Today I’ll dig a little deeper into the 6-week saga known as “40 Days of Beer.” Regulars will recall that my rock star wife had corralled 40 of my closest friends and encouraged them to either take me out for beer or bring me beer every day for the 40 days leading into my 40th birthday. #Wow
To horribly misuse a famous quote, the journey of a thousand beers begins with a sip. So much beer. So. Much. Beer. One of my initial thoughts when contemplating this 6-week hop-induced coma was the great
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| No – these aren’t really my friends |
realization that I would be experiencing a prolonged “Stock the Beer Fridge” party. What I didn’t realize was how quickly I would have space difficulties. I’m not complaining … at all. It was overwhelming, in the most wonderful way possible. Day 2 was a 6-pack delivery, day 4 was a half case, day 5 was three 6-packs, day 7 was another 6-pack. You can do the math. Three weeks in, the fridge was full and I was doing my best to whittle it down the best I could. I was swimming upstream, almost literally. Gradually, I was able to rearrange some things and avoid any storage issues, but another unforeseen problem arose … I was getting tired.
I have amazing friends and family. So many of them are creative and competitive. This almost became a toxic combination of personality traits. There were invitations to festivals, brewery tours, nights on the town, out of town trips … the list goes on. My brain and my liver were engaged in a titanic struggle. It was “these fantastic people have gone to great lengths to plan something special just for you” versus “I just can’t take anymore! I need water and sleep!” I actually found myself having to schedule in some quiet days and ask for rain checks in order to be able to properly pace myself and fully enjoy the entire journey.
At the end of the day, someone asked me if there was such a thing as too much beer. Of course not. Proper planning and some self-realization make anything possible. Fortunately for me, there is also no shortage of great friends and family that went to crazy lengths to ensure that I had an unforgettable 40th birthday. Come back Friday for the third #BOTW installment. We’ll feature a little something from California. And next week will bring the next installment of the 40 Days of Beer story.
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