Wide Awake

After going to bed old-ladyish early last night I found myself wide awake at 3:45 this morning. It wasn't the kind of awake where you look at the clock and think, "Oh thank God, I've got two more hours to sleep." Oh no. I woke up the same way my dog wakes up. "I'm awake! I hungry! I wanna go somewhere! I wanna chase that truck!" After I ate something and chased a confused utility truck down the street I came back in to write to you all. Good morning, my dears.
"Genevieve," you groan. "It's 5:30 am on a Saturday."
"I know!" I say. "You're still in bed??"
"Yes."
"But we've got the whole day ahead of us and the sun will come up soon and the azaleas are blooming in the yard [at this point I've begun twirling around the room] and the coffee is done brewing and everything is wonderful-"
"GENEVIEVE!" You growl, taking the pillow from behind your head and cramming it over your face.
I lean over you and tap tentatively on the pillow. "Hey, so you don't want pancakes?"
"No," you mumble, and I pretend that I can't understand you.
"They have chocolate chips in them."
"I don't care," you say as well as you can manage with a mouth full of pillow.
I sigh. "Or you could get up and read my blog."
You toss the pillow aside. You're wearing a cartoonish frown, like the kind where the lines of your mouth look like they're spilling onto the floor.
"I'm in your blog! You woke me up just to put me in here!"
"And it's wonderful of you to join us! Here, have a pancake."

And the pancake suddenly makes everything better, as they usually do. Here, have another:


"Gen, that's a lemur."
"It is?"
"A baby lemur."
"But isn't he so cute you could just eat him up?"
"Sure." And the pillow goes back over the face.

Well. I tried. I don't know why I wake up like this sometimes, but I do. It's like waking up with the crack of a confetti egg

It's silly and fun and colors seem brighter and I feel in love with the world. I actually wish I woke up like this more often, instead of how I usually wake up. My routine is to shoot a bleary eye at the clock, roll back over, and think about how much I hate my day job. But this morning I got to get up and write, which is like the joy of pancakes, lemurs and confetti eggs all in one.

And now I really am going to go running, but not after a truck. It's one of the things that I've gotten back into - exercising on a regular basis. And I don't usually feel like doing it at the crack of dawn, but since I'm bursting with energy I should probably harness that and send it running a mile or two. But before I go, I will deliver on my promise. Since I woke you up and everything.