I Slept in on a Monday!

Yeah I did. First of all, I am not retired. Just tired. At the ripe old age of 57, soon to be 58 ( March 1st by the way if you are thinking of getting me a present), I am still working for the man…and the woman…for that matter. Yes, cue the finger violins please. I generally work in the neighborhood of 40-45 hours a week as a Physical Therapist in a busy acute care care hospital.

I would like to say that I am in the home STRETCH (honestly, no pun intended but will happily let you decide if it was) of my career, but that stretch could be another 2-5 years. Plus, a busy home life that makes me horde my free time like ……someone who hordes their free time. Sorry, that was the best I could do there. Damn that creative writing class.

As a rule, I try to get to bed each night before 9pm in order to get up bright and early for morning gym workouts before work. Now I don’t go everyday, because that would be just plain stupid. But every second day I do try to get up for 4am to get to the gym for 5. Even on a weekend.

This past weekend, I broke my bedtime rule consistently…Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday….and can I blame my affliction for sports as the culprit in all this? Hell yeah. And, throw in a libation or three during said sporting event(s) and you have a recipe for a sleep tsunami come Monday morning.

On the Friday night, my son and I took in a local Junior B hockey game here in Kingston that started at 7pm. Happy to say that our Kingston Frontenacs came out victorious with an exciting 3-1 win but we didn’t get home until 945 pm. Bedtime was at approx 1015 that night as I jumped into the jammies after we debriefed my wife, daughter, and dog Tilly about the game.

On Saturday night, had to take in NFL football – exciting game for sure as the heavily favoured Detroit Lions were upset by the upstart Washington Redskins…errr…. the Commanders. However, this game wasn’t over until almost 1130pm….wow, you rule breaker Al! You are a mad man!

And then for the trifecta…Sunday evening. Noooooooooooo! “Sunday night too Al? Are you nuts? Don’t you know that you have to work on Monday morning? C’mon man, you’re better than that! You’re a grown ass man, man!” (always wanted to use that phrase in a post, just had to work it in).

Well, maybe you are not saying that because frankly you don’t know me and you don’t care what I do. I get it. But I feel that if you did know me, you would care and would be saying this while shaking your head emphatically side to side.

Damn “late night” NFL games….and playoff games to boot! They are my kryptonite, the bane of my existence and there is no antidote in sight. So once again, my son and I had to watch an exciting/thrilling nail biter that featured two of the best teams in the AFC going head to head for right to move on in pursuit of the Vince Lombardi trophy. And wouldn’t you know, this game ended just after 930 pm with the Buffalo Bills prevailing over the Baltimore Ravens in a game that was literally decided in the final seconds. Must see TV!

So when my phone alarm went off this morning at 4……and then 5….and then 530…..and then 6….and then 630….and finally at 645….I finally dragged my tired carc ass out of bed to begin my day. And put one foot in front of another…without jumping back into a warm bed.

And you know what? I had a really productive day…in fact I felt a surge of energy throughout a day which is typically the one of the most demanding days of the week. I still attended to the morning ritual that I have at home… took care of bills, budgeted, emptied dishwasher, prepared lunch, checked emails, showered before heading off for my half hour walk to work while listening to an audio book.

By waking up so late, the sky didn’t fall, the world didn’t end (though Trump was inaugurated today), and my work was still waiting for me when I got there. Everything was going to be OK. I gave myself a pass…and I feel the extra sleep was desperately needed and allowed me to perform at an optimal level today.

As I write this post, I am in my pajamas…and should disclose that it’s not quite 6pm yet. My evening routine will welcome me back tonight like a long last friend and I will be ready to return to my early morning routine tomorrow.

However, you too should give yourself permission to sleep in every once in awhile too..you will thank yourself when you feel you have more to offer without having to stifle any yawns or down extra java throughout your day.

As always, thanks for reading – until next time!

Al