Where does all the time go?

Had dinner with J, an ex-colleague, last night and we put the world to rights over tacos and tortillas. She’d chosen a fab Mexican gaff in Covent Garden which I can’t rate highly enough – excellent scran, cheap as chips food (pardon the pun and all that!) and the piece de resistance was a large bottle of sparkling water for just £1.50. Yes, that’s right, I get excited about cheap fizzy water nowadays and even ‘tasted’ it to see whether it was carbonated tap or mineral in a fancy recycled bottle, like the connoisseur that I have become – ha ha!

If there is a ’down’ side to the place, it’s that you are cheek to jowl with your neighbour; not quite shared tables but almost. The two geeky looking blokes who sat next to us in bland, off the peg and decidedly drab suits were none too impressed with Jo’s animated stories about the place (that I used to work and she still does) and my guffawing in response. Sorry guys, but the fact is, we were enjoying ourselves and as they seemed to have little in the way of scintillating conversation and spent most of the meal rolling their eyes at each other, I doubt they would have approved of anyone in the same seat!

2 and a half hours flew by and I wasn’t home until nearly 10pm, which just goes to show that not drinking does not make the time go slow, nor does it prevent me from having a thoroughly enjoyable evening. J is very bemused by my pledge, but supportive, and if there is one person I want to have around if/when I resume drinking again, she’s top of my list for a big boozy night. Question is, will it ever happen?

I am starting to get the progressive sensation that my year off the booze may go on beyond that date. Strangely, what’s putting me off drinking again is not so much the being pissed or the effect that boozing has on my appearance, both of which I have come to appreciate a lot more since I stopped. What I really don’t want to experience again is a hangover!! I love waking up feeling fresh and ready to tackle the day. I love having a clear head when I have work stress and need to think on my feet. I love reclaiming Saturday and Sunday mornings when I’d have stayed in bed feeling sorry for myself. Sure, K and I still enjoy a good lie-in, but being able to get up and move around at 7am on a Saturday ‘just because I can’ is incentive enough to stay on the wagon.

That said, and here’s where I admit my weaknesses, I had all these great ideas about going to Borough market before the crowds and Columbia road early on a Sunday, now that that I had reclaimed the time. Ha de ha de ha ha. Still, maybe this weekend, eh? K is talking about going to an exhibition at the Excel centre on, wait for it, guitars, with my downstairs neighbour who is equally guitar obsessed. Perhaps if he gets up early to go stroke all the lovingly crafted instruments (that’s not a euphemism, folks!!) I’ll go look at al the pretty flowers as us girly girls do – tee hee.