On the first of January I signed up for the Dryathlon challenge to help raise money for Cancer Research UK and already there have been a few testing times..!
The challenge started a 9am on 1st January – luckily for me, because I didn’t think twice about swigging back a glass of bubbly at midnight to toast the new year. I hadn’t even considered that this drink was technically in January 2015, but when I read the small-print about the challenge, I discovered that the starting time was 9am on the 1st to allow for this obstacle. I read this information at about 11am and I wondered to myself whether I would have had a bucks fizz at 8am had I’d known about the 9am start? Anyway, the time had already passed and I was in full-Dryathlon-mode. 
During my new year’s lunch (lamb and mash, if you are interested) I clinked glasses with everyone, but mine was full of lemonade while everyone else sipped on wine. That evening I was the designated driver and climbed into hubby’s van to chauffer him home. I had to think twice all day about whether the Christmas cake had been fed with alcohol and kept stopping myself just before reaching for a cherry brandy chocolate. My amaretto hot chocolate was replaced with gingerbread syrup (just as yummy and very seasonal) and I had a plate of cheese and crackers on Friday night with NO red wine. What’s that saying..? “A glass of wine without some cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze.” Well, it works the other way round too, and I missed the little sips of merlot that I’d usually enjoy with my Wensleydale.
On Saturday evening, hubby absentmindedly passed me his glass of beer. He often lets me taste his beer (we love trying out different types and flavours) but as he passed it to me I remembered just in time and his eyes widened as he realised what had nearly happened! Who would have thought that it would be possible to almost slip up this many times in just 3 days!
So far, I’ve kept it up and I’ll be sure to update you on my progress again soon. In the meantime, please visit my Just Giving page and donate to Cancer Research UK. Nearly 600 people read my blog post on the 1st January about the Dryathlon challenge so if all of those visitors gave just £1, I would have smashed my fundraising target 4 times over! So please consider donating, it would mean the world to me 🙂
