Why Am I Up This Late??

It's 12:41 AM on Sunday night Monday morning and the house is quiet as I sit at my desk and type this. Blair is asleep in our bedroom and the cats are passed out under the Christmas tree--probably dreaming of catnip stuffed elves for Christmas.

I'm trying to remember the last time I made it up past midnight. As most of you know, I'm a "in bed and lights out by 10 PM girl." This week, however, life has been turned upside down.  

I've been doing market research for a new client and the project was all-consuming. I had a one-week deadline to sift through and make sense of a LOT of material. (I'd use a more descriptive phrase but if I haven't mentioned it, it's AFTER MIDNIGHT and my brain is fried.) Although I always work on deadlines, I usually have a decent amount of wiggle-room. I'd almost forgotten what it's like to be down to the wire and really stressed. Did I do enough? Did I do too much? Did I do the right things? Will they love me? Hate me? Did I completely misunderstand the project?

(Note to self RE: Angst and self-doubt at midnight  -- LET IT GO.) 

I had a few final tweaks to make and thought about going to bed to get some rest and getting up super early to complete the work, but I knew I'd toss and turn all night. So I polished it and sent it off only moments before starting this blog entry.

Blair has been a HERO this week. Dinner's have consisted of me asking him what brand of cereal he'd prefer. I had booked myself to volunteer at an APSRC/Petco adoption fair on Saturday in Greensboro from 12-3. Adding in drive time, that would have been almost 5 hours away from much needed desk time, so Blair took my place. He also drove by Dewey's Bakery to pick up cookies for the Rockingham County Arts Council Open House I worked today from 12-5. AND, he cleaned the house, ran by the grocery store, cooked dinner yesterday and lunch today, and spent hours helping sort out some tricky stats and charts in my research. (Thank you, God, for having me marry a CPA and a saint.)

My eyes actually feel like they're bulging at this point, but I'm not tired. The brain is racing from project adrenalin and--being honest--the 6 six cookies, 2 coffees, and 3 apple ciders I had at the Open House. Have I mentioned I'm a stress eater?

I'm going to bed now, anyway. Having essentially ignored life for a week, I have a backlog of "to do's", the number one thing being to get some vegetables and fruit in the house and in my body. Writers can not live by bread alone, although this week I gave it a really good shot. I'm also humbled as I not only fell, but tumbled hard off the exercise bandwagon this week. Puts my "people just need to make it a priority and do it" speeches in perspective. 

Enough! It's 1:04 AM. G'night!