All aboard the wagon for Dry January!

Our columnist is pondering a whole month without alcohol ... and then wondering if she should reschedule it for later in the year!

• I’VE hit the proverbial wall this week with a bit of a bang. I’d say I knocked a good six weeks (possibly seven?) talking here about Christmas but I’m going to have to draw a line under that topic now for another year for fear of losing my last three readers.

• For a moment I thought about getting enraged over an ad I heard on TV encouraging people to start saving for Christmas 2024 but I couldn’t quite muster up the rage or the energy to be honest. So, if you were to take a guess about what I’ll be droning on about this week what might you wager? Yes! You are right, bang on the button, got it in one go ... Dry January. You could set your clock by me I’m that predictable. I’m joining all those people who are climbing on the wagon for the next four weeks, purely to prove to themselves that they can. Probably.

• To be clear, I’m not one to drink to excess, just enough to take the edge off ... and who knew there were so many edges in middle-aged life! I didn’t taste a sip of alcohol until my very, very late teens. I was a proper nerd who did exactly what my parents and elders told me. It didn’t occur to me to do anything else.

• In school my friends were far more daring and said they were more afraid of my reaction to their antics, than the nuns! But after hitting my fourth decade on this earth I morphed into the embarrassing cliché of someone with a mild wine addiction, although I’d say the pandemic had a lot to do with that. Just saying.

• I managed eight weeks on the wagon last year and figured I was cured. I’d never touch a drop again. Turned out, I wasn’t. So here’s to another go at it. Now, I wasn’t quite ready for the off on January 1st as I’d a bottle of Five Farms (divine!) in the fridge to finish, and sure then there’s Women’s Little (Little Women?) Christmas to celebrate. So some time after that. Eh, probably.

• Women’s Little Christmas is a huge West Cork tradition. I’ve friends who live up the country who have never heard of it, and they can’t believe what they’re missing out on. I don’t mark the occasion every year but reckon I will this year. I mean Christmas can be a lot – mentally, emotionally and even physically.

• Take it from someone who managed to destroy at least five saucepans over the holidays, on one occasion was found crying in the pantry for no apparent reason, and who despite going to the shop what felt like 12 times on Christmas Eve, had to go back on St Stephen’s Day to get milk and loo roll. Epic fail. At one point I also thought I had killed the dogs after giving them ham with cloves. Yeah, at times it felt like it was a lot.

• I have a birthday in January as well and sure a January birthday is grim enough without doing it on the dry. Now it’s not as bad as a December birthday like my poor brother, but I’d still rather summer birthdays like my sisters. No one resents buying them gifts as by then Christmas is a distant memory, whereas for mine, people are like ‘didn’t we just get you something and now you expect something else?’

• Everyone is broke too. Myself included. As well as all the usual expenses, I’ve been properly cleared out with my motor tax, property tax and TV licence which were all due this week. I’m living in fear of the energy bill arriving in the post as the tumble dryer was on round the clock over the holidays. The clothes horse displaying the family’s underwear and visitors is never a good combination, even if I know I’ll pay dearly for it.

• To be fair, I do get good value from my licence. I’ve only just realised that the RTÉ player is available on my TV (I’m a bit slow like that) and have been getting stuck into the UK drama The Split. It’s genuinely the best thing I’ve seen in years.

Emma is also looking forward to watching former newsreader Eileen Dunne taking part in the new season of Dancing with the Stars on RTÉ.

• Much as I hate to admit it, I’m also looking forward to the new series of Dancing with the Stars, specifically former RTÉ newsreader Eileen Dunne who is taking part. To be honest, outside of Eileen and Rosanna Davison, I’ve never heard of the others but it’s always worth a watch on a Sunday night. I see Operation Transformation is also back this month for its 17th season – personally I think the show is past its sell-by date but each to their own.

• Anyway, as we gradually get back into the groove I’ve got to admit that as lovely as the holidays were, there’s a lot to be said for routine (mainly knowing what day of the week it is and when to put the bins out). That, and fresh air, moving and getting the blood flowing. Sure that’s something we can all raise a glass to! Now that I think about it, I’m not ready for Dry January. Dry February maybe... and that’s a shorter month as well. No point being too hard on ourselves!