The alarm rings. It starts as a gentle beep, prodding carefully, testing the waters of dream-land. Should it’s tender hesitation be ignored, it then shrills like a wish wife at market. A button fixes it. Put that damn alarm in its place.
It takes a couple minutes for it to sink in that the alarm really did go off and wasn’t part of a dream. Blankets go flying, then come rushing back like water in reverse as the cold air hits. Okay, I’m awake now. Too cold to get out of bed to close the window. Seriously consider just going back to sleep till things warm up a little.
It’s November. Things aren’t going to warm up.
With a great heaving sigh, I drag myself out of bed and shuffle around, closing the window, going to the little girl’s room, brushing hair and teeth. Then I sit, turn on the computer, consider writing, and decide that five minutes isn’t really enough time to get anything done. The light of the screen is kind of pretty though, so staring at it isn’t really a problem.
Time ticks. The lazying time is over.
Grab bag, walk to class. Try to figure out why the teacher is speaking in tongues. After the first ten minutes of class, I remember I’m in French and should be understanding at least a little of what she says. Finally the brain begins to fire on all cylinders and I begin to function like a more normal human being.
The most important thing I learned how to say in french today? ”Mon frére est laid.”
Trés woot.
Ah, back to the my comfortable nest. Walk in my door, kick of my shoes as I go (that’s the true joy of flip-flops. You don’t have to sit down to take them off) and drop my bag. Flop into chair, give my computer a little shake to wake it up. A full minute of staring at the screen before I realize I need coffee. Coffee good. Coffee will keep me awake.
Sometimes.
While the coffee brews, I pace in the kitchen, cursing the housemates that can’t seem to figure out how to put their dishes away. Consider hiring monkey for them. The garbage should go out too, but my coffee’s done, and I don’t have shoes on.
Wonderful coffee. Elixir of life.
All right then. A crack of the knuckles, and I’m ready to go. Finally, I have a nice stretch of time to write before my next class. I pull out my laptop, set up file sharing, open the file, and!…
Get distracted by the internet. I mean, really. Comics are highly entertaining, and start the creative juices flowing. Blogs are important to keep on top of, too. Lots of those to read.
Get second cup of coffee. Mourn the fact that more will make me jittery. Coffee is beautiful, but like all beautiful things, too much can be a little overwhelming.
Okay, okay. Time to get to business. Have my mug in front of me, steaming happily in the still cool air of my room. The word file is open and waiting for me. Jacky is just coming around, waking up from her good nights sleep, ready to face the horrors I have planned for her. Envy rears its ugly head. Why can’t I sleep in this late? It’s not fair, damnit. Jacky should have to get up early too.
Tomorrow, I promise her. Tomorrow you will have to get up early with me.
Say a small farewell to the last dregs of coffee. I shall miss you coffee. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.
A sentence is finished! Progress has been made.
Time for breakfast. Lunch for normal people. It’s already well after one o’clock.
Leftovers are tasty and fast, and I can eat it in front of the computer, interspersing writing in between bites. Then realization dawns that I still haven’t read the chapter for my philosophy class. No, wait, we’re read everything already. I’ve done the all the tests and actually finished my assignment ahead of time. Strange, to not but rushing through something for that class.
Wait. It’s not philosophy I have to be reading. It’s History. Damn test. I don’t want to read up on Charles I, or Oliver Cromwell, or all the other people and things I don’t remember from the lectures in class. Crap. Definetly have to read through to the end of this chapter before taking the test. That’s what, twenty pages?
I could be writing Jacky. But noooo. Homework is important too.
Think. Consider. Decide.
I can put it off until I finish this chapter. There will be plenty of time tonight to get the reading done. Not to mention there’s a game tomorrow. I could finish the reading during that. Oh shit. There’s a basketball game tomorrow? I have to take my test before that.
Meh. I’ll finish the chapter tonight before bed. That’ll be good enough.
My computer helpfully reminds me that it’s time to leave for class. Wait, what? But I didn’t get any work done! A couple sentences, but I didn’t even start getting into the flow of things. Maybe I’ll take my laptop with me. Ya. We’re not going to be doing anything in class that I actually have to pay attention to. I can write instead. It’s easy to stare blankly at the teacher while my fingers go at. Make it look like I’m taking notes.
We get into a discussion. Things are interesting. Writing is temporarily forgotten.
Home again, time for lunch. Often a housemate is there, and having a conversation with “real” people is important to keep one centered in reality. Though Jacky’s world is so much more fun than mine. Time flies when you’re chatting with the housemates. Sometimes there’s even T.V. involved. Not often though. There’s not much on anymore that interests me.
Writing. Oh, right. I need to get that chapter done sometime today.
But it’s kind of late, and I need to shower so that my hair is dry before I go to bed. And there’s that looming history test. Crud. Just…I’ll switch. I can’t write for long without having to stop and think for a bit, get my thoughts organized. So, read a bit, write a bit.
The reading is much more interesting than I thought it would be. Can’t believe I got so distracted. It’s already time to shower.
Then it’s dry off, serf the net some more, write a bit. Exhaustion hits.
Time for bed.
Man, it’s sort of surprising I get any writing done at all. Of course, not all days are like this. Just Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some days I have a lot of free time, and get a lot of writing done. Sometimes I’m bored out of my mind, but just can’t get into Jacky at all. I’ll try a couple sentences, decide nothing is coming out well, and give it up as a lost cause for the day. There are times when I’m really social and don’t get to spend any time at home, and sometimes I’ll actually get writing done in class because we’re not doing anything.
Then there are the days when I wind up blogging instead of working on Jacky. This is one of those days, I think.
