The time switch certainly did not work to my advantage this weekend. Jacob fell asleep on his own bed at nine (old time), so I struggled him out of his shoes, jeans and underwear and was about to put on a diaper when he fell out of bed, which woke him thoroughly. He declared he was not asleep: "My eyes were open!" Not. So I got him settled in bed, watching Star Wars. I thought I'd let him stay up a bit so he didn't wake me at six; besides, he'd fall asleep again, but no, he'd just taken the edge off. He promised me however when that DVD was over, he'd go "Night, night." Wrong! When it was over and I turned of the TV, he had a meltdown, wanted Mommy, etc. We called her, he calmed down a bit, and settled in bed, I thought. Pretty soon he came into the office announcing he wanted to sit on my lap. When I finally asked if he wanted to sleep in his bed or mine (dumb, dumb question), he said mine. We settled down, except I had to get up to get Froggie and Puppy and then again to turn off the kitchen light. He fell asleep quite quickly, but then he was all arms and legs and elbows and knees, and he slept crosswise on the bed. When I tried to move him, it was like moving a boulder--dead weight. I remembered the time when I was about his age and my grandmother came to visit--she slept in my bed with me. The next morning, she, a very neurotic woman, complained that I kicked her in the belly and made her ill. It's a tiny bit of guilt that stayed with me for years until I realized it was her problem, not mine.
This morning, I was sleepy, but Jacob woke at 8:30 (9:30 the old time, thank you) bright and happy, and we had a delightful morning. We did discuss last night's meltdown and decided to revert to our old rule: the TV goes off at 9:00--he calls it nine-oh-oh.
I've still got the rejection blues, pondering what to do with my mystery--self-pubish, go the small press route? I know that I rushed into a contract with an agent, so delighted to have someone interested in my work that I didn't ask the right questions or enough of them. This time I want to be deliberate and have a plan. I won't do another agent search--the manuscript has been shopped to all the obvious publishers, so what agent would take it on? But I'm convinced that Skeleton in a Dead Space has as much merit as many of the mysteries I read. And once again I'm distracted from the work-in-progress, which now has a title: Deadly Greens, A Blue Plate Cafe Mystery. I'm reading a book right now about establishing your social network platform--maybe I'll be inspired. The coming week is busy enough too that maybe I'll snap out of my doldrums. It's not like me to linger in them.
Showing posts with label time change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time change. Show all posts
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Monday, March 09, 2009
Time change and the economy
Maybe it's wimpy of me, but I always feel a little fragile when we spring ahead and lose that hour of sleep. I somehow feel I have to take better care of myself--long naps, early to bed, sleep a little later (I allowed myself 15 extra minutes of dozing this morning and liked it so much I'll probably do it tomorrow). This feeling has been heightened by the news that the rate of heart attacks goes up fairly dramatically after the spring loss of an hour's sleep because Americans are already chronically sleep-deprived. I truly don't think that applies to me--I get 7-1/2 - 8 hours a night plus a good nap almost every day. I'm getting downright prickly about protecting my nap time. Jordan wants to bring Jacob at 4 p.m. Saturday to spend the night. I reminded her that I'm giving a brunch that morning and then her b'day dinner the next night for a cast of 16 and said emphatically that I needed my nap and I'd call her when I woke up. She gave a tentative okay, but reminded me once again she had girls coming at 5 p.m. for a party. I will wake up when I wake up!
The benefit of the time change of course is that extra hour of daylight. Yesterday and today the temperature has been in the eighties--though 44 is the predicted high by Thursday. Still I sat on the porch tonight and watched the world go by. My neighborhood is an old one, with trees that arch over the street, and they now have that light green of early spring. It's also a neighborhood where people get out and walk their dogs, or their kids, or just themselves, and runners go by. The street that dead-ends into my house is only two blocks long, with no houses facing it, and yet I am amazed at the amount of traffic. So I sat for a long time tonight and watched the neighborhood go by. It's also the kind of wonderful neighborhood with a strong e-mail system, so if anybody sees a loose dog or a suspicious character, the word is on the Berkeley Buzz in no time. A comforting place ot live.
Today the news and grim predictions about the global economy make me feel fragile too. I've been blessedly insulated from the economic troubles--I have my house and car paid for, a job, a retirement income. But as I watch the news I can't help but wonder when the tentacles of this disaster will begin to reach toward me. So I vow to save more, spend less--and feed 16 people on Sunday? Give me a break! But I think once you feel the caution, you automatically cut back. I know I feel it in my office budget and am issuing all kinds of orders for cutting back as much as we can. We will face an 8% across the board budget cut in June, plus no new positions, which means I can't get Melinda to full time.
The good news? I rode 4.64 miles in 24 minutes tonight with the second degree of resistance. Some days I can get my heart rate up to 95--the other day I hit 105--which is good for me since I take beta blockers. Between the bicycle and the yoga, I'm feeling like one fit grandmother--okay, notice I didn't say trim, just fit.
Tonight with my usual bent toward early preparation, I have coffee cups and other serving pieces out for the Wed. night gathering. All I really have to do is bake the cake, and I hope to do that tomorrow night, if Jacob will comply and watch a DVD. And I even rummaged around in my closest and found I have enough paper plates and napkins for Jordan's dinner, so that comes off my list. Having done all that, I'm going to read a book the reset of the evening.
The benefit of the time change of course is that extra hour of daylight. Yesterday and today the temperature has been in the eighties--though 44 is the predicted high by Thursday. Still I sat on the porch tonight and watched the world go by. My neighborhood is an old one, with trees that arch over the street, and they now have that light green of early spring. It's also a neighborhood where people get out and walk their dogs, or their kids, or just themselves, and runners go by. The street that dead-ends into my house is only two blocks long, with no houses facing it, and yet I am amazed at the amount of traffic. So I sat for a long time tonight and watched the neighborhood go by. It's also the kind of wonderful neighborhood with a strong e-mail system, so if anybody sees a loose dog or a suspicious character, the word is on the Berkeley Buzz in no time. A comforting place ot live.
Today the news and grim predictions about the global economy make me feel fragile too. I've been blessedly insulated from the economic troubles--I have my house and car paid for, a job, a retirement income. But as I watch the news I can't help but wonder when the tentacles of this disaster will begin to reach toward me. So I vow to save more, spend less--and feed 16 people on Sunday? Give me a break! But I think once you feel the caution, you automatically cut back. I know I feel it in my office budget and am issuing all kinds of orders for cutting back as much as we can. We will face an 8% across the board budget cut in June, plus no new positions, which means I can't get Melinda to full time.
The good news? I rode 4.64 miles in 24 minutes tonight with the second degree of resistance. Some days I can get my heart rate up to 95--the other day I hit 105--which is good for me since I take beta blockers. Between the bicycle and the yoga, I'm feeling like one fit grandmother--okay, notice I didn't say trim, just fit.
Tonight with my usual bent toward early preparation, I have coffee cups and other serving pieces out for the Wed. night gathering. All I really have to do is bake the cake, and I hope to do that tomorrow night, if Jacob will comply and watch a DVD. And I even rummaged around in my closest and found I have enough paper plates and napkins for Jordan's dinner, so that comes off my list. Having done all that, I'm going to read a book the reset of the evening.
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