On the Edge...

Alright, I'm darn near bouncing off the walls. Not because I am on a caffeine high. I'm bouncing off the walls since I am SO tempted to go get a Mountain Dew from the machine. Dang my company for only charging $.25 for a can!

This is not my first attempt to give up Mountain Dew. I've tried and failed many times. The most memorable attempt was the summer of 2001. I went out to Colorado to work at a resort for the summer with a good friend, Amy, who was (and still is) a VERY healthy person. Very. She counted calories. She worked out. A ton. So on the ride down, she challenged me to give up caffeine. The drive down to Steamboat was going to take us a good 2 days so by the time we arrived, I'd be through the worst of the 'withdrawal' and the drive was painful enough as is, so why not throw in headaches from the lack of caffeine coursing through my body, right? So I obliged.

It lasted for a good month. Then one morning I was doing my hair & it suddenly dawned on me that there was a can of coke in the fridge of the bar downstairs. I tried talking myself out of drinking it, but gave up and grabbed the can. I downed it in less than a minute, grasping the can as if my life depended on it. 30 seconds later, the can was gone, and caffeine and I were friends again. Then I started to panic and thought - "Crap! Amy is going to know I 'fell off the wagon'!" So instead of throwing the can away in the garbage of the bathroom we were sharing, I put it in the garbage of my room in an attempt to hide the evidence.

Seriously. I felt like a drug addict hiding their needles. Days later, I 'fessed up and told Amy and her Aunt & Uncle that we were living with. They all thought it was hilarious, albeit a bit bizarre. And Amy's aunt suggested that I not try anything more intense than caffeine as I obviously have a bit of an addictive personality.

Seriously, thank God I don't have any 'real' addictions to battle.

It's Day 4 of 2009 and I still haven't had a Mountain Dew. Here's hoping that I continue this trend for the next 361 days. I fear that I will break down some day and someone will find me in my office, passed out, surrounded by a pile of empty Mountain Dew cans...