Soulful Saturday: NYE

Hey guys! Welcome to the first Soulful Saturday of the new decade! Are you liking my changes to the blog? There’s likely to be more to come as I try to figure out a layout I like that doesn’t have an issue with the comments. Just so you are aware, if you comment and it says it doesn’t go through, it’s lying! I promise I get your comments, and absolutely love them. 🙂

Today, I’m going to be talking about New Year’s Eve. It’ll be a short topic to talk about, but it felt like the longest night ever to me- and yet the shortest. See, I don’t drink much. I drink socially, but normally I know my limit and avoid drinking anywhere near it because of my medication and things like that. But on Tuesday night, after I’d already posted for the last time last year, I was invited to a party. And while I’ve forgotten a lot of details… It’s a party I’ll never forget.

It started with drinks with our neighbors. Dad and I bought some interesting liquors and offered to share them, so we went upstairs to have some drinks and hang out before my neighbors were off to a party. I had a big cup of mixed alcohol that was nearly 200 proof. I didn’t think that through and thought, ‘okay, it’s one drink’. I also had a shot of tequila. All in all, let’s say I had… 4-5 drinks through that cup and shot, shall we?

Then, my neighbors invited me to go to the party they were going to with them. I’d met the hostess a couple times at their house for parties like a birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. The neighbors have very friendly and nice friends, so she was more than happy to have me join them without any notice.

The party itself was fun, from the little I remember. I was chatting with friendly people, had a shot… And then had one or two too many drinks after that. I remember what I drank- I had a hard tea and a hard cider. But everything after opening that hard cider is a total blur. I only know the details of what happened from my dad and the neighbors telling me about it. It was like one minute I was having some hard cider and chatting with a nice guy, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in my recliner at home!

I had no recollection of anything- I had no idea how I got home, how I’d been hugging the toilet most of the night, and how much trouble I might have caused at the party before I blacked out. Luckily, my neighbors invited me to hang out again a couple days later (we all had killer hangovers on Thursday, so we hung out on Friday instead). They told me everything that happened- well, until I got home, at least.

It turns out I’m a very calm drunk. In fact, if it weren’t for my mild incoherence, paled skin and heavy sweating, my neighbor wouldn’t have noticed I was way too drunk to stay at the party safely. She offered me to hang out outside the house, sat me down on the door step and called me a car to get home. She made sure to come with me, taking care of me in the car until she could hand me off to my father when we got back.

Of course, that night was more wild than my drunk self was. Apparently they took me home with the wrong coat- which the owner said wouldn’t be a problem until they remembered their house keys were in it. So, the neighbor had to come back to fetch it, and basically was on a lot of ubers because of me that day.

I told friends about it, and the thing that shocked them even more than the fact I managed to get that drunk, was the fact my father wasn’t angry. In fact, dad told me it was a sort of ‘rite of passage’. It was a learning experience- where I learned one big cup of mixed drink can count as like 3-4 drinks depending on what’s in it. I know my limit with tequila and fireball is usually about four or five- meaning I’d basically had my limit before going to the party- and then added three more to my repertoire. There was no one angry at me, and I am beyond thankful- to my neighbors that invited me and then helped me get home, to my father for nursing me during my epic hangover, and to the kind people at the party for making sure I felt welcome and had fun before my early departure.

And, even more so, to my neighbors for becoming good friends of mine. I’ve learned just how much they care for me through this whole situation, and their generosity is beyond compare. I will never stop thanking them- for helping me break out of my shell a bit, and for protecting me while I do so… And just for letting me spend time with them from time to time, just to hang out.

What did you do for New Years’ Eve? And have you ever gotten as drunk as I did at that party? I’d love to hear any anecdotes or advice you might have for me for the future. So please, feel free to comment! 🙂 Until next time- take care!