So Sunday, not surprisingly, we woke up late. We showered, got dressed, downed a few large glasses of water in an attempt to re-hydrate, then jumped in the car and headed back over to Eileen’s. It was 1:30 in the afternoon, and the sun was bright. Very bright. Much to our surprise, we walked in to find everyone – Eileen, boyfriend Barrett, roommates Cathy and Kim, plus two houseguests -- wide awake and all looking remarkably alert, considering the toll that the previous night’s revelry should have taken on all. The house had already been restored to near-pristine, pre-party-state order. Having missed out on the work portion of the day, Ash and I offered to make a food run to the nearby La Salsa.

We returned with burritos, soft tacos, a two-liter Coke, and two non-mentally-taxing videos that we’d picked up at Blockbuster, upon group request. After stuffing ourselves to the point of food coma, everyone retired to the living room. Sofas were pulled up ‘round the television, a futon mattress dragged from a bedroom to the living room floor, and Office Space – hey, we’d received a "no-thinking" stipulation on our movie choice, remember? – was popped into the VCR.

Now whether it was the movie, or the hangover kicking in, I can’t say, but halfway through I woke up, not remembering having fallen asleep in the first place. Feeling sheepish, I glanced around the room, only to find that I wasn’t the only one that had taken advantage of a darkened room and a comfy position; on the floor below me, Eileen had conked out as well. I closed my eyes and dozed off again. You know that you’re with real friends when you can fall asleep in their company without worrying that they’ll be offended.

Afterwards we tossed around suggestions for getting off our butts. We thought about driving to the mountains to watch the sun set, or do a short hike; we contemplated going to Nightfall, the Halloween-themed ghost town/haunted house out at Old Tucson Studios. The sun sunk low, inside it got dark, but the most movement anyone could muster was getting up to plug in the Halloween lights that still decorated the room. So there we were, sprawled on the floor and the sofas, curled up under shared blankets, in a room dimly lit by long, looping strings of tiny orange lights. Basking in the soft glow of shared slothfulness. These are the sorts of moments that make a soul smile, even one as jaded and cynical as mine usually fancies itself to be.

Ask me what we did for the rest of the evening and my answer will no doubt make it sound like a total bore. We stayed put in that living room, shuffling positions from time to time when one of us would get up to get a beverage, pop an Excedrin, take a bathroom break. We read Trivial Pursuit questions, answering pell-mell without playing a real game. We ate jack-o-lantern-shaped chocolates and SweetTart fun-paks, drank Coke and lots of water. We talked about nothing, and laughed about really silly things. We stared up from the floor at the pretty twinkling lights.

There should be more days like these. 

o 
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