Checking in. I am very proud of the progress our newcomers to this thread are making, along with us oldtimers.

Special congrats to you, db, on that healthy liver.
I have not had any hard liquor or even wine in several weeks now. I drank a bunch of cider last night but just felt really full, not drunk. No alcohol-related moodswings, no drama. I'm enjoying drinking again and doing so responsibly.
Cutting out hard liquor and limiting myself to *truly* moderate drinking has done more for my self-esteem and returned me the control I lacked over alcohol. It turns out that the "powerlessness" over alcohol that sets the most devout 12-steppers "free" was not a philosophy I could comfortably adopt. When I took the power over alcohol usage back into my own hands instead of berating myself, staying within the constraints of moderation didn't seem as hard.
I may be rationalizing, as addicts so often do. But now I don't feel as "oppressed". With the right to drink comes the responsibility to drink wisely. I didn't see myself running to a meeting or calling a sponsor for the rest of my life if I wanted to have a beer at the end of a hot day.
To this end, I'm looking into some resources that promote a harm reduction model of drinking rather than abstinence-only. I'll post them here and in the resources thread.
Everyone who is still drinking: please take care of yourselves and consider eliminating high proof spirits from your drinking repertoire while you are trying to cut down. This is the one definitive step I know has worked for me - try it, it might work for you too.
