Picnic Hangover

I adore picnics. There's no better way to spend a summer afternoon than with good friends and family, hot dogs and hamburgers fresh off the grill, juicy watermelon, buttery corn on the cob, generous portions of potato salad, and iced tea to wash it all down.

Yesterday my parents and godparents had their annual July picnic to celebrate the summer birthdays and anniversaries. The event always begins at noon with appetizers of bruschetta, fresh tomato slices and basil, and fresh mozz. Then we graze on crackers, beer, more cheese, and crudites before my dad brings out the meat around 5 PM. Then we wrap up the evening in my parents' fire pit, sitting around a nice brisk fire for a couple of hours. We all leave around 10 or 10:30 PM.

I don't eat too many heavy things anymore, so my body's not used to such excess of sugar, carbs, and fat. I went to bed last night with some major heartburn, but didn't have any Tums in the house, and sure wasn't about to drive to the 24 hour CVS across town to get some. So I went to bed feeling crappy and bloated. Things didn't improve much towards the morning hours, as a severe thunderstorm, complete with bright flashes of lightning, came through the area and seemed to perch itself on top of my condo. I was finally able to get back to sleep an hour later, when the storm went away, but almost slept through my alarm, and it was a church day.

I woke up, still feeling like crap, and was very sluggish and bloated.

So today is a detox day. I mention this after we had a child dedication today, and there was cake and cookies afterward. (Yeah, I was bad). Then I made a brief detour at an Italian festival in Southington on the way home, and had a scoop of gelato.

OK, now that I'm home, NOW is the time to start detoxing. The rest of the day, as well as the ones that follow, will involve lots of water, tea, and vegetables. Oh yeah, and a lot more exercise too. Anything to get rid of the junk that's still pumping through my veins.

But it was worth it. Oh Lord, was it worth it.