A Day in the Life Post…

I set my alarm clock for a change before bed at 7:30pm last night apprehensive about taking the Ambien. I normally just automatically wake up naturally around 3:30am to 4:00am without fail.  I was worried about feeling overly groggy in the morning – worried I wouldn’t wake up for work on time like I normally do.  I will say this for that drug: I got a full night’s sleep for the first time in days – feeling so rested and relaxed this morning. I didn’t have any noticeable side effects.  I was out of the bed with a running start with Maggie and Caramel choosing to continue to sleep in a little longer.  Later, Maggie watched earnestly from the bed as I put on my clothes and then my shoes after my shower – my shoes going on signaling to her that it was about time to drive over to get my six diet Sprites for the day as I never wear shoes in the house.  Maggie excitedly jumped out of the bed along with Caramel as I grabbed my car key and headed out the door.  Maggie’s morning job is to go out barking up a storm to clear the way for my departure and quick return.  We do this every morning without fail. This ritual is as important to Maggie as it is to mom and I.   I listened to a Smashing Pumpkins CD foregoing my usual NPR on the drive this morning feeling aggressive and adventurous.

On the drive over to mom and dad’s, I noticed how old my CR-V seemed now with me driving such a much newer and more pristine car – mom’s car being so noticeably quieter mechanically – everything running like clockwork.  It was tempting to mash the gas peddle and enjoy the much more powerful engine in mom’s car compared to my CR-V. I guess I am just a “boy racer” at heart.  

I arrived home with my “cokes” as we call all soft drinks in the South and turned on Coast to Coast AM to catch the tail end of tonight’s subject of interest as I packed my lunch for work, filled my water bottles with tap water and ate a honey roasted turkey sandwich and an oatmeal cream pie for breakfast – an unorthodox breakfast for me at best. I am usually an eggs, bacon, grits and toast kind of guy.  I drank my six diet Sprites compulsively after chilling them on ice in my freezer for about 15 minutes.  “Can I ever do anything in moderation?”  I thought.  It is either all or nothing – the bane of my existence. That’s why I don’t buy the drinks as I will drink them all in a day. My and mom’s routine helps me moderate my intake and moderate my wallet’s outtake as well. 

Work was as routine as it ever gets which was nice in a way if not boring.  I clocked in at 4:55am, put my cooler of bottled water nearby where the greeter usually stands and immediately got to work gathering all the carts in my organized fashion – carefully gathering all the strays into long strings to be pushed inside with my mechanical pusher.  Then going back out to gather all the carts in the caddies. It was overly cool for me this morning with me being so cold natured and I could have worn one of my fleece pullovers to be more comfortable.  It also took longer than usual for me to get caught up this early morning with eight rolling around before I could take a break and visit the electronics department to see Derrick.  Stacey was off of work today. Derrick told me like Carlos that the iPad was just a glorified iPhone with a bigger screen. That didn’t daunt my enthusiasm I felt for the contraption though. The rest of the day was slow with me doing busy work such as cleaning the parking lot to fill my time in between bouts of wandering about the store and obsessively checking the weather on my Blackberry. I was so hoping for storms today.  We had a thirty percent chance. I also spent some time with my supervisor talking about various work related subjects – us having become great friends these past few weeks.  She can still be kind of creepy as far as her advances towards me go, but I still love her to death anyway. 

I arrived home from work to find Sadie had been brought over during the day.  Stacey left me a note on the kitchen counter saying she was headed to the mall in Auburn to shop for clothes and wanted Sadie to be with Maggie and Caramel and to not be alone at home for all that time.  I was glad to see Sadie here. I took off all my clothes down to a t-shirt, socks and underwear and curled up in the bed with all three dogs joining me – all three dogs hoping we were going to take a nap.  I turned on the TV in my bedroom to CNN to find them talking about Tiger Wood’s recent divorce and quickly turned it back off feeling there were much more important things going on in the world than that kind of crap for CNN to be wasting air time on it. Itchy and Scratchy (Sadie and Maggie) immediately got to work doing their usual pre-nap routine of vigorously digging at their imaginary cooties – scratching and carrying on furiously, shaking the bed. I dozed off for a few moments until there was a knock on the door – the dogs all starting to bark like crazy.  I jumped up, quickly putting on my shorts and answered the door.  It was the Fed-Ex guy with my iPad.  I had been anticipating this moment all day. I was so excited. I even dreamt about it last night. 

I furiously unpacked my new gadget and began charging it next to the bed.  It immediately connected to my wireless network without problems.  I was browsing and reading blogs within moments – extremely happy and overjoyed.  It was the best money I had spent in a long time.  I caught up on my daily reads with Google Reader until I could stay awake no longer.    

I awoke about four hours later to the sound of a key opening my front door.  The air conditioner had gotten stuck on again and it was just freezing in my house.  All the dogs immediately jumped to alert status at a visitor at the door.  It was Stacey after her shopping trip. I got up and set the heat to 80 degrees. The thermostat read 71 degrees in the house. Brrrr!

“Are y’all going to sleep all day?” Stacey said with a beautiful smile and laugh as she walked into my bedroom with several shopping bags with us all back in the bed.  Sadie’s and Maggie’s tails were wagging wildly and Caramel would be wagging hers if she had one.  “I bought some more work clothes and shoes to keep at your house for when I stay over. It was a good excuse to go shopping!  I had a girl’s day out.”

Stacey stripped herself of her clothes as I watched on like a dirty old man – putting on one of my well worn and comfortable extra large cotton t-shirts after taking off her bra and climbing into the bed with us with her laptop.  It was a lazy and really nice day.  I got caught up on some much needed rest.  I grabbed my IPad and joined Stacey in browsing the Web. 

“What would you like for supper?” I sleepily asked Stacey around 5:30pm as I was reading the archives of one of my favorite blogs. “I could cook, but I am entirely too lazy at the moment to be bothered.”

Stacey browsed to Papa John’s website using my account and ordered us a pizza to be delivered.  I grabbed my wallet off the chest of drawers next to the bed and gave her twenty dollars telling her she was in charge at that point. I didn’t want to leave my iPad or the bed.

It took an hour for our pizza and breadsticks to be delivered.  Stacey got to complaining about the delay, but I didn’t mind.  I was completely enthralled with my new toy.  They finally arrived as Stacy pulled on her pants to answer the door and we ate pizza in bed as we continued to browse – the dogs getting their fair share as well. The dogs were effective organic vacuums of crumbs and pizza crusts keeping the bed clean.

I eventually got out of the bed to come to my computer in the den after Stacey had fallen asleep after some amorous affairs and wrote this blog post for the day.   A grand and utterly lazy day if I do say so myself.  These kind of days are made in heaven. I am about to take my Ambien and head to bed for hopefully another good night’s sleep. Work beckons in the wee hours of the morning. I want to get at least eight hours of sleep tonight and will set my alarm for 3:30am.