Stagger Onward Rejoicing
But first, a quick look back
We're here: the last day of the year. By the time most of you read this, it will be 2025. Indulge in a little nostalgia for the recently departed year, with me.
In 2024 I buckled down and have NEARLY finished my first book. All I have left is finishing the final edit, in which I take out weak adverbs and replace them with stronger alternatives. I've already been through the developmental edits, with a fantastic editor I hired from Fivvr, the freelance pro marketplace. I've gone through two rounds of that. I've rewritten the book twice. Late this year I changed the point of view. I even realized I started the book at the wrong point in the story, and corrected that.
It's been a slog.
Finally, though; I'm closer than ever to the finish line.
I'm not going to talk about it anymore until I'm ready to release it. You must wait patiently!
Today, I have other things on my mind.
In this article:
The Drinks of 2024: A Record
The Last Weigh-in of 2024
Looking forward
The Drinks of 2024: A Record
I started recording the number of drinks I had in November 2023, when I knew several Christmas parties were coming up. I wanted to measure exactly how much alcohol I consumed.
(For the record:
November 17, 2023 - one glass prosecco, one glass Sauvignon Blanc
December 1, 2023 - two glasses of prosecco at a party
December 8, 2023 - a glass of eggnog
December 13, 2023 - a glass of Chardonnay
Total: 6 drinks from November to December 2023)
Intrigued, I wondered how much I consumed over the course of a year. 2024 became my year to keep a diary of all the drinks I consumed. I thought of it as my Bridget Jones Diary, without the sex, funny stories or millions of copies sold.
I kept the list on the Notes app on my iPhone. As one of the terminally addicted, that phone goes with me everywhere. It was easy-peasy to record all my drinks.
The List, with more detail:
January 7, 2024 - a small glass Riesling. I can’t remember the occasion - it was a year ago!
June 14-17, 2024 - one vodka cranberry per day each day at cocktail hour (four total) I was visiting my friend Naomi, and we celebrated each evening!
July 11, 2024 - one gin & tonic during a Biden press conference. Honestly, that would be enough to drive you to drink, don’t you think?
August 30, 2024 - one gin & tonic during a Zoom call with friends across the country. No, Zoom cocktail parties didn’t end in 2020, thank you.
December 17, 2024 - one glass spiked eggnog AND a small glass of Glühwein at the Inklings book club party
December 19, 2024 - one glass light white wine during Two Notch Toastmasters Christmas party
December 26, 2024 - one glass Porter at Hunter Gatherer party at airfield
December 28, 2024 - a Jinglebell Nog at Publico's Santa Pub; a hot buttered rum at Boku's Grinch pub. So worth the calories!
December 30, 2024 - one glass white wine and one small glass Port at dinner at a friend's house
Total: 15
That's 15 total in 2024. Fifteen drinks for an entire calendar year. That’s one drink for every 24 1/3 days. I think we can all tell that alcohol will never be a line item in my budget.
But eight alone in December. December is really and truly the month to let loose and celebrate!
And no - I’m not having any on New Year’s Eve.1 My celebration tonight is this:
Next year, I'm going to confine my celebrating to the 12 days of Christmas - Christmas Day through Epiphany, January 6. That would have removed three glasses from the total.
It’s Time. The Last Weigh-in of 2024!
Results for Today: 211.4 Sigh.
Starting weight: December 2022 - 255 pounds (EEEK!)
Weight today: 206.4 pounds Almost 50 pounds, everyone!
Goal Weight: 144 pounds
Pictures:
Weight Graph:
Looking forward
The health journey continues in 2025. I’ve gotten feasting out of my system - and the five-pound gain certainly proves that, doesn’t it?
Here’s what I will concentrate on in 2025:
First: finish the book edits and GET IT PUBLISHED!
Next: I have so much writing to do. I want to be here regularly. And I’m going to focus more on the lighthearted part of the name of this newsletter. I want to share with you the things I love - besides food! Look for articles and essays on reading, old books, faith, language, travel, seeing more of the USA, and hobbies. I want to focus on the reasons why I’m becoming healthy - not just the journey and the techniques I’m using to get there.
And now for something extra
The phrase “Stagger Onward Rejoicing” is from W.H. Auden’s wonderful poem, Atlantis. Here’s but one part:
Assuming you beach at last
Near Atlantis, and begin
That terrible trek inland
Through squalid woods and frozen
Thundras where all are soon lost;
If, forsaken then, you stand,
Dismissal everywhere,
Stone and now, silence and air,
O remember the great dead
And honour the fate you are,
Travelling and tormented,
Dialectic and bizarre.
Stagger onward rejoicing;
And even then if, perhaps
Having actually got
To the last col, you collapse
With all Atlantis shining
Below you yet you cannot
Descend, you should still be proud
Even to have been allowed
Just to peep at Atlantis
In a poetic vision:
Give thanks and lie down in peace,
Having seen your salvation.
I urge you to read the whole thing.
I may have a hot chocolate, though.