by Mary Brotherton

Created on: September 07, 2009   Last Updated: September 08, 2009

I've always thought I was a drinking lightweight. A few beers buzz me enough to distort dreams and waking up the morning after is difficult. Sometimes, a glass of wine with dinner is enough to make me super relaxed and ready to turn in early.

One girls' night, I drank a dozen margaritas without so much as a morning-after cottonmouth.

My father once proudly told us, "One is too many and twelve is not enough," when it came to alcohol consumption. He also told us, "The difference between a drunk and an alcoholic is the meetings they attend."

Until my trip to my own personal Margarita-ville, I didn't understand what my father meant all those years ago. If I hadn't taken that first drink, I would never have consumed eleven more. I didn't intend to drink a dozen that night, and I certainly didn't count, but I drank enough that I drew attention from the bartender who asked my friend if I was driving home. No, I wasn't.

The next day, I counted how much money remained in my wallet and deduced how many I'd had based on the cost of one. I was a little unsteady on my feet when I returned home. Rooms were spinning whether my eyes were open or closed and the spinning intensified if I tried to move.

My husband insisted I drink a few glasses of water before my shower, some more after. He's a smart man and fortunately, my body couldn't handle so much water. A few hours later, it reminded that I needed to recycle my liquids. After I staggered the few steps to the bathroom, I staggered a few more to the kitchen to get another glass of water, then shuffled back to bed again. This process continued throughout the night.

The next morning, I woke relatively early, feeling as if I'd had nothing stronger to drink than apple juice, the night before. My shower was all I needed to erase most of the traces of alcohol from my system. Since I had to go to work, I was self-conscious and wondered if my skin smelled of tequila. I grabbed some coarse sea salt from the kitchen and mixed it with my shower gel to slough off my skin while I showered. Instead of reaching for a caffeinated drink, I brewed myself a cup of white tea, which helped refresh me without adding to the usual morning-after puffiness around the eyes.

Truthfully, I wasn't very hungry, but knew I'd need something on my stomach before I took my usual vitamins and minerals, so boiled myself an egg. There was something comforting about the warm egg and I had less mess to contend with after eating.

I dressed in something that has always brought compliments - a bright blue dress with small black and yellow flowers. Maybe it's so vivid people don't notice much else. Having short hair, I couldn't pull it back into a ponytail to give myself an instant eye lift, but I did make sure my style was out of my face. I didn't wear much makeup, which would have emphasized any residual eye puffiness, and I made sure to drink water throughout the day to replace the fluids I'd lost the night before.

I don't plan to drink that much again, but if I do go out for a night of drinking and gossip, I'll be sure to end the night with water, not tequila - lots of water!

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