So, I lapsed. I still haven’t had an alcoholic beverage, but I haven’t been keeping my blog up to date, like I said I would. I have been pretty busy preparing for my holiday and getting to come home and see my Mummy and my puppy dog.

I love being home. The tea tastes different here, and here I get woken up by my puppy dog, Dudley, licking my toes rather than an awful alarm. It’s easier here, and it’s not because my Mummy offers to do my laundry and cook my supper, but because it’s an actual home. 

When I’m in Southampton, I always say I’m going “home” when I leave work. Truth is, I’m not going home. I’m going back to the place where all my stuff is. Partially, it’s my fault. I haven’t bothered to make my little flat into a home. I’ve put up pictures and moved all my things in, but I never viewed it as home. This left me thinking about the phrase, “home is where the heart is”, and how true it is. The house my parents currently live in is not a house in which I have ever lived in full time, yet I consider it my home, because that is where my parents are. That, and it’s a really cute cottage-y type thing. 

Well, I have things to do. I’m off to walk the dog later, and I’ve got to catch up on Masterchef while I have the luxury of a television. Last night, we watched the new Pope come out and say Hello. I gotta say, I wasn’t sure of him from the description that they gave, but his personable demeanour and the way in which he spoke to the people really made me believe that he can move the Catholic church forward. We shall see.

Oh, and on one last note. I LOVE that new OXO ad! It made me happy. The sun is shining, I have a cuppa and my puppy. I couldn’t be happier. 

So, I completely missed Day 6 on my epic non-drinking month, but that’s mainly because I fell asleep straight after work…

Totally shattered at the moment and thoroughly looking forward to my week off now!

So, I’ve done a whole week and I can honestly say that I’d love a glass of vino, but I’ve raised over a hundred pounds for charity so I can’t really complain :)

I don’t really feel all that detoxified and what not, but I have learnt some things:

That the large majority of people are wonderful and supportive and willing to give me their cash.

That other people enjoy taunting me, but you have to take it with a cheeky smile.

Finally, I’ve learnt that nothing is better than coming home from work, getting all snuggly and watching an amazing series (Game of Thrones season 2) having a sandwich and some juice.

Who needs beer?!?

Hello lovelies :) me again!

Got a few more pennies in the pots today, and I’m very grateful to all you lovely people’s!

Had a wicked day wandering about in the sunshine, feeding the ducks and what not.

Work was excellent. Had a lovely time, although I’m definitely looking forward to having a relaxing week off and getting some me time in, hopefully seeing some old friends too given half the chance!

I miss so many people and I often don’t have the time or money to get to see them, but I never forget about them and all the good times :)

My lovely friend and boss lady Rhi has offered to do my nails tomorrow, which is lovely! It’s especially brilliant seeing as I put false nails on yesterday evening and I got sick of them already and pulled them all off this afternoon!

Enough rambling! Tomorrow I’m going to spend some time talking about KiDS and the work they do…

Day 4

These arrived today! Well, I went to pick them up from the Post Office today :)

The collection pots are going to be put behind the bar at the pub for people who want to pop some pennies in there, and I’m going to be giving the little charms to people who sponsor me.

The lovely lady from KIDS also sent me some forms about doing a skydive for them in September and I want to see if I can get anyone else interested! I reckon it might be really fun!

Not really had a chance to think about drinking today, Cat and I went to town and did some cheeky shopping and I’ve finally sorted my haircut out, getting it done on Friday (yay for other people’s mundane news!!).

That’s probably enough for today, I’m off to go use my degree for once by helping J with the cultural implications of ethics in business. Feeling a tad grown up today, absolutely loving it!

I know I should have posted this earlier seeing as it’s currently day 4 but yesterday was reasonably busy.

Suffice it to say, it was a rubbish day and I was glad when I finally snuggled up in bed with Karl Pilkington. Not literally, of course.

I also got all nostalgic and went through all the photos that are on my laptop. I found a few that made me sad and a few that helped me remember the happier times!

No further donations yet! I’m loving all this so much I’m half considering doing a sky dive for KIDS in September of I can raise enough cash… Scary stuff!

Harder. Left my watch on when I got in the shower, so now it’s got this little bit of condensation over the 8. Had a bit of my spat with my phone which is refusing to work - that was the point at which I really wanted a beer.

Instead, I went for a little walk with some Breaking Benjamin, which made me feel a lot better and I went to work in a fabulous mood.

Didn’t even feel bad about serving people alcohol when I knew I wasn’t gonna be having a beverage after work myself!!

Finally, and the best news of the day, I have now raised £111!

Thanks go to: Ash Summers, the guy from the pub whose name I don’t know and Nick for their donations :)

Stoked for day 3 - though it won’t be great if Christine taunts me with a pint again like she did today…

Sleepy, so not a long one today… I’m off to watch some scrubs with a vanilla latte.

So, it’s close to the end of my first day of sobriety, and I have to say that it’s gone very well. So far, in online and offline donations I’ve raised around 80 pounds. Thank you all!

Steph and I went into town, had a bit of a mooch about and she was lovely and bought me lunch at Pret (their egg and tomato baguettes ROCK by the way).

Then we went over to the pub, well it’s a tradition after all. Cranberry and soda is delicious, and I had a lovely time just hanging out with friends. The only downside was Neil shoving his beer under my nose, but I can cope with that.

So now, at the end of my first day I’m sat with some Scrubs, a huge mug of steaming coffee and some jelly beans and I really am content. I’m pretty sure I can do this!

See y’all tomorrow :)

I love you too, anon :)

I have lived on this planet for 22 years and all I have to show for it is 2 bags, 2 boxes, a few plastic bags, lots of tea and a wok. I need something of my own.

Yesterday, or maybe the day before, I forget, I bought a new diary… Not one of these “write down your feelings” diaries, but a sensible one. A diary for appointments, for opportunities that I’ve said Yes to, that kind of thing. Now, I don’t know if you do this too, but I always go through my old diary when I get a new one… Just in case you forget someone important’s birthday, or there’s something in there that you haven’t actually done yet. 

I did that this morning, and it made me realise just how far I’ve come. I’m in the middle of packing up my things and throwing other things away so I can move at the end of the week… Most of these things will end up at home with my parents, probably crammed in the loft with all my old stuffed toys and musical instruments I wanted so badly and only played for a month. That, for starters, made me consider the transient nature of our existence, especially through University and one’s “first steps” into the adult world, as it were. 

But it also made me think about the items that I choose to keep with me, no matter where I go (and I have to say that at this particular moment in time, I’m not entirely sure where I’ll end up at the end of the week) and why these things mean so much to me. There are the obvious things, sentimental and full of memories, like the bear my cousin me on the day I was born and the blanket I was wrapped in - they will never be confined to loft space, I know that much. But then there are other things, a necklace given to me by my first boyfriend that I’ve never  really worn and yet, 7 years down the line, it’s still with me at University instead of sitting in the loft, waiting to be rediscovered. I honestly don’t know why this is so. I don’t believe that people should throw away everything that reminds them of a relationship which has ended, but these are the things which should be put in  shoe boxes and glanced at every so often. They are a part of our history as much as the teddies and the blankets and the teeny, tiny shoes that some people’s mothers keep to embarrass them with at dinner with their boyfriend. 

And I’m not saying I don’t have a brilliant time going through all my old stuff when I go home to my parents. It’s brilliant to relive being a kid, laughing at the pictures of a younger me with terrible 90’s trousers on. But I can’t honestly say that it’s not a massive hassle, because getting into my loft involves jumping on my bed, crawling into the loft space and then through another door, which some craftsman obviously thought was mightily important for the aesthetics of our storage space. 

I suppose, what I really want to do is be in a position where I can have all those things in one place, whether they’re kept around me to remind me, kept around me for a reason I’m still unsure of (like the necklace) or up in the silent loft gathering dust, I need a home that I can create my new memories in, as I start myself off in the big, wide world. And you know, store the old ones, to remind me from whence I came and all that. I’m not thinking anything palatial, mind you, but an en suite might be nice… 

Strange, the thought processes that come from buying a simple diary.