Memo To Self: Be Prepared

Last night shook me up a little.  I had to attend a wedding. And I mean "had to" as the groom is a business partner's of my husband's whom I barely know and whom I didn't even know he was such great friends with.  This little event began with a big cocktail party on Friday night which I refused to attend. As I told my husband, someone I barely know does not claim two nights of my long weekend, especially for a cocktail party.  However, I conceded the wedding itself, which was last night. (Husband stayed out until 2 AM drinking on Friday, BTW.)

I was viewing this event as a major annoyance rather than anything I thought would be fun so I didn't worry about drinking or the desire to drink at all.  I wanted to just get through the ceremony and dinner and get home.  (This wedding also took place during the Pats-Chargers game to the trepidation of just about everyone there except the bride and groom. A woman at our table kept giving us cell phone reports from a friend throughout the game, which was entertaining.)

So I was extremely surprised about how strong the urges to drink were. It was a long cocktail hour and the waiters kept circulating with bottles of red and white wine in their hands so that no one's glass ever got empty. Except mine which contained seltzer!  We also seemed to be in a corner of the room where the appetizers never made it, which didn't help much either.  By the time we were seated, I was experiencing a major desire to drink and all I could smell was alcohol.  I did NOT drink; it wasn't an option, but I didn't enjoy the discomfort either. The folks at our table were all intent on getting a buzz on though, which didn't help.
 
I think one of the problems here was that I didn't engage in a lot of mental preparation for this event and for how I would handle the  drinking.  The result was that I was kind of blind sided by the desire to drink.  I did do some quick things that helped me, like telling someone I was with that I don't drink.  I felt that it was a bit of insurance that I wouldn't pick up as that would be going back on what I said to her, if that makes any sense.  I also immediately turned my wine glass upside down at the table and handed the champagne toast to my husband. If I'd had my cell phone, I would have called someone from AA, but I hadn't brought it with me.

Things got better once the dinner was served and I did manage to have a little fun at that point. The music was great and it is turning out that I can still dance sober. And the woman seated next to me helped remind me how I never want to go back to drinking.  She is this gorgeous woman -- smart, beautiful, great career, vivacious, all that -- and she was pounding drinks like there was no tomorrow. She had four straight vodkas while I was seated next to her plus several glasses of wine and champagne.  And this was AFTER the cocktail hour.  Eek. While she was a lot of fun as a dinner partner at first, as the evening progressed she got drunker and drunker (as did her boyfriend who could barely stand)and it was simply not pretty watching this progression.  I told my husband that I didn't ever want to be this person again (not that I had the gorgeous and vivacious thing going for me ever).

so I guess the moral of the story for me is not to take any event where there will be alcohol for granted...even if the event is a chore rather than something I am actually looking forward to.  I'm grateful to be up early this morning, sober  and feeling good.  

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