Awake again

The worst thing about Tony being away from home all the time is that I can't (or won't, sometimes) sleep at night. Every little noise makes me get up and take a look and the bed is just this big empty space (periodically filled by Gracie, who makes her presence known by perching atop my head like a warm furry hat and snoring little ladylike snores).

I am desperately tired at the moment, but here I sit. I was lying in bed for a while and had even taken my pills (which are making me sleepy in that medically induced kind of way), but things kept flitting through my head. Things I need to do. Things I need to write down. Emails I need to send. And so I get up and write down some notes for a story (a very marketable idea, which means I'll probably start work on it and then stall), check some emails, and then get sidetracked reading Laura Schumacher's (possibly spelled wrong, and I already closed the browser window) essays about her autistic son. Very touching and now I sit here with a few tear tracks down my face as well. Tired and weepy. Joy.

I had a semi-productive day today. The vet made a house call to give Grace and Harley their annual shots (they were less than thrilled). Then I had to run out and get cat food since I'd run out of wet food and the only thing that makes up a vet visit is a nice bowl of wet cat food. Actually, it's the only thing that makes up for anything bad in their lives. They live for the sound of a pouch being ripped open or a can lid coming off.

I stopped at Ollie's Trolley for lunch while I was out. I'm trying to hit some of the places around town that I'll be sorry to leave behind. We haven't been here that long, but we tend to explore a lot, so I do have some things to miss. Ollie's has these Ollie Burgers that have some special sauce on them and fries that they sprinkle with seasoning. Not your normal seasoning for french fries, but something different. I have no idea what it is. It was, quite possibly, the messiest burger I've ever had. And the fastest fast food -- McDonald's could take a clue from the staff in that little train car. I've had to wash my hands at least 3 times to get rid of the burger smell.

Then I ran into Rich outside and chatted for a while. Can't even recount everything we talked about -- he can be quite the chatter if you get him going, and everything is a little story, usually with a punch line. He ought to write the stuff down.

Then I fought with the art show database for a while. Trying to re-do the fee pages to make them more friendly. I kind of hate mucking around in code that someone else wrote, especially since I just can't seem to think like other people. And I hate structures. I know I'm supposed to love structures, but there's something in my brain that just doesn't get them. I can't think that way. So it is slightly better now, but I'm going to tackle it again tomorrow and hopefully improve it some more. Hopefully. I have my fingers crossed.

Then I went to a meeting about the art show at Mary's house. Trying to make decisions for next year. She isn't happy that we're moving and keeps pushing about how cold Chicago is. Yeesh, I know. Though I deal with cold better than Tony does. He got cold in Gainesville, for heaven's sake. I even have a picture of him huddled miserably on a beach blanket in his jacket from a time we went to Saint Augustine. I think it was in March.

I know what she means though. It's hard to get volunteers. Though, if we had more, it wouldn't be so bad. Many hands and all that.

I really need to get cracking on the wrapping up part. I have to finish up some documentation on the pieces that still need to be completed for the website/database and finish up the instructions too. I've been putting off some bits for way too long.

Not that they are ever out of my mind. I tend to dwell on my to-do list, sometimes to the point of...no sleep.

Which brings me full circle.

I'm really going to try and go to sleep again now. It's almost 1:30 and the cleaning lady is due in tomorrow morning. And if tonight goes like last night, I'll be awake for another few hours. Staring at the ceiling.