I notice that the absence of alcohol gives us peace

It's Saturday afternoon, and I'm just sitting inside on the couch. I heated up the fireplace, the cold wind from the Russian Bear (I really hope the last one!!) and some vague snow howling around the house. Other half and my brother-in-law are braving the cold and are tough on sawing wood and building a chicken coop in the garden.

This morning Other half and I went hunting. Traditionally, people often drink a drink afterwards, with a piece of sausage and/or cheese. We drank tea. With a piece of sausage and some cheese. The company was good, the fire in the fire bowl was smoking heavily, and everyone was trying to warm up after a few hours of cold. And it was good. I look at the Other Half once, and only see a satisfied look. Of course a drink at such a typical moment would have tasted good, but now it was just good. The atmosphere and idyllic location where we were, did more than that one drink.

I notice that the absence of alcohol gives us peace of mind. We both (or especially me) tended to make it a bit of a theme. 'let's not drink too much, huh!', 'huh, the bottle is already empty'… and that is no longer the case. Of course there are still plenty of moments when a glass of wine or a drink would have tasted good and we think about it for a while, when we pour our glass of spa red and Fanta. Certainly with dinners, a wedding, birthdays, hunting days, a stressful day at work or for something else… and yet we are also satisfied now and we are hardly talking about missing alcohol. I notice that there seems to be less tension, that we are now talking more about certain things instead of simply grabbing a glass of wine. So far it's going great!

Mieke Koeter is engaged, has 2 children, ages 4 and 6. She works part-time as a 'commercial service employee' at a company that makes breast pumps and medical equipment, among other things. She lives in North Brabant, hobbies are horseback riding (2 horses stabled at home), hunting dog training, and being outdoors in general. And as of today she will blog about her participation in IkPas 2018!