Getting There

I probably shouldn't stop to write, but I feel like I deserve a little break--and a maybe a cocktail and a snack.

The party was good, but I felt like I never really let loose and relaxed. I kept thinking of the long drive back I still needed to travel, which as it turns out is a good thing. I was very conscious of how much I was drinking. In the three plus hours I was there, I drank three small (not like the kind I pour myself at home) glasses of wine--6 ounces max. And I ate plenty. Savory apps, sweets, more savor apps. I left just after 10:30. When the hardest part of my ride was over, the long and winding back roads behind me, just before I got on the highway for a quick 10 miles home, I found myself in a DUI check point. I reminded myself that although I had been drinking, I had paced myself and was by no means drunk. I braced myself and prayed for the best. There were four officers, and I went to the front of the line as instructed. I opened my window and had that conversation that is meant to confuse those who are drunk.

"Have you had anything at all to drink tonight?"

"Yes, a glass of wine earlier in the night."

"Come on, who has just one glass of wine?"

"Me, because I knew I had to drive home from A to B." (Ha! You're not going to get me to admit to one more so you can get me out of the car!)

"What time was that?"

"About 7:15."

"Where do you live?"

"[town]"

"What street?"

"G Drive."

"Where are you going now? "

"Home."

"Where is home?"

"[#, street, town.]"

We had this conversation while he was 6 inches from my face of course (which is why I didn't lie about having had wine) and had his flashlight in my face.

"Okay. Have a good night," he said.

It was certainly unnerving to say the least. But I played it as cool as I could. And ultimately, because I wasn't drunk, I wasn't even buzzed honestly, I got to keep driving. As I drove away I counted my lucky stars that somewhere along the line, as much as I love wine and a good party, I have grown up enough not to still believe I am invincible and behave irresponsibly.

Today I got up early, organized my laundry, and got motivated to decorate for Christmas. My first trip to the laundry room was fruitless, so while I killed time I went down to storage for my tree. Because my dining room set is a larger than my last, my tree didn't look right where it was last year, and it took a couple of tries to find the right place for it. Finally, I found it, just in time to throw some laundry in. I had to fix the branches in my anal way while my clothes washed, and while they dried I fixed the lights and brought up my ornaments and decorations. I have my angels out and one on top of my tree, but the tree is still undressed.

Meantime, my mother was released from the hospital today and is at the rehab facility just down the street. I am going to resist the Catholic guilt that tells me I should go so that I can finish what I need to do here and visit with her tomorrow after school instead. After all, neither of my sisters are visiting today, nor did they spend the amount of time I did the other day. (That was actually a good joke yesterday when they brought up that they had each only put in an hour of time while I was there for 3 hours on a Friday afternoon, without a cocktail cart in sight-- lolol.) I don't have kids, but I do have a life, and I work full time, and this weekend I need to get things in order for the holidays. Let's not forget that she's not dying, for God's sake, she had elective knee replacement surgery! I'll get there when I get there. It doesn't mean I don't love her if it's not today...especially since I have to catch up on the drinking I didn't do yesterday-haha! I'm kidding.

I'm looking forward to decorating my tree while the Pats play Seattle!!! Go Pats!!!! Then tonight, I may make myself that fra diavolo I was thinking about last weekend.

Hope you had a good weekend. I'll call after kick off, maybe I'll catch a BLU get together in progress.

Love you, Barb