Day 365 - SOBER FOR A YEAR!!!

I'm currently sitting in a bungalow that has a conservatory overlooking the Mourne mountains, with beautiful green fields all around us.

It's amazingly sunny for this time of year. It's mild and dry outside. The band are setting up their instruments and getting ready for a night of totally uninhibited free expression. We have canvases, paint, percussion instruments in various shapes and sizes, drums, guitars and assorted esoteric thingy-me-bobs. It's 4pm on Saturday, 30th October.

I have now been sober for a year!

Last night there were some nice disco beats at the Pavilion, followed by afterparty funnings. We talked a little about the Sober For A Year thing and I celebrated, in a quiet way, with good vibes all around me and good people. This morning I got home to pack up and found a card posted through the door:


(sorry about the crap quality of my phone pic)

This was a really sweet gesture actually, because it would have been very easy for my sister to simply hand me the card or even just phone and say "Well done!" So I was quite touched.

So to reflect a little (but not too much, you'll be glad to hear, as the Hexxed weekend of mad noises and free thought is about to begin!) ... The last year has been a great. I've achieved some great things and felt plenty of positive changes in myself. Some of these things have been subtle, but important for me, as a person who is often very sensitive to changes in my emotional state.

So will I carry on being sober?

Being completely honest, I'm thinking I might let my hair down a little bit this evening. Obviously taking into consideration how sensitive I'm going to be to any "foreign" input into my system. This is a special weekend with the guys in the band and a time to say, "Yes. I did something quite cool!" Equally I don't feel this is some sort of "reward" for my sobriety, more just a chance to have a little taster of what I missed. Niall has just taken our orders and is driving to the "The Wine King" (tee hee hee) to buy me a bottle of red wine. I might just have a wee sip.

I don't plan to drink next weekend or any after though... I've enjoyed being sober. Saving the money. Being without hangovers and the foggy head of doubt the morning after.

Right anyway.

I gotta go folks. Thanks so much for all your donations to charity, the money isn't tonnes, but it goes straight to SANE and I reckon it'll be a gesture towards a great organisation that do very important work for people who need support. The often overlooked outsiders. Thanks massively to all you people who have posted and commented on here, facebook and twitter and shown me nothing but support and encouragement. It really helped me through to log on and see that I had 2 or 3 messages waiting some days.

And thanks to all the people who offered support and encouragement when I was out and about too! It really means a lot to me. I didn't experience one negative comment from people actually. Not a single person said "What a stupid idea!" or "I think what you're doing is pointless", some people merely said, "oh good for you", but that to me was still positive.

Anyway. Less ranting. Time for noise!

Catch y'all later.

Toodley pip!!!! :)