Last night I slept the sleep of the dead. I was watching Stripperella, and it was all I could do to make it to the end of the show. As it went off at 10:30, I promptly got up and leashed Nola to go for her evening trip up the block. I told my girlfriend I was going so she could join me with her dog. I would normally just take both of them myself, but I knew inherrantly that i was nearly asleep already, and that we might not make it back in one piece if I had both dogs.

We walked up the block in out normal fashion, and as we headed home, Nola and I fell further and further behind. I was beginning to feel hot and clammy, my eyes exceedingly heavy. If I could have ripped off my t-shirt on the way home, I certainly would have. Thinking about it now, I really have to wonder what it was that stopped me. As I walked through the door, my shirt was off before I unleashed Nola, before my girlfriend was through the door behind me.

My bra had been removed earlier during my tv watching, and my shorts and panties followed as i walked down te hall toward the bedroom. I was just so hot. I nudged the thermostat cooler as I passed it, and somehow my ass found the toilet seat so I could pee before sleep. The coolness of the toilet was refreshing, as was the feeling of my bare feet on the tile floor. I know I sat there longer than necessary, and luckily I remembered to blot before I got up.

I floated over to the bed and uncerimoniously dropped, face down, onto my pillows. The a/c was blasting away and I was directly under the ceiling fan. I was asleep in seconds.

This morning, E mentioned she was able to go back to sleep after the 4 am outburst. I am in general a very light sleeper, and I totally have no recollection of the canine uprising. I do not recall the 6 am alarm, only the 8 am urge to haul my ass to pee. I am usually back from taking E to work by 8 am so there was something disconcerting to seeing her laying there still asleep at 8 am. As I flushed, she sat up and looked at me, clearly confused at the amount of daylight in the room. Yes, I told her, it is Friday. She was showered and out the door in less than thirty minutes.

I was quite rested, but went back to sleep anyway. Oh the grace of morning dreams. I was moving into a new place. It was a loft of sorts and Nola was joining me. My folks were hauling stuff for me, they live nowhere near enough nor are they of an age to be doing this. E was helping me set things up and there were things that are definitely hers, though she was not to be a resident. There was a lovely party of friends to celebrate me being settled into my new space. There were high ceilings, lots of windows, and red brick walls. There was a lot of red everywhere.

Not only were all my friends from various locations present, but my net friends, many of whom I have never met, were present. In addition, All the food channel celebs were mingling amidst my own personal royalty. It was vivid. It was real.

My thoughts of this dread have crossed over into my waking hours.