My Inspiration

I woke up tired this morning.

I can tell by the puzzled looks and murmurs that a few of you might not comprehend what I mean by this.  "Of course you were a little sleepy.  It was 4:45 in the morning.  Worse, it was 4:45 on a Monday morning which is always going to compound the problem, Sheepie.  And yet, even if we take that out of the equation, who among us doesn't awaken a little bit out of sorts?  We all take a moment to orient ourselves as we transition from the sleeping to the waking state."

I can understand how this might be confusing.  I, myself, didn't quite realize the true nature of the problem. After giving the snooze button a few heartfelt smacks, I lay abed waiting for the transition period to end.  Soon, I felt sure, I'd shake off the Morning Fuzzy-Wuzzems and be ready to face the day.

When that didn't happen, I decided that a nice shower would do the trick.  Surely, the very act of standing would help, if nothing else.  I kicked myself free of the blankets, retrieved the handknit socks that always seem to fall from my feet during the night and staggered off to find some coffee.  The last bit of inspiration was a sure-fire way to get the old blood pumping!

Nope.  I was no less awake at the end of my morning beautification ritual that I was when I started.  Nothing helped.  All I could do was hope that my eyes worked their way up from half-mast before I got onto the highway.

I was rather surprised when I pulled into the teacher's parking area.  I know I drove there, but it's mostly a blur.  Since a parade of emergency vehicles didn't follow me to my space, I can only assume that it was an uneventful commute, but who really knows?  There very well may be a squirrel or two cursing my name somewhere out there...

This, I fee,l should help to illustrate the difference between "Morning Transition Period" and "Waking Up Tired."  Tired doesn't go away.  Tired, no matter how well you've slept, lingers.

The whole day was like that.  Sadly, my students weren't exactly on board with the whole "Ms. Sheep is very tired today and we should not spend the day being horrible in shifts so that she cannot get so much as a moment to yawn" plan.  In fact, they could not have been more coordinated in their efforts to make the most of my fatigue.  Even the kids who are normally pretty kind when they see I am a bit off my game, were snappish and ill-tempered.  This is not helpful.  This takes "tired" to a whole new level, specifically the one that involves shrieking and making empty threats.

I am tired.  The only thing I could focus on with any degree of clarity was that I wanted something.  I couldn't recall just what, but I knew there was something I'd seen recently that fit the bill.  Something...

And then, when I was loading some photos from the weekend onto the laptop, I got it.  I knew what I wanted.

This.

I want to be able to say, "Gee, I think I might be tired," and flop down wherever I might be.  I want to drop into a heavy sleep without regard for such petty things as location or relative comfort.  I want to not care who might be around or what they might think of my choice in napping spots.  I want to sleep like that.

Maybe crack one eye open when the camera flash goes off, but still not care so much...

The Very Complicated Kitty has it all together, I think.  I feel that I should study him and perhaps even write a grant which will allow me to monitor his sleepy cycles full time.  I could write a book and maybe get a special on one of those nature channels.  I'd be famous.

I'm too tired to do any of that right now, though.  I'll just sit here and be inspired by him for a while and see where we are with this tomorrow...

SA