Binge drinking middle aged women

It's Saturday night.

I am a 'ranting middle aged woman who drinks far too much'.............

But actually....................  compared to a lot of 'middle aged' people................ I don't drink enough???

On 'Facebook' tonight, I have just read a post from one of my friends that said, 'Been drinking for 7 hours - not up to my usual 12 hour standard?' 

And lets just remember............. we are middle aged ladies here???

.................But why on earth would anyone want to drink for 12 hours?????

I drink a lot.  I do not hide how much I drink.  I will freely admit that I drink way more than the government recommended weekly allowance. 

.........................But is it enough to impact on my life??  ...................I don't know??!!

Tonight I've been in 'domestic goddess' mode;  I've made fish pie and chicken & mushroom pie.  I've done a load of online Christmas shopping - in fact all I have to do now is go to a couple of shops to buy gift vouchers for my niece & nephew.

How super organised am I????

However during my 'online shopping' tonight I have to admit to having a couple of glasses of wine??!!

...............And now I've finished I'll be having a lot more??!!

.................So am I a 'binge drinking middle aged woman'?????

I don't know??

I don't go on '12 hour drinking binges' like my very lovely Facebook friend.  But there again my very lovely 'FB' friend holds down a very responsible job.

Perhaps she's a 'functioning alcoholic'???................

I sometimes wonder whether I am???

I watched the 'Tonight' programme on TV last week about 'middle class' drinkers.  I think I am one!  Certainly, I could identify with the two ladies that were featured on the programme.

Sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and worry about how much I am drinking.  I lie awake and tell myself that I am alcohol dependent and I will only drink when I am out & about with friends. 

The trouble is.................. my love of wine doesn't seem to be affecting the way I live my life.  OK I know it must be - but I think I'm in denial?!

I've been onto loads of websites to check out if my wine consumption is impacting on my life.  When I key in the number of units a week I'm drinking (and I'm very honest), the message pops up that I'm drinking too much.  However when I answer all the other questions, my answers seem to cancel out my 'massive unit intake?!'

I've never, ever, taken time off work because of drinking, I don't get aggressive after a drink, I've not had any accidents or ended up in A&E because of alcohol, I don't sleep with strangers or wake up somewhere wondering how on earth I've got there, if I have stuff to do in the evenings I don't think that I can't do it because I want to drink, if I'm out in the car I don't even have one drink (I'm happy to drink diet coke), I consciously didn't drink for the whole of January this year (just to see if I could go for a whole month without a drink) and didn't feel any different at all.

.........................So am I a 'binge drinking middle aged woman'?!

Yes I probably am.

.......................Am I drinking more than the government recommended guidelines?

Definitely.

.......................Do I want to change my lifestyle?

I'm not sure!!

Life is not a dress rehearsal........................... And maybe it's better to die young and enjoy life than spend your whole life doing stuff you don't want to.................. just in an effort to prolong it???