WE DON'T DO 4:30!!!

So...it was like a party at the Roberts house at 4:30 this morning! NOT! Chris had to fly out to Europe on the customary dawn flight...so he had to get up at 4:30 this morning to get showered and dressed and out the door to the airport. No big deal...we are used to that. HOWEVER...he had not been in the shower long before our bedroom door creaks open and Miss Clara comes strolling talking of some dream and whatnot. My immediate response was Shhhhhhh (thinking "Let's NOT wake up the puppy.") and I reached out to pull her into my bed in an attempted lightning fast back to sleep maneuver. However...the child had to go potty. So she heads into the bathroom with Chris and now the bedroom is awash in light from the bathroom and full of the sounds of shower running (which, incidentally, was like, OUTRAGEOUSLY loud for some reason this morning) and the two of them are just chatting it up....all at 4:30 a.m. just steps away from my bedside. She finally gets back to my bed and seems rather ready to converse when I let her know that was not an option. Once again...the shhhhhhsh. But then our dog, Casey decided to participate in our ridiculously early morning antics and wants to go outside. GRRRRRRRR! I go and put her out, fulling meaning to leave her out there for the next while and while I was in mid leap back into my comfy bed....little Oscar decides that there is just too much excitement going on and wants in on the action as well. So now he's doing his whining and crying in his crate and the shhhhhsh I give him doesn't work. Imagine that. So now Mom is just getting cranky. We had already gotten to bed late as we had our Dinner for 8 group over last night. The folks left a little after 10:00...then there was the clean up since our home looked like we'd had a frat party all over the place! Then Chris had to pack for his trip and I have a photo shoot for the Charity Guild today, so I had to dismantle my studio and load it into the car...so it was coming up on midnight before we were lights out last night! So I am NOT ready to play, or converse, or do ANYTHING at 4:30. But ready or not, I am at this point in the way early morning standing out in the back yard with Oscar while he decides whether or not he really needs to go. I assured him that if we were UP and OUT at 4:30 he WAS going to go...and he seemed to catch my drift on that and piddled nicely so we could go back inside and TRY to sleep. So we all hop back in bed and I deposit Oscar in my bed as well because I know there is no way he will quietly go back in the crate at this point...and then we do the whole "Let't see if we can bite mommy's nose off" game and the roll around and eat the covers thing before he finally realizes he ought to settle down. So he settles down and I think...ahhhh...finally...sleep! And then about 45 seconds later Chris comes out of the bathroom to finish dressing and Clara needs to know why he is taking a shower in the middle of the night and that's when I had just had enough! I went on to inform ALL of them that we don't DO 4:30 a.m. We just DON'T. So Chris quickly gathered his things and kissed us and scooted out...Clara got still (even though she was still talking to herself under her breath!) and Oscar snuggled in, as did Casey and by now it is 5:00 am. It seems to take forever to drop back off to sleep after all of that and now the sun is coming up too. And then Clara is up and all bright eyed and bushy tailed by 6:15! I send her away into the house to turn on the t.v. and let me sleep some more. She's gone all of 10 minutes (just enough time for me to begin to feel the first tingle of sleep approach...again!) and she's BACK at my bedside to announce that I should cook her some breakfast because "I just heered my stomach growl and it was LOUD!" I told her to find something to hold her over and I would be there...eventually. Anyway. I finally gave up on sleep and we began the day. However...I am SO anticipating a nap this afternoon! I need a seriously strong I.V. coffee drip to get through this day!

On another note...I think I sprained my butt. I did notice it hurting a LOT during step class yesterday that I did immediately following the weight training class. But it seemed all right by the end of class. However...this morning, I am acutely aware that I have a butt and that it is attached to a very achy lower back! Fun, fun fun! And not contributing at all to my crankiness!

Despite all this early morning totally unwanted wake up call and achy brakey butt...I am resolved to find something to be thankful for in it all. So...here it goes...

I am thankful that I got to glimpse the first rays of sunrise this morning (something that RARELY happens for me!)

I am thankful that I can FEEL my butt (painful as it is) and that I am not paralyzed.

I am thankful that our dinner for 8 group was able to get together and enjoy fellowship last night and that everyone seemed to have a good time.

I am thankful for tiny puppies who can't resist giving you kisses to show you just how glad they are to see you and to be in your bed at 4:30 in the morning (even if there were tiny teeth lurking just inside those kisses!).

And I am thankful for little girls who need to go potty in the night and tell you about their weird dreams and want to know why in the world you would take a shower in the middle of the night!

And honestly...right now...I am so thankful for this cup of coffee and the one that came before it and the one that is sure to follow this one...because today it is truly "go juice"...and I know that I can put one foot in front of the other and do what needs to be done because of it! I am SO thankful for God's wisdom in giving us the coffee bean...really, really thankful!

So these are the musings of the weird and weary! Such as they are! Life is good in the desert...better at 7 am than 4:30...but good just the same!