Dragonfly
Words Written, Tuesday: 857 (pathetic writing this week!)
Song on the iPod: none just now

For those reading my comments, it was quite obvious I didn't actually make it into the office today. Lucky for me, my boss doesn't normally notice when I'm not there (as the work is always done, irregardless). Plus, I don't have scheduled days to be there so it's no skin off anyone's back.

Why didn't I go to work? Oh! That would be due to my recent walking zombie impersonation. The longest singular stretch of sleep I've had in about two week is around four hours. There's no reason for me to be up so late. I quit drinking coffee in the afternoon and really, I only have a couple of cups a day. Occasionally, Mr. Clean will bring me home a Starbucks after work but I'll limit myself to a couple of sips and then stick it in the freezer for the morning. So, coffee is not the culprit.

Last night, I started falling asleep on the couch around 12:30pm. "Yippeeee... I'll head off to bed," I thought. I brushed my teeth and then went to turn off the computer. A combination of minty fresh breath and an IM kept me up until almost two in the morning.

Then, exhausted, I fell into my wonderful cloud-like mattress - where my brain immediately started up an inner commentary regarding a gazillion different subjects. Three-thirty a.m. rolled around and I remembered my poor little psycho cat got left outside. I let her in. She repaid me by meowing, loudly, for the next half hour. Her kitty way of saying, "FRUITBATTING people who leave me out at night! And the bats!! Did you SEE the bats out there? Don't y'all know I'm ALLERGIC to the outdoors at night?!" Well, yes. We ALL know this now. Thanks.

Four a.m., I finally drifted off -- only to be woken up at six-thirty by Mr. Clean.

I don't remember this. Mr. Clean tells me I got halfway dressed and then fell back asleep while leaning against the side of the bed. Apparently, he then told me that if I was that tired, to go back to sleep... and I did so. Since I woke up a couple of hours later partially dressed, I have no reason to doubt his side of the story.

What really irks me is that I WANTED to go into the office today. I had things to do - things easier to accomplish in the office than by outside connection (involving huge files). Plus - going into the office means eating out for lunch and Starbucks for an afternoon snack.

And folks, I LIKE my sleep. I like EIGHT hours of uninterrupted blissful dreaming. Not two to four hours of endlessly repeating dream promos. So I think I'm going on a waking binge in order to re-wire my sleep mechanism. I'm going to have a giant movie/writing/reading marathon tonight --- and NOT SLEEP --- and then, tomorrow, I'm going to spend all day in the kitchen attempting a new creation: Eclairs filled with Bourbon Cherry pastry cream, topped with chocolate ganache and slivered almonds.

I figure I should be exhausted by tomorrow night.

For those who are interested - the Eclairs:
I've had a jar of Maker's Mark bourbon-soaked cherries for about a year and a half now (since GypsyRose and I went to Kentucky in April 2005). I haven't had a CLUE what to do with them. The other night, I was thinking about eclairs and found a recipe which included a strawberry pastry cream, made with pureed strawberries. Then it hit me. I can puree the cherries (along with a little cherry pie filling, as the jar is not very big) and use some of the bourbon they're soaking in to pump up a basic pastry cream recipe. A little cherry bomb, if you please.

Mr. Clean has an intense blinding red passion for any sort of cherry dessert and has been eying my jar for quite some time now so I think he'll be happy.

It ought to be interesting. I've never made eclairs before. Wheeeeeeee! Stay tuned for new adventures in my kitchen. I'll post pics if they come out okay. And perhaps, just perhaps, putting in the time to make them will send me over the edge to sleepy goodness.
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