So, I’ve just completed ‘Dry January’. As in went the entire month without touching a drop of alcohol. I didn’t have anyone sponsor me for it – no one even knew I was doing it. Not even me!

You see, I didn’t set out to avoid alcohol this month. I’ve always thought January was the month where I’m more likely to want a drink or three – January blues and all that. Combined with Graham going back to work full time and me having the kids on my own whilst he does his 12-hour shifts, I thought I would be reaching for that wine bottle a few times.

It wasn’t until I got to the third week of January I realised that I had three unopened bottles of wine left from Christmas, as well as half a box of lager in the fridge. That’s when I wondered if I could go until the end of the month without drinking booze. I wasn’t going to be really strict on myself – if I really wanted a glass of wine, I was going to have a glass of wine, but I wondered if I could do it.

It sounds like I’m a big drinker normally. I’m not. I’m really not. I probably have one bottle of wine a week, spread over three days, and sometimes don’t have any. Occasionally, Graham and I will buy treat ourselves to a bottle of whisky which normally gets added to hot drinks and lasts us a good few weeks. I very, very rarely get drunk. In fact, I can probably count about 6 occasions since I was 16 or 17 when I have been properly head-spinning, throwing up drunk. For a 31-year-old who has gone to university, I think that’s pretty bloody good. I get tipsy occasionally – and I mean occasionally – but I know my limits now (not a lot!) and stick to it. The last time I got merry was back in July when I went to the Monarch event. I just can’t stand that feeling of being drunk or waking up feeling like shit the next day. I have also seen people’s lives destroyed by alcohol and needing medical detox in Overland park. It is not something I ever want to have to look into.

Anyway, back to my unintentional dry January. I’m not sure why I hadn’t fancied a glass of wine (no, I am absolutely 100% NOT pregnant!!!) but it did make me wonder whether pouring a glass of wine was sometimes more of a habit than something I really wanted. I’m sill not sure to be honest, but I haven’t missed it once. There was one evening last week where I did consider cracking open a bottle after a crappy day, but then I realised I would only drink one glass and then the rest would need to be drunk that week or tipped away. I didn’t want to waste it, so decided to have a coffee instead.  To be honest, I think I enjoyed the coffee more than I would have the wine!

Whilst I have absolutely no intention of going tee-total, I’ve decided that I’m only going to have a drink when I really fancy one, or on social occasions, rather than ‘just because’. I’ve always said that I would probably always choose a decent cup of coffee over a glass of wine, and now I have my coffee machine, I’ve realised that probably is true. Wine o’clock is probably going to be more like coffee o’ clock for me now. Those bottles of wine will sit on the kitchen side until my parents next come up for the weekend, and the beers will stay in the fridge until we get some nice sunny weather!