No sleep for the desperately charming

That’d be me. OF COURSE!

I slept for a few hours last night and then *BING* I was wakey-wakey and hungry as all hell at one AM. Warum? Could've had something to do with that sweet, heat escaping afternoon nap yesterday, followed by an awesome dinner of grilled veggies, black bean burger, salad and *cough* a second cosmo.

Even with the siesta and grand meal, I might’ve slept the night through. It’s that extra cosmo that torpedoed me. The older I get, the less it takes to throw off my rhythms.

It ain't only me as it turns out. Since I was sleepless in Valhalla anyway, I figured I'd Google the sitch. iDid that second drink interrupt my sleep?' WebMD had the answer:

A new review of 27 studies shows that alcohol does not improve sleep quality. According to the findings, alcohol does allow healthy people to fall asleep quicker and sleep more deeply for a while, but it reduces rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
~~snip~~
“Alcohol may seem to be helping you to sleep, as it helps induce sleep, but overall it is more disruptive to sleep, particularly in the second half of the night,” says researcher Irshaad Ebrahim. He is the medical director at The London Sleep Centre in the U.K.

Hypnos and Thanatos
by John William Waterhouse

A second glass of the grape doesn’t affect my sleep the way a second cosmo or martini does. So, what’s this mean? Cocktails are now for special occasions only and I can have just one. NO MORE.

I’ve been approaching this level of moderation for awhile. BOOM. I’m here. I've had it with somno interrúpta! I’ve more than enough of a struggle with my pal Hypnos—I don’t need to aggravate the shit out of him even more. Eh?

Jen and I have a couple moderation helper things in place already.

1. We sip our bevs from half filled old fashioned glasses. We’re trying to be here now, appreciate the grape, not soar on the oblivion express. OK, sometimes we'd like to soar but soaring has consequences...like hangovers. Short, half filled glasses are a good way to limit our intake—after two we know we’re done or should be.
2. We keep a glass of water at hand too. Instead of absently drinking down the wine, we guzzle some H2O.

This is the plan, the set up, how we often do things but not always. I gotta be better, more consistent. More mindful. Another thing I need to remember is this—if offered a second cocktail or a third glass of some awesome Malbec—I can say ‘no thank you.’ That’s OK to do. No one’s gonna be offended or think I’m some dull, party-pooping, soporific bore.

Spill the Wine—Eric Burden and War