Ok, so here is this weekends post. Friday was good cause me and Holly went to the Cheesecake factory and then to Dave and Busters. I've been using the same card and have so far got over 3100 tickets. Just 200 more and I can get a football phone. I am sure it is worth the hundred dollars I have probably spent on tokens...I had fun anyways so it was worth it. In other news I got a full nights sleep with my machine and I have to say it was definitely worth it. I didn't feel tired at the whole day on Sunday.

And now for the family news. My step dad was admitted to the ER on Friday. He had liver failure the whole time they were on vacation and am ambulance had to take him as his legs and body was swollen with fluid. His liver failed due to cirrhosis. I found out on Friday and went to Wichita Falls on Saturday. He is stable and his condition is listed as severe. When he was brought in he had a 50/50 chance of surviving. His kidneys started to go but the doctor gave him some medicine and he went from 600ml fluid output a day to 2000ml which was better cause it showed that his kidneys could still work. He basically has to get rid of all of the fluid in his body before they discharge him and then he has to go to rehab. I can't help but think about things seeing him in the hospital. In all ways alcohol is responsible for his condition and the damage done to his liver is irreversible. He told the doctor he would no longer drink or smoke. It just might be too late. So keep him in your prayers.

So this whole thing has got me thinking and feeling things. Mostly about alcohol. Now alcohol is cool in the world so what I am about to say will probably be unpopular, but I do have a right to say it. I grew up with parents who drink. I lived with a step-dad who was an alcoholic. I know what it does. Even as a young child alcohol affected me in ways that were wrong and made me insecure and unsure of myself. Alcohol doesn't just affect the person consuming it. Alcohol affects everyone around them. Kids see parents acting strange and becoming different people and that confuses them and can even scar them. Alcohol makes people lose their inhibitions, which we have for a reason. I can't tell you how many swear words I have heard in my life and I wonder how many less there would be if alcohol wasn't involved; even I would swear when I was drunk back in the day. Even casual acquaintances can look at a drunk person and laugh at them for their condition. Most people who drink in moderation will always say,"Not me. I do it in moderation. Nothing wrong with it. Even a glass of wine a day is good for your health." OK then, give some to your children every day if it is so healthy. Drinking alcohol just doesn't make sense. I noticed this when I was a 7 year old child who took a swig of vodka and orange juice left in the refrigerator and threw it up in the sink. I thought to myself, that tastes terrible why would anyone drink it. Then later on as my step-dad poured beer on my head every day and it stunk I would get mad and knew I would never drink beer. I often wondered what life would've been like had my parents never drank. One of my friend's brother recently got into a drunk driving car accident and they are all in the hospital. They could've all died. So let's just look at this logically. 1. Alcohol initially tastes bad 2. Alcohol can kill you in car accidents 3. People's behaviour on alcohol can cause others to become dysfunctional 4.Alcohol is not healthy and can affect your whole body and can even kill you if you spend years drinking it. Keep all that in mind as I tell you that I do drink and have now decided to quit. I would drink usually once on every 3 weeks. I didn't even consider myself a drinker. 5 glasses a month is not even a light drinker. So what is the big deal? Why should I quit? The answer is because I cannot control anyone else but I can control myself. It is not just about alcohol. It is about not being stupid. The question always comes up to people who drink and smoke - "If you know it is bad for you why do you still do it." The answer is really "because I am stupid" but emotionally they are tied to it and their answer is "because I love it."

I also know that other behaviours that I have, such as eating unhealthily is detrimental to my health and I must reverse my behaviour before it is too late. I have no one to blame for me being big but myself. Pick your addiction. I can picture me 25 years from now in a hospital bed as a 400 pound guy who just had a heart attack wondering how it all happened. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not judging people who drink. I cannot because even biblically drinking is allowed. What I am doing is not becoming an enabler. Even light and moderate drinkers enable alcoholics. My step-dad is going to face an oftly hard time quitting because he is a bartender and all of their friends go to the VFW bar. People get real defensive about alcohol. If they ever get the label of alcoholic then they will think something is wrong so they will defend moderate and light drinking till they end up in a hospital bed hooked up to 4 IVs, a catheter, with yellow eyes, moaning in pain. As for me, I quit.

Thought of the Day
1 out of every 10 Americans is an alcoholic.
7 out of 10 adult alcoholics began drinking as a teen.
Alcohol meets every scientific measurement of a drug.
3.3 million teenagers drink regularly and heavily.
60% of the people killed in drunk driving accidents are teenagers.
Teens who drink heavily can become alcoholic in as little as 3 to 6 months