Made an interesting decision when I got home from the annual beach vacation this year. Made the call to stop drinking during the week. For whatever reason, the boozing at the beach this year was a bit heavier than usual. No big deal. It's the beach. It's vacation. All good. Except I felt like ASS most of the week. Bigger truth is that my drinking has been getting a bit heavier of late even at home, and I'm not sleeping and feeling blah a bit too much. I have myself convinced it's the booze. I'm wicked smart like that! That...and I've noticed the chatter about the connection between drinking and cancer from my Doctor has increased of late. Anyone else notice that? To be clear...there's nothing wrong with me. Doc has not told me to do anything, nor are there any obvious signs or symptoms suggesting I need to pull back or quit. This is my call completely. It's just that lately...one bourbon has led to two...and two leads to three...most every night. Before you know it, I'm looking at a half empty bottle of bourbon, and wondering if there's enough left in the bottle to get me through the next couple of days. That ain't cool. So the surprise so far is how easy it's been to pull back. And...I've been able to have a couple of bourbons on Saturday and Sunday nights without feeling a strong urge to dip back in during the week. So far. I've replaced the booze with carbonated water (Sodastream) and that seems to do the trick as far as diverting my attention from bourbon. I now have myself convinced that any addiction has been as much with the routine and ritual...as for the buzz. So far...I just don't miss it as much as I thought I would. The insomnia is a real thing though, and I've been told that's definitely a symptom of pulling back from booze. Holding off on sleep supplements though because I want to see how long it's going to take to resolve this without them. And of course...there's weight loss. Nothing dramatic...but it's noticeable. I do love me some bourbon though. Maybe after awhile...I'll be able to have just one every night...and call it at that. I wonder. I really have no interest in quitting completely at the moment, but I also worry that the novelty of all that flavored carbonated water is going to fade after awhile. Especially in the fall and winter. Can I interest you in a Pomegranate - Cranberry carbonated water with lunch...???