I did not take coffee with me to my festival over the weekend. I did buy one ice coffee one of the days, but other than that I was cafe-free. And I either had withdrawal headaches or it was dehydration. I took some Advil to combat the pain. But now I feel great. I am not giving up coffee, but I am definitely cutting down. Maybe 2 or 3 cups a day rather than the 2 or 3 pots I would sometimes have. (Seriously, while trying to finish my work for my class I was going through 2 to 3 pots a day!)

I made a post on Facebook saying I quit alcohol, soda, and now looks like I kicked the coffee addiction. But I do not want to give up my love of chocolate. An aquaintance commented “everything in moderation.”

She might have meant someting else or was referring to chocolate. But that comment pissed me off. I took it as she was recommending I moderate everything rather than quitting. I would moderate my alcohol if I could. But obviously I have made enough posts the last few months about fighting alcoholism. She doesn’t get it. A lot of people still don’t get it. Maybe it is my fault for lumping quitting alcohol into likeness of quitting soda and coffee. It just seems the same people who criticized people for DUIs or getting out of control drunk are the same who tell me to just not get trashed. I see them post comments on stories about DUIs “throw the bastard in jail.” No one suggests to get the person help. The ignorance is so sad. I don’t know what the answer is to overcome it. For now, I guess I will just keep losing “friends” that don’t understand.

Mistake 167- I was visiting this aquaintance in Canada many years ago. It was my birthday and we went out to some hip, bar area. I remember getting upset that places still charged me a cover charge on my birthday. And no bars gave me a free birthday shot or drink. I thought it meant Canadians hated birthdays. Or American birthdays. And then the drinks all seemed weaker than in America. I saw them measuring the liquor. Most places I frequented in the US just estimated what they poured in the drinks. (And if you tipped nicely, you got more estimated in your drink.) I remember feeling bored. Her and her friend were dancing up a storm. I danced a little but my shoes were hurting. I was so disappointed that I was so sober. What kind of shitty birthday is this!

And that was my first impression of Canada. Not a country for people that like to drink! (I made up for it the next night when I want to visit another city.) But it was a shame that my night was “ruined” because I couldn’t get extremely drunk. I thought that was the goal of birthday nights.