Thursday, June 27, 2013

Inner Peace

What do you do in St John's at 2am on a Wednesday night?  Blog of course.  I've only slept in my own bed twice in the last 2 weeks.  I miss my bed.  My quiet, cozy bed.

We've pushed things pretty hard here.  Walking miles every day instead of opting for cab fare.  How are you really going to see a city from a cab?  My feet and calves feel like my eyes aren't pulling their weight though.  

'Moves' on my iphone tells me I'm walking anywhere between 4 and 6 km a day and St John's is HILLY!  And cold. 

Point being, yesterday we got back to the hotel at 4pm for a bit of a break before dinner.  My back was aching.  I laid on the floor, feet up on an ottoman and was out cold in a matter of seconds. For about 25 minutes.  

And now, here I sit, at 2am.  Awake.  Awake! awake.  

We sat for a bit, had some dinner, came back - full and super satisfied from our pub-style dinner and decided to watch a movie.  This city is cold.  Did I mention that?  I only brought one sweater and one 3/4 length hoodie.  Cold!  Rain!  Grey.  

Anyway, back to the point.  How does a 25 minute nap at 4pm translate to awake at 2am? After trying to sleep for 2 hours unsuccessfully.  

The problem with hotels in the bedroom is the same room as the living room.  You sit on the bed to watch tv or a movie.  And you lay in bed to watch Jimmy Fallon play Rock, Paper, Scissors, PIE with Glenn Close.  And then you're expected to sleep in that same bed.  My body feels like it's sleeping on the couch.  My sheets are warm and I like getting into a cool crisp bed to sleep.  I'm not in favor of a tv in the bedroom, btw. 

I lay in bed.  I have pillows propped up under my legs, cool fan on.  I lay in bed and I feel an itch or a twitch.  My shoulder, my hip, my calf, my arm.  Itches and twitches relaxed and scratched.  

Inner peace.  Inner peace.  

We're staying downtown.  Beautiful view.  Lots of noise.  There was a Sting concert across the street tonight.  It's now 1am and people are leaving the concert.  Wow, they really liked that concert.  The whoo-hooing is giving them away.  And that motorbike OBVIOUSLY can't just drive away...it must rev it's engine as loudly as possible first.  Obviously people.  

And the hum of cranes loading c-cans onto boats in the harbor is awesome to see.  Less awesome to hear at 2am.  

My husband is talking about something in dream-like mumbles beside me.  He thinks he's as funny at night as he does during the day.  He's laughing in his sleep.  

And the teeth grinding.  Our dentist told him he must grind his teeth something fierce because it looks like all his molars will need crowns.  He said it was pretty typical of graduate students.  Stress-induced grinding.  Little does he know that school is NOT his biggest stress...it's money.  And I'm sure crowns get their name from their shape, but to me I hear the word 'crown' and my mind goes 'cha-Ching!' This is what I am thinking about at 2 am.  

I'm also thinking that I must not be a 'real' grown-up.  Tyler goes on business trips and business dinners constantly.  He calls me at 7pm and says they're just heading out for dinner.  I'm at home with 3 kids and we've already eaten dinner, cleaned up, had dessert, made lunches, bathed and are getting ready for bed.  So when I'm invited to join him on business trips or dinners I am a yawn.  Literally.  

You guys go ahead and talk about stats and research and I'll sit over here sipping my cranberry and soda through a straw trying not to yawn, thinking about how my pants are too tight, my feet are cold and my bra is still on.  I wish I was wearing sweats and watching PVR'd cooking shows.  10 years of dinner at 5pm and bed by 7:30 have ruined me for late night dining. 

So we are keeping to a business schedule on this trip and eating at 6:30pm or later...8:00pm this time.  And I lay in bed thinking about the French fries and cod rolling around inside me.  

Inner peace.  Inner peace.  

Inner peace is not happening.  So I blog . Maybe that'll help.  It's 2:20am.  I'm going to attempt to lay beside my husband again.  He's still doing the teeth-grinding thing.  Normally I would give him a shove, but he's got a big presentation in the morning.  So I will listen and try to be patient.  Inner peace.  
Hopefully he's quiet and patient in the morning when he's up and getting ready and I'm still passed out in bed...

Inner peace.  


No comments: