Dreading This Snow Day
For Grace
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Maryland
Posts: 92
Dreading This Snow Day
Today will hopefully be the first time in over 20 years that I have not celebrated having a snow day by drinking. I had to think about that for a minute but I think it's accurate or pretty close to it. I have been partying since I was in my late teens so yeah 20 years. Wow ... just typing that out was difficult. Regardless, Mother Nature is bringing us heavy snow today and the office is closed. My routine used to be wake up, check the website for work status, and if closed, crack a beer, have a smoke to celebrate. Get back in bed for a few hours and then get up and get the party started officially. Today is going to be challenging. I have a pad out trying to jot down ideas of things to do in the house ... anything really that doesn't involve drinking but it's a short list thus far. As the title says ... I am actually dreading this day that looms ahead and it's only 7AM. I used to love, love, love looking at the beauty of it all and playing in the snow like a kid. Now I just wish work was open as I'd go sit there and be distracted.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 608
Hi Chuck,
I know what you're saying. I would have looked forward to doing that exact same thing when I was drinking. Now that I'm sober, my strategy is to play it out in my mind and "play the tape through to the end" as some wise people around these forums would suggest you do. For example, this would be my schedule: have a beer, go back to bed for a few hours.. wake back up at 10AM, have a few more beer.. then a few more.. 7,8,9... 12, 13.. get trashed. Neglect eating so the beer hits you even harsher.. run out of beer around #14 or #15. Send some text messages or some emails I would regret when I sobered up. Listen to music for a little while.. decide that I'm "bored" and either drive or catch a taxi to a bar or a pub. Decide that the beer isn't working anymore and switch to vodka and lime. *black out*
Wake up god knows where.. the next morning... hangover, frantically trying to find my phone, my wallet, hoping nothing embarrassing happened the night before when I knew, of course, that it did. Probably missing work. A couple of hundred dollars lighter in my wallet (I assume, but I can't be sure because I probably lost my wallet). Girlfriend threatening to break up with me.. maybe she means it this time. This is what would have happened to me in your situation, if I was still a drinker. I know this because things like that have happened countless times before to me. Things got worse over the years... going from embarrassing to scary. I know this is a severe illustration, but I had a severe problem.
Why'd it take me so long to quit? Haha
I know what you're saying. I would have looked forward to doing that exact same thing when I was drinking. Now that I'm sober, my strategy is to play it out in my mind and "play the tape through to the end" as some wise people around these forums would suggest you do. For example, this would be my schedule: have a beer, go back to bed for a few hours.. wake back up at 10AM, have a few more beer.. then a few more.. 7,8,9... 12, 13.. get trashed. Neglect eating so the beer hits you even harsher.. run out of beer around #14 or #15. Send some text messages or some emails I would regret when I sobered up. Listen to music for a little while.. decide that I'm "bored" and either drive or catch a taxi to a bar or a pub. Decide that the beer isn't working anymore and switch to vodka and lime. *black out*
Wake up god knows where.. the next morning... hangover, frantically trying to find my phone, my wallet, hoping nothing embarrassing happened the night before when I knew, of course, that it did. Probably missing work. A couple of hundred dollars lighter in my wallet (I assume, but I can't be sure because I probably lost my wallet). Girlfriend threatening to break up with me.. maybe she means it this time. This is what would have happened to me in your situation, if I was still a drinker. I know this because things like that have happened countless times before to me. Things got worse over the years... going from embarrassing to scary. I know this is a severe illustration, but I had a severe problem.
Why'd it take me so long to quit? Haha
Stay positive.
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 84
Hey there Chuck 
I was just thinking the same thing. We also got slammed here with another snow storm, and I will probably be off tomorrow as well. This was also my prime time to drink... I would start as soon as I find out I'm off and be attached to my wine bottles until there was nothing left, and it was too bad out to get another one. Now it's lots of coffee, Netflix, and yoga. Hopefully you have other things to keep you occupied, or someone to talk to if you have the urge to drink. Stay strong. Spring is coming
I was just thinking the same thing. We also got slammed here with another snow storm, and I will probably be off tomorrow as well. This was also my prime time to drink... I would start as soon as I find out I'm off and be attached to my wine bottles until there was nothing left, and it was too bad out to get another one. Now it's lots of coffee, Netflix, and yoga. Hopefully you have other things to keep you occupied, or someone to talk to if you have the urge to drink. Stay strong. Spring is coming
Hears The Voice
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Unshackled
Posts: 7,901
It takes some time to build a sober life. I used to spend hours and hours doing nothing but drinking. When I stopped I had hours and hours of time to fill each day. I didn't know what to do. It didn't come naturally, but it came eventually.
Now I don't have enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do.
Don't kid yourself about the past, though. This is what was really happening:
Have a great snow day! 
Now I don't have enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do.
Don't kid yourself about the past, though. This is what was really happening:
Originally Posted by Chuck39 
Today will hopefully be the first time in over 20 years that I have not wasted having a snow day by drinking.
totfit
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Ft Collins, CO
Posts: 1,273
Be a good day to walk in the snow or go sledding. There are other ways to take advantage of snow days. When drinking we never took advantage of anything, just drank. That is why I don't drink.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: East Coast USA
Posts: 120,853
I remember snow day drinking, too. My 7:30 wine start time became 3:00 and things headed downhill from there.
I can honestly say that I don't miss it at all. It takes time and total thought-transformation but you will get there. Sobriety and recovery are truly amazing.
You can get through this, Chuck. Grab your shovel and help out your neighbors (just don't accept any 'thank you' beer).
I can honestly say that I don't miss it at all. It takes time and total thought-transformation but you will get there. Sobriety and recovery are truly amazing.
You can get through this, Chuck. Grab your shovel and help out your neighbors (just don't accept any 'thank you' beer).
Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: New York
Posts: 984
As a nighttime binger, for me, the terrible drinking would be the night before a snow day. Was always horrible when I found out the office was open and I had to show up hungover!
Anyway, work got cancelled at like 6PM during the storm that was supposed to wreck NYC, but didn't hit that hard. That night, I went out to a bar with some friends, got pretty sauced, then of course went home and polished off a pint of vodka while miraculously finishing a jigsaw puzzle I'd been working on. I was pretty baffled when I woke up at 10AM in the chair in my living room feeling like crap. In a weird way, my AV was like "you weren't that drunk, you finished a jigsaw puzzle!"
Needless to say, that snow day sucked since I was nauseous and had a pounding headache all day. I'd planned to get in a workout and then work from home. I have clients all over the country and they were open, so instead of getting work done (I'm in a role where 50% of my job is sales), I put up an out of office and spent the whole day in bed.
What a waste. I'm currently on my way to work during this snow storm. If we close early, it's off to the gym and then working from home this evening
Anyway, work got cancelled at like 6PM during the storm that was supposed to wreck NYC, but didn't hit that hard. That night, I went out to a bar with some friends, got pretty sauced, then of course went home and polished off a pint of vodka while miraculously finishing a jigsaw puzzle I'd been working on. I was pretty baffled when I woke up at 10AM in the chair in my living room feeling like crap. In a weird way, my AV was like "you weren't that drunk, you finished a jigsaw puzzle!"
Needless to say, that snow day sucked since I was nauseous and had a pounding headache all day. I'd planned to get in a workout and then work from home. I have clients all over the country and they were open, so instead of getting work done (I'm in a role where 50% of my job is sales), I put up an out of office and spent the whole day in bed.
What a waste. I'm currently on my way to work during this snow storm. If we close early, it's off to the gym and then working from home this evening
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Washington, MO
Posts: 2,306
Sooo change the routine. Shovel/sweep snow, Sled, help your neighbor get out, go to a meeting, clean house, make a lasagna, do maintenance on your car, read the Mahabarata (or Steve king). Seriously, if you really don't want to repeat the cycle, you will find a way. Best wishes.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 12,000
yep, I was smart and parked at the bottom of driveway last night. Picked up wife at 730 - heard on radio that everything is closed today. Except she still has class at 5PM two hours later. She was frightened because I took the 'traction' control off and was goofing around on the roads. Screaming - scaredy cat. But she was cool with doing a couple doughnuts in a parking lot near home. 56 years old and I have to still do doughnuts in the snow
By now I would be on my third or fourth beer and had a few short ones as I "get ready" to shovel snow again. Yep, if I didn't have to go to work, two or three would go into the snow bank - nature's ice cooler - while I played in the snow.
Not no more.
By now I would be on my third or fourth beer and had a few short ones as I "get ready" to shovel snow again. Yep, if I didn't have to go to work, two or three would go into the snow bank - nature's ice cooler - while I played in the snow.
Not no more.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 38
Originally Posted by ClearMind
Hi Chuck, I know what you're saying. I would have looked forward to doing that exact same thing when I was drinking. Now that I'm sober, my strategy is to play it out in my mind and "play the tape through to the end" as some wise people around these forums would suggest you do. For example, this would be my schedule: have a beer, go back to bed for a few hours.. wake back up at 10AM, have a few more beer.. then a few more.. 7,8,9... 12, 13.. get trashed. Neglect eating so the beer hits you even harsher.. run out of beer around #14 or #15. Send some text messages or some emails I would regret when I sobered up. Listen to music for a little while.. decide that I'm "bored" and either drive or catch a taxi to a bar or a pub. Decide that the beer isn't working anymore and switch to vodka and lime. *black out* Wake up god knows where.. the next morning... hangover, frantically trying to find my phone, my wallet, hoping nothing embarrassing happened the night before when I knew, of course, that it did. Probably missing work. A couple of hundred dollars lighter in my wallet (I assume, but I can't be sure because I probably lost my wallet). Girlfriend threatening to break up with me.. maybe she means it this time. This is what would have happened to me in your situation, if I was still a drinker. I know this because things like that have happened countless times before to me. Things got worse over the years... going from embarrassing to scary. I know this is a severe illustration, but I had a severe problem. Why'd it take me so long to quit? Haha
Sincerely thanks, I've been dealing with temptations lately and just over two months, but you've reminded me of all the reasons I quit. There is literally nothing that is worth going through those hangovers again. The physical feelings were bad but the emotional feelings were a thousand times worse.
Congratulations on not drinking on a snow day. As a Canadian, I can assure you there are plenty of fun things you can do on a snow day both inside and outside. You could go out and play hockey with some friends. You could stay in and watch a hockey game with some friends. You could reorganize your collection of hockey cards. You could catch up on NHL statistics. You could contemplate ordering NHL classic with some of that extra money you've saved from putting down the bottle.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 608
Originally Posted by Exegesis
Ohhhhh yeah, the good old days. Hahaha. Thanks for posting this. I've been missing alcohol a bit myself lately but this is exactly how my drinking was. It's so insane that I romanticize something so horrible. That dread upon waking up. I'd get suicidal before my eyes even opened. The losing the phone was the worst. I probably went through two to three a year.
Sincerely thanks, I've been dealing with temptations lately and just over two months, but you've reminded me of all the reasons I quit. There is literally nothing that is worth going through those hangovers again. The physical feelings were bad but the emotional feelings were a thousand times worse.
Congratulations on not drinking on a snow day. As a Canadian, I can assure you there are plenty of fun things you can do on a snow day both inside and outside. You could go out and play hockey with some friends. You could stay in and watch a hockey game with some friends. You could reorganize your collection of hockey cards. You could catch up on NHL statistics. You could contemplate ordering NHL classic with some of that extra money you've saved from putting down the bottle.
Sincerely thanks, I've been dealing with temptations lately and just over two months, but you've reminded me of all the reasons I quit. There is literally nothing that is worth going through those hangovers again. The physical feelings were bad but the emotional feelings were a thousand times worse.
Congratulations on not drinking on a snow day. As a Canadian, I can assure you there are plenty of fun things you can do on a snow day both inside and outside. You could go out and play hockey with some friends. You could stay in and watch a hockey game with some friends. You could reorganize your collection of hockey cards. You could catch up on NHL statistics. You could contemplate ordering NHL classic with some of that extra money you've saved from putting down the bottle.
Haha
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Orleans, LA
Posts: 985
Living in Alaska, most all winter is a perpetual "snow day," although we still have to labor through it to get to work - no cancelled anything, ever...
But, I did have to alter my approach to bad weather, which involved lots of wine and sitting in front of the fire. I go walking in all sorts of blustery, blowing, icy, blizzardy, sub-zero conditions in my sobriety, and I love it.
I have some weekends in which I try not to drive at all - I just hang out in my little house in the woods, go for walks with my dog, I still sit by the fire reading, just without the wine. Cozy. Shooting for sober cozy.
Movies. Shoveling snow. Working out at home - yoga, dancing. Cooking yummy meals.
Believe it or not, I'm now able to self entertain sober all weekend long in winter.
When you were a child, you likely had NO difficulty figuring out sober stuff to do on a snow-day!! Let your child re-inhabit your body and see what he wants to do!
Play. Play in the snow.
But, I did have to alter my approach to bad weather, which involved lots of wine and sitting in front of the fire. I go walking in all sorts of blustery, blowing, icy, blizzardy, sub-zero conditions in my sobriety, and I love it.
I have some weekends in which I try not to drive at all - I just hang out in my little house in the woods, go for walks with my dog, I still sit by the fire reading, just without the wine. Cozy. Shooting for sober cozy.
Movies. Shoveling snow. Working out at home - yoga, dancing. Cooking yummy meals.
Believe it or not, I'm now able to self entertain sober all weekend long in winter.
When you were a child, you likely had NO difficulty figuring out sober stuff to do on a snow-day!! Let your child re-inhabit your body and see what he wants to do!
Play. Play in the snow.
For Grace
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Maryland
Posts: 92
Thanks all! Hanging in there ... so far there have been two square meals (healthy breakfast and lunch). Lots of water. List making. And I completely cleared a bookcase to reorganize and declutter. Haven't gotten to that part yet ... basically just made a big mess and now I am staring at it like why did I do that? But it should keep me busy. I do plan to get out and do some shoveling soon. Just to keep the blood moving. Getting a little depressed/anxious so I jumped on here for a bit to check in. Appreciate the thoughts and stories ... just the thought of living in Alaska was enough to put me over the edge. Perspective!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: PA
Posts: 1,053
Grab your shovel and help out your neighbors (just don't accept any 'thank you' beer).
Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: New York
Posts: 984
Originally Posted by nymets86
I'm currently on my way to work during this snow storm. If we close early, it's off to the gym and then working from home this evening
I just said that I was exhausted and wasn't up for it. Amazing how nobody judged or said anything. Just shrugged and were like "OK." I didn't even need to remind them that I had to get up at 3:50AM this morning in order to catch an early flight to NY just to get here on time. Being a bit exhausted has never stopped me before though and I definitely had to fight the urge. It just seemed so natural to be like: "It's 2PM, I can drink for 3 hours with co-workers then go home and pound some vodka and be hammered by 8PM with enough time to work off the hangover before work starts tomorrow."
I'm going to check in here again once I've gotten home and not bought any vodka or stopped a bar, cuz that's what my AV is begging me to do with this now "free" afternoon."
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