Insomnia

I'm on a business trip. The last one of 2008, to be exact, and I was psyched as all hell yesterday about that fact. I'm in New Brunswick, NJ, which is less than 2hrs from home, so I'm in the comfort zone where I could get a good night's sleep since the kids are safe and snug at home (meaning, not here waking me up), yet I could be there quickly should something happen where Mommy would be needed in a pinch, like an ER trip for pneumonia or something. Which did actually happen last December when I was in Phoenix for work and I was not conveniently located within driving distance. Oh, the guilt.

Anyway, so I'm here for a two-day conference put on by the organization that I work for, and I have just one night to spend in this hotel. The hotel is only 1.5yrs old so it's not as skeevy as some hotels (even nicer chain ones) can be. I mean, the bed linens seem like only a few dozen people have used them, not a few thousand.

So what's the problem? The problem is that I fell into a nice, cozy sleep around 10pm, after talking to Ken and saying goodnight to Padraic. And then I bolted out of bed at midnight when the freaking herd of teenagers who's here for a model UN project began running up and down the hall, slamming doors, shrieking, giggling, and generally making huge asses of themselves.

When I get awakened in a manner that makes my adrenaline rush, like by one of my kids screaming for me because he's sick, say, that's pretty much it for me where sleep is concerned. Now it's 2am, I've been awake for 2hrs that I could've been snoozing away, and I am ticked off. The teenagers seem to have settled in for a quiet night, but every now and then I hear some cackling and carrying on in the room to one side of me. I know I was once a teenager on a trip away from home w/my friends, and it was exciting to have that much freedom. But now I am a crochety old lady who works for a living, has two kids, and needs some damn sleep. So shut up already, or I will be the hoser who calls hotel security to shut your ass up.

I don't have to be up until the "late" hour of 6:30 so there is still a bit of hope that I will get a few more hours of rest before I have to be back at the conference, working. I'd ask you to cross your fingers for me and send me sleepy vibes, but you, dear reader, are already asleep. Lucky you.