so I have been doing febfast…for those that do not know participating in febfast involves abstaining from alcohol for the month of february while raising money to support people with addiction issues and their families. the non drinking thing is no biggie for me anymore since I only had about three drinks while I was pregnant with little boss and every time I did my body rejected it and I would spend the rest of the day or night in the bathroom I figure whats 28 days when I have done over 12 months….so I have roped in Mr B Badger.com – who, if faced with the choice, would rather eat cupcakes than drink bourbon – and my parentals who are only doing febfast monday to friday but they intend to continue their weekday abstinence beyond february which is pretty good really.
anyhoo it has only just recently occurred to me how much our culture is geared towards having a drink…we meet people “for a drink”, we go out for lunch and dinner and have a drink, we have a rubbish day at work and we relax with a drink, we have a fantastic day at work and we have a drink to celebrate. it may not be our culture, it may just be people I know, but if I count up the non drinkers i know they only take up the fingers on one hand. there is an alcohol awareness advertising campaign on the telly that shows a dad having a drink and he asks his son to get him a beer and the that son grows into a man and repeats the same pattern…reminds me of my little hostess duties I performed as a child. at the time I loved it. if I was playing the hostess it meant I could stay up and be part of an adult world. it’s only now that I have little boss that it has occurred to me that knowing how to water down my grandfathers fruity gordo before I had hit double digits probably wasn’t really all that cool. and here lies the problem with re-reading my posts….see I had written up to the last full stop this morning then went out for lunch and now at 10pm I have re-read and wonder should I post this? does it come across as though I was raised by some irresponsible people who put me to work at their servant…and the answer to my own question is that to some readers it may seem like that, to others it may sound worse or it may read like a pretty regular, suburban upbringing – which it was. just a normal couple trying to raise two kids, one of whom felt compelled to grow up way to early and present them with more than their fair share of sleepless nights and challenging times….not much has changed really.
anyway it’s staying in – read it or read into it, your choice entirely.
so back to febfast. I haven’t raised any money other than the $50 I donated which I am totally fine with because at the end of february I will hopefully have a better relationship with my liver and will also have lost a few more pounds…god knows why I say pounds but it just sounds better than saying kilos. things that never occurred to me before are now quite interesting like how inexpensive it is to go out for a meal when you don’t drink…perth is probably the most expensive city in australia for dining out, or any sort of dining actually, yet today when I took my besty out for a birthday lunch neither of us had a drink so for two meals and two coffees it was only $55…staggering considering that four years ago we went to a wedding at a beautiful venue on the swan river and I went to the bar to buy drinks for myself and three others….three pints of regular beer and one glass of japanese beer and when I handed the guy a fifty he said “it’ll be more than that” I was totally embarrassed – doesn’t happen often – I only had fifty on me since we were at a wedding and I didn’t need cash…it was $55 for four drinks and none of them had an umbrella. I did wish I had bought a bigger handbag so I could keep the glasses, at least then it would have felt like money well spent.
the other little tidbit to pique my interest is that when you say no to a drink so do others. it’s like a good kind of peer pressure. although my dad says “well this is all a bit boring really” when we are sat at the pub all drinking soda water but it does have a knock on effect and I guess drinking alone is way less fun than in a group so the can’t beat them, join them mantra works both ways. anyhoo for now it works for us. we want to be able to run around with little boss and you can’t do that after a night on the tiles….or as my wise sister-in-law said to my brother “the kids don’t understand a hangover” and she is right, so our febfast might last a while…I wonder how long it will take for wine selectors to stop calling me…
barrybadger.com 