Brief Answer:
There's a lot to this question.

Detailed Answer:
Don't take any of this personally.
Without an exam, I can only give general information.

Ok, it's the very lowest dose of Xanax. AND...mostly Xanax isn't used anything like correctly. It has at least 30 minutes before Xanax really gets working and most of the time people take them at the start of a panic attack or other issue that is going to last less than the time it takes the Xanax to START working.

Then, more of a point, sedatives, and Xanax and alcohol wear off and the wearing off produces a negative state---more anxiety. Even with ONE drink on a Friday, most patients have a slight bump in bp and heart rate the next day when it wears off. If that is noticeable and they take a Xanax, then they've established a roller coaster.

Taking a sedative, Xanax, or alcohol, for anxiety from something where death is NOT involved, sets up a bad pattern. More anxiety follows when they wear off and people start using the Xanax or alcohol more and more without any controls. This leads to really bad psychological problems and really bad overuse.
Personally, I do small candies and pastries instead of the sedatives. They work immediately.

AND, I've got over than with some cognitive-behavioral techniques.

So, cognitive-behavioral techniques are a way to permanently get over anxiety issues and not be on a roller coaster.
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Ok, back to your question:

One drink and one Xanax taken at the peak of both is only fatal if you have a car accident from it. Which is pretty common. So, the Xanax peak effect is about 30 to 60 minutes after taking it. The duration of action is 4 to 8 hrs and the rebound is at 12 to 24 after taking a Xanax. Xanax is far more potent than the other drugs that work the same way. Valium equivalent is like a 2 mg (10 x more to do the same amount as the Xanax). Alcohol duration is about 1-2 hr per drink.
So, at 2hrs after one drink, the breathalyzer won't be illegal in most people. At 4 hrs after taking Xanax, the Xanax effect is definitely declining.

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The really interesting part isn't the parts that are going wrong on this question (someone taking a drink somewhat early in the day, calling out from work and then immediately wanting alcohol, using alcohol and Xanax interchangeably). These both set up more and more extremes of ups and downs where the person starts using more and more and gets into serious problems. But, that's just the drug, alcohol, and physiology.

The interesting part is this person (you) probably is NOT getting worse this year compared to last year. Maybe you are, in which case, seeing an addiction specialist, getting cognitive behavioral therapy and things get better really fast and probably not major problems.
But more likely you are NOT any different this year from last.

Doctors mostly don't notice all the stuff that is going RIGHT. But, there has to be a considerable amount that is going right such as putting breaks on behaviors, rules, constraints, good patterns of limitation of the Xanax or alcohol use. The Xanax is at the lowest dose and it is implied it is not used more than 3 times a day or more likely less.

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so, the immediate pattern of Xanax and ONE drink even directly together would not be more than embarrassing at the worst unless one drives.

The daily pattern of use is a bit of a concern.

The yearly pattern of use is the most key point. If the amount used is going up for less and less of a reason to take them, that's a bad pattern. If the amount used is really small and not changing year to year...things might change with large stresses but small, non-progressive use isn't that bad by itself.

Kind regards

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