Morning Bird No More

I used to get up early. I was one of those crazy college students that went to bed at a reasonable hour and got up usually before 8 am. (For awhile to go to the gym, but then just because I couldn't sleep.) My senior year of college, I'd get up at 6.30 and watch the sun rise. (Well, kinda, my window faced west...) I was always more of a morning person. I never really "slept in" as a teenager. I usually did not stay up past midnight and getting up was never that hard for me. I never used an alarm. And I grew to hate people who did. (Especially those that set it and then hit snooze a million times before getting up. It annoys me. Pilot Boy does it and I HATE IT. I just get up usually after the first buzz, even if I do not have to. Or at I used to. We'll get to that.)

I worked for a year and had to get up early to get ready and drive through traffic. I then got married and had another job where I had to get up early and go to the train. Then, I went to the dirt hole. I still tried to get up by 8 am so I could get to the gym by ten. I felt like if I didn't get my errans ran before noon, it was waste of time to do anything. I moved back to Chicago for four months and started sleeping till nine. I wouldn't get going till 11 or later, but I didn't care. Chicagoland was always in traffic, so it wasn't like in Del Rio where everyone decided to get in their cars at three pm and drive around for no reason.

Then I got to Alaska. I got up with Pilot Boy for awhile, but then he went away and I started sleeping in. I mean, really sleeping in. Till ten sometimes. Then I'd take two hours for breakfast, then shower and by the time I was ready for prime time, it was one pm. In the summer, this did not seem so bad, as it was light till midnight. But since the new "winter" light season has began, I am finding issues with it.

One, the sun doesn't rise till nine. This makes getting up early very hard, as there is no light (or reason to get up). I tell myself I will get up at a reasonable hour, but it hardly happens. Mostly because I don't look at my clock and just assume by the amount of light its two am.

The other day, I got up at seven am. I was so proud of myself. I then managed to eat and drink my tea before nine thrity and was in the shower and ready to go at what I thought was early. By the time I got into the car to go to Target, it was 11.30. I was like WTF? Where did my morning go?

I have no clue. I never seem to able to get going in the mornings anymore, even when I think I am "going." I am not sure what it is. Is it the fact my hair is long? Is it the fact that what I think is "quick" makeup isn't really? I haven't timed myself getting ready in a very long time. I usually a lot an hour to do things when I do not have to take a shower. I do not have a clock I can see in the bathroom, so I'm not sure how long it takes me to shower. I do not know how long it takes to blow dry my hair and do my makeup. I ought to time in case I ever get a job....

I am still a morning person at heart, though. I like to get everything done in the morning and have the rest of the day to myself. I still think my "day" is over at three pm and I don't want to do anything after three pm. I start thinking about dinner, evening TV and bedtime at three pm. Even if I have only been up since 10. This, my people, is a problem.

This week I decided I was going to get up at seven and try to go to the gym. I never went to the gym and I think I only got up at seven twice this week. Both by complete accident. Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish Basil would get me up. But she knows better. Today, she got out of her cage and walked around and attempted to get my attention but I was like, "I'm sleeping. Go away." I rolled over and ignored her. She went back to bed. Then, I don't know how much time passed, but Pilot Boy called and was like, 'What the hell are you doing in bed still? GET UP!"

I hate getting up in the mornings. But I like getting up in the morning. Its an odd battle. I like having a new day ahead of me, but at the same time, I like my nice, cozy, warm bed. I like the bed. I don't like the sleeping part so much, mostly just being warm and cozy (says the woman sitting in a tank top while staring at snow out a frozen window....)

I would like to blame the lack of light for my problems rising in the morning. However, I know this is only part of my problem. The other half of my problem is the fact I like the bed so much. If it wasn't so nice and comfy, I'd get up. Or if there was a barking dog in my face, I'd get up. I think, starting tomorrow, I might set the alarm on my cell phone to blast the "Doctor Who" theme at me at seven am. So I'll get up. I know I will get up if I set an alarm. Then I can get up, get breakfast and do something productive with my day. Like getting the vacuum fixed. (Also, I managed to get Pilot Boy to tell me where the spare bags were!)

Well, it is almost 12.30 and my hair is still wet. I should do something about it and go about what I had planned for the day: Watching Doctor Who on BBC America. I am a geek.