Next week I start working out in earnest, which is not that different from this week. I give up the grape... and the hops and the juniper berry. I've already been invited to two events next week that involve alcohol, and one is a birthday party so I can't just blow it off. How do people hang out without drinking? Because I have absolutely no idea. Where do you go? What do you drink? Do you live on soda and iced tea? Sub-question: Aaarrrrrgggh?

I can't even think of places to hang out that don't involve alcohol or things I have no interest in. I don't have social hobbies like team sports or golf or panning for gold. Sometimes I write or read or take photos, but none of those things can in any way be considered social. I've also cut down caffeine so there goes the coffee shop -- decaf's not for me and I already drink enough tea. I don't play board games or knit or shop... I pretty much define myself by my drinking and eating whatever the hell I want.

Luckily "Celebrity Fit Club" starts again this Sunday. So I can follow along on my adventure of hunger pangs and muscle aches. Whee.

Sobriety has become a strange and terrifying territory for me. I guess it's good then that I take this break and remember that for most of my life I didn't drink, that I didn't actually start until about 7 years ago. I just happened to embrace it with both arms wide and welcoming. Maybe I'd feel better if I wrote out all the reasons I'm doing this so I can remind myself in moments of weakness.

Ugh. This'll teach me to enter contests on a whim.