Getting Up

Waking up is becoming real hard...and the sleep too short...

I struggle each day at 5.45am to extricate myself from the warm embrace of my pillows and duvet... each day I lose the battle... my pillows cling on for dear life, my duvet wraps itself tighter around me... like a child will cling to a parent on his/her first day at school, afraid to let go... Every morning I give in...promising it will be the last... Then I lie back for another 15 minutes, to reassure my duvet that I am not deserting it forever... 15 minutes becomes 30; then 45...sometimes 60minutes.... Each time my hand snakes out from beneath the duvet to hit the snooze button to delay the separation for just a little while... I have lost that battle for so long that I worry that I may never win.

I remember (very dimly now), when I used to get out of bed at 5.30am... bright and chirpy. It was summer... I remember leaving the house each day at 6.30am to brave the long drive to my office. It was a long drive because I knew one route to work and it appeared everyone knew just that route.... Anyway... then I had time to grab a cup of coffee to keep me company on that 35 minutes or so drive... I had loads of space in the basement parking to choose from... I was nearly always the first at work and had time to get myself organised for the day...

As summer gave way to autumn, 5.30am moved to 6am... getting into the shower took longer and getting out of it even longer... 6.30am departure became 7.10am or 7.15am... I had alternative routes so the drive became shorter (20 -25 minutes)... I always got a space in the basement parking... but not close enough to the lift... With all my bags, the walk was long...

Temperatures dropped further as winter set in and it looks like my get up and go, got up and went with the dipping temps... that was when my blanket and duvet decided to hold me hostage every morning... getting out of bed and ready for the day became a battle... on very good days I manage to wrestle my duvet off me at 7am... on other days, we struggle till 7.30am and I must confess there are days we have parted rather very violently at 8.30am... Getting in and out of the shower took longer... choosing something to wear even longer... I never ever got it right... I was either too warm or toio lightly dressed. Considering the time I spend finding something to wear, you'll think I'll have the goode sense to check temps for the day... Not this one... I was always too sleepy and tired to think... A space in the basement's out of the question except that days I straggle in very late... (too ashamed to even put a time)... That meant parking outside and walking all the way in the cold without a coat or wrap...through the parking lot to the basement (feels like a cellar), up the stairs to the lobby... Very long walk with 3 or 4 bags... Please don't ask me what I am doing with that many bags... You'll never understand....

Anyway, yesterday, my duvet and I parted rather amicably at 7.25am after 4 attempts at extricating myself from my pillows... It is spring, ... and I hope it comes with deeper sleep and less stressful parting of ways with my bedding... I need my sleep...but most importantly I need my get up and go...