August 20th - Uncaged in Posso's Prompts

I never imagined I would get sick of sitting at home in my bed watching Netflix and eating chips and drinking Dr Pepper in my bed, but alas, after 15 days I was nothing short of stir crazy in my house. It only made me imagine what struggle I would have had if I was stuck in a jail cell for 15 days.

Time melted into one package of licorice left inside a hot car; being completely sober I still can’t remember what I did some days and it seemed like I watched the same episode of television or played the same level in a video game repeatedly. My actions stuck together to the point where you could have left me on repeat like a sappy two minute pop radio hit. Things I love doing with my days off became pointless, chore like, and I absolutely hated it.

The last four days I have attempted to spend the maximum amount of time outside of my house. Dinner has been at a different fast food joint every night. Sleeping in not my bed has been not only beneficial to my mental health but I finally get to hog someone else’s living space (We’re still calling her Christy.) I’ve been running, working out, trying to get into some form of shape to put on skates and play some organized hockey for once without cancer eating my insides. Never in my wildest thoughts would getting tired of binge Netflix and chill be even considerable. The time to sit, think, and debate the severity and impact of my drinking and driving consequences has greatly come and gone and I was just ready for this incredibly shitty part of history to be finalized.

The hour after I got cut loose Saturday morning, I went into the world again and found myself at the Madison farmers market on the capitol square, ended up getting a handheld buffet of fresh cheese curds, meat sticks, a cinnamon roll as big as my head, along with coffees and juices galore. The key component for me any time I go to a Saturday farmers market though is the spicy cheese bread from Stella’s. There’s nothing that makes this sound special, but this is a circle loaf filled with hot cheese and spice. I have easily consumed a whole loaf of bread before getting home. I went to the public zoo in Madison, The Henry Vilas Zoo, and just wandered aimlessly - I’ve been there a hundred times but it’s just nice to go there and surround yourself with well taken care of animals that I’d never otherwise get to see. Of course, I had to go back to work and deal with people. Won’t lie - I missed being sick of people and especially being sick of drunks.

All in all, for what I did, my life could have been much worse than being sentenced to my house for a couple weeks. The time to just sit there and relive all the shitty decisions and bad choices I made in 2018 wasn’t anything I necessarily needed, but it was appreciated in that I was able to ground myself over again and realize the progresses I’ve made on myself and how I am actually managing the interactions I have with friends and others in healthier ways.

Don’t drink and drive kids, and as the sheriff said when seeing I was wearing a flannel to get my ankle bracelet cut off, “Only you can prevent fires, or some shit like that.”