Is it over yet?

I have totally mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I hate December and all the horrors it brings, but on the other: Christmas. I love that part. But I think it's over, and I think I barely survived it.

Here's a promise: I'm never drinking that much wine at one time again. This was the second time in a month that I was completely useless for a whole day because of overindulgence. I've learned my lesson this time. You don't have to hold my head over the toilet all night more than twice in thirty days to make the point.

So that's my promise. That I'll probably break. Because I'll forget how bad it was today. (And it was really bad.)

My head and my stomach were both reeling all night and all morning. It got even worse whenever I moved, so I stayed still as much as possible. Unfortunately, this was payroll day, so I couldn't take the day off from work. Even though no one was here to check up on me, I had to get the employees' last checks of the year out.

If I could have stayed in bed all day, I would have done that. If I could've stayed on the couch all day, I would've done that. As it was, I spent so much of the day in the bathroom that it became my cool, dark, peaceful place, the place I could always go to get away from the feeling that I was just thrown from an out-of-control carnival ride.

When I went to the post office this afternoon, I was just going to dash in and then come straight back home. But since there was no place to park, I drove on up to Food 4 Less and parked in that lot. The brisk six-block walk in the bracing winter air probably did more to make me feel alive again than anything else I did all day.

I have no excuses and expect no sympathy. I did this to myself (although I did leave the last glass of wine). It's a good thing I don't drink alone, since that would take care of about 350 days a year. The rest I should be able to handle, but sometimes I just get mixed up with the wrong crowd.

So, it's over. Yippee and damn. And I think it's almost time to start planning for next year. I'm starting my Christmas shopping as soon as I can stay out of the bathroom long enough.