This year is already starting out better than last year. Starting out better than many! I am not really sure if sobriety has much to do with it but I am looking forward to waking up without a hangover.

I have a new apartment! I signed the lease a few weeks ago and moved in tonight. It will still take another week to get all my stuff from storage. But it makes me feel stable.

I have a new job! I have been doing contracts on and off for the past 9 years. A few months ago, a permanent position became available and they offered it to me! The pay is good. I like most of my coworkers. And after a year, I will start to get tuition reimbursement.  I feel secure.

I have a new car! Brand new. Hybrid. All-wheel drive so I won’t have emotional meltdowns when it snows and I get stuck. (Hope not anyway.)  I love him even though it is the first time since the 1990s that I have a car payment. He is pretty and pearl white. He is my baby! And he doesn’t have dings and scratches and missing pieces from drunk driving incidents. With strength,  luck and sobriety, I will never have another drunk driving experience again. I feel hopeful.

I am going to start the New Year off with a new sober experience. I am going to Philadelphia for the Mummers parade. I have never done it before, even the times I lived in that city. I was also too drunk and/or hungover. I have been warned it is full of drunk people, falling over and puking/pissing in the streets. Good reminder of why I need to stay sober. I feel excited.

No new romantic relationships though. But I am okay with that. For years I have heard that I need to love myself before others can love me or I can love anyone else. For the first time in 39 years, I get it! And I do love myself. Finally. I am so proud and happy with how far I have come.

I have a bottle of sparkling lemonade for midnight.

Happy New Year everyone! Stay strong and sober! If you slip up tonight, tomorrow is a new sunrise and new day! Keep trying. It really is much better than a drunk life!