The Big Birthday Weekend

Day 4 of celebrating Sami's birthday, and folks, I am exhausted. Clearly, I am much too old for this shit.

I am currently hunched over my kitchen counter, sipping tea and eating leftover chocolate frosting right out of the Tupperware. It has been a very long weekend.

A brief summary of food and alcohol intake (large) and actual sleep achieved (minimal):

Thursday night, we had the Italiano birthday extravaganza. (Massive amounts of meatballs and muscat wine left me comatose.) 7 hours of frequently interrupted sleep because Lucy is still struggling with a bladder infection and pees All Day On The Hour (at least).

Friday I worked breakfast and lunch, then took a 30 minute nap. We got rid of the kids (temporarily) and had a romantical dinner where I gorged myself on Thai food, then Sami gigged in Kihei. (Large amounts of Guinness and onion rings were consumed during the show). 5 hours of sleep - I woke up a few times because I was cold, so I was totally exhausted in the morning. But there were no kids around to be entertained, so I could vegetate on the couch between bursts of cleaning and scrubbing. I was awake at 5am, took a nap for about an hour in the afternoon, not enough, but better then nothing.

Saturday, 20 people and a passle of kids were here for a belated birthday/early Thanksgiving celebration (a 16 pound turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, greens, salad, cheesy potato casserole, rolls, gravy and creamed onions - and a lot of wine) followed by dessert at Moana (espresso cheesecake, chocolate bread pudding, carrot cake and key lime pie), and another gig - this time at Charley's in Paia (rum and cokes, then Guinness - a big mistake after all of the wine I drank). Then I slept for about 6 hours - but Lucy was in bed with me, and I was honestly awake for 60% of that time - either recovering from a blow to the face that she sent my way in her sleep, or trying to keep some covers over me.

Sunday - today - I woke up exhausted and cold and hung over, climbed back into bed for an hour of dozing, cleaned the house, got 4 kids up and dressed and teeth brushed and down to the restaurant for breakfast, where I drank a bloody mary and ate a seared ahi benedict that kicked my ass. We dragged through town running errands, but after 2 stops decided we were too exhausted to carry on, and went home to bed. That didn't actually work out so well, because we have KIDS and our kids do not sleep, or rest, during the day. So we basically lay on the sofa wanting to cry from sheer exhaustion (and my gnarly hangover). Sami had a side job, so he hit Starbucks with one of his fancy giftcards en route to making some money :) and I went back to bed. There was no alternative, I had to get some sleep. 2 hours later, I dragged my very sorry self out of bed, and entertained the kids until our neighbor came over with her daughter and I could have more caffeine and mommy time (though I remained in my jammies and still have them on - conveniently it is bedtime so I won't have to change my clothes. Not that I would have.)

All of this is to say that 10 years ago, I would have rocked this weekend. I would have slept in my car, done the walk of shame at least twice, and consumed far more coffee, alcohol, and illegal substances, and far less food or water. So I am growing up, while I am also growing old. I am feeling every one of my none-of-your-damn-business years today. I have circles under my eyes, and wrinkles that appear to be recent arrivals, and my legs are sore and my throat kind of hurts and my eyes are burning and my nose is stuffy and my neck hurts. I am not looking or feeling so hot.

But I managed to rock the hooker heels and the tight dresses and the low cleavage and the big earrings - if just for a weekend. I partied like it was 1999. But it totally wasn't.