zzzzzzzzzzz

saturday:

i had a power nap today.

i never nap. i have neither the time nor the opportunity to sleep during the day.

but today it was either fall asleep on the couch or risk a narcoleptic incident.

i call it a power nap, but the phrase seems kinda non sequitur. there's no power in snoozing on the couch with a game on and children running in and out the door.

i dreamed they actually shut the door quietly a couple times. that's how i know it was a dream.

i think i read somewhere that napping boosts memory, but i'm not sure. cultures all over the world nap during the day, and have managed quite nicely for centuries. in america, however, such behavior is associated with sloth.

no wonder we're so screwed up. fat, sleep-deprived and stupid is no way to go through life. and it may lead to early extinction.

sunday:

i slept in today. until 9 a.m. this never happens. weekdays, weekends, holidays, vacation -- it doesn't matter. i wake up early and am utterly incapable of falling back to sleep.

the corrolary to this is that i'm tired all the time. i can't remember not being tired. over the years i've variously attributed this to being a parent. or being over-scheduled. or boredom. or ennui. or some other personal shortcoming.

this morning i rolled over and the clock said "9:08". that's gotta be a typo, right? nope.

am i getting sick? is this an early sign of infirmity? what other explanations might there be?

okay, i was in los angeles three days last week. staying up late doing market research, waking up early to get some exercise and catch up on away-from-the-office work. it's possible i got so far out of my routine that my body had to resynchronize.

the week prior we were skiing in canada. engaging in vigorous, high-altitude exercise, long, lazy evenings. hot tubs and beer. and, by definition, completely off our schedule.

cumulatively, maybe it was just time to give the somnolence devil his due.

or, as missus spaceneedl helpfully offered up, maybe i'm just old and tired. leave it to the missus to clarify things so succinctly. thanks, hon.

sunday afternoon:

i've been doing chores all day. cleaning up the kitchen, folding laundry, cleaning out closets. the ususal weekend catch-up after a too-full week. this is our life, no sense complaining about it. but you know what?

i'm tired. surely a little siesta couldn't hurt.