I Dreamed a Dream

Last night was one of the worst nights of sleep I have ever had. In total, I think I had about five hours, which would have been find had they been consecutive. But I tossed and turned, read, watched some tv, answered some texts until about 12:30. Then at about 2am, I was wide awake with a screaming sore throat and thinking about all the things I didn't add to this week's list. The fact that Natalie and I need to finish decorating her butterfly wings for Halloween, which starts Thursday, continues on Friday with her school parade, Saturday for a costume birthday party, and Sunday for the actual Halloween. The duct tape needed to be covered with some black felt, elastic straps added so that they stay on, and she needs some antennae. So at 2am, I got out of bed, rummaged in the craft closet for the hot glue gun and black felt and got to work on that. I would have made the antenna, but can you believe that I don't have black pipe cleaners...what? Blue, yellow, red, green... add to lists - purchase black pipe cleaners. I also need to work in some Jack o' Lantern carving on Wednesday after school, and when I thought I would be breathing on Friday, I will actually be chaperoning Natalie and the Bro at Natalie's school Halloween Carnival. Breathing is overrated anyway.

Sleep would probably not have been so evasive had I not agreed to a cup of espresso at 4 o'clock. But when I picked Natalie up from Aurora's birthday party yesterday, Suzy was standing there with the coffee thingamajiggy already filled with the ground espresso. "You want coffee?" "Um, no," I say. "Are you sure?" "Well, no I'm not sure, but I am not going to have any." But she just stood there with it, like a caffeine drug dealer, handing out coffee to all the other parents standing in her kitchen. What was I to do? Like a caffeine junkie, I caved under the pressure. Alone, this espresso would not have kept me up quite the way I was, but we were then taken out to dinner where I consumed no less than three cups of green tea, which is caffeinated.

Hello, my name is Kristen, and I am an addict. It started when I was 17 and has gotten progressively worse for the past fifteen years.

I finished the wings and felt a little more at ease, so I attempted to sleep. No such luck. 3am, 3:30, 4...that was the last time I remember looking at the clock. And the sleep I found was so wonderful. It was deep and dream filled. I dreamt that I was at Natalie's school which was located on an apple orchard/pumpkin patch (which it is not) in a waiting room (which they don't have) and her teacher asked me to entertain the children as they came in from hay rides. She wanted me to sing a song about the joys of October. So I sang of apples and pumpkins and cider. I was so into this dream song that I yelled "CIDER!" out in my sleep and woke myself up. No joke! I woke Dan up too. I then had a case of the church giggles at 6:30ish in the morning. And sleep was gone again.

Now it is off to tackle the list, because tonight I need some sleep.