Kaimana III - High spirits

My team gave me the Spirit award this weekend. Some of it was probably because I wasn’t one of the better players. Some of it was probably because it was my birthday on Saturday. But I mostly got the Spirit award because they loved my New Year’s resolution to drink more.

We were putting on cleats for our first game on Saturday when it came out that it was two of our birthdays. When someone asked what we were going to do about that, my good friend Tracy threw me to the wolves. “Well, she did make a New Year’s resolution to drink more.”

Oh man, they loved that. Screw working out more or being on time. Drinking more was the best resolution ever, and how did I ever think of it? I knew it was a mistake, but the words just came out: “It’s just, you see, that I started drinking so late, and I have so much to make up for, and you know, I’ve never been drunk.”

I knew that would be bait, but I didn’t know it would turn those lovely girls into sharks. I’ve never been drunk, it was my birthday, we’re in Hawaii and the party has an open bar? Val had a new mission; sweet Bridget immediately offered to hold my hair; Mac said that maybe I was the kind of person who could live with myself if I didn’t uphold my resolutions, but she wanted better for me. Honestly, there hasn’t been such ferocious interest in my virginity since I was one of the few girls at a math/science high school.

The booze leis appeared at our 8:30 game the next morning, and we finished those right after the game. But I was mostly worried about the party, and with good cause. Rookies, if a friendly Ultimate player ever casually suggests that you couldn’t finish a frisbee’s worth of beer, do NOT take her up on it. A full frisbee holds an entire pitcher, and those girls brought three frisbees of vodka and cranberry juice back to our team table. I shared as best I could, but they kept coming back to me.

I’m not sure why, but I didn’t feel much from the drinks that night. I escaped to dance, and a torrential rain gave me good reason to return to my tent. I still don’t think I’ve been drunk, but I’ve now had a team of girls pounding the table and chanting for me to drink. And I don’t know if it counts as a morning eye-opener, but two mixed drinks before noon on a Sunday has to be good progress.

Sadly, for all of the intense interest in relieving me of my sobriety, no one paid the slightest mind to my other virtue. It was a fun weekend, but there was no birthday nookie for me.

Bound and determined.

Superbowl is today. I wouldn’t care at all, except that it means there’ll be a crowd of friends. I would still skip that in favor of anything outdoors on this gorgeous day, except that I realized that I should bring homemade mac and cheese. And that means I can keep one of my New Year’s resolutions.

I only ever make New Year’s resolutions that will make my life funner or better. I have no patience for resolutions that require sacrifice or willpower. In the past few years I’ve resolved to wear cute shoes, spend more time at the river, sing more, say nice things to people and wear my hair down. I often pick a dish I want to work into my repertoire (biscotti - 2003, pie crust – 2004, mac and cheese – 2006); I’ll have fulfilled the resolution when it turns out consistently without thought on my part.

Last year I picked a very successful resolution: to drink more. Yeah, like drink alcohol. I didn’t start drinking until I was 28, and I feel like I have years to make up for. I made a lot of good progress last year. I found two drinks I like and am not embarrassed to order (I used to have to ask the bartender for “anything really girly, you know, with an umbrella?”). But even better, I learned to drink alone! Yay! Cleaning the house all day? Hour left before people show up for the party? Just one couldn’t hurt anyone.

Since ‘drink more’ worked so well for me last year, I renewed the resolution this year. There are so many drinking milestones I haven’t accomplished. Drunken dialing? Throwing up in a friend’s car? Those are pretty advanced. They may have to wait another year. This year I am working my way up to ‘morning eye-opener’ and ‘one for the road’. They’re ambitious goals, but it is only February. My mac and cheese is tasting pretty good and I am feeling confident.