What's worse?

What's worse than having to get up at 4:30am to catch a flight to Raleigh? Waking up an hour before even that horrendous time and not being able to fall back asleep. Geez, Henry started sleeping through the night a month ago...what the hell is my problem?

Actually, some early-morning insomnia has crept into my life in the last week or so, and I am not a fan. As it is I usually don't get to bed and really get to sleep until 11pm, and on a morning that I have to go to the office, I have to get up around 5/5:15am. (And yet I recall a time in my life when I thought 7am was ridiculously early.) But lately, if something (or someone) wakes me up in the wee hours, I am up for good. It's not a lot of fun to be the only one up in a household of six (I counted the doggies, too, who are currently snoring away on my side of the bed) while it's still dark outside. I know I'll be exhausted later today, and I hope I can snooze on the plane in both directions.

The good news is this: I will be home to tuck the boys into bed tonight. This fun little trip to Raleigh is just a day trip. 7:30am flight down; 6pm flight home. That is, as long as USAir doesn't screw up like they usually do. I try to avoid USAir as much as possible, and I'd been planning to take Southwest for this trip, but (a) my boss is coming on this trip, too, and she wanted to take USAir, and (b) I had a credit on USAir to use up before November 8 and this is my only trip until then that requires a flight. Since I was using up a credit for a flight I should've taken to San Francisco in January, I didn't nearly break even (USAir ended up with the residual $200+), but at least I got to use part of the leftover funds, and besides, it's not my money.

So the kids' clothes are laid out to make life easier on Ken later this morning--I leave the house around the time he'll be waking up but before the time the boys usually get up--and the crockpot is set up to make pulled pork...well, a human has to do the pulling part, but it'll do the cooking the pork roast part. Ken just has to plug it in and set the right program (fingers crossed) so he and Padraic will have dinner waiting when they get home from work/day care tonight. I don't see Henry eating pulled pork, and really I don't want to see what those diapers would look like, so he'll get something more baby friendly. And then I'm hoping he'll manage to stay awake until I get home from the airport around 8pm, again if my flight is on time.

After today I'm hoping for a little normalcy for a few weeks, until I have to travel to Washington, DC in mid-October. That trip ought to be kind of fun, though, since Ken and the boys are planning to drive down with me on a Saturday so we can do the National Zoo if the weather cooperates, or the Air and Space Museum if it doesn't. They'll drive home on Sunday once my conference starts, and then I'll take the train home Wednesday afternoon/evening. Somewhere in there I hope to get out to Fairfax to see my Aunt Kris and Uncle Rob and their girls. Last time I was in DC, they had gotten whomped by the flu, and we had to cancel our plans to get together. I know how that goes. Ugh. Virus season. Don't get me started.

Well, instead of boring you to tears any longer, I'm off to take a shower. Might as well indulge in a nice, long shower since no one else needs any hot water for hours, and I have plenty of time to get ready. Sigh. Wish I were snoring like the beagles.