Water Everywhere

One of the bonuses of not drinking alcohol is the increased intake of water that I experience. Or, rather, it should be. Instead, I am bored of it. Absolutely, mindnumbingly bored of it. Yesterday I drank it with orange juice; during the week I had limes and seltzer.

I'm sure my skin will benefit, particularly given that the frigid winter outside means a lot of time indoors with central heating at full blast (New York buildings don't tend to do heating or air conditioning by halves). It's all well and good being hydrated, but it's dull when there are no options. Fizzy drinks aren't exactly a great option given the ridiculous amount of sodium I would consume if I let myself. I can't take much caffeine, but I am resorting to a nice cuppa in the evening. It's not (yet) affecting my sleep, and is a refreshing change. Thus I found myself having one at a dinner party at 11 last night.

The not drinking is, in itself, actually fine. I've not really felt any desperate envy or unhappiness at not being able to drink, despite going to a concert, a club, and a dinner party with good friends who enjoy their wine. Perhaps it's the fact that roughly at the halfway point, Valentine's Day, I get to have a drink, but it really feels like less of a hardship than doing something slightly out of my usual routine, my normal comfort zone. Take yesterday, for example. Any other month of the year I would have rocked up to the office party (we get wine and a variety of nice foods on Fridays from 5.30), eaten and drunk, and then headed to my monthly wine club. Instead, I booked myself into a bikram class and sweated out the week's stresses and headed for a relatively calm dinner. It's not better, or preferable, even; it's just good to try something different and feel that I'm taking advantage of not drinking rather than feeling like I'm depriving myself.

So what I'm trying to say is so far, so good.