"You sure had a hell of a time is awake" ! Well, I would argue that I understand its meaning and yet don't understand it's structure ! It means something like: Hey, What are you talking about ,you don't know what you're saying..Huh?! "A hell of " came before "time" to emphasise and indicate that it was a terrible time! I'm wondering why it came with "is" before "awake".and I'd naturally say for example,"you had a long time awake" Or "you've been a long time awake" without "is"!