That Internal Clock

I am a morning person.  No doubt about it.

I enjoyed teaching classes at 8:00.  In fact one of my favorite classes at Ivy Tech's old building in Logansport was on a Friday morning and ran from 8 until 11.  I was always excited---my students were dragging.  But I brought donuts or muffins often and soon they woke up and were energetic enough to stay with me through the 3 hour block of time.

Being productive for me is better in the morning also. If I can get started on my to-do list before 9, I can cross off more items than if I start after lunch.  And in the evening? Forget it.

But when I am tired.   I am just tired.  My internal clock doesn't function well on very little sleep or a skewed sleep pattern.

So when we went to Las Vegas this past week, I was struggling.

If we had been by ourselves, the sleep time wouldn't have been an issue.  We would make our own schedule.  If we were tired, we would return to the room.  If we wanted to eat early, or late, or not at all, we didn't have to.  Napping would be acceptable.  Sleeping late would not be a problem.

But when traveling with others and having tickets for concerts, keeping to a time schedule is necessary

The first night in Vegas was tough  We landed between 8-9 LV time which was between 11 and midnight our time.  I had been awake since 7 or so and even though I had napped on the plane, I was still a little tired.  The excitement of being in a new place, picking up the luggage, meeting Kevin and Beth, waiting for our rooms, and finally actually finding our rooms took us to well after midnight our time.  Then hunger set it so off we went for food.  By the time we returned to our rooms for the night, it was close to 4:30 a.m. at home time.

Trying to adjust the sleep time was hard.   I was to the point of being too tired to sleep one night and that made for a long day following.  Plus all of the walking was exhausting.  Tylenol PM became my friend to ease the leg and foot pain plus help me with closing my eyes and resting.

Friday's return trip didn't help since we left just after lunch LV time and returned home to the dark skies of northern Indiana.  Early breakfast before we left the Luxor, then a late dinner at Chick-Fil-A in Merrillville on the drive home was the food for the day. 

Even after arriving home at 1:30 a.m. and falling into bed by 2 didn't make for a good night's sleep since we were up and around early Saturday morning to put the finishing touches on Karen's Surprise 60th birthday party that we were hosting in the Party Barn.  All of the guests finally left after midnight, so another late night was in the books.

It was no surprise that on Sunday evening while Megan was showing me her Amazon list for Christmas gifts for the kids that my eyes were barely staying open.

It was no surprise that my eyes were closed on the drive from Megan's to Hilary's house where we dropped off a new car seat for Lynnlee and the Francesville Tribune I had borrowed.

It was no surprise that I couldn't even get a good start on the email about the trip and the party that I was composing for Greta because I was SO tired AND I had taken a Tylenol PM.

It was no surprise that I was asleep when my head hit the pillow.  I don't even remember anything other than pulling the blankets up over me---and I was gone.

What is a surprise is that I woke up at 3:45 for the bathroom...and couldn't fall asleep again.  Why?  Thoughts of a million things running through my mind.  The major one was "Where are we going to put the Christmas tree?" which is silly since we have over a month until that question needs to be answered.

Hope my internal clock adjusts itself soon.  If not, there will be more early morning posts in this blog!