If I needed any further convincing that I shouldn't drink, the way I dragged my weary body around all day yesterday should do the trick. Truthfully, I'm not absolutely sure it wasn't the coffee, rather than the wine, that was responsible.

I was awake most of the night after the party, just lying in bed arguing with myself. Stay in bed, wide awake? Or get up and prowl around the house, giving myself no chance to fall asleep?

Some time before dawn I got just enough sleep to keep me from dozing off at my desk. Instead, I sleepwalked through the day, bumping into things and losing track of what I was doing, right in the middle. Come to think of it, that part isn't much different from any other day.

It's a good thing the Boss was on the road and out of touch. That made a drowsy Monday less of a burden than it could have been.

Today is Mom's birthday. I don't think she'll mind my telling you that she's 74. She looks and acts at least fifteen or twenty years younger. I think saying that gives me license to reveal her age. There's not much I can add to my Mother's Day Eve entry (in which I mentioned that she was, at the time, 73). She told me I gave her too much credit in that entry, although I'm not sure what she meant by that.

Mom means a lot to me, and I'm happy that we're able to see each other so often. Suzanne is taking her to lunch and the ice show this afternoon, and I'll take her to dinner this evening. She's being taken out to lunch every day this week, I think. In fact, she came by my house yesterday afternoon and brought me what was left of the minestrone she had at the restaurant. Somehow she knew I'd need it, after the previous night.

Not bad, eh? The catch is that about half the packages under the tree are empty gift boxes that I found in the big sack with all the wrapping paper, bows and tags left over from last year. But they add a lot of character. I also found a few more ornaments in that bag, and I learned that I need to buy more paper.

I'm sorry to report that the tree doesn't take ornaments well. I don't seem to be able to hang anything on the ends of the branches so that they show up well. If I stick them back on the sturdier parts of the branches, you can barely see them. Or maybe I just haven't learned the technique yet, because Suzanne got the same kind of tree, and hers looks fabulous, as if it belonged in a Victorian parlor. Well, except for the M&M lights. We all got them as gifts.