Each thing I do I rush through so I can do/something else. In such a way do the days pass–/a blend of stock cars racing and the never ending building of a gothic cathedral./Through the windows of my speeding car, I see/all that I love falling away: books unread,/jokes untold, landscapes unvisited… ― “Pursuit,” Stephen Dobyns
I have exactly an hour to write this before getting to bed. I’m really trying to get at LEAST seven hours of sleep a night right now. I went lower than that earlier in the week and the yawning at my desk was getting a little distracting to my coworkers. I love my job a ton and then a ton more, but it’s not the kind of job where you’re doing a lot of different things. You’re thinking a lot, so it’s not like it’s one of those emotion-killer jobs, not even a little…but you get in a routine. And when you’re half-asleep, nothing pushes you over the edge into sleepytown like a routine. Open the folder (yawn) start researching if all the things we need to write this policy are here where they should be (yawn, blink blink blink), go into the computer program to write the policy (MEGA-yawn, eyes getting a little closey now)…you get the idea.

What? I’m not yawning. I’m…stretching my jaw out. For all that future singing that I’m going to be doing. Yep. Totally doing that.
Andreas tells me I need more than seven hours of sleep, and that eight hours is recommended. Well, eight hours seems like a lot, doesn’t it? And I’d love to get eight hours, but when would I blog? NEVER, is when. (Also, I try to catch up on the weekends, or at least on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings when I have a chance, but my body’s all “NOPE! SORRY BUCKAROO!” and wakes me up after about seven hours of sleep, even if I wanted more. Stupid sabatogey body.)
So. Lots going on around here. I have actual, honest-to-goodness post ideas for you, but no time to do them justice (and half a draft written for Insatiable Booksluts that I MUST get done after work tomorrow night, must must must!) and SO MANY THINGS going on. Like, a million and a half things. This is, most likely, why I can’t get any sleep. I have too many things in my brain-area. How do you people turn these things off when it’s sleeping-time? Don’t even say alcohol or drugs, I’m an old lady and I don’t do those (anymore.)
So, in brief, what I have going on ’round these here parts before the month is out:
- Two, yes, TWO, out-of-town trips – and not even for the theater! For FUN! (Well, the theater’s pretty fun, too, I have to admit.) In a little over a week I’m going to visit the most lovely Bronwyn down in the Catskills, which is very exciting for many reasons. I never thought I’d get to meet her, since she lives in the faraway wilds of distant Canada, AND she was one of my first Twitter people/internet friends/blog readers! I have known her for over two years! This is a meetup quite some time in the making. We are going to have an epic adventure. Well, a brief epic adventure, since she’s leaving town not long after…but a brief adventure is better than no adventure at all!
Then, a week later, I am headed northwest to visit the equally-lovely Laura, one of my fellow Booksluts, before she leaves our fair state for the more humid climes of the south! We are having an afternoon of chatting and eating and MORE chatting and laughing and have decided we will talk about both SRS BSNS and fun-times. As two most amazing Booksluts are apt to do.
Yes, I promise I will take some photos! - Much writing of blog posts and book reviews and various and sundry other things. I will most likely be glued to the laptop when I am not doing other things.
- Things that are keeping me busy like reading, and working, and plotting a big surprise-thing I’m working on, talking to Andreas with my face, and sometimes watching a little TV and hanging with Dumbcat. (I came home way too late the other day and Dumbcat was AMAZED I WAS NOT DEAD. And he was VERY VOCAL about it. “Meow, Mom!” he said. A lot. And loudly. “MEOW! Where have you been? MEOW! I’ve been HERE, in our HOME, but you have NOT! MEOW MEOW!” Then when I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom he kept walking by the door, pausing, MEOW!-ing into the door, and walking by. Then walking BACK by in the OTHER direction, MEOW!-ing, and walking by again. Over and over. Back and forth. I was seriously giggle-choking on toothpaste. HE NEEDED SOME SERIOUS ATTENTION, YO.)
- Plotting some other things that are futurey things, like trips and visits and such. They do not need IMMEDIATE planning but they are back-burner planning things that are always being thought about.
- Maybe doing some artsy things, if I have time to shoehorn those in.
Those are a LOT of things. Also, were you aware the summer’s almost over? It’s totally true. It’s already August! I’m happy about this, because summer = hot and humid and gross, but it is kind of baffling that the summer is already almost gone. Poof. Just like that. That went by pretty quickly, didn’t it? Whoo.
Have happy and restful and relaxing weekends, all. Do something summery. Maybe have an adventure. August is for squeezing in those last few adventures before it starts getting chilly. Go have one, ok? Good, good. Go forth and adventure.
August 9th, 2013 at 11:48 am
How can summer be almost over?! I swear I just shoveled my driveway for the last time last week. Sigh.
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August 9th, 2013 at 12:12 pm
Yes, finally. Autumn is approaching at last. *sigh of relief*
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August 9th, 2013 at 12:17 pm
I’m the exact opposite. I abhor cold and snow. I’m not ready for another bout of seasonal depression/general malaise.
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August 9th, 2013 at 12:32 pm
We really are opposite poles; it’s summer depressions for me.
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August 9th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
I’m sorry to hear that. Even though I hate winter, I’m glad you’ll be feeling better soon.
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August 9th, 2013 at 2:28 pm
Aw, thanks! Actually, this summer haven’t been too bad. Hopefully the upcoming winter won’t be too bad for you either.
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
I’m with you, Andreas. Autumn and I are the best of friends.
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:15 pm
It can’t be autumn soon enough. Winter can stay far away, but I can’t wait til autumn again. I miss my sweaters!
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August 10th, 2013 at 10:40 am
I do love autumn, but I would love it a lot more if it weren’t followed by winter. Always there is this threatening edge to it – “Enjoy wearing that sweater while you can. Winter is coming.”
And I live in California. I’m not cut out for winter.
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August 10th, 2013 at 9:46 pm
Hee! It always comes back to GRR Martin. WINTER IS COMING.
I live in New York and I’M not cut out for winter!
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August 9th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Ooooh, all of this sounds so very exciting!
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Fingers crossed!
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August 9th, 2013 at 12:30 pm
I get those sleep attacks as well, especially in the afternoon. (I’ve actually fallen asleep a couple of times in meetings. But don’t worry, they were video conferences and I think no one noticed. Much.) And I love my job. It’s just that sometimes the brain is tired, and no amount of exciting HTML mark-up or sexy JavaScript help me keep awake.
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
I like that we both love our jobs. That makes me so happy.
I doodle to stay awake in meetings. I used up a whole pen in a meeting recently. Then I had no pen! I could no longer doodle! ACK!
Hee, sexy JavaScript!
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August 9th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
My cats are amazed I’m not dead when I’ve left the house for a minute and a half to get the mail. So funny how concerned they are! (and then, the other day, I was on the loo (so polite), not really doing anything but busy playing Candy Crush Saga (which totally sucks your soul, I don’t recommend taking it up), when my Minky Schminky (aka Kitten Mitten, aka Frances but we only call her that when she’s in trouble) came around the corner inquisitively. “I’m fine, Mink. I’m just playing a game,” I told her. She immediately turned and left, as if to say, “Okay, just checking.” LOL I love my cats.)
Summer CAN’T be almost over! I swore this year I would go to the mountains every single weekend, and I have not gone ONCE. But here in Denver our summers last well into October, usually, so I’m not too too worried.
Get some sleep!
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:12 pm
I am avoiding that Candy Crush game as if it will give me genital warts. Everyone I know is OBSESSED with it. I don’t want to play it because it looks like you’re forced to talk to people on Facebook about it. No, thanks. I don’t want to spam people with game-neediness.
My summer has, surprisingly, been very good. Probably one of the best in recent memory, actually. I think because of some unexpected happy things that happened, plus my expectations were low, so combined, it ended up a really good few months. Now, to keep that going into the fall…
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August 9th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
You are forced to ask people for things, unless you want to spend REAL money. Urgh… I HATE that. If you play, I’ll give you stuff though, lol.
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August 9th, 2013 at 11:30 pm
Oh, there’s also money involved? Nope. Never playing that game. Not even a little bit. I don’t like games that make you beg or try to extort you. (This is not a huge loss. I don’t play games anyway. I have too many other things to do and games make me obsessive and then I stop doing other things altogether.)
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August 9th, 2013 at 11:35 pm
Yeah… it constantly wants you to ask friends to send you free lives when you run out, but that isn’t the worst of it. At the end of each “episode” you have to get 3 friends to help you “board the train” to the next episode or you can buy instant access – for MONEY.
I got sucked in by friends, but I only ask friends for help who are already playing. I refuse to spend money – and now that summer is over, I probably won’t play much. I only started because I was stuck in my home office for weeks on end while the remodeling was going on in the other part of the house. And it was too noisy to read.
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August 10th, 2013 at 9:49 pm
“Board the train.”
THIS GAME IS A CULT RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!
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August 9th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
It is very odd that summer is almost over. I feel like I was in school it lasted forever, because no work or school. Now it’s like, “Oh what was that? Summer? Oh, okay.” :( I need to hit a pool at least ONCE before it’s over. *grump grump*
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:09 pm
It was VERY quick this year, I noticed. I barely blinked and July was gone!
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August 9th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
I will tweet you every fifteen minutes and remind you to take pictures of your meet-ups. Because that’s what friends do.
I don’t get extra sleep, either. My body wakes me up at the same time, no matter how late I stayed up the night before. *sigh*
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:08 pm
Hee! That is totally what friends do!
I have that same problem lately – I’ll stay up late, have the whole next day to sleep in, if I want, but I’m still up no later than 8am. It’s kind of infuriating. Is it a thing that happens as you age, I wonder?
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August 9th, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Okay, I promised I wouldn’t actually steal Dumbcat but I really really want to. And that cartoon of cat body language is pretty darned accurate.
I’m glad you have many exciting things to look forward to! I have no exciting things to look forward to. And I have no blog post ideas to speak of. So basically, I got nothin’. But that’s okay, I’m glad you have somethin’!
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August 9th, 2013 at 9:05 pm
I’m trying to give myself more fun things to look forward to. It’s nice to have that waiting for you when things are blergh.
(I hear you on the post ideas. I used to have a million. Did someone steal my brain when I wasn’t looking?)
Dumbcat gacked all over the rug today, so if I didn’t love him so much, I’d send him packing off to you, with a little traveling hat and coat and wee suitcase. *glares at Dumbcat*
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August 9th, 2013 at 10:35 pm
Ugh… summer IS over, for me anyway – we (teachers) went back to school TODAY. What is UP with that? When I was a wee child, we didn’t go back until after Labor Day, so I’m sure that my teachers didn’t go back until the last week of August. And I feel like I didn’t even get a summer because I’ve been stuck in remodeling HELL all summer. Hopefully, they will finish my kitchen soon and I can put everything away. Now, hubby has to work from home and deal with these idiots – should only be one more day though. Unless they screw something else up. Grrr…..
And, you might only need 7 hours of sleep. Most people need from between 7 – 9, although some people can function with only 4-5 and some folks need 10. I only need around 7 – 7.5, although I used to need more.
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August 9th, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Wow, that’s early! When do the kids come back?
I think I actually need more than 7 hours, but I’m lucky to get seven, honestly. I feel better with 8, but I have terrible insomnia, so if I can get seven, I can function…and most days, all I really need to do is function, mostly. (Imagine me on 8 horus of sleep every night? I’d have taken over the world by now.)
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August 9th, 2013 at 11:36 pm
The kids come back Monday, Aug 19, but we’re out the week after Memorial Day. If you ask me, we take off too many days off during the year (like a whole week at Thanksgiving, a week for Spring Break, and a four day weekend for Easter) – we should take less time off during the year and just finish faster.
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August 10th, 2013 at 9:48 pm
Ooh, that’s early! I don’t think we used to start until after Labor Day!
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August 10th, 2013 at 10:45 am
All my younger life, I got by on very little sleep – 6 hours all through high school, *4 hours* all through college. While I was teaching, I had to set an alarm to get up early, so I had to put myself to bed early, and that was torture. I am SO not a morning person. Once I hit my 40s, I hit a wall. I think I am making up for it. Thank god I don’t have to be anywhere in the morning. I don’t set an alarm and I’m sleeping 8 or 9 hours.
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August 10th, 2013 at 9:46 pm
I’m not a morning person, either! My good sleep time is probably midnight to 8am – but there aren’t too many jobs where you can go in about 10am-6pm, you know? (And I love my job. I’m not at all complaining about my job. It’s actually not that early that I have to be there.)
When I was unemployed and/or working weird hours last year, I was regularly sleeping 8-9 hours a night. It was fantastic. But I’m not sure if it was because I could, or because I was depressed. Or a little of both. Probably that.
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August 11th, 2013 at 11:06 pm
I used to (if left to my own devices) wake up exactly nine hours from the time I went to bed. Didn’t matter if I went to bed at 10pm or 3am, my body would sleep for nine hours and no more. Didn’t matter if I’d be falling behind on sleep for days on end, or pulled an all-nighter the night before… the first day of no alarm — nine hours. Bam. In recent years my internal clock hasn’t been nearly as reliable.
Also, is it wrong that I kind of want to visit New York just so I can meet Dumbcat? I mean, meeting you would be cool too, of course… but aw, Dumbcat…
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August 12th, 2013 at 7:38 am
Nine hours is WONDERFUL. I don’t think I’ve slept nine hours, other than when I’ve been sick, in my whole life. Aaahhhh.
With no alarm and optimal conditions, I usually sleep between 7-8 hours…but optimal conditions are the issue. That assumes I don’t have to go to the bathroom, that Dumbcat doesn’t leap on me, that sun doesn’t shine on me, that I don’t have a nighttime panic attack, that I don’t roll over and wake myself up…the list is endless. So usually on the weekends it’s 6-7, if I’m lucky.
I won’t even take offense. Dumbcat is the best. No question. But he’d hide in the cupboard or under the couch and your trip would be for naught! He is petrified of new people. He only stays out for my mom and my friends C. and K., and only because I used to live with C. so he knows her, and K. and Mom cat-sit him once. Otherwise, he’s a furry missile of disappearance the minute the doorbell rings.
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