Back when I was a teenager my mom would marvel that at 11:00 at night I could grab a Pepsi, drink it, then go to bed soon thereafter without any problem.  I would crash, just like any other night.  I just thought that caffeine didn’t affect me that way.  A few years ago when we started the Big Diet I started drinking soda again.   I would notice that now and then I would have a tough time falling asleep, even though just a few hours ago I was dog tired.  I finally made the connection: I was drinking a diet coke with dinner.

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The same thing goes for alcohol.  When I was a newly minted 21 year old I was sent to the liquor store to buy margarita makings.  Being that I never drank before I was 21, I had NO idea of how much liquor it takes to get 10 or so people margarita’d.  I bought two of the big big jugs of tequila plus the spiked mixer.  Needless to say we had more than enough and I went home with a lot of extra tequila that night.  That summer I spent many many nights draining the bottles with no ill effects.  I was hangover free every morning and was even able to head off to work on the strawberry farm at 4:30 in the morning feeling just fine!  In fact, I never had a hangover once while in my twenties and really couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.  I took a long vacation from drinking anything alcoholic while we were trying to conceive our kids.  It took a total of eight years to conceive, carry and nurse the babies, and when the day finally came that I was not the life or food source for our kids I decided to have a drink.   I woke up the next morning feeling tired.  Hmmm…  The next time I drank, two vodka cokes was all it took to make me feel the effects for not one, not two, but three days!

I assumed that with time I would feel the affects of getting older and aging, but every once in a while it catches me off guard.  It seems like 36 is not so far from 26, but my body’s chemistry has changed enough that I avoid both alcohol and caffeine now, which really, is a lot healthier of a choice.  Initially I thought I’d avoid drinking when my kids were little just because I didn’t want them to think that Mommy is a lush and because drinking and late nights go hand in hand, while small children wake up with the chickens for some reason.  Now I don’t like to drink because I feel like warm death the next day and, not to sound like an old lady or anything, but it wreaks havoc on my acid reflux issues.  Who woulda thought?


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