First of all, don't drink while working on anything dangerous, and for sure working under your car is dangerous. Joke or not, it's really not a joking matter. Save the beer until you're through. It tastes better then anyway.
It sounds like the nuts on your halfshafts were aftermarket. The OEM are not castle nuts and they are 36mm.
There is no retaining clip on the passenger halfshaft. Also, you can unbolt the bearing from the bracket before removing the halfshaft, rather than removing the bracket from the engine.
It's not necessary to remove the tie rod ends from the upright. It's also possible to not unbolt the kingping bolt, but rather unbolt the middle link from the upper control arm. Fielder's choice.
There is a good trick for installing the driver's halfshaft. It
does have the circlip on the end of the halfshaft. When installing the shaft, it's really easy to get it half way in and stop. This is because the clip drops down and makes inserting the halfshaft the rest of the way in quite difficult. To combat this, place some heavy grease in a small closed container and place the container in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes. When it's cold, slather the clip with the grease and it will stay centered on the end of the shaft. This helps installation greatly.
Otherwise, well done!
Four hours is a good time for a first timer figuring it out as you go. Very good time.