go to sleep

It was strange trying to fall asleep last night — the apartment was so quiet. For the last several days, as soon as I’d switched off the lamp, a steady traffic of “Remember that time when,” and sleepy giggles passed between my bedroom and the living room. Not surprising, their absence has made it hard to fall asleep — harder than, say my sister’s Wookie impressions or her random insistence that we list all of our college roommates before we could go to sleep. The last names gave us trouble.

“Stone.”
“Yeah, I already got Renee’s. Go to sleep.”
“But we haven’t figured out Niki’s.” My sister sounded wide awake, but the clock was telling me that should not be the case.
“Go to sleep.”
“Her middle name was J….”
“Janelle. Dude, I have to go to work in four hours.”
“Fine. G’nite.”

An hour later….

“Anderson!” I sat up in bed, proud of my memory (and having not been able to sleep until it came to me).
“Hrmmmph?”
“Never mind. Go to sleep.”

This morning, after my first uninterrupted night’s slumber, I went around the apartment tidying up. I stowed the Aero Bed in the hall closet, pulled the extra towel off the back of the bathroom door and added it to the pile of laundry. I collected strewn movie stubs, receipts and a 7-day unlimited use metro card and tossed them in the waste basket. I woke up thinking it would be nice to do a quick clean up, grab coffee and spend some much needed quiet time in the park. But, somehow, post sister visit cleaning segued into The Great Fall Overhaul and before I knew it, I’d emptied all the closets, moved and cleaned behind all the furniture and done seven loads of laundry.

There’s more to do, but I’m tired and I’m going to try getting to bed early. I may have to dial a certain 707 number to get a bit of “Remember that time when…” You know, just for good measure. There’s something really brillant about falling asleep laughing.