easier done than said?

it's really easy to say something like, "i'm going to quit drinking for a year" and manage to stay sober for a few days, even weeks, so long as there's no alcohol present. the real test is temptation. the real test is when inebriation walks up to you, stares you in the eye and says, "join me." i've done a good job, until now, of refraining from drinking at times i would normally say, "yes please" to a nice, soothing, loving, comforting glass of wine, during dinner, with friends, at work... but coming home to a house full of mexicans, that's a horse of a very different, neon, glowing color. enter temptation.

i turned the corner on my street ready to battle for some parking, street-sweeping eve and all. naturally i was distracted by my search for a good spot, sure, there were more cars on my street than usual, but it happens sometimes. found a spot, parked, slightly angled as always, and walked to my house. hello family, hello extended family, hello family of extended family, but more importantly, hello tequila.

how do you explain to a bunch of people who've never seen you turn down a drink that you don't what they're having? you don't. you say some quick hellos, make some witty comments, laugh at someone's expense and head inside before anyone gets a chance to say, "go get her a beer" or "bring another glass for some tequila" and small talk with the women-folk in the kitchen. odd, i very rarely find myself doing this...

now that i managed to get away how was i gonna keep the men with liquor away? ha! now this part i'm good at. by complaining! about everything! and wouldn't you know it, my mom, aunts and cousins were all too eager to be an open ear. now that i managed to accomplish mission impossible sobriety there's gotta be a "sober" lesson here? there wasn't, but there was a sober reality. DRUNK PEOPLE ARE ANNOYING.

oh my goodness, am (was) i like that? goodness if i'm argumentative, combative, opinionated, quarrelsome and litigious sober i can only imagine how disagreeable and antagonistic drunk me is (was). now i'm sure that this isn't ALWAYS the case, i have to have been fun some times, maybe even most times. ah, but this little taste of drunken word wars was enough to make me run and hide (and shut the door behind me). now i can remember a few times when i was the designated driver and was extremely irritated by my drunk counterparts, for maybe five, seven, eleven minutes, but listening to 2 grown men adamantly argue speeding laws makes me want to say: friends, i'm sorry if you've ever been on the receiving end of a drunken tirade about something i probably know nothing about.

i'm wondering, do i really want to put myself through this again? sorry best friend, i have to wash my hair next saturday and i won't be able to make it to your birthday, at a bar. catch you next year!