A Dry Week in January

Last Thursday, as I finished a pint of a sweet, chocolate-raspberry stout, it occurred to me that I couldn't remember the last day that I hadn't had an alcoholic beverage, and that gave me pause. Was it sometime before DW and I had gone to Cuba?

In 2019, when DW and I had celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in Mexico, I decided that, just for fun, I would count how many margaritas I would drink over the week that we were on the Mayan Riviera.

I had 48. Don't judge me.

The perfect Cubata.

In Cuba, I decided that I would count every alcoholic drink that I consumed. All of the beer, wine, Cuba Libres, Cubatas, margaritas, piña coladas, and lemon-lime slushies with rum.

I had 64. I said don't judge me.

When DW and I returned home, we had 2.4 litres of dark rum in tow. And because we were still on vacation until January 4, we spared no time in cracking the bottles open.

Wait a second... I now remember the last day that I had gone without a drink. It was Friday, December 17. It was the day that we left Cuba. It was too early to have a drink when we gathered in the lobby to get aboard our shuttle bus to the airport, and I didn't have any alcohol on our flight. By the time we got home and unpacked, I was too tired to do anything other than climb into bed.

We opened our first rum bottle on December 18. We made Cubatas (like a Cuba Libre but with dark rum, instead of white rum), Dark and Stormies, and Brownfoot Mulatas. Because Kid 1 was home for the holidays and also likes rum, we went through our first bottle by Christmas.

Don't judge us.

While I didn't particularly get into the holiday spirit, this Christmas, I certainly got into the spirits over the holidays. And even when I returned to work—albeit, still at home—I found that I would have a pint of beer with lunch and would enjoy a cocktail in the evening.

Before we left for Cuba, I limited my drinking to Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. And when I did drink on these evenings, I would have no more than two drinks (usually, I would only have one pint of beer in a sitting; with wine, I'd often have a second glass).

What bothered me was that I wouldn't think twice about having a drink in the evening. I would pull out a bottle of rum and a can of cola, or a bottle of ginger beer, or a jug of lemonade, and mix myself a treat.

But the holidays are over, my vacation time has been used up, and it's time to get back on track.

Back to last Thursday, when I had finished a pint and realized that I had been drinking every day while at our Cuban resort and every day after we had returned, I found myself disturbed by this revelation. While I'm not participating in Dry January (I did a Dry July last summer), I decided at that moment that I needed to stop, to take a break.

I have planned to stop drinking for a week, at least. So far, it's been no issue. Although, on Friday, after work, I opened my beer fridge and reached for a can of beer without thinking. Luckily, I stopped myself and grabbed a can of sparkling water, instead. Without regret. The rest of the weekend was no problem.

I do believe that I don't have a drinking problem, that I can stop whenever I want. And time after time, I've proven that to myself. I'm lucky. But every once and awhile, it doesn't hurt to re-evaluate that claim and reassure myself.