In Which Our Heroine Obtains Rather the Hangover.
After a good but tiring week of twice daily practices with the kids, yesterday was the long awaited day off. Apparently days off for me now revolve around food. And sleep. Having kicked in with the long lay in, pancakes with Liz were already jazzing up what looked like a pretty miserable day weather wise. Nothing says Saturday morning like pancakes. And then, more sleeping! Ah, nap. Awoken only by Mike calling to check that we were still on for the scotch tasting at the Boat Club that night. Check. See you at 5:30 ish.

By 5:30, it was no longer drizzling. It was flat out pouring. Mike was glad because he'd been helping his upstairs neighbor move all day and it hadn't been raining hard all day for that - it is important to find your happiness where you can. But still, it wasn't shaping up to be that wondrous spring evening all had been hoping for. But inside, it was just like Scotland, which is just as well as outside it looked just like Scotland anyway. This is why the Scots invented single malt whiskey in the first place, to warm up and to forget it was miserable outside. A cunning breed, those Scots. For just standing around waiting for dinner, there was a mixed scotch - Johnnie Walker black label. Feeling adventurous, I drank it with Drambuie. Larry Cabot pours them strong, it turns out. But I was nursing it for an hour (Mike sensibly sticking to the less toxic seeing as he had to do the driving), so I just got warm, not drunk. Which enabled me to stay sober enough to notice that Mike and I were about the only people there under 45, and that none of the people I knew from the club were present at this event. Luckily, Mike is a good conversationalist. Then all of the sudden, we were talking to Jack and Nona, who despite being my mother's age were fun, good people. And at long last, dinner time. But first I encoutered our table companions. I could tell the scotch was kicking in. On overhearing our table companions speaking in French (which is hardly suprising since Patrice is from Paris.) I amazed even myself by lauching into an increibly rapid, grammatically correct spiel about how I hadn't spoken French in ten years, took it for five in school, this was Mike and what part of France were you from? I didn't know I had it in me. Time for food. With more scotch. There were two drams to go with the soup, two to go with the main course (We both went for lamb, but Mike actually tried the haggis. I've had it before three or four times. That was enough.), some Lagavulin to go with the sticky toffee pudding, and another to go with the cheese course. And then of course, refresher samplers at the bar if you've fallen for a particular.

Of course, people had to stay sober to drive, and there is really only so intoxicated you would want to get as it is neither pretty nor clever to be drunk, so the entertainment planned for after the meal was a celidah - Scottish country dancing. Which since no one knew, they had to be taught. This was very interesting to watch, seeing as rowers are not known for their coordination off the water, and only one couple (the British Consul-General and his wife) actually knew what they were doing. I confess to not participating myself. I was still reveling in the fact that for the first time in quite a while I was all girled up. Cleavage, makeup, hair done right. Yeah, girliehood!

If you're going to get a bit dippy on scotch, I suppose it is best to do it on the stuff that is on special for only $225 a bottle (the 32 year old Oban). Because the consequence of drinking alcohol is a hangover, so you might as well get hungover on something that is a real treat to drink. This is not something they show when they show teenagers or people getting drunk on TV. And I think they should, because there would be a lot less underage drinking and certainly a lot less cool points for binge drinking, which isn't cool anyway. There is a lot in the press at the moment about "The Real Cancun" which seems to be MTV's Real World on spring break. I think this stuff actually could have social value, but there needs to be the follow up. All that willy nilly casual sex? Let's show the fallout - diseases, unwanted pregnancy, lowered self esteem from letting your body be used and abused in such a way. All that constant drinking every night, it should show the skin damage, liver damage, and loss of brain cells. Show some connection between actions and consequences. Of course, the one thing that wouldn't come across are the two things that I had to deal with today. First, having to do work while being tired and dehydrated (which late nights and alcohol do to a gal) is not highly productive, but there is still work to be done, and only so much time to do it in, so suck it up buttercup. The other is that the byproducts of alcohol will start to seep out your skin as it breaks down in your system. So you will smell scotch on your skin the minute you wake up. True, you can shower this off. Which I did, but by the evening, I could smell it again. This was not a pleasant smell on the way home from church this evening. Again, something that should be demonstrated "Tonight, On a Very Special After School Special."

Speaking of which, it is time to finish off the weekend the way it started. Wth plenty of rest. Be good boys and girls. Apparently we're about to invade Syria next, so you need to grow up big and strong.
Love,
Anne