Alarming

Tomorrow is the last day of my long Christmas break. This year I decided to take vacation for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. I wanted to spend time with my family, and I wanted to enjoy all the special happenings of the holiday season. I believe I am ready to go back to work though. I’m not quite ready to be a lady of leisure, unless of course I could win the lottery. With a ton of money, I could probably find things to fill my days!

There are a couple of things I am sorry to see end as my work week approaches. Fuzzy, warm slippers will give way again to heels. No makeup mornings will now be spent primping and blow-drying. But the absolute worst – I will once again have to set my alarm for 4:45 am.

Unlike my oldest son, I like to wake easily. While he must set at least two alarms to rouse himself in the morning, I like a very gentle start to my day. I remember as a teenager myself, my father used to come into my room in the morning, turn on the bright overhead light, and sing at the top of his lungs. At that moment, I hated him. All it takes to wake me is a light touch or very soft music playing. In fact, when I know I have the alarm set, I always wake up 10 minutes before the music starts. During this holiday season, I woke up at that same time, but was then able to drift back into delicious sleep. There will be no more of that beginning Wednesday morning. And, of course, Wednesday is forecast to be the coldest day so far this year. So not only will I have to get out of bed, I will be shivering as I do.

So, the Christmas goodies are almost gone (thankfully) – the decorations are put away – the kids are scrambling to finish their winter break school projects – and the professional me is starting to emerge from the warm cocoon of lazy days. Now I begin to count the days until summer vacation!