H*ll Froze Over but I still accomplished Dry January

The 31st day of Dry January isn’t over yet, it’s only 6:00 ish am as I write.  And the weather forecasters didn’t come through again…yet, that is – they predicted -34 below.

Close enough, right.

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I periodically give it my best shot at being an unpaid meteorologist, and I do fairly well at it, so I know how hard their jobs are.

Reminds me of what it is like when we hoomans set out to meet goals, aka, New Years’ Resolutions.  We all try to succeed.  We start out so excited, and for the first few days, we’re unstoppable.  Then we part ways around the 2nd Friday, aka, Quitters Friday or when H*ll Freezes Over.

Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed. – Cavett Robert

Some of us persevere, despite fallbacks and obstacles.  A whopping approximately two-thirds of us complete 30-31 day challenges, though.  That’s good odds, no worse than meteorological predictions.

When I think back to the month of January, I’m damn happy for a few things that I’ve wanted to do for years, not just on a whim, but for years I tell ya!:

I’m no longer a Unicorn.

It was a big one for me, yeah, the horn, but I’m talking about having my unicorn horn removed.  I did hear lab results, and it was just a run-of-the-mill Pilar Cyst, cancer-free, thank goodness.  Today I get sutures removed.  I don’t miss the damn horn at all, and the pain of the removal subsided after about 4 days.  I hear suture removal may be a tad painful, but then I’ll be done with wire spikes sticking out of my head.  I can’t wait to admire the small scar instead of the bump as the healing takes place.  And the only sparkles left will be my silver hairs!

A year from now, you’re gonna weigh more or less than what you do right now. – Phil McGraw

I made it to Day #31 of Dry January.

(I only had a beer and Tostitos a few times, never more than one serving, and always got back on track the next day).  I consider that a monumental success.  Living in Wisconsin, drinking is the thing to do.  We have bars everywhere, especially in the town we live in.  Heck, we have a quaint little bar in our own house.  Happy Hour is just a walk down the steps.

It’s a challenge to avoid drinking in our parts of the world.

If you are young and you drink a great deal it will spoil your health, slow your mind, make you fat – in other words, turn you into an adult. – P.J. O’Rourke

On the local news, this week, they reported about two upcoming fund-raising events.  Both for great causes, one to raise $ for clothing for homeless kids and the other for a youth apprentice program.  Each function’s big draw to get locals to come to the events – you guessed it – wine tasting at one, and the other will have a variety of beer tasting.  Herds of people attend and throw money to the causes, cause the beverage tasting is fun.

As a result of Dry January, I gotta tell ya, though, I feel fricken fantastic!

• I’ve slept so well all month, I can’t tell you how great that feels
• I’ve lost 7 pounds
• My blood pressure is back to normal – after the shock of not having hops in my life for the relaxing effect
• My head is clearer and I’m proud I no longer wonder if I could ever possibly give up alcohol or Tostitos on my own.  I did both.
• My original goal was to be a ‘1 or none drink’ kinda gal and a ‘skip or ration to 1 serving’ Tostitos fan.  I’m going to keep on, keeping on…until our upcoming trip to Jamaica (what happens in Jamaica, stays in Jamaica, right?!).

I wrote a blog post a day for 365 days in a row.

Except for a couple of days when I was traveling, or when WordPress and JetPack confiscated it, I’ve written every day.  As I’ve said before, blog writing is cheaper therapy than drinking.  And it is damn fun to see how my commitment to that therapy has helped me grow and has grown my followers as well.  Both are pleasant surprises.  With a tad bit of work involved on my part.

To have the kind of year you want to have, something has to happen that you can’t explain why it happened.  Something has to happen that you can’t coach. – Bobby Bowden

At the beginning of January of 2018, I set out on a discovery mission to learn about blogging.  I had 30 followers at that time, and today I have 465.  I still don’t know what I did for sure, just consider each and every follower a blessing in surprises.  I adore their comments and stories and advice.  Man, their advice has been so helpful, too!

As the month ends, I’d like to give thanks to Linda G. Hill’s Just Jot it January.  I didn’t find out about #JusJoJan last year until January was over, so when this year rolled around, I was anxious to join in on the challenge.

The playful word prompts (courtesy of fellow bloggers) and Linda’s intermingling of the One-Liner Wednesdays and Stream of Consciousness Saturdays broke it up enough to match with the normal routine for my week.  It somehow made it easier to keep up with it all month-long!  Thank you, Linda and all the bloggers who participated, it’s been a fun month!

And the weather forecaster came through…

So yeah…thanks to a bitterly cold month of chilling my habits, a freed unicorn horn, and connections with bloggers, it has been all kinds of warm and cozy here in my little world the year that h*ll froze over.

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s #JusJoJan – Favorite part of month or year.

PS – Thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to read my ramblings.  Thank you for your support for Dry January.  And now…what’s up for February?  Stop by tomorrow to see!