I'm new here, so I don't have many recent things to talk about, but I'd like to share a triumph I made a few months ago....


Up until I was 19 years old (currently I am 20), I was deathly afraid of alcohol, because I associated it with v*. Then, I got a girlfriend who drank on occasion (which really scared me!), and she eventually convinced me to try it... and I realized that people could acutally be responsible about drinking, if they want to be. But anyway, that's not really the point of the story.... So last semester, my neighbor and I decided to have a small gathering of people in our dorm rooms, which have a connecting door. We planned to have alcohol... and, of course I was worried, but I knew all these people really well, and didn't expect them to over-do it. I even laid down rules before we started drinking, such as "Be respectful of property, keep the noise levels down... and NO V-ing!!" My brother, who was visiting for the weekend, even backed me up on this rule, because he knows how afraid I am (even though he taunts me with it sometimes by making gagging noises[img]smileys/smilies_07.gif[/img]). So the party ensues, and people are having lots of fun, and several of us decide to do one last shot to wrap up the drinking for the evening...... and lo and behold... that one last shot pushed one of my friends over the edge, and she v-ed in my room!!![img]smileys/smilies_10.gif[/img] AHHHHH!!! I immediately turned around and shut my eyes, held my ears, held my breath, and began to freak out. My friend MC (short for Mary Catherine) noticed my reaction, and helped escort me out of the room. I was going to be brave enough to turn around, and see how much damage was done, but she wouldn't let me (probably a good thing!), I kept telling her I was fine, and she said, "Anyone who reacts like that is most likely not fine!" Meanwhile, I hear people asking my brother things like "Does he get sick if he sees it?" So I get escorted into the next room, and sit down, with people watching me intently asking "Are you okay?" I told them yes... all the while I'm having a panic attack, and swallowing and breathing hard to prevent myself from gagging, so I doubt they believed me! I was just sitting there feeling like everyone was going to abandon me and I'd have to suffer through cleaning it up... but that didn't happen at all. My brother and MC took initiative, and cleaned up very well. It's lucky that I'm a clean freak, so I had the necessary cleaning agents in my closet for them to use. Even though I knew they were cleaning, I had to get out of there, so I went outside, even though it was really cold (cold helps me calm down). Eventually a my brother came outside and reported that my floor was probably cleaner now than when you moved into the room. [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img] I still thank God that I have such great friends. It took me quite a while to build up the nerve to go back into my room, but eventually I did... for a while afterward, eveytime I stepped foot in my room, that's what I thought about, but now those thoughts are pretty rare.


Wow, that's a long story! Sorry... didn't mean to babble on for so long. I don't know how much of a triumph that really was, but it felt like quite a large one for me, especially considering someone v-ed in my dorm room! She still apologizes from time to time for doing that, and I tell her not to worry about it. Never thought I'd be able to do that! [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img] Okay, I'm done writing now. Thanks for listening to my rambles.


<FONT style=": #f5e