reposting....kind of

You know what is awesome about waking up three hours before having to go to work? Nothing. Especially when you only get three and a half hours of sleep before waking up and not being able to get back to the gloriousness that is sleeping.


It's funny how there will be random mornings when I wake up super early and find it a little refreshing to be up far enough in advance to get some random stuff done around the apartment. Nothing crazy like cleaning dishes, mostly watching some stuff that has been recorded and I haven't had a chance to watch. Or listen to a podcast or two that have been sitting around just patiently waiting to be heard. I seem to find time to write when I should be asleep as well. Looking at the archives, there are close to ten posts regarding waking up earlier than normal. So this isn't anything new.

There are also the early mornings when I just stare at the television and down a bunch of coffee to get myself going for the day. That is something I am trying to get away from, relying on coffee to get me through the day. The experiment went well. I never felt the ill affects of not having coffee for a little over a week. Not that I expected withdrawal symptoms or anything like that, it was more of a 'can I do it' kind of thing. Knowing that I can makes me feel good about myself. It reminded me of when I would give up alcohol for lent during college. Oh yeah, you read that right. I did it twice and it was really difficult.

The third kind of early mornings are what I call the 'smart mornings'. Simply put, I come out to the living room and sleep on the couch for an hour or two. Normally that happens when I haven't gotten any sleep whatsoever. Those nights when I toss and turn trying to get comfortable and it never works. However, I'll come out to the couch, set my cell phone alarm, and just pass the hell out. A little strange, but I'm never one to turn down a quick nap.

Don't get me wrong, it's going to be a long day today because of the lack of sleep and when I come home I do plan a much needed nap just to stay up a little later. The good thing is knowing that tomorrow morning I can sleep in and laze around the house because of the day off.

Early holiday decorating

One thing that I remember from growing up as a kid is decorating the Christmas tree and the house for Christmas in December. It was always a family event growing up. Spending the evening listening to the music of the of holidays, drinking egg nog, and dealing with sap on the hands from the freshly (illegally) cut tree from the back woods of the Upper Michigan. More importantly, there was snow on the ground. We would always turn the television off and just have 'family time'. It wasn't always cool, but looking back on it, it was a fantastic way to start the holiday and Christmas time.

While we were helping some friends move yesterday, I noticed several families with trees tied to their cars. I thought it was a bit odd to be going out and getting the Christmas tree a few days after thanksgiving. Shouldn't there be some time in between holidays, even if it is just a week or so? Maybe it's just because there isn't any snow on the ground. I think it would feel more Christmas-y if there was a little layer of snow on the ground, just an inch would do. There has to be time to transition from fall decorations to winter decorations.

Personally, I refuse to decorate a tree or put out any Christmas decorations before the month of December. It's a little childish. This much is true, but I'm stubborn in my ways. Andrea wanted to put the tree up last night just to see if it would fit in the corner of the living room, but I walked away. I claimed that it was not yet December and it was not time yet.

Hockey elitist

While at the Wichita Thunder game tonight, I felt like a bit of a hockey elitist. People all around us were shouting and swearing that there were penalties happening when there weren't. I kept leaning over to A and saying 'that wasn't a penalty' or 'they don't know what they are talking about' and of course, she knows hockey well enough to know whats a penalty and what isn't. So I didn't feel quite as bad saying it out loud. The fans are dedicated to their team...they just don't know what the hell they are talking about (or aboot if you want to get crazy).

Part of me wants to run a watching hockey 101 for the city giving a nice gloss over of what the rules of hockey are. It would make the experience that much better for those fans who understand the game having to deal with people who call themselves 'fans'.




In the meantime, I remain an elitist amongst a fan base of idiots.

Thanksgiving time

It's that time of year again in sports. Time for the non-traditionalist to question why the Detroit Lions are playing on the last Thursday of the month of Novembeard. It's tradition people. Get off it. They play the early game because most people don't want to watch it, but I'll be up bright and early on my first day off in about eight days to watch my Lions. My woeful, rip your heart out, just can't get over the hump Lions. I'm excited about it. I always look forward to Thanksgiving for a couple of reasons.

1. The Lions game
2. Pumpkin Pie
3. Any effort to guilt the white man about taking land from the Native Americans (which never works)

Being far away from family is always hard this time of year but we substitute family for friends. And the friends we enjoy the day with are close enough that they could be considered family. So it balances out.

Not only is it time to enjoy being around family and friends, it is also close to winter. The temperatures have been going up and down here and some days it feels like the beginning of winter. I went to work yesterday and it was twenty eight degrees. The day before? About fifty. So weird.

Prolonged experiment

I was thinking that six days without coffee would be no problem, and it wasn't much of an issue. I counterbalanced it with more sleep at night than usual, but coffee just tastes so good. I don't always drink coffee to make it through the day, it is an enjoyable beverage. It makes my morning. Kind of like having a beer at the ball park. It is just one of those things that some people need to be...happy and normal.

The only problem is that my mind was set on having a nice pot of coffee tomorrow morning while I relaxed and had my brain melt a little bit while watching television. Now I have to work. I completely forgot that I changed my schedule around for the Thanksgiving holiday. I don't have another day off until Thanksgiving day.





But then again, what is another two days without coffee? Maybe something awful, maybe just another two days without coffee. We shall see.