habit, I drink for any reason and any occasion simply becasue I always have. I think we have to change our thinking and mindset and re- learn to do these simple things without alcohol. We can change our ways of thinking and our habits I beleive.

Welcome, Lance!

Yeah, habit is part of the problem, but habits can be broken. :) I found that changing my daily routine really helped me a lot in the early days.

I carried on drinking large quantities when I quit, still do... endless amounts of herbal tea and sparkling water. It's like a comfort blanket throwing large quantities of liquid down my gullet. Whatever it takes x

Do race horses pee alot...?

AA has a book available called Living Sober. It helps immensely!