I may come off as a lush, married to a lush, and surrounded by lushes. Not exactly true but I do know a lot of drinkers. It seems the moment I learned I was pregnant EVERYONE was inviting me to a happy hour, microbrew sponsored event, or sponsored wine tasting. In that same vein there were suddenly a lot of invites to gatherings at sushi restaurants and the latest insult is being invited to snowboarding weekends. Um, I have not been telling folks I am pregnant but instead just not hanging out with people at a lot of these kinds of events. I have gone off the radar in a way in my social life.
Add to this caveat that I am married and still want my husband going to these events. I simply designate drive for him and pick him up. A friend of ours he hangs with has known about the pregnancy for a couple of weeks so he gets to take part in the pregnant lady taxi service because I also do not want to chance him on the road since I will be completely sober.
I realized where this was all going a week ago when my dad was visiting. We were headed downtown to check out a little bistro and I asked my husband if he wanted to go hang with any of the guys. We invited one of the guys to dine with us and the taxi service put the meter on. I drove my dad and my husband, picked up the friend, we had dinner, after I drove them to a pub, a few hours later I picked them up, drove the friend home, and drove my husband home with me.
Last night we were out and I was driving my husband and this friend again and this friend was commenting on how having a pregnant wife is the best thing ever since there is no worry about who will be the designated driver. I told him this may be the case with a first-time mom and before my bump gets too big to comfortably wear a seat belt. He just high-fived me. LOL!
The other thing I am doing is volunteering a lot more at various events our friends are throwing if I decide to attend. Last night was a celebration and fundraiser for mens’ health charities at a bar, I said I would help with the raffle tickets and prizes but that was covered. Instead I photographed some of the activities. Next week at a social media community event I will be working the registration table and trying to get name tags on all 800 attendees. Maybe some more photography. I figure if I am going to hang out at events where folks are drinking I’d rather be doing something other than speaking with people drinking.
I still have my girls though. I run with mostly yoginis who will drink in moderation if the time is right. We still get our dance on and I am fine with driving if drinking is involved. Next weekend I am going to what sounds like a great DJ set and I think I’ll be in my element for that. Hook me up with some water, fruit juice, ear plugs and let me dance away. I do not care what the guys and girls are doing, even though I am already the driver for a carload of people.