The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Drinking alcohol is pretty common in my family, especially on my dad's side (around the holidays). When we all get together, it's just something we've always done. I have no idea how the tradition started, who started it, or anything of the sort. I just know when we all get together around the holidays, there are five constants: 1) Lots of food, 2) Alcohol, 3) Music, 4) Television, and 5) Laughter. I suppose after working X number of hours throughout the course of a week, month, year, it's nice to kick back, have a few drinks, and relax with the family around the holidays. However, given my recent health problems, I've decided to stop drinking, at least until my doctors and I get everything sorted. A similar thing occurred in 2009 and 2010 when I was ill. My doctors and I were uncertain of what was transpiring, so I decided to cut myself off from alcohol during that time (most of that time anyway). Once we finally started figuring out what was going on and my sympto...