I taught in public schools for the first fifteen years of my career, and I had to be at work at 7:30 AM and I hated it. Today I slept until 1PM. I’m a sleep slut, but I am fully rested and very happy. Sleep. It’s a good thing.
How did you wake up to happiness this week?
I *wish* I could sleep late!! Would like to blame it on perimenopause (it’s convenient to blame that for all my various discontents) but today was representative: woke up before seven after reading till after eleven, couldn’t get back to sleep, ended up lounging in bed with coffee finishing last night’s book. But there are certainly worse ways to start the day, especially since it was a good book. 🙂
Happy today: yesterday’s gardening stint was productive, the front yard is about to explode with sunflowers, and we had homemade-pizza dinner with our BFFs last night. I contributed a fancy lemon meringue cake from a fancy bakery, and while it wasn’t as good as the chocolate mousse cake I took along last time (same bakery) it was well received.
Also happy: it’s windy today which, combined with yesterday’s gardening, provides all the excuse I need to stay inside and get some writing done. Also I have a new, much sexier cover for one of last year’s books so I can get that updated. But that comes after writing because lately I’ve been doing Business First and by the time I get done with business I don’t feel like writing. The hell with that.
Happy well-rested Sunday to you. 🙂
I can’t sleep in late anymore either. I blame it on genetics, since I am not approaching menopause yet. None of my aunts sleep much past 5, which I fear is coming for me one day….
There are too many quotes about sleep to choose one. Shakespeare alone contributed dozens. Since retiring, I have slept around… let me rephrase that. My waking hours have varied until I was more or less on the cultural norms, waking with the sunrise and going to bed when I got tired. But that seems to change daily. It’s like my body wants to live a 28-hour day. Last night I went to bed around 03:30. Today I got up around 11:30. No telling when I’ll see bed again. I don’t know whether this is an artifact of retirement or age.
There are a plethora of quotes about age, too, not that I can remember ’em. Except for this one: “I’m old enough to remember when electric eels were coal powered.”
It take the body a while to adjust to a different living pattern. It used to take me about six weeks to adjust physically whenever I had a new work assignment, that sort of thing. Your body will catch up to retirement . . . eventually.
That’s just it, Anne, it’s been 11 weeks. I made an adjustment, but now I just go to bed whenever and get up four to ten hours later. If I get really tired in the middle of my “day,” I take a nap. If there was a reason to follow a set schedule, well, I’d try harder. There isn’t. I don’t.
The only things following a tight schedule in the garage are the hydroponics gardens, and I want to adjust their schedules to come on at sunrise. Sunrise, of course, changes daily, getting ever earlier until summer solstice. Sunrise tomorrow is at 07:05, so 07:00 is close enough.
That’s what my friend who retired in December does. She just sleeps whenever the hell she feels like it. Her husband’s even worse (in bed till afternoon). If you don’t HAVE to follow a schedule, then fuck it! Sounds great to me.
Sounds great to me, too. I didn’t go to bed “last night” until 08:30 this morning, after an egg, bacon, and mozzarella omelet and a cup of instant coffee. Got out of bed about 15:30 (3:30 Canadian). There were packages “overnight.” One of them was my all-new coffee bean grinder, so I tested it out on 20 grams of Amazon Fresh Decaf Columbian Medium Roast beans. That’s 10 grams per six ounces of cold clean water. I added the SweatLeaf and Mini-Moos, and Wha-La!.
Hmmm. I am not throwing out the Folgers crystals, but it is a nice cuppa. I need to find a place where I can buy decaf coffee beans in quarter-pound or smaller increments, like I used to buy the good stuff. Amazon Fresh may not be the best test of my new system.
Apparently, if humans are isolated from external forces then they all tend towards much longer days. I forget which study this came from – one of those ones where they hid people away in a bunker for a year. I am also one of those people. Just a few extra hours a night would be ideal!
Sunshine is making me happy: for a spectacular drive through Snowdonia on Friday, followed by exploring two gardens with my garden photographer friend – we were almost drunk on light and unusual plants. Spent yesterday recovering: sat in the garden reading ‘Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander’, which was the perfect comfort for my exhausted brain.
More connection with friends is also making me happy.
I can tell you what will make me happy – when the dirt road I live on finally dries up and we stop loosing cars in the mire.
Today I stood and watched an SUV drive into the mud hole in front of my house up to its bumper and had to be pulled out by a neighbor. It was hilarious. I don’t know what it is about watching people wallow around in the mud that makes me laugh, but it does. Don’t worry, I was in the house and watching from the window so I don’t think they know I was finding their emergency hilarious. I would have gone out to help, but what could I do? Nothing.
I’ve already informed my boss that I might not be able to make it to work in the morning. Both my regular route and the back way are impassible today but maybe the road crew will be by to dump piles of dirt that help for an hour or so before they are incorporated into the mud making an even bigger mire. My fear is that the ground will freeze overnight making it possible to get to work but then thaw again in the afternoon making it impossible to get home!
I should anticipate trouble, and just say you can’t make it. They can’t expect you to sleep under a hedge.
I slept through the night. Yeah. Have not been sleeping well. Took the taxes to accountant. They were shocked I am so early with the paperwork. Had lunch with cousin, Anna. Very happy talk and good food.
Well, last week I was able to be rid of a construction product where the client had been extremely abusive. I’d been locked into the contract since the end of 2019, and I can honestly tell you that these were the absolutely worst worst worst people to work for in our 39 years of being in business. It was so abusive, that when it ended on Monday, I just did not know what to do with myself. I’ve seen people come out of really abusive relationships not know what to do next, and while I thought I understood… I really really didn’t. This? Nearly destroyed me.
But we’re out, we have really good clients now, I learned a lot about what to never ever do again, and things are looking so much better, that I actually slept. And didn’t wake up flinching, steeped in absolute dread for the day.
I may even be able to be creative again. Cue Snoopy Dance.
I got a smart watch a couple weeks ago, mostly to track my pulse when I do cardio therapy, and fortunately I wasn’t counting on the other bells and whistles, like the sleep monitor, in deciding which one to buy (and I didn’t pay for anything fancy). Because the other night, it told me I slept for twelve hours. Which I’ve been known to do, except that particular night, I’d taken the watch off and left it on the table for the last four hours of the time when it claimed I was going in and out of deep sleep.
Yeah, not exactly accurate.
So I looked up how smart watches are able to tell if you’re sleeping and how deeply, and as best I can tell, they really aren’t able to do it. They just figure if you’re not moving, you’re deeply asleep, and if you are moving, you’re either awake or lightly sleeping. Except apparently, those of us with insomnia lie PARTICULARLY still when we’re trying futilely to fall asleep, so the watch reads us as being asleep, when we’re actually desperately lying there frozen and thinking please, please, please, brain, stop spinning and go to sleep.
Anyway, I’m happy that my smart watch has a pretty face and can measure my pulse, and I don’t have to get all obsessive/worried about the other stuff it does, because it’s just making up the numbers anyway.
Smart watches are terrible at sleep. One time I was awake most of the night and it said it didn’t have enough data to tell me anything about my sleep! Clearly if I’m walking about my house at 3am I’m having a bad night but it wouldn’t admit it.
Sounds about like my phone app.
It was absolutely beautiful yesterday with showers forcasted for late afternoon. I decided to live dangerously and hang my sheets outdoors to dry. Paid off with great smelling bedding.
Not sleeping late. I was always a morning person. I love seeing the sunrise.
I too slept late and then worked in the garden. My Texas garden in March/April always makes me happy. Not too hot yet and the bright green of everything is so cheerful. I’m being productive with grading and grad school this afternoon and that makes me happy too!
Last night I slept poorly from eating too much too late and feeling guilty about it. But I was up at 6 am because that’s when I get up. Once I’m up, I’m usually happy.
And I was rewarded this morning because at 6 am the moon was hanging gorgeously up in the sky while haze rose from the ground way down below.
I’ve practiced Duolingo for 43 days now and I have no idea whether or not I’ll be able to put my newfound French to work when we visit France next month.
The big deal this week was that I refused to succumb to my husband’s glum prediction that France would go back into covid lockdown, forcing us to cancel the trip. No way am I giving up — so I’ve researched restaurants to make reservations for the first nights we arrive in towns. (Okay, I’m neurotic, but around here reservations are required to get into restaurants because there are more would be eaters than there are restaurants to serve them all, because of covid.)
I’m also devising a day-by-day trip itinerary that would work really well if days were 36 hours long.
Glad to be home after traveling for work for the first time since fall 2019. Ironically, have to leave again next Saturday, but that is for a project trip, not a work trip, so should be funner.
Before the trip, I managed to get to the local library to finalize my library card, so I can borrow books digitally. The location is so inconvenient that I never bothered for paper books, but using DH’s android, I can access the (limited) digital library. This makes me happy, as there are things I do like to read, but not enough to buy them.
Had to do three loads of laundry today (traveling) but hope to also make muffins to take to work and put in freezer for future morning consumption.
My happiness is completing a successful Quilt Show. We had lots of people come in, lots were amazed by the great variety of quilts that were on display – and told us about it. One of our displays had a ribbon of fabric going across 30 quilts, and I counted it a success when I saw a little girl take her gloved finger and trace along the blue line.
I did put a couple of posts on IG, tagged with ArghInk and WorkingWednesdayPix, if you want to take a look. This includes a video that scrolls along the 30 blue line quilts.
This morning, I didn’t sleep in – cats – but I’ve been relaxing pretty much the entire day, recovering.
This week’s happy was getting early bird booking for shows at the Stratford Festival in Ontario for October. Because I had money on account (from tickets purchased in 2020 that could not be used), it cost me almost nothing. So, something to look forward to! Also, I’ve been stalled with my writing, and started again. And it’s getting warmer, with more sunny days and opportunities to walk and see delicate wildflowers. And my eye guy is happy with my eyes, which are wonky but no worse. So, a great week!
I am also asleep slut. My work hours just changed to overnights which makes me so very happy. I can sleep better during the day. I have blackout curtains and a white noise machine. I got off at 6:30 am. I was asleep by 8 AM. Slept till past noon woke up went back to sleep and slept till past 3. That’s a lot of sleep for me.
I am also happy because I did some discovery writing. My new work hours involve a lot of dead time where I can write. And I came up with a construct for a novel that I’ve been tooling around with in my head for a while. And then I did some Googling for structures that are unusual. It’s going to involve studying the work of Tom Robbins and how he puts his books together. Which is nothing but fun since I absolutely adore him. Happiness is a work-in-progress that you are enjoying working on. I’m there.
I have been rearranging all day. My body is sore, but I made so much progress! I am normally a procrastinator and could reliably be counted on to realize my friend was coming to stay and do a half-assed job of getting the guest room sleepable and call it a day, but I’ve had just the right amount of notice with this friend that I’ve been doing chunks at a time. I needed to deal with it all anyway, so it all coincided.
There’s still a fair amount to do, but the biggest part is done. Very satisfying.
And yesterday I went for a long walk in the beautiful spring sunshine. There is nothing prettier than the DC area in the spring. The flowers are popping up, the various fruit trees are peaking/getting close to peak… then there will be tulips and azaleas and rhododendrons…
I think I’ll sleep well tonight. I might even get to bed before midnight!
I am in the DC area too. It is beautiful in the spring. And to be a bit cliche, but Cherry Blossoms! They are everywhere and so pretty.
Happiness was two movies in one weekend.
Saturday I went to see “The Outfit,” which I wouldn’t have gone to see if I’d read the reviews, but a friend wanted to see it so a group of us went, and were quite gripped by it. Then since we’re glamourous like that we went to Appleby’s and had a drink and snacks. A Saturday night out with the girl friends, the first in some time!
Then, since most of our group didn’t want to see Spiderman: No Way Home, (I don’t know why note) my special sci-fi/Marvel/Star Wars friend and I went, and enjoyed it as much as we thought we would. Then, ice cream outside.
Also, I saw a cardinal in the flower bed, and seven deer in the backyard, and made an excellent corned beef dinner for St. Patrick’s Day. And, I took down the Christmas lights, which had been shining horizontally on the ground, since the tree they were draped on was blown over.
I went to the park with my cousin and her two year old daughter. She is adorable and much more friendly and chatty since the last time we got to visit. It was still cold and blowy, but she is such a happy baby that it didn’t matter. Antidepressants in a pink wooly hat.
I slept in most days this week and stayed in bed this am until after 11am. Hurt my back late in the week and have been sleeping poorly as moving causes pain. However, reading in bed is one of my favourite activities, any day of the week.
Temps have been well above 0 Celsius this week so snow is melting quickly. No signs of flowers yet but it’s only mid-March.
I participated in a reveal event for a virtual cardmaking workshop taking place next weekend. I was missing supplies for one day and it took one email and 2 days later, I had the materials. Great customer service.
Saturday’s are my day to sleep in. Yesterday I got up at 11:30. It was great.
We adopted a new cat. Our previous one got diagnosed with cancer in December. We now have an orange tabby who is a cuddle bug, which is a major change from the late kitty. He has had several names so far. I never how hard it is to name a cat.
He is a failed trap/neuter/release. He didn’t want to be released, decided the inside life was for him.
Love this! He looked around and decided he preferred an indoor meal ticket!
We have a local drink called an Orange Julius . . . .
When I got my first orange male, the vet looked at me and said “you know what they say about orange boys? They’re L_O_V_E_R_S!!!” Enjoy!
(His name ws Pete. My current, not really orange, more a peach or buff color, is Stanley. I like having “people’ names for cats, for some reason.)
Congrats!
I slept in yesterday until about 1 pm, having finished everything else I had to get done last week.
I’m also about halfway training Polka Dot that she doesn’t want to sleep on top of me (fifteen pounds of cat on my knees or chest or face has gotten to be a little too heavy for my aging joints). I’ve encouraged her to nestle down on a thick fleece next to me.
https://smile.amazon.com/Paws-Pals-Tunnel-Cushion-Pyramid/dp/B01LY5EYIX/
I still disturb her when I turn over, but we’re getting better at it. Now she just has her face and chest up against my shoulder.
Otherwise happy as Eastman emails seem closer to being turned over to the 1/6 Committee and from what I’ve seen so far, they’re lulus. Eastman is supposed to be reviewing them for privilege; the judge is reviewing the ones he has already marked Privileged; Eastman is stalling for time. The judge is being very cautious, probably because the case is so very high-profile. Something may break this week . . . . Chapman University’s legal talent has clearly reviewed the emails (in .pst format, so they must use Microsoft Outlook), and is eager to turn the file over to the 1/6 Committee. If Eastman stalls much longer, and if the judge determines that it might be appropriate, it’s quite possible that the 1/6 committee might agree with the court to create a taint team to separate out any actual privileged messages. Part of Eastman’s problem is that while he says “attorney-client privilege,” and that his client was TFG, he hasn’t produced a “letter of engagement” or a retainer agreement to prove it. Failing either of those pieces of paper, an attorney and client can produce a signed affidavit that the agreement exists: X, attorney, has been engaged by Y, client, on Date, in the matter of Z. Failing that — that is, the client’s signature — an attorney can produce an affidavit of his own with the same information.
However, Eastman was the guest on a legal podcast where he said — live on the podcast — that his client was the former President of the United States and that he had that client’s permission to discuss the matter on the podcast. So much for privacy!
Slept in this morning much later than I should have, as I was parked in the wrong place and it’s street-sweeping day on our side of the street. I have a ticket. My brother mentioned that he’s now entitled to inquire for the next six months at least if I know that the next day is the third Monday of the month. And I have a reminder in my calendar . . . .
Blush.
My tulips and daffodils should be blooming soon, the cherry trees are going to be blooming soon (I go to a local neighborhood with a lot because the crowds at the tidal basin are insane). I just got and planted Lily of the valley pips and my new David Austin rose should arrive Tuesday. So my garden is making me happy.
Not so happy—today my daughter tested positive for Covid. I know I couldn’t see her even if I was in London but being separated by an ocean makes it harder .
Also I wouldn’t exactly say it makes me happy, but I’m impressed by the Ukrainian troops that gave the departing Belorussian ambassador thirty pieces of silver and filmed it.
I’m a morning person. If it’s daylight when I get up, I’ve overslept.
I watched King Richard last night – trying to see all the Oscar nominees before the main event. I think Will Smith was terrific and has a real shot at the best actor win. The whole movie was good but could use some judicious editing.
I don’t sleep in anymore with the addition of a second dog – a lively Toy Australian Shepherd who plunks herself on my chest every morning and washes my face. Best. Alarm. Ever.
No sleeping in, but I’m having fun. I had to get up at four this morning for a 6 o’clock location call. Yesterday I spent most of the day doing taxes for other people and then I came home to work on a jigsaw puzzle. It’s been beautiful out and I am getting in some walking. Have a wonderful week everyone.
I’ve never been able to sleep in. For one thing, my body seems to be “set” to wake with the sun. In the winter that might be as late as 7:30. In the summer, it is often 5;30. I don’t actually own an alarm. If I have to be up earlier than usual, I just tell myself, “Wake up at 6:30” and I do. Yes, my brain is wired strangely. No, this is not the only example of that.
I’m also 150 years into menopause (maybe it just seems that way–started perimenopause at 42, and I’m almost 62 now and the hot flashes are better during the day but still terrible at night) and usually get woken by a hot flash at about 5:30. Sometimes I can fall back to sleep, but often not. Plus, of course, I have many cats, most of whom believe sleeping in is only for those who do not do the feeding.
I also tend to have a difficult time falling asleep, and then wake in the middle of the night and fret about things. So happiness is any night I get more than 6 hours of sleep.
Yesterday I went to my first movie since Covid shut down our small “multiplex.” (They took 4 small movie theaters at the small local mall and carved them up into 8 tiny ones, years ago.) My friend and I saw Spider-Man, which was fun, and happiness was only three other people in the theater, so we could feel reasonably comfortable taking off our masks.
Spring seems to be coming early to upstate NY, which is usually a trick, but I’m enjoying the sun and the warmer than usual weather while I can.
My new knitting bag made me happy this weekend. By Artiphany. “Knit and Purrrl”. It just makes me smile and makes it worth every penny.
I would post a photo but since copy and paste doesn’t work, I’m at a loss.
I get up insanely early during the week to beat Atlanta traffic into the office, so my weekend naps are absolutely essential self care. I can really savor a nap with Gardeners World on TV softly in the background.
Is the bag this? If so, it’s cute! https://knittycitynyc.com/products/artiphany-knit-purrl-tote-bag
Yes, that’s it! I just love it. Very sturdy and adorable.
I ordered directly from the Artiphany website along with some equally as cute playing cards.
https://www.artiphany.com/collections/knitting-collection/products/knit-purrl-tote-bag
I had a busy weekend. I am technically in THREE shows now–the one running and two in rehearsal, and we had a cast party to boot. So that was fun. I also watched a storytelling festival online.
Back in 2016, there was quite a bit of snow in our area just before Christmas, and it stayed around for weeks. During that time, a robin who for some reason had not known how to migrate south for the winter was hanging around our back yard, all fluffed up and looking sad and cold. He would go to the seed we placed around the yard on stumps and other surfaces, and seemed to be eating something from those spots, but there was a firm snow cover over all the grass and leaves on the ground, so not a lot of insect meals or worms available.
We began cutting up all the dried fruit we had in the house, and slicing up the dried cherries that at that time showed up in the 40-pound birdseed bags we bought from pet stores. Those fruits were saved in a container near the back door for the Robin Left Behind, who we began calling Fatso. We’d lay a selection of those fruits on top of a small stump that we put on a patio table near the house, and Fatso would appear and grab as many of them as he could eat each morning, then go to the plant saucer we put nearby (which we filled up each morning with warm water) and perch on a rock standing up in the middle of the saucer. By the time warmer weather arrived, and the snow cover was gone, we saw less of Fatso, and we hoped he had encountered some of the other robins that were showing up, and had learned the ropes of traditional robin behavior from them.
For the next few years we’d save all the dried cherries from the seed bags, and freeze them for future winters with Fatso, and indeed, he showed up for several years in the late fall and early spring, often with a shy friend who kept her distance.
This weekend a robin showed up in the branches above the Fatso stump, chirping in the morning and staring in the back window as if looking for something. We scrambled to find & defrost some of the Fatso cherries in the back of the freezer, and put them out on the Fatso stump, which was still on the table in the same place, and sure enough, the robin dove down to the stump, ate up all the cherry bits, and then flew off to hop around on the ground (no snow at the moment) foraging for worms like any other robin.
We can’t for sure say it was Fatso himself, but we can’t quite explain the set of behaviors as likely from any other bird, and regardless of whether or not it was him, it brings back really happy memories of a bird we loved and supported through some hard times.
I’m not sleeping well but that’s to be expected as Paul’s on nights and I don’t sleep well without him. I am also a sleep slut and when he’s home I can easily sleep for 11 hours or so in the winter. In the summer, I’m up with the chickens. My need for sleep wars with my need for sun and loses. Sleep is what winter is for.
Speaking of winter, we are above freezing C all this week (and supposedly getting up to 12 on Wednesday!) so we should have some snow melting. It’s getting increasingly difficult for the dog to find places were they can safely do their business without falling through the thinner-and-weaker snow crust. Fred was walking around and one front leg fell through and he almost couldn’t get himself out, his other feet were so precarious. The snow in the back yard is 3+ feet deep in places.
I made the super delicious soup yesterday and it was, again, super delicious. There’s almost none left, just enough for one person for supper. We will have to fight over who gets it. It could get messy.
I fell down the stairs on Friday and broke my toe. Needless to say, I haven’t been sleeping well these last few days.
Ouch! Please take care of that metatarsal and be more careful of stairs. My abode has only four steps up, but it’s to the bathroom, so a frequent trip, and even then I’ve missed a step on occasion. But so far at least, no broken bones.
I’d say, “Get well soon!” but bones take their own sweet time, don’t they. Be well.
Thank you, Gary. The doctor said it should heal up in about 4 weeks or so. Crossing fingers!
Yikes!
Ouch! KM, I hope your convalescence proceeds quickly!
Thank you. Me, too! Doc says 4 weeks.
Yeah. It was not fun. But on the bright side, at least I didn’t break my neck. 🙂
Oh, ouch. Toes are so damn fragile. Up side: Good justification for staying in bed to read.
Hope you’re better soon.
Thank you, Jenny! Yes, I’ve been in bed doing edits. It’s coming down to the wire.
Not related to sleep except tangentially. The trail is, I complained about sleep patterns and sunlight. It was suggested I get a hydroponic garden for the artificial sunlight. I got a garden. And another. And another. Now I have nine units: 5 Smart Garden 3s, 2 QYOs, and 2 different iDOOs. And I wanted some accessories, so I fired up my trusty search engine: Bing! No, not Bing. Google! No, not Google. DudkDuckGo! That’s the one. That resulted in The Things You See (when you haven’t got a gun.)
My blog comes up in search results. I am pickled tink. 🙂
Not related to sleep except tangentially. The trail is, I complained about sleep patterns and sunlight. It was suggested I get a hydroponic garden for the artificial sunlight. I got a garden. And another. And another. Now I have nine units: 5 Smart Garden 3s, 2 QYOs, and 2 different iDOOs. And I wanted some accessories, so I fired up my trusty search engine: Bing! No, not Bing. Google! No, not Google. DudkDuckGo! That’s the one. That resulted in The Things You See (when you haven’t got a gun.)
My blog comes up in search results. I am pickled tink. 🙂