This weekend, a year ago, we decided to take a fall trip to the beach. The weather was still warm and the kids had a 3 day weekend because of the Maryland State Education Association Convention. I know a lot of teachers and I’ve one known one to ever go…just saying…Don’t see too many check ins on Facebook from the convention.

Anyhow, the night before we were leaving, I was feeling a bit under the weather with a cold coming on. I decided to take a bit of NyQuil before bed to help me sleep. I went and got the bottle and took a swig. Not a “both checks filled with liquid” swig but a swig. I slept well and when the alarm clock went off at 5am, I got up, got dressed and put my stuff together. I went and sat on the couch. Sometime later Mike came out and asked me what I was doing. “Getting ready,” I said. “No,” he replied, “you are staring at the floor.” “Oh.” And I got up to put some stuff in the car.

That should have been the first clue something was off. We got in the car and drove to pick up my stepson. After that we were headed out of town and I was passed out in the passenger’s seat, propped up by the arm rest and my seat belt. We stopped in Williamsburg, a few hours away for breakfast. I ate, participated in conversation, was awake while we got gas and then boom, I was out like a light again. I awakened just as we were entering Kitty Hawk and was able to stay awake while we found our hotel and got checked in.

We headed out to the beach. I love the water but this day, it was all I could do to get to the beach and flop down. After a brief nap, 90 minutes or more, I awoke. I sat up, still groggy, looking at the water and it finally occurred to me that maybe I had overdone it with the NyQuil. I was basically reenacting “A Weekend at Bernie’s” being propped up most of the way in the car. I thought about getting in the water, but it was a little rough following a storm and I seriously doubted I could maintain control.

It wasn’t until after dinner that I actually felt halfway alive again. I was afraid to even take an aspirin all weekend in case the NyQuil level was still high.

So, lesson learned. Some things require exact measurements. NyQuil and baking are two of them.