Milestones and Lethargy

Today is my birthday. What have I done so far? Laid around like a boneless chicken.

The vicious heat and humidity of the first chunk of the week combined with the new sanity-busting teaching schedule folded me up like a Walmart lawn chair. I toyed with the idea of doing Something Big today to mark the occasion. Scott and I were going out to dinner and now we aren't. I'm too invested in staying away from people. I was going to work on a new section of the book that I've been slow-cooking in my head, but I'm not there yet. I've watched an episode of "Big Brother" and walked around the house in a daze. I had started to be on a regular sleep schedule, going to actual sleep at 11:45 (rare as hen's teeth in a Twinkie for me) and last night I blew it. Let's just say that the birthday lesson is: There's a big difference in how I feel going to sleep pre-midnight vs. 2 a.m.

At my advanced age of 54, it's all about giving my body what it begs for. Well, the good stuff it begs for, with just an occasional dip into the luscious pool of vice.

One great thing: Almost EVERY year I have to teach on my birthday. With my crazy new M/W schedule, and with Labor Day on Monday, not only am I off today, but I don't have to enter the classroom again until next Wednesday. The one dark cloud on that horizon is a faculty meeting I'll have to attend on Tuesday with my former close friend who now will not acknowledge my existence. But the horizon is not today. Today is today.