The Hangunder

I have come to realize that, as one gets older, it isn't necessarily a late night of drinking that makes one feel lousy the next day; it's just the late night out. I love going out and supporting my son's band. All the bandmates and fans are always as glad to see me as I am to see them, and last night was especially great because my friend joined me. Usually I am the only one in the crowd over thirty -- or forty -- or fifty, which I still might have been, as my friend is still in his forties. I had two bottles of beer over a period of six hours. I didn't stay for the last band (who went on after my son's band finished at midnight). My youngest son had ridden with me and said he would leave too after his brother's band played, but he changed his mind when I leaving and decided to stay and spend the night on that side of town. I got home around one, texted my friend to let him know I had arrived safely, and tried to go to sleep. It wasn't happening. The last time I remember looking at the clock, it was 2:43. I guess I fell asleep shortly afterwards.

When I woke up at 7:00, I said, "No way!" and tried to go back to sleep. That never works, so I got up just before 8:00, feeling like crap. My head ached and every joint in body, at least from the waist down, was so painful I could hardly walk. I had stood up the entire time the first two bands (the second being my son's) played, grooving a little when the mood struck me. This morning I was quite surprised to receive a text from my son around 8:30 saying he was heading home; another friend who had stayed at my other son's house was giving him a ride. He said there had come a time when they all decided sleeping was out of the question. He went immediately to bed, and I remained on the sofa, lazing around and watching old episodes of Law and Order. I felt like I could eat an entire horse, but I didn't have anything quite that large on hand. I did, however, have some fresh-made slider burgers I had picked up at Publix on Friday. I didn't feel like it, but I fired up the grill and cooked the burgers. While they were cooking, I grilled some onions inside and broke some jalepeno cheese slices into fourths. I had also bought slider-sized potato rolls. When I put it all together, it was like heaven.

Part of the reason I didn't have much to drink last night was that I had a lot to do today. Because I got so little sleep, I ended up lying around all day anyway, neither finishing my grades nor prepping for my upcoming classes. Tomorrow and Tuesday are going to have to be heavy-load days. My head is still killing me, my son just left, and his dog (who is staying while he and his roomies get settled into their new place) is crying like a baby. Time for another Advil.