If you’ve been here a while and have heard my drunken antics,this might seem like a crazy statement. But yes, despite all of the black outs, hospital visits and embarrassing shenanigans over the years, I have never been proper drunk on Christmas day.
This was never through lack of trying I’ll have you know. I’ve certainly always given it a good nudge. The day always began with a champagne breakfast and then continue with my body weights worth of strawberry daquiris, or whatever was at hand.
But I think given the length of the day and the amount of food consumed, I’ve never moved past the warm fuzzy breakfast champagne stage. Maybe it because I was technically hangover by lunch? No matter how many strawberry daiquiris I slammed, pissed I was not. At the time this was a very frustrating thing to be happening. In retrospect, its quite horrifying to observe that annihilistic mindset. Disappointed that I couldn’t get smashed? How utterly self-destructive. But it’s Christmas, so all in the spirit of the day riiight?
Maybe its something to do with more often than not being sooooo dubiously hungover due to much Christmas Eve social excitement. You know that feeling when you’re hungover, you pick up the next morning where you left off but really you’re just topping up your levels so you never really get peak pissy? So disappointing.
For a while I was actually banned from Christmas Eve drinking by my Mum, after a few years to ruining Christmas morning. There was one particularly bad incident where I was so ill I had to leave the perfect breakfast table that she’d gone to great lengths to create, go up and passed out in the kitchen such was the intense degree of my hangover. Not much Christmas cheer there!
I love Christmas HARD. It’s my favourite day of the year. But as we all know Christmas can also be an incredibly stressful and triggering time of year. All the things we need to get done, so much pressure. And then there’s all the old traditions of a day focused around food and booze that are so hard to let go of. This year particularly is a tough one for me. My husband is in hospital, we’re hoping to get him home for Christmas but at this stage it a lot of unknown. I am separated from my family in New Zealand who I have not seen for two years. They have not seen their grand daughter since she was 3.
I’m trying desperately to keep the Christmas Cheer going for an amazing 5 year old that’s powered through a very difficult year. With all of this going on, I have been tempted to have sneaky sip of whatever alcohol is lurking in the bottom of the beer fridge. It would be so easy to numb out and escape for a little while. Have that (fake) relaxed feeling flow through my limbs. But I know that things would only be a HEAP worse the next day. It just wouldn’t be worth the disappointment I know I would feel. That’s what’s keeping me going, along with the support of all of you fine folk and my incredible friends.
It’s also why I am so glad to have quality non alcoholic options always close at hand to fill my glass when I might be feeling a little tempted. I’ve stocked up with my favourite bubbles, so you bet, I’ll be having a Champagne breakfast no matter what. I just won’t need the mid-afternoon nap.
Thank you so much for your support this year. It’s carried me more than you can know. Bring on 2022 when exciting things are coming for Dry but Wet.
Wishing you a Happy Happy Christmas and a safe an fulfilling holiday.
