My wife gave me a challenge, one night on New Year’s Eve, to welcome in another year. I must have been naïve.
I’m usually in the sack same time as chickens hit their light. So for me to stay up extra late was really going to bite.
I hoped to stay awake by drinking Coconut Red Bull and munching down on smokie links. I could eat a belly full.
My wife bought cheese and crackers and she made her onion dip. Was I ready for the evening? This one I’d like to skip.
The kitchen clock chimed 8 p.m. with four more hours to go. My eyes were getting sleepy. Staying awake was touch and go.
At nine o’clock I ate the smokies, crackers and the cheese. Then tanked down all my Red Bull. Sleep was putting on the squeeze.
This time of night I usually watched the back of my eyelids. I realized this challenge was for crazy, younger kids.
At eleven sharp I closed my eyes to get a wink or two. It seems those winks turned out to be a little more than few.
I thought I heard my wife say, “Hon, it’s almost twelve o’clock.” By then I didn’t give a hoot. I was sleeping like a rock.
When I woke and looked around the room, I’d somehow climbed in bed. And then I heard my wife exclaim, “Good morning, sleepyhead.”
How does a husband live it down? A wife just seems to know. She’d warned me not to close my eyes. Now she’s saying, “Told you so.”
Will I ever stop accepting a challenge from my wife? I know I should resist. It seems to always cause me strife.
So next year when it’s New Year’s Eve, sleep won’t be such a shock. I won’t be celebrating. I’ll be in bed at eight o’clock.
– Bryce Angell