Seeing Things


Monday was a long day.  I was wiped out and the running chatter at the back of my mind was, “I can’t wait to go to bed tonight.” I was going to sleep and sleep and sleep.  I pushed through the urge to have a quick nap when I got home from work and finally, finally dropped into bed just before 10:30.  I wrote in my book, read part of Washington Black (the gun, the aerostat, the storm, the ship) and turned off the light.  

Dave fell asleep immediately.  I cued up a sleep story about Easter Island and soon started to drift.  The sound of the waves and talk of the climate dovetailed with what I’d been reading. Things were getting confusing but the sleep story was working until the neighbours’ late night shenanigans broke through and I bolted awake. This kept happening. After awhile, I gave in and moved to the kitchen. I was too tired to problem solve (e.g. sleep in the other bedroom; sleep on the couch) so I took half a dose of melatonin, drank something soothing and then puttered and muttered for almost an hour before returning to bed.

The neighbours were still up.

Long story short, I got only a few hours of good rest and woke up feeling rotten.  

And then I couldn’t find my glasses.

I use them for computer work and certain other tasks. They had been on my face at the end of the work day Monday but when I looked for them yesterday morning, they were nowhere to be found. I checked everywhere in my bag, all around my office and finally went out to check the car. I messaged my husband and even called the grocery store to see if they’d been turned in.

NOTHING.

My eyes were tired to start and they felt more and more strain as the day went along. I cranked the font up on my monitors, took lots of breaks and did whatever I could off-screen.  Finally, I gave in and called the optometrist. They had a cancellation and I now have an appointment tomorrow.  I assured the receptionist that I would keep the appointment even if I found my glasses.  

I checked everywhere one more time before going home for the day.  I was drained. After telling Dave all about my day, our conversation returned to the missing glasses.  I couldn’t think of anywhere they could be except all of the places we’d already checked.  I retraced my steps in my mind and said I KNEW I’d had them at the end of the day Monday because I remembered putting them in the case as I was packing up.

Wait a minute.

Can you check my lunch bag please?

Sure enough, my glasses were in my lunch bag with the two empty travel mugs I grabbed on my way out the door. 

I have never done that before in my life and don’t expect to again. Fatigue does weird things to a person. I’d like to think I can run on fumes — I sure try — but I can’t.

I went to bed early last night and slept great. Nothing broke through until around 4:00 a.m. when I woke up and realized I’d had almost six hours of sleep in a row...and could still sleep more.

Today was much better.  A good sleep and my glasses helped immensely. 

Onward.

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