Places - Current and Past, and A Bit About Sleep

I was completely exhausted by dinner time last night, and declared that I was going to sleep right afterward, which I did. I didn't have to worry about kids coming to the door for Halloween. We used to get kids from the college nearby, but the Administration cracked down on that practice about a decade ago. So, unless we had signed up on the neighborhood e-list, we weren't going to get anyone at the door. So, I actually got a nice, restful sleep before awakening (before my alarm went off) and hitting the treadmill. 

The University of Northwestern St Paul is located north of 
my property. It spreads out quite a lot, however, and we only 
see the athletic field which isn't even in this photo. It's a 
lovely campus, and has a great reputation. 

I have always operated on about six hours of sleep. It's my standard, and it's what I build into my schedule. I do allow myself an extra hour on Sundays - luxury indeed - LOL. I can operate quite well on five hours, but four starts to push things a bit. And I can't do five hours for a long time - a few days will just about do it. Of course, I'm not exact on any of this - there's wiggle room. LOL

One of the things we'll be discussing at my Memory Class 
will be sleep cycles and brain restoration. I normally sleep 
about six hours or so, sometimes a bit less, sometimes 
an hour or so more. I know that the brain really needs those 
Stage 4 sleep times, and I suspect I'm not getting quite 
enough of those with my schedule. 

So, DH has lots of candy that he bought (and he knew he was buying it for himself, not to give away). He's set until Christmas now - LOL. I had a good virtual run through Utah this morning. My friend Ray Tracey had posted photos of himself at Arches National Park yesterday and I was a bit homesick, so I did a canyonlands run first which ended at Arches, then I switched to another Utah virtual for Valley of the Gods - another favorite place of mine. I love living in Minnesota - there's something really excellent about having water all around. But there are times when I really miss the desert Southwest. 

Arches National Park in Utah is one of the more spectacular 
national parks in the park system. There's just something about 
the Queen's Arch that everyone loves. Utah is a beautiful state, 
and it borders on Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, the 
other states that I have loved throughout my life. 

Oh, and did I mention my latest obsession? I've been playing a phone game called "Arrows" and I totally am addicted. It's challenging, fun, (and addictive. *sigh* All that I need in my life is another addiction - LOL.) I love it, and I highly recommend it as a way to waste a few minutes here and there. So, enjoy your weekend. If you're ending Daylight Savings tomorrow, don't forget to Fall Back and reset your clocks accordingly. Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

The Pool, Friends and Video Chats

It's cool outdoors, and yesterday was also. That makes for pleasant gardening, but cold runs in and out of the outdoor pool. We'll all be complaining about the run back and forth today again, because we'll all be shivering a bit - especially on our way out of the pool and back into the building. That hot shower after the swim will be wonderfully welcome today. 

We have quite a crowd of people waiting for the YMCA doors 
to be unlocked at 5:00 am daily. The majority of those people 
are here for the outdoor swimming pool. It gets super crowded 
later on in the day, but the 5:00 am groups are pretty structured 
and I usually only share my lane with one other person. 

I awakened early (my alarm was set for 3:00 am), and decided to just stay up. It's a laundry and cooking day and it's going to be a VERY busy one, so settling into my morning meditation earlier wasn't a problem. If I'm super exhausted and time allows (and I'm in the mood), I can maybe grab a quick nap this afternoon. But I doubt I'll be inclined. I'll be dragging by the end of the week, but there's nothing unusual in that. 

I'm sleepy, and I'll regret having awakened 
before 3:00 am later today. But, I have a 
ton of stuff to do today, so I won't have any 
time to complain. 

I think Aearwen and I are back on schedule for our weekly chat and catch-up this afternoon. We went for several years with very few interruptions, but the past six months with my cancer and various health things for her and her family in California ... well, our schedule has been interrupted more often than usual. It's not like we chat about anything earthshaking. We just see where the flow takes us and talk about this and that - daily life and mundane things. But she's another of the friends I hold dear whom I've never actually met in person. It's one of the marvelous things about the internet and the various communities that it has fostered over time. You can make friends that you hold dear, interact with them regularly, but never actually meet them face-to-face. Quite remarkable. 

I have quite a few online friends whom I've never 
met in person, and quite a few other online friends 
whom I've only met in person a few times. I cherish 
all of my friends, they enrich my life and pull me out 
of my daily rut. Whether I'm interacting in an actual 
conversation or just passing notes back and forth 
online, they are cherished. 

I'm sure you also have online friends with whom you communicate regularly, but who you've never met in person. That would have been impossible in my youth. The closest you could come to something like this would have been a pen pal. I had a pen pal who lived in Alaska for about six months or so, but I really dislike writing - I'm a keyboard kind of person. And it's really not the same, is it? The internet gives us almost immediate feedback, and if we want something more immediate, there's always the phone or a face-to-face on the screen. I don't face time often, preferring to chat over the phone or in text, but I have done so in the past and I'm sure I will be on-screen again in the future. It's a fact of our current life styles in the USA. We can face-time with dear friends from around the world quite easily. 

I got used to doing weekly video chats while I was 
starting my WildFit food program. I prefer to use 
the laptop for video chats - the phone is just too small 
of a screen. But I have had video chats on my phone 
with my dear friend Shruti who lives in India. It's always 
a joy to hear from her. 

So, have an excellent Wednesday, I'll be cooking like crazy - my side of the refrigerator needs some serious love. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Too Much On My Mind, But It's a "Day Off" (Finally)

I was up at 2:15 am, and decided to just stay up since I usually awaken at 3:00 am on swimming days. So I actually have a little bit of time to spend on my blog this morning instead of rushing it through. That's a nice change, but I don't want it to be a regular outing. I actually do need my sleep too. 

I generally don't mind waking early on swimming days, 
it saves a lot of rush on my part. Wednesdays are very 
busy days for me, so having a little extra time is welcome. 

It's a "day off" today, the first one in more than a week (not counting Sunday). My refrigerator is bare. I have no food for my dinners, and I'm also out of Ogre Juice. I still have enough cooked fruit to get me through this week, so I'll probably skip doing a batch of this for a few more days. Maybe I'll even have a chance to write for Idol. I've got something started, but it's rough and needs a lot of work. 

I love the challenge of LJ Idol, but this time I really won't have 
a lot of time to devote. I'll have to take things one challenge at 
a time, and see where it leads. My current story still needs a 
LOT of work. 

But I'm looking forward to just losing myself in the water and the rhythm of swimming. I find that when I'm swimming outdoors, I have no problem doing 45+ minutes in the water. Indoors, I'm a bit more of a clock watcher. It's really a whole different experience, swimming in the Olympic-length pool versus our smaller, indoor pool. It's not good, it's not bad, just different. I guess I like different, because it's a real treat to be in that water every week with my friends. 

It's such a treat to swim outdoors in the Olympic-length pool. And 
having it as my home YMCA is even better. People come and 
swim with us from all over the Twin Cities, but this is my normal 
place to be - my home, in essence. It's fun seeing old friends again, 
though. There are friends whom I only see when they're here for 
the swimming pool in the summers. 

I'm working on my LJ Idol story. I have the bones down, but it needs a lot of work before it's ready to post. I'm hoping I get a bit of time today to continue working on it. I'm grabbing my early morning time at the shop to write, and that's really not enough time to do a polished job. But right now, that's all I've got. I want to write and participate in Idol because I love the challenge. But maybe I've got enough challenges on my plate right now. Still, I'm going to give it a shot for as long as I can manage juggling things in my life. At least Chickie is back in town, so I won't be working today or Friday. I'm grateful for the small things these days - LOL. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Spring is Time For New Projects and Ideas

Yesterday I started again with my new concept of how to work our Swarovski sale. It might work, can't say for sure yet. I'll work on that some more today and have a much better idea of whether or not it will work well. Here's hoping I finally nailed how to handle a huge department like this for a clearance sale. As one of my more popular products, we'll need something easy for us to use and keep track of what people want us to pull for them. It's going to be a challenge. 

Making a checklist that the customers can easily use and 
that we can easily use, is challenging. With a department of 
100's of items, there's no other good way to get a handle on 
what the customer wants and what we have available to sell. 
I think I might have figured out the best way to deal with it, 
but it's a lot of work getting a test together to see if it will 
work the way I envision. 

I never did get to "catch up" on my sleep, but at least I didn't feel like a complete Zombie. I wasn't 100% though - not by any stretch. Today (hopefully) will be better. I slept until a half-hour before my alarm was set to go off, so I'm pretty close to time. Of course, all of this sleeplessness will catch up to me at the end of the week. I can get away with it at the beginning when I still have my Sunday sleep-in hours to bank on. By the end of the week I'll be running on empty. 

The fact that I awoke more than two hours ahead 
of time yesterday will cause me to drag by the end 
of the week. It's rare for me to lose sleep over 
things. But it really disrupts my life when it does. 

My veggie soup that I made last week has been awesome! I couldn't be happier with it. Every day it's more flavorful as the spices settle into the broth and veggies. This is a definite winner and I'm for sure doing this again. "Doing the Happy Dance." 

This soup has been SO good. I'm delighted that I made 
a double-batch. I'm looking forward to dinner every night 
when I get home from work, and it only takes a few 
minutes in the microwave to be ready to eat. My body is 
happy with all of the veggies. I'll definitely make this 
recipe again. 

We seem to be out of whatever ridiculous excuse for a Winter we had this year, and firmly into Spring. The trees are all gaining their Spring leaves, the first flowers are starting to bloom - yellow daffodils decorating the fronts of the college buildings at Hamline University - a block from my shop. Spring is officially here, even though Winter barely stopped by at all. That leaves more funds in the roads budget to do some major fixing, and the orange road signs have cropped up sooner than usual. It's detour here and detour there - but we'll have some wonderfully rebuilt roadways when Winter returns later this year. And it will return - this was a temporary vacation for Winter - he'll be back with gusto later this year. Have an excellent Tuesday, I'm off to the pool (yippee). I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל. 

It's A Packed Day and I'm Sleepless in St Paul

In a little over two hours, I leave for my next orthodontic appointment. Normally I would have gotten at least seven hours of sleep, but not last night. My mind just wouldn't relax at all. I gave up and went to the computer, paid some bills online and checked a few things, then finally tried to get to sleep again and managed about four hours. I'll be a total ZOMBIE this week. I have swimming for the next three days, and those are days of approximately five hours of sleep. By the time Friday rolls around, I'll be exhausted and that's never a good thing. 

Normally I'm asleep within ten minutes of my head 
hitting my pillow. Last night, however, I just couldn't 
settle down. I'd blame the movie we watched - "Guardians 
of the Galaxy 3", but I know it wasn't that. The movie 
was a blast! It was too many thoughts running through 
my head. Totally my OWN fault. At least I got some 
bills paid, so it wasn't just tossing and turning. 

I have to hand off the two different repairs I did last week over the next two days. I spoke to my acquaintance for whom I restrung two necklaces of antique beads. She said if she doesn't make it into the store today to pick them up, it'll be pushed back a week or two while she goes overseas to visit with one of their kids. No problem. If she doesn't make it in today, that's fine. I'll hold them on the "Pick Up" board which we keep in our back room. 

I sell a lot of different types of antique beads, but my 
acquaintance had some in her two necklaces that were 
new to my eyes. It was a fun and fast project to do, the 
major time was pre-stretching the silk cording I used. 
That takes a minimum of 24 hours under tension so that it 
won't stretch out on the piece itself as it is worn. 

I emailed the lady who gave me that antique beaded trivet for repair, telling her that it was ready. It's an expensive repair, but there's really no help for that. She's disabled and relies on a specific transit system designed for those who are unable to be mobile on their own. That always requires her to make her travel arrangements in advance, and her timeframe is tight. So I assured her that it was ready, and that we would have all of the paperwork in order. I also told her the cost, so that she was prepared. It turned out quite nice, and I'm pleased. I had a blast fixing it - I've missed beading for the sake of beading. 

I know I have a print by JoAnn Bird (Oglala Sioux) in my 
prints. It's not this image, but similar in style. Most of 
my artwork is Southwestern in feel and the artists are from 
the many tribes of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and 
Oklahoma. I'm always pleased when I find a great artist 
from the Plains, though. JoAnn is one of those wonderful 
Northern Plains artists. 

DH is talking about doing a "Collectibles" sale next, and that would certainly be an easier sale to manage than the Swarovski crystal sale. I'm also working on inventory sheets for our clearance bins. Chickie maintains the inventory, but it's taking WAY too much time. I think I've devised a system in conjunction with DH, that will speed things up a LOT. We need that because wasted time just isn't in our stars right now. 

It's taking Chickie WAY too long to do inventory on 
our seed bead clearance boxes. I think I've devised a 
way that will speed her up and increase our accuracy, 
I just need to devise the form. Between the three of us, 
we might have figured this PITA out and streamlined 
a very important part of our inventory process. 

So, I forsee a lot of computer work at the shop today, and a very tired me at the keyboard tonight - if I even bother with any computer work at home tonight at all. I hope all of you have a wonderful Monday and I'll be back on Tuesday for a short post before heading off to the swimming pool. Keep well, be kind, Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל. I'll be back tomorrow.

Tempus Fugit - No Doubt About It

Where did the weekend go? Of course, I worked on Saturday as usual, so I know where that part of the weekend went, but Sunday? It was a relaxing day, I know I did a little computer work, a load of laundry, and had a glass of lovely Port, and we ended the day by watching our next episode of "Vera", but the day just slipped by quietly, without fanfare or celebration. 

Sunday was a relaxing day and I really needed that. Now, 
however, it's time to dive back into the work week. *sigh*

I still don't have a land line phone, of course. If they come by today, we won't know it because we're both at work today. But, I'm not expecting miracles any more *sigh*. We're on today's schedule, so we'll see. I've watched that song and dance routine before and it wasn't all that good. 

It's time to renew my LiveJournal account. Last 
year they didn't accept my credit card. I'll have 
to see whether that will be the same this time. 

Speaking of song and dance, it's time for me to renew my LiveJournal account. I don't really know why I bother - last year they never were able to run through my credit card, and I'm still using it daily. But, I'm an honest person and I use the service daily (I have several friends on LJ who didn't move over to Dreamwidth in the "great evacuation", and I love to keep in touch with them). I'd rather not lose track or contact with some very dear friends of many years, so I'll renew - or at least make the attempt do to so. 

DH has a lot on his mind. He's stressing out about getting 
the store closed down and the timeframe within which I 
need that to happen. Of course, what he's working on right 
now could have been done five years ago, if he had only 
motivated at that time. *sigh*

DH couldn't sleep last night - apparently he was up at 1:00 am. He came down to find me when I was making my morning tea at around 4:15 am, and I sent him back up to bed again to try and get some sleep. He'll be totally useless to me today if he doesn't get a few hours. So, hopefully he's trying - I know that can be hard with a million thoughts running through one's brain - "what if..." "what then..." etc. 

The "What if?" thoughts running through our heads are 
often the things that keep us from sleep. It's really 
hard to push those thoughts aside. 

So, I think I'll make my breakfast and another cup of tea, then head out and go to the shop. We did get some snow on Saturday and Sunday, but it wasn't much - an inch or two - and it will be melted soon. It's that time of the year when the skeletons of our trees are starting to look fuzzy or furry with the promise of Spring's new leaves. Our migrating birds are starting to re-appear, birds in general are calling out for a mate, and my yard will be filled with flying critters soon. I'm really hoping for a good year for my hummingbirds as well as my Cooper's hawks. The hawks have been harmed by the bird flu which is quite prevalent in my area, so I'm hoping my pair are doing well and will return again. 

Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

A Day of Travel Between Work - and Snow, Of Course

I have a very busy morning today before I even get to the store, and it snowed last night, so I have to build snow shoveling into the schedule as well. DH and I have to drive out to the Toyota dealership to get his truck's 6-month checkup and service taken care or. We'll drop it off early this morning and pick it up after work tonight. That means his usual Monday trip to the grocery store probably won't happen, and it messes up our evening schedule too, but it has to be done to keep the extended warranty active. 

Maplewood is a suburb to the East of us, not super far 
away, but a good 20-25 minutes depending on traffic. Of 
course, the Twin Cities are actually a bunch of suburbs 
around two central cities named Minneapolis and St Paul. 

My body, apparently, was totally on board with this, unknown to me. I awakened at 2:15 am and couldn't get back to sleep, so I gave up and started my day almost an hour earlier than my usual 3:00 or 3:15 am schedule. I'll be dragging by tonight, and don't dare go to sleep earlier than usual because that will only compound the issue. Bleh! 

I want spring flowers and cheeping birds and sunshine 
and even flying bugs. I'm really tired of a landscape of 
white with snow drifts and piles as high as my head. I 
know it's March, and we get a lot of snow in March, 
but I don't have to enjoy it - LOL. 

But, to look at the positives, I'm at a good weight today and we're not supposed to get a bunch of snow from this storm - only 3-4 inches total. I can live with that, no problem. Of course I'm in the camp of "Want Spring NOW", but I'm also a realist and know that time won't come until Mother's Day. 

So I bought one of these SKG digital watches. 
It's quite comfortable, and it's fine for swimming 
which is essential for anything I wear. But ... 
I can't get it paired with my phone's bluetooth, 
and until I can, I can't set the time or date. 
Very frustrating. 

I developed a sensitivity to the metal back of my Timex watch, so I ordered a new digital watch - some Chinese thing. I received it on Saturday, and find myself completely unable to set the time on it. I'll have to delve into it when I have some time to try this and that, but right now, I'm calling myself digitally challenged. It's a rare piece of electronics or software that I can't grasp eventually, so Wednesday will have to make some time to play with the watch, uninstall and then reinstall the software for it, and try to get the watch and my phone communicating with each other. Once that happens, I should be golden. Until then, I'm still watchless. Not the end of the world - I always have my phone and the time is quite prominent on it. 

On that note, I'm out of here. I have plenty to do and the day is progressing along - it's almost 5:00 am! LOL Have an excellent Monday and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Right Now, I'm Sleepless in St Paul - Late Night/Early Morning Thoughts

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday extended weekend, whether you celebrated Christmas, New Year's or any of the other assorted holidays that happen around the end of the calendar year. I had a lovely three days away from the shop, and will be jumping back into "normal" scheduling again starting today. 

My schedule right now is totally messed up. I got WAY 
too much sleep over the past few nights, but tonight I 
got three hours and then awakened, unable to return to 
sleep at all. I'll be dragging by tonight, but I'm giving up 
on sleep for right now. 

 On Sunday, we went to my youngest niece's home for the family holiday celebration, which was lovely. It was a chance to catch up with all of the family, and almost everyone was there. That made for a large household full of people, in a variety of ages from children to elders. There was lots of food and lots of talk, football and hockey, and games and small gifts for the kids. It was great, except for the football game which was horrendous. Still, one can't have everything - LOL. 

The Vikings game on Sunday was pathetic! I'm fairly sure 
there were a lot of fans who were just as disappointed in 
the game and the score as this fan was. (Yes, some people 
really do go all out for their team spirit, and not necessarily 
in a good way - LOL). 

I got caught up on a lot of sleep - I guess too much sleep, since I managed about three hours of sleep last night, awakening at 11:30 pm, and simply couldn't get back to sleep, no matter what. So, here it is, 1:00 am and I'm writing my blog, when I should be sleeping until 3:00 am before my alarm awakens me. I'm sure this three-hours of sleep night will catch up with me at some point, but it seems I'm destined to be a bit of a zombie today. 

The Zombie Insomnia logo just about describes how 
I'm doing right now. I have no good reason for not 
sleeping - I'm not overly stressed, etc. But I know DH 
is super stressed about getting things wrapped up 
this year, so it's time to step in and hire a professional 
to get this underway and done well. 

DH is stressing about how to get the business closed this year - and I understand, totally. I'm churning various things around in my head as well. One way or another, it all has to fall into place soon. I have a direction that I think will work well for us, and I'll try to tackle DH about it later in the week. Then it'll be up to him, but he's stressing about this and I think my direction might relieve some of that stress. Maybe. 

I think there's a way where we won't give up on our 
dreams, just shift them to a different focus. I know 
this can happen, and it can happen well and in a way 
that we'll both be happy with the results. Now to 
convince DH about spending what's necessary to 
have a successful remainder of our lives. 

So, it's now 2:00 am, I leave for the YMCA in a bit more than 2 hours, and I'm giving up on sleep tonight. I'm just not at a point where my mind is at rest. These times, however, are rare for me, so I'll live with the fact that I can't sleep and I'll get some work done before heading to the pool. Have an excellent Tuesday, and I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully at my more usual time. Slava Ukraini. 

A Lack of Sleep and the Outdoor Pool - At Least it Was a Nice Memorial Holiday Weekend

Once again a sleepless night. I went to bed and to sleep shortly after 9:00 pm, which is exactly on time for me, but my alarm company called with an interior alarm at 11:15. So I grabbed some outside clothes and drove over. This time it was for the front interior motion detector, the past two times it was for the back interior motion detectors, but just as before (and fortunately), it was again probably mice. Time to try and get a handle on the critters' movements and get some traps set up. 

I've had mouse problems in the store before. Our doors 
aren't so tight fitting that they can't squeeze in from 
the outside. Usually we'll have more mouse problems in 
the winter than in the spring and summer - there's more 
for them to eat outside than in the store. Still, they 
are destructive and, if they are setting off my alarm 
system, they're also really annoying me. 

Unfortunately, this time I wasn't able to fall back into a deep sleep. I tossed and turned and finally, shortly after 2:00 am I gave up and listened to some meditations, then read a little bit more in my current e-book. At 2:45 am I finally went ahead, got up, got dressed for the pool, and am settling down to write this before leaving for my first swim in the outdoor pool in more than two years. 

There is a possibility, although a bit more remote, that 
it could be a field mouse instead of a house mouse. 
The ears are a good tell for that. House mice have larger 
more apparent ears than field mice, their eyes are 
also larger. 

I always approach the outdoor pool with respect and a little bit of trepidation. I'm good in the water, I'm certainly not afraid of the pool in the least, but it's quite a different swimming experience in the outdoor pool than in the interior pool. There's something amazing about an Olympic-sized pool, and we'll have swimmers from all over the Metro area coming over to join us. It's always more crowded for the outdoor pool than the much smaller indoor pool. 

At the literal crack of dawn, we're not as busy in the 
outdoor pool as an hour or two later. Also, during 
the middle of the workweek, it won't be as crowded. 
I'm hoping I'll only have to share a lane with a single 
swimmer, but I can chain if I have to. 

Fortunately, not everyone is crazy and wants to be in the water at 5:00 am. We'll have less competition for our time slots, and also I swim on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll miss the weekend group as well. All things considered, I'm lucky. But I'm not going to be at my best today with less than three hours of sleep. Still ... it's swimming, it's the outdoor pool, and I have a good book that I'm listening to, so it's not all bad. 

"The Halfling's Gem" is the sixth book 
in R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden 
series. It's always fun to listen to a 
good book while swimming - it makes 
the laps go faster, at least for me. I've 
tried music in the past, but found I was 
changing my stroke to meet the 
rhythm of each piece. Counterproductive 
to say the least. Books don't have that 
problem. 

I hope all of you had an excellent Memorial Day weekend. We cooked burgers on the grill on Sunday and steaks on Monday, and I have plenty of leftover steak for at least one more, and possibly two more meals. All in all, it was a pretty good long weekend, even with the weather warnings of late Monday and the shop's alarm issue. I can make it through a day at the shop with minimal sleep - it won't be the first time. And I'll try to make sure I get a good night's sleep tonight so I won't be a zombie tomorrow. Have a great Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Survival, Alarms and Lack of Sleep - The Story of My Life *sigh*

On LJIdol, I managed to scrape by enough votes to end up in the bottom third, but I'm still in the pack. Thank you to all who voted for my haiku. The next topic and deadline was announced early this morning. Perhaps I'll have better luck next voting session. This time I lost two friends - murielle and adoptedwriter. I'm quite sad to see them leave the competition. 

I enjoy playing with different types of literary 
styles. I also enjoy playing with different 
literary types. 

This week's LJIdol prompt will take a bit of thought, but could lead to some interesting tales. "You are an opossum living in the trashcan of my heart". A bit crazy, isn't it? Apparently it's a song lyric. You can get away with statements like that in song, but I wonder how well it will work in prose and tale. Time to start thinking about this one. 

On this list, I laugh at the fact that News 
Article follows Fairy Tale, Legend, Myth, 
Tall Tale, and Fable. Hmmm. Perhaps the 
listing should be altered to put News 
Artlcle after Informational Text? 

I had gotten less than two hours of sleep last night before my alarm company called about another internal alarm at the shop. ARGH! I pulled on a set of street pants, grabbed my keys and headed out. Of course nothing was wrong or disturbed in any way - which was good. But it was a 45 minute chunk out of my sleep before I was back in dreamland, and my "get up" alarm only waits until 3:15 am before chiming at me to get going on my day. It's going to be a hard swim today. I hope I can fall into the words of my novel and lose my "blah" at swimming tired. If this continues, I'll have to call the alarm company send out a tech to check out the sensors. I might have one going bad. That's an expense I really would rather avoid, but I may have no choice. 

I gave up about 2-1/2 hours of sleep on Saturday night 
so that we could get to the garden store at 7:00 am. Now 
I ended up with an interruption in my next night's usual 
six hours. I'm going to be dragging by next Sunday! 

So, to expedite things and so that I can start thinking about opossums and trashcans (who the hell thinks about those two things as 'romantic'?), I'm plugging in photos and heading out to the gym. I hope you have a wonderfully fantastic day, and I'll be back tomorrow - hopefully after an uninterrupted night's sleep. 

I'm Sleepless in St Paul - I'll Be A Zombie Later If I Can't Get Back To Sleep

I can't sleep. I got three hours worth, then woke up and couldn't get anywhere. I plugged in a guided self-hypnosis for relaxation and sleep and got another hour or so, but now ... no go. So I'm switching things up a bit. I'm writing my blog today at a bit after 1:00 am, then I'll try to sleep until my alarm goes off at 4:15 am, toss on my swimming clothes and head out to the gym for my 5:00 am swimming slot. It's all going to catch up with me later this week, but I'll have to make do today. 

I'm wide awake. I'm going to need more than 2-1/2=-3 hours 
of sleep to be functional today, so I'm going to try and grab 
another few hours. 

Maybe it's the fact that I have a dental appointment for my semi-annual checkup that's keeping me awake. I doubt it - it's a simple clean and check, nothing monumental - but me and dentists have a long history of serious issues. So maybe it's my subconscious coming to the forefront with this. But whether it is or not, makes no real difference. I'm tired, but I can't sleep. It's not really a good thing. I'll be a zombie today and I can't afford that when I'm working the sales floor for the day. 

I totally remember these from when I was in Grad School. 
I absolutely lived through every one of these stages. I'm 
not in Grad School now, but I'm having one of those 
Zombie nights, and since I don't use caffeine, I won't 
get to experience Robot. But if I don't get some 
sleep, I also won't be human. 

The weekend was actually rather nice - DH and I didn't get into any arguments of any import, and actually enjoyed watching a lot of football. Like most good chili, mine was even better the next day, and I still have a couple of days portions to eat, so that was a winner. It even warmed up a bit, although we're heading back into the sub-zero temps again. But I have gloves! and a set of mittens! So all is good there. 

I hate it when I can't sleep. Usually I'm asleep 
within 15 minutes of going to bed. Not tonight, 
though. It's extremely frustrating. 

So no real reason for sleeplessness. No excuses, no BS. I'm going to wrap this up, head back to bed, and try to get three hours of sleep before my alarm goes off. I hope you have a lovely day and I'll be back tomorrow with clean teeth and, hopefully, a better night's sleep ahead of me tonight. Peace! 

When I Get Tired I Get Cold - Are You the Same?

When I get tired, I get cold. I guess I live in the wrong part of the world to have that issue, because cold is a regular part of our winters. Last night I was exhausted. I had a very busy day, starting out with an appointment with my dermatologist at the clinic and continuing through taking a couple of items to Kohl's to return to Amazon (the return has been confirmed and the money will appear back in my bank account within a week), buying a new set of pajamas with cuffed legs while I was there, and making reservations for Thanksgiving Day brunch (I ended up with my 2nd choice, my 1st choice was already completely booked). 

I wanted to go to Baldamar for our Thanksgiving buffet, 
but they are completely booked. I probably should have 
called a week or two ago and made reservations. I could 
always have cancelled if DH had decided against it. 
My bad ... we're going to Axel's instead, and it won't be 
nearly as nice. 

None of this was particularly strenuous, though. I was swimming first thing in the morning (it was sleeting outside, a portent of weather yet to come *sigh*), walking around here and there, and I did get my five miles+ in, but pretty easily. I completed the first insert for my Holiday Cards, and I'll continue working on the second this morning when I get to the shop. There was the usual upstairs/downstairs stuff ... but there was nothing approaching enough exhaustion to make my internal body temperature drop dramatically at day's end. 

Do you get cold when you're sleepy? I get super cold and 
just turn in on myself. Last night I was a shivering 
mess at 8:00 pm. Want more information about why we 
get cold when we're sleepy. Here's an article you 
might enjoy. 
https://www.chronobiology.com/temperature-and-sleep-why-you-feel-cold-when-youre-tired/

Still, that's what happened. While Hubby sat at his computer in his robe (his internal temperature runs warm), I was so cold in my sleepwear and sweatshirt, that I went upstairs and grabbed a blanket to wrap around myself. When we moved to the upstairs, he was comfortable, but I pulled two additional blankets partially over myself, curling up into a cold ball. I was delighted when it was finally time to go to bed.  

Chronobiology is a thing. I can't recall having 
ever heard the term when I was taking biology 
classes in High School and college, but it seems 
to be an actual field of study now. And it makes 
sense. We're not that far removed from the days 
when we dressed in animal skins and sat around 
the fires outside of a cave or our huts. 

I think I was asleep within a couple of minutes after my head hit the pillow. It was weird. I really hadn't dome anything worthy of that level of exhaustion, but there I was - totally and completely exhausted. Today I'm doing a bit better, but I was only able to pound out 1-1/2 miles on the treadmill instead of my usual 1-3/4 to 2 miles. I'm really happy that tomorrow is Sunday. Sunday is my sleep-in day - instead of my usual 6 hours or so of sleep, I get closer to 10-11 hours. I also treat myself to a full hour of meditation on Sunday mornings, something I always look forward to. 

In a way, this year's holiday cards are a one down, 
five up format. In actuality, however, unlike the 
gears of a motorcycle (one down - five up), I think 
I have an extra step or three in my cards. Thinking of 
One Down - Five Up, however, will at least keep me 
on track with the main portions - LOL. 

First thing when I get to the shop today, I want to try and get some serious work done on the 2nd insert of my Holiday Cards, Baby steps ... things are coming together well, though. I'm quite happy with their appearance so far. So on that note, I wish all of you a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday. 

Cooler Temperatures Make Me Happier and Price Tags *sigh*

Today is a bit cooler which is wonderful. I easily could have slept an additional two hours, but my alarm doesn't allow me that luxury. So I awakened when it went off and I started my day. Still, it was a pleasure to exercise in a lower humidity. It's really the humidity that gets us, up here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. We have 10,000+ lakes and tens of thousands of rivers, streams and smaller waterways, and when it's hot, the evaporation from our waters make for very sticky air. Today, our humidity is around 40%, a nice change from the 70+% we've been having. I was "almost" comfortable during my time on the treadmill. Please notice, I did say "almost". LOL

My new T-shirt features this picture on the 
front and a list of each type of owl on the back 
with a smoky-grey colored fabric. It's 
stunning. I bought one for Sharon and sent it 
to her for her birthday. It may well become one 
of my absolute favorite t-shirts of all time. 

I'm wearing my new T-shirt today, and thinking of Sharon's upcoming visit. Of course, I can't do anything about getting her room cleaned until next week, since I have to work on my scheduled "day off" tomorrow. Chickie deserves to take some of her vacation, so I can't really blame her for taking a couple of days off, but it does "throw a spanner" into our plans. Still, I'll have her room cleaned and ready for her, even if it might be another "last minute" rush. Nothing new in that - LOL. 

My life is a balancing act and sometimes that can be 
extremely frustrating. But I keep trying to keep the 
status quo intact. The very idea of packing and moving 
my things to a different location, although tantalizing, 
is also a nightmare. 

I'm at a bit of a loss about things to say today. I suppose things are running relatively smoothly for a change, and I'll try to keep them that way. We'll see how long this lasts - it never seems to last for long. But I'll take the calm while I can. 

Shout Out to my fellow Word Smith people. 
Aren't we overdue for our next prompt? 

SHOUT OUT to my fellow Word Smiths ... aren't we overdue for a prompt? 

Our price tags are pretty specific - part number, description, 
P/N, country of origin and price. Five lines per item. I can 
use a "copy" feature, but when I've received hundreds 
of items, it still takes time to get the tags generated, 
printed, and put onto the items. 

I hope you have a fantastic day, I'll be spending most of the next three days entering price tags for the shipment we got in earlier this week. The automatic generation of price tags feature in my store's software died a year or so ago, so I have to enter price tags individually now. That really sucks when I get a large shipment of thousands of items through the door. *sigh* I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with more to say. Please stay safe and be kind. We're not finished with Covid yet, and people are still on edge.