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Probably A Two Coffee Day

Mornin' Folks,

My son, who usually wakes up after 8 a.m., decided to get up around 6:30 or so this morning. My wonderful husband hung out with him while getting ready for work, but then came 6:50 and my husband needed space (and son distracted) so he could slip out the door. Son did not want to go back to sleep, so I ended up getting out of bed. So much for him getting up after 8. So, today is probably a two coffee day.

Don't get me wrong, I've gotten up earlier than just after 7 a.m. I've been known to even get up as early as 5 a.m. (and a couple of times even earlier than that) when necessity merited it. But it's not my favorite time to get up. Other people who have kids who get up earlier probably think I'm spoiled. And I guess I am. Mornings and I aren't exactly the best of friends. I've had to become more of a morning person after becoming a mom, but it doesn't mean that's my favorite part of motherhood.

Nope. My favorite part of motherhood is watching my son play; or when he gets this bout of affectionate feelings and comes and says "Hug, Ma?" And gives me a big hug. Talk about slaying a mother's heart. That kid gets me so often. I like watching him smile as he dances, plays and carries around toys. Or sits down looking at one of his many books. Or when he says some of my pet phrases like "I'll be right back." And I think "Wow, do I really say that so often that he picked up on it? Yes. Yes I do." He's a treasure. I love him very much.

But mornings and I have never been best friends. In fact, I prefer afternoons/evenings. I remember when I was really small mornings were my friends, but even as early as elementary school age, I didn't want to get up before 7 a.m. I even played possum trying to get out of it. (Didn't work, I was roused out of the bed anyway).

As a teenager, I came to love my sleep. Afternoons and I were well acquainted and liked each other. As an adult I couldn't get how people (including my husband) managed to get up early for work (I didn't even know how I did it). Now as a mother, I'm reminded as to how that's accomplished: lots of coffee (or other caffeinated drinks) and sometimes showers help wake a person up.

So that makes me wonder: how many of you out there are morning persons? How many of you prefer afternoons or evenings? What's the earliest you can get up without feeling completely drained? And do you have 2-coffee (or other caffeine product) days?

Today is another round of many edits. I have to pull "Conjure A Man" into some semblance of order before "Surreal" gets back from my editor. Debbie isn't completely finished with "Surreal", but she is sending the majority of it back for me to get started on. Eeps. In total it's going to be 498 pages that need attention. I figured out around the part she was on in the story (just to get a feel for what scene she was looking at). I looked at 2-3 pages of my master copy and cringed. Those errors, that I didn't notice while writing, were waiting for me. When I get the first chunk back I'll be busy editing, polishing, buffing, and loving on "Surreal" until it's at its best. I wrote that story with such passion, that I want to give it my best efforts. So that means "Conjure A Man" needs to be taken care of before "Surreal" comes back.

"Conjure A Man" isn't finished being written. I've been polishing up some of the finished chapters so that the rest of the story is a bit easier to write. I'm tightening up my writing and refining my style so that the rest of it is clearer. And it's helping. I'm getting more ideas of what I want to do with it than I had before. In fact, I'm even considering a companion novel for it.

So I'm definitely not hurting for writing to do. What's on everybody's agenda for today?

By the way, if you haven't read it and are interested in Victorian England, have a look-see (my little phrase for "look at") Kim Lenox's Night Falls Darkly. It's set in Victorian England and talks about Jack The Ripper (that part scared me, but the rest of the story was fascinating and very imaginative). I liked it.

I like Michelle Rowen's writing style, just got scared at the end of Lady & The Vamp (not used to dealing with demons in the books I read). But she's got a very witty style and I liked that big time. She's good. She's got fun characters, solid story lines and good style.


Hope you have a good day.

Have A Thrilling Tuesday!

Comments

Regina Quentin said…
I'm not a big morning person but I've been waking up early (between 5:30 and 7:00, depending) for the past few months, even on the days I don't work. It has actually been nice because I have found that I work better in the morning and afternoon.

Do you work well during the afternoon and at night?

As for what's on the agenda: I'm working on non-fiction piece for submission and on a short fictional piece.
Stephanie Faris said…
I don't WANT to be a morning person, but 15 years of getting up at 5 a.m. to be at work have worn off on me and now my internal clock is just set that way. By around 9 p.m. I'm so worn out I can barely keep my eyes open. I used to work 7-3:30 but my boyfriend works 8-5, so I shifted my schedule so I could get up later and spend some time with him in the morning. The afternoon seems to last forever, though, just trying to get to 4:30 so I can leave!
Bethany said…
Regina--

It depends on what's going on around me how well I work at any given time (also depends on how awake I am, too LOL). Being a stay-at-home Mom I'm generally tired most all the time. My husband usually gets up with our son in the night, now that he's weaned and sleeping in his own bed, but I still wake up when I hear him on the baby monitor. I'm very intuned to his cry. (I guess mid morning early afternoon would be more accurate for me LOL).

Best of luck on your fiction and nonfiction pieces!
Bethany said…
Stephanie,

I'm blest to be a stay-at-home mom, but come 4:30ish I'm looking forward to seeing my husband come through that door! I usually miss him during the day no matter what kind of day I'm having. I get ready for bed earlier than I now that I'm a mom LOL.
Anonymous said…
I'm a zombie the first three months of school, the difference of waking when you want and having to wake up by 6:15 sucks! I used to be a morning person, that was before kids...they weren't good sleepers (usually didn't go to bed until late and now as teenagers do the same thing), so now I'm more a night person.
Bethany said…
Tessy--

I feel for you getting up at 6:15. That's rough. I've had zombie days, so I totally sympathize.
Unknown said…
I get up every morning (weekdays) by 6:00am. I'm not a morning person at all! I could stay up till 3:00am every night easily. It's the getting up in the morning that kicks my butt.

I got alot on my plate today. This week is a wee bit insane with blogging for me. But, it's all fun! I posted before work, got the kiddies to school, went to work, ordered tons of new books for the library, saw my mom and the hospital and coached her through therapy. Now, kiddies are home, blogging is going on, contest ends today, kids have scouts, and maybe I'll get some writing done when they go to bed. LOL...I'm not busy at all.
Bethany said…
J.J.--

Wow, you sure did have a full day! You go, girl! I'm impressed. Good luck with everything. Thank you for sharing :-)

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