Bedraggled, drug-out, and just plain exhausted

Well so much for the romantic notion of sleeping with someone. It has been a long time since anyone stayed the night. Sadly, Chip is a bed hog. He's used to sleeping in the middle, and so that's where he was. I spent much of the night hanging on to the edge of the bed, or asking him to scooch over. Of course, since I kept waking up in floortal peril, eventually insomnia reared its ugly head. I finally got up and took some sleeping pills, which meant it was hard to wake up this morning. Like most homosexuals, Chip is not a morning person. Going through the "surfacing" routine (that non-morning people seem to need) really took me back to the Michael days. I was pretty tired, but see no point in lying around bemoaning the fact. I get up and get on with it.

Work was brisk. I was leaving early for the dentist, and had an ambitious call list for today. Regardless of Christmas, the month-end account dump goes on regardless of the season, so I was trying to process new clients as well. Of course at the time I needed to leave, I got caught in a call with a guy who wanted to pay (so I couldn't get off the call), but was very belligerent and was calling from the bathroom. That was a first for me. The guy was literally on the throne. I conferenced him in from the can with our credit services department and got him squared away, then listened to him bitch for about 20 minutes before I could dis-entangle myself.

I left the office a bit late and ran to the dentist. I love my dental hygienist. She is really nice and seems to really like me. If she doesn't, she does a damn good impersonation. I think it helps that I really do floss daily. They still use the old rubber cups and polish at my dentist. Getting my teeth cleaned was the most relaxing part of my day.

I left the dentist and ran to the post office to get there before they closed. I squeaked in ahead of the people who had just gotten off work. I hurried in ahead of an old man with an armful of packages, but since I only had one card I didn't' feel too badly about it. I got Bernadette's card on the way to France. She won't get it in time, but she'll at least she'll get a card this year.

After that, I headed toward Cherrydale, thinking I'd get BB's other shirt while heading toward Dick and Eve's at the same time. I was going to see Dad tonight to give him the picture he wanted for his birthday. Anyway. It never crossed my mind it would be so hard to find a women's t-shirt. I had already looked at Kmart, but unless BB was prepared to become a Miley Cyrus fan and lose down to a size 2, that was out. There is no active wear section for women in Ross's Dress For Less, amazingly. I confirmed this from the store with the shopping expert, my mother, via cell. Since there was a Catherine's nearby, I decided just to go in there. I figured there had to be somewhere that ample women found comfy clothes. Bingo. Although most of them were more comfy than pretty. I wanted something feminine, but giant glitter butterflies weren't working for me. Eventually I found a really pretty slightly longer knit shirt with 3/4 sleeves. Prettier than a t-shirt, but still comfortable. Its a soft blue, done in a kind of repeating fleur de lis design, a bit like wallpaper, but classy looking. And if I know BB, she still wants something pretty to wear every now and again, bed-ridden or not. So much for cheap. But it was really pretty, so I got it.

I had some time to kill before I met Dick and Eve, so I wandered over and bought a couple of pairs of shoes. One pair of tennies, since I have been in mine for two years and they are bit worse for wear (my main wardrobe indulgence is new sneakers every year). I found some Filas that were on markdown, and with the "one and one half off" sale, I got them for $15. From $55. I also got a new pair of brown dress shoes. The ones I had were big chunky GBX's that I got about 5 years ago. They are not only unfashionable now, the lining is coming out of them. The problem for me is that all the new (non-nerd) shoes have big square toes on them. With feet my size, they just look like a ridiculous cross between clown and duck feet. Plus I think they are too young for me. But I found a pair with smaller only squarish toes that I think I can get away with. I don't know if I'll wear them or not, but they feel comfortable, so maybe I will.

That done, I went on to the restaurant to meet Dick and Eve. We had dinner, and Dad gave me a brief third degree about Cindy and Paul. I gave him his picture, which he actually seemed very pleased with. He then tried to guilt me into going to Catholic mass with them Christmas Eve. I don't think so. Of course that still served to put out the good feeling I got from his pleasure over the picture.

On the way home, I remembered that I was supposed to go through the grocery store. There were things I had to buy for lunches this week, plus just stuff I was out of. So I stopped. As I walked through the store, I was so fatigued it was hard to concentrate. I just really wanted to just lie down. But I finished up the shopping like a zombie. At least I didn't put any pork brains in the cart (yes, they sell them here - in a can, yet).

Then I passed a gas station, reminding me that I needed gas. I have a lot of running around to do this week and was down to a quarter-tank. So I went ahead and did that.

I was SO glad to be home. I got all the stuff out of the car, put away groceries, and started a load of wash. I have to get BB's clothes washed before I give them to her, since I didn't want her to have to wait to wear them. Also, my work khakis had to go through. The dress code will not be relaxed at work on Christmas Eve.

Just as I was thinking about sitting down, I remembered that I hadn't picked up my prescriptions from the pharmacy, so I had to get dressed and go back out.

The sheets need changing, but I decided that could wait another day. I put the clothes in the dryer and crawled into bed on ragged knees.