Sleepy time…

…seems to be all the time some days.  The hazards of everyone attempting to cram way more things than they probably should into a given day, that energy-destroying sin nearly everyone is guilty of.   But it does lead to amusing mornings.

M really needed to get up at 5:00 today, the byproduct of an over-busy week.  I’ve become sort of the backup alarm clock lately, although I’m no where near as reliable as a $3 piece of plastic.  Normally I just roll away while subtly stealing all the blankets and occasionally using cold feet as the brutally effective weapon they are.  This morning I was feeling more creative, so on her second whacking of the snooze alarm, I started “singing” a well known motivational ditty:

Softly, but with increasing enthusiasm: “duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh”

Louder, and quite off key: ““da da DAAAAA da da DAAAAA da da DAAAA da da DAAA da da da da da da da da DAAAAA!”

Nothing like the Rocky theme to get someone up and moving in the morning. Makes you want to run up a flight of stairs, if only to get away from my singing.  Recordings are available, $5.99 plus S&H.

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M gets her revenge when I go to bed, since I typically do so a good while after she does.  I have to unwind after my late classes, or I just lie there thinking about….trigger strategies under oligopolistic competition with multimarket contacts.  Its about as confusing as it sounds.  This means I have to find myself a) space to sleep and b) blankets to sleep under.

M likes to sleep in a particular fashion, known geometrically as “diagonally”.  This is usually fairly easy to solve, by way of nudging, lifting, shoving, etc.  The blanket situation is more complicated.  The American Medical Association classifies M’s sleeping style as “the blanket burrito”.   Those familiar with attempting to unwind the burrito sleeper will recognize the inherent problem here: the tradeoff between blanket and space.  Because if you pull on the end of the blanket in hopes for some coverage, Newton tells us that the equal and opposite reaction will be the dreaded body roll.  So now you have some nice pre-heated blanket and eight inches of bedspace on one side, and 5 open feet with no blanket on the other.  I tend to go with the blankets.

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All of this is, of course, in jest and with substantial exaggeration.  Except the Rocky music.   And I really can’t complain, because anyone that watches someone wash down two bowls of chili with a couple of beers at 10 p.m. and doesn’t force them to sleep in the garage is clearly making a few sacrifices.

Bring on the tequila and sunblock…Spring Break is here!

Yes, Spring Break is capitalized for a reason.  As of 5 pm on Thursday, my spring break started.  It’s going to be three days long, but it’ll be worth it, because I’m finally caught back up in school and can relax a bit.  So I have a beer, my couch, and a movie playing.

The real vacation will be next weekend, when I drag M across several states to visit some old friends and relatives.  But we’ll stop off at one of the largest malls in the country and, weather/time permitting, step in the ocean*, so it’ll be a nice little adventure.

*by ocean, I mean the one off the coast of New Jersey, not Fiji, Mexico or the Bahamas

Hi-ho, Hi-ho…

This coming May, almost a year to the day after I cleaned out my desk at my first real job, I’m going to be re-entering the world of cubicle dwelling amidst the smell of inkjet toner and stale coffee.  When I quit my job, with the intention of knocking out a pair of masters degrees as quickly as possible, I failed to consider a few crucial details:

-Colleges don’t seem to make sure that people majoring in both tree hugging and capitalistic exploitation aren’t faced with conflicting course times.

-You can’t buy things if you don’t have money, and you can’t get money if you don’t have a job.

-I am completely incapable of focusing on any one thing for a significant length of time.

These hiccups have forced me to sketch out a plan for the next three years, namely going to grad school close to full time, working close to full time, and occasionally watching cartoons in my pajamas while eating Cheetos for breakfast.   While on paper said plan should be solid, it does leave me feeling rather uncertain.  Part of this strategery includes getting an apartment (Thanks for not charging rent Mom!), attempting to pay tuition without loans, having things like insurance and food, and keeping myself well supplied with beers.  I’m going to be working at my old job, albeit on a contract basis.  This gives me not only wonderful flexibility in terms of my work schedule, weekly hours and location, but also a big honkin’ raise.  In theory.  I’m a little concerned about my ability to put in enough productive hours to make ends meet, although I will still have the ability to lean on Uncle Sam a bit for student loans.  I’m also a little worried about being able to manage knowing that my job work, along with my school work, is always incomplete at the end of the day, and making sure I can walk that line between relaxing enough to stay sane and working enough to remain employed and enrolled.

At least I can now right off printer paper as a tax deduction.  I have a feeling I am going to become quite proficient at making paper airplanes and those little origami cranes that never come out looking like birds.