Nightmarathon

I slept badly last night, in so many ways that I can't describe them. But let me try.

1. I was up much too late, for no good reason. I do this all the time. I have the best intentions to go to bed at midnight, and then suddenly it's two o'clock and I can't shut down. One more message to write, one more journal to read, or maybe I really have to put the dishes in the drainer away now. Couldn't possibly wait till morning.

2. The bean and cheese burrito that I had for dinner came to life and started a circus in my stomach. Acrobats, elephants, clowns, the works. You don't sleep through a performance that close to home, whether you trust the lion tamer or not.

3. The local peacock is back on the campaign trail, squawking out his position on matters of import to peahen voting bloc and hoping for a favorable reaction. I've been tuning out his early morning stump speech for over a week now, but either he was more persistent or my resistance was down today. This bird has the most grating early-Dustin-Diamond voice; it's no wonder the girls hide in the locker room. He never gives up, though, I have to give him that.

4. I really thought I'd turned off the ringers on all the phones in the house. And, once the phone had rung at 6:30 and no one had left a message, I didn't foresee six more calls in the next half hour, spaced so precisely that I was just about to nod off each time. When I did get up I checked the phones and couldn't find one that was on, unless I have to turn off both the base and the handset of the cordless. Damned new-fangled technology.

Oh, restless me. If I couldn't stay in bed all morning, I didn't want to stay there at all, once I was sufficiently stirred by all of the factors listed above. Upshot: long night, long day.

I meant to do that

This laundry thing, I don't seem to be getting a handle on it. I can load the washer, but by the time it's done I've forgotten about it. When I remember to put the clothes in the dryer, it's anyone's guess how long they will stay in before I think to take them out. By that time, if wrinkling is a consideration, I have to run the load through the dryer again, and I'm just as likely to forget about it the second time.

This is a recurring problem with the way my brain is wired. Sometimes it's a convenience, to block something out of my mind that I didn't want to do in the first place. If I forget to defrost the chicken, I can justify fast food. If I can't find my checkbook, I can't pay bills. If I don't have my shoes on, I can't go out and pull weeds.

Most often, the only excuse I have is that some distasteful chore has slipped my mind. Maybe that's why I end up staying up so late, doing all the things I forgot to do earlier.

Chancy gardener

The sky is clouding over ominously tonight. That's my clue that it's going to be another weekend when I can't do any yard work, at least not the kind that involves electric trimming tools. That'll make this the third weekend out of three since I moved here that the weather has cooperated — er, prevented me from getting the yard in shape. Which of course I'm eagerly looking forward to doing, no matter what you think. This isn't an excuse. I'd do it if I could.

Of course, if it doesn't rain, I'll probably just forget to do it.

Belated congratulations to Angelina and Billy Bob. I hope the three of you will be very happy.