My Accomplishments Today

Please Note: The title for this blog entry is completely, 100% sarcastic.

8:36 am - woke up and mentally calculated that I only needed 7.5 hours of sleep last night
8:45 am - moved to the couch and continued reading the Jen Lancaster novel I started last night
At this point, I stopped keeping track of the time for a little while...
- Contemplated going to the pool to swim some laps (until I remembered the notice from the apartment complex that there is a federal recall on the drains that we have in the pool so the pools are closed until further notice... they should go to the pool now and tell the loud, annoying kids that they are going to get sucked into the sewer system)
- Put exactly 3 glasses in the dishwasher
- Looked at my favorite teacher website ProTeacher and wrote a reply to the post I did yesterday about simplifying my life in the classroom
- Did a few things with my city on facebook (damn games get me every time)
- Continued reading my Jen Lancaster novel
- Hit snooze on the alarm on my cell phone every 30 minutes (designed to remind me that every 30 minutes I should get up off the couch and do something productive for at least 5 minutes)
- Cleaned up the dining room and put away my couponing binder (I even threw away some expired coupons - yay me for cleaning up!)
- Vacuumed (Granted, it was the Roomba that vacuumed but I cleaned the thing out before I set it on it's merry way around my apartment...)
- Sent a text message to Mike about having a good day at work
- Watched the Full House episode where DJ goes on a diet (really... I should have gone and worked out)
- Thought about writing a blog about all of the excuses I could come up with to not work out (the episode of Full House would have been included)
- Texted my friend in California, Olivia, to make sure I was still able to use my cell phone (I'm running a little short on money right now so I didn't pay my bill this month)
- Got a text back from Olivia prompting me to wonder why Mike didn't answer me like he usually does
- Contemplated writing lesson plans for the awesome USA Lapbook I created yesterday
- Put a bunch of white laundry in the washer
- Restarted the dryer so the towels wouldn't get wrinkled
- Finished reading the Jen Lancaster novel (very funny - I highly recommend her books)
- Changed my shirt and put on a sports bra (maybe that will motivate me to work out...)
- Sat down to write this blog post

Wow. What a day. I love summer break when I can have days like this and only feel slightly guilty about the fact that everyone else is off at their jobs working their butts off. Because come August...

I will attend department and curriculum meetings, professional developments, work on tons of lesson plans, organize my classroom, set up cutesy bulletin boards (vom... I hate doing that), try to figure out a way to keep myself organized (which will go out the proverbial window two weeks into the school year), look up all the details on the new students coming to my class (the AP said and I quote, "Your gift is your curse Jenkins" which means I'm going to have all the bad kids in my class again this year since I'm one of the few teachers who can wrangle them in), arrange my classroom, sort through the massive classroom library I've accumulated, and attend wonderful meetings with my team where my opinion on scheduling things and what events I'm willing to go to won't matter because I don't have a husband or kids to schedule around (HEY! Um... my nap schedule is very important. Don't mess with it.).

So yeah, I don't feel bad about my complete lack of progress today. Except that my parents are coming into town tomorrow and my apartment still looks like a 5 year old cleaned it. Guess I should get to that... right after I check on my city on facebook....

Summer Mornings

*Beep*Beep*Beep*
My first thoughts upon hearing the alarm are (in the following order):
1. Already?!
2. I just went to sleep!
3. What time is it?!

Then, I reach over to the nightstand without opening my eyes and hit snooze. The noise continues. I slowly start to become conscious and realize that it is not MY alarm going off - it's my boyfriends' alarm. I open one eye to look at the time on my clock.

4:30 a.m.

Wait. What? 4:30 in the bloody morning?! I groan, roll over, and nudge push Mike. He makes a feral noise at me before reaching over and silencing that awful noise. I start to slip back into my unconscious state. I am floating on a quiet cloud over beautiful turquoise water. The sun warms me. The 40 pounds I need to lose are no longer there. My golden skin glistens in the sunlight. There is no humidity in this special place so my hair lays perfectly straight down my back.

*Beep*Beep*Beep*

Oh for heaven's sake. I still have another hour before I have to get up. Why is this happening? I nudge push Mike again and open my mouth which seems to be stuck with an imaginary glue.

"Baby, get up - time for work"

The groan and the choice swear word that follows as he gets out of bed are normal to me. I get it. I will be doing the same thing in about 45 minutes. I start to slip back into my dream land as I hear the shower start. Unfortunately, I cannot return to that dream land, just the total black abyss that engulfs me. Next thing I know, I hear a belt being tightened and I roll over and open an eye. The only light in my apartment comes from the bathroom and I can smell the wonderful masculine smell that comes after Mike's shower. I smile a little.

Then it hits me.

Wait a second. I don't have to go to work today.... It's summer vacation! Another smile followed by a slight frown. Then why am I awake?!

I am awake to make sure my sweet, groggy boyfriend gets up for work. I am awake to mumble a few words of encouragement about his day as I see him out the door. I am totally going back to sleep after he leaves.

I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and sit up. Grope around for my glasses on my nightstand and put them on. Stand up. Walk to the refridgerator. Get out a Red Bull. Put Red Bull on the counter. Wipe sleepy crust from my eyes. Walk into bathroom. Look in mirror.

So sad. I look like I've been run over by something. Sleepiness can be cute, right?

Swish water in mouth. Walk out to living room. Silently watch as Mike puts on his work boots. Walk Mike to door. Remember Red Bull and tell him to take it. Give him a closed mouth peck without breathing through my nose. I know my breath must be funky. Open door. Say a few words about having a good day. Smile a little as I close the door and lock it. Walk slowly back to bed. Lay down. Wait for sleep to return.

Damn.

I'm wide awake. How is this possible?! It's 5:30 a.m. IN THE SUMMER!

Last summer, I was just going to bed around this time after a full night of partying, hanging out with friends, or drinking. Or a combination of any of those things. Last summer, I prided myself on just waking up around the time I would be finishing my work day.

Not this summer. This summer, I am waking up at 4:30 in the morning. And not going back to sleep. Because I have my apartment to clean, coupons to cut, recipes to look up, dinner to cook, trashy reality shows to watch (I have to DVR them because I don't want to force Mike to lose his man-card by making him watch them with me). And you know what?

I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Except maybe a few more minutes of sleep.....