Happy Cinco de Mayo!

~ Shawna Rae

the-chemistry-of-tequila_53d67da7cedaf_w1500.png

Two years ago, and every year before that, I used Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) as an excuse to go out to dinner to celebrate Mexican heritage, or something like that. I’m not sure what the holiday is about exactly. We would get a group together to binge on margaritas, chips, and salsa. Maybe even a few shots of Cuervo, if somebody ordered a round for the table. (It would be rude to refuse.)

Then again, I used every holiday as an excuse to celebrate, no matter how obscure … St. Patrick’s Day, Bastille Day (what is that anyway?), the Chinese New Year, Yom Kippur. But soon every day became like a party, and I had a hard time convincing even myself that there was a reason to celebrate. The low point might have been drinking alone on Christmas Eve.

But today, at 400 DAYS SOBER, I got up, celebrated by going out to breakfast, and then went around town looking for an office space. A really cool one with big windows. For business purposes. As in I’ve been looking for a place away from home to concentrate on my creative talents. Instead of drinking the day away in a bar, pretending it was a celebration.

Never in a million zillion years could this have happened while I was drinking. By a conservative estimate, I’ve saved $12,000 since I quit drinking. (Conservative because I may have had health issues, possibly a car accident, possibly a DUI. The possibilities here are endless.) Instead, the possibilities for success are astronomical. I turned the train around, and then just kept chuggin’ along. I hope you are doing the same.

So, A VERY HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

May you have many more. ♥ ♥ ♥

Published by Shawna Rae

29 thoughts on “Happy Cinco de Mayo!”

    1. My husband was so tired of me trying to celebrate anything I could think of. It got to the point where good weather (or bad) was enough to head off to town. I think he’s thankful to stay home now and then. xoxo!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. $12000 buys SO MANY TACOS. I only had uno taco today. Sometimes I think I smell tequila and it makes me gag (of course that never stopped me from drinking it in the past…just gagged again). Happy 400 Dias!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I HATE the smell of tequila. I pretty much avoided it except in margaritas. I’m so glad I had to stop drinking before tequila became the trendy drink of the month.
      What’s with you and tacos? You now have me craving them. I am going to try to find a meat-free taco recipe this afternoon, with gluten-free shells if I can find them. Do you see why my husband cooks for himself?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I can provide you with that recipe: use corn tortillas and fry them yourself, and fill them with seasoned pintos. My daughter is veg, so I try to be creative.
        I think the “not-meat” crumbles might also be tasty, just make your own taco seasoning w/o flour in it.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Brilliant! Thank you for doing the legwork for me. I never even thought of just using beans instead of meat. This will actually work for our big gatherings because we have a few celiacs in the crowd.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Paul. That picture makes me gag too. The information on it is even more gagging. It mentions that it is lethal in large amounts. Who knew? It also talks about where it gets that horrible smell. There are real people out there pretending to be tequila connoisseurs who actually learn this stuff. Ugh.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. Rather than a drinking day for me it would have been a “lucky” quitting day. My daughter is half Mexican so Cinco de Mayo would be memorable to me. The plan would be I would drink all day to celebrate the festive date incorporating all my favourite drinks because after all, today is gonna be the ‘last day’ I ever drink (lost count of how many of those I had) also the date is significant and impressive enough (in my then drink addled brain) to be a bit of a storytelling point “Oh I quit drinking on Cinco de Mayo ya know. My daughters Mexican so I thought it would be a fun date to stop.” Or variations on that “oh I quit drinking on Christmas Day 2027 as I realised I dint want to ruin another Boxing Day”
    I am glad you reclaimed that day as a day you took some positive steps to map out a new future instead of frittering it away in a fruitless pursuit of drunken fun. I wish you great success.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I love that! “I t thought it would be fun to stop.” hahah! But the significant sobriety dates is blog within itself: All the lucky days I chose to quit drinking. I pictured myself, just like you did, explaining the significance of this very special date. None of them worked for long, but here’s just a sample: Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, Easter, my birthday, each of my children’s birthdays, January 1, St. Patrick’s Day, the Spring Equinox, Fourth of July, etc. Also, if I had chosen a certain day that meant nothing, I would google it so that I had some kind of rational, like the day the Irish invaded blah blah blah (a tribute to my Irish heritage). I also bought lucky jewelry, like a ring or bracelet on my right hand that I would never take off (in theory) or one of the worst ideas ever — a necklace with a little bell that really bothered my coworkers. The bell was supposed to remind me of my sobriety pledge. Wow — this actually took up a lot of time and effort. Thanks for the reminder!

      Like

      Reply

      1. Oh that would be brilliant! All the money I saved from not drinking this year paid for my Sober Vegas Vacation that I just returned from. Am saving again for the next one at the end of the year, a yoga retreat in Bali. 💙🙏🏼✈️🌴🌏

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment