On The Wagon: Off, then Back on Again

Officially, i made it 55 days. In that time i ran, worked out, lost about 20lbs, changed my philosophy on going out and drinking, made some new friends and launched an entire clothing line. Not too shabby.
I don't know what prompted me to stop the streak...i'm not mad or disappointed in myself and actually, i completely proved to myself that i could do what i set out to do...i can go out, have a drink or two and completely control myself. I can stop, which is what i couldn't do when i decided to stop completely. Since i had that drink (plural, really), i haven't gone off the deep end, haven't had a binge, haven't been retarded, wasted, nor did i blackout. Mission pretty much accomplished.
While i was sober, I went out on about 40 nights of those 55 -- promoting my party -- and realized that not only do i hate going out even more sober than i ever did drunk, but i realized that being wasted in those places all those times didn't make it any more fun. It was pretty much the same whether i was dead sober or completely blitzed. So if that's the case, then why kill your liver and your next day if it's just going to suck the same? These are the realizations that i have come to.
In the last 2 weeks, i had a cocktail on the golf course during "man weekend 07 in Flagstaff" (pictures here), of which all 11 of the other guys i was with were pretty much shitfaced for 48 straight hours. I had a drink at a friends birthday party, a few drinks at my launch party (hey, it was my party) and last Saturday i went on a wonderful day of wine tasting and margaritas with some friends. It wasn't about the drinking, it wasn't about taking shots and acting sloppy, it was just about being social and sharing a social beverage with quality people. It was safe, smart and for the most part, completely under control. Like i said, these are the lessons i wanted to learn.
All that being said, I think today will start a new streak. I am going backpacking in 10 days and need to get in a little bit of shape for that 30+ mile trek. In August, I am going to begin seriously training for the PF Chang's Marathon that occurs in January. And i'm going to actually try and enjoy my family this holiday season instead of making an ass out of myself. Some of them might not be around too much longer and besides, i'll have the big race coming up. I think i'll enjoy it more. The only drinking on my calendar will be the Breckenridge Oktoberfest in September...this will be in another state, with everything in walking distance and with a large group of fun people...as i've said, the wagon has a hard time making road trips.
I don't know what the reaction to this post will be. I know a lot of people were cheering for me to go cold turkey forever and i really thought i would for a while (as in longer than 55 days)...but that was never really the point. This was never about alcoholism or co-dependency. The point was to re-educate myself about my drinking habits and replace alcohol's place in my life with things a little more beneficial to my existence, and i think i've done that pretty well.